Getting a feel for the Detroit Lions' depth chart ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft

The Detroit Lions have been busy during free agency, re-signing several of their own free agents and selectively adding outside options to the roster mix.

Last week, a reader asked for an updated look at the team’s depth chart. With little cooking between now and the draft — outside of league meetings next week — that request was worth fulfilling.

Quarterback

Starter: Jared Goff

Reserves: Hendon Hooker

Work to do: Kyle Allen, Jake Fromm

Thoughts: Coming off the best season of his career, and entering the first year of the extension he signed last offseason, Goff is as entrenched in his role as any player in the league. Detroit's backup spot, on the other hand, is up for grabs once again.

Hooker, a third-round draft pick in 2023, rose to the occasion to unseat veteran Nate Sudfeld last offseason. This year, Hooker will have to fend off Allen, who was recently added via free agency.

Undrafted out of the University of Houston in 2018, Allen has played for five teams in seven seasons, appearing in 31 games, including 19 starts. He last played meaningful regular-season snaps in 2022. He’s attempted just one pass over the past two seasons.

For his career, Allen has completed 62.7% of his passes with 25 touchdowns, 21 interceptions and a passer rating of 82.3. In the preseason with the Steelers last season, he was sharp, connecting on 20-of-28 for 261 yards, one touchdown and one pick.

Allen's one-year contract with the Lions is a non-guaranteed, veteran minimum deal that included a $100,000 signing bonus.

Fromm, who joined the Lions near the end of training camp last year and completed 6-of-8 passes in the second half of the preseason finale, will start the offseason at the bottom of the depth chart and could struggle to find opportunities to state his case.

A fifth-round pick in 2020, he got into three games during his second season. He struggled in those appearances, which included a pair of starts, completing 45% of his throws with a dreadful passer rating of 38.9.

Running back

Starters: Jahmyr Gibbs, David Montgomery

Reserves: Craig Reynolds, Sione Vaki

Work to do: None

Thoughts: The Lions will eventually add a couple of players, likely undrafted free agents, to round out the backfield depth chart before the start of the offseason program.

The team is returning the top four players from last year’s group. Gibbs and Montgomery will rightfully continue dominating the workload, with Reynolds serving as the top backup.

Even with Montgomery missing the last few games of last season with a knee injury, the starting tandem posted one of the best seasons for a duo in NFL history, combining for 3,045 yards from scrimmage, 5.0 yards per carry and 32 touchdowns.

Vaki’s development will be something to watch this offseason. The converted safety showed flashes of his playmaking potential during his inaugural preseason but had a very limited role once the games counted. He saw just 26 snaps and nine touches in 16 games, primarily contributing through special teams.

Wide receiver

Starters: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Tim Patrick

Reserves: Kalif Raymond

Work to do: Ronnie Bell, Antoine Green, Tom Kennedy

Thoughts: The Lions carried just four receivers on the team’s initial 53-man roster to open last season, including undrafted rookie Isaiah Williams. A couple of weeks later, Patrick was promoted off the practice squad to round out the group.

Like the backfield, Detroit is returning its top four receivers after re-upping with Patrick this offseason. There’s room for a fifth, potentially even a sixth, depending on what the team does in the draft.

The obvious need is a long-term replacement for Patrick, who turns 32 in November. Given the sharply rising cost of pass-catching talent in free agency, and a potential extension for Williams on the horizon, the Lions would strongly benefit from landing a cost-controlled, big-bodied outside receiver in the middle rounds of the draft.

Tight end

Starters: Sam LaPorta, Brock Wright

Reserves: TBD

Work to do: Kenny Yeboah, Shane Zylstra

Thoughts: Not factoring formations with six offensive linemen, LaPorta and Wright combined to play nearly 90% of the team's snaps at tight end last season and accounted for 96.4% of the position's receiving production. Unless there's an injury or an unexpected alternative emerges to eat into Wright's workload, there's currently no reason to anticipate a shift in 2025.

Regardless, the Lions will almost certainly carry a third option into next season and signed two early contenders for that job in free agency, bringing back Zylstra and adding Yeboah. Both are more receiving threats than blockers. What they bring to the table on special teams could decide the spot.

Offensive line

Starters: Taylor Decker, Penei Sewell, Graham Glasgow, Christian Mahogany, Frank Ragnow

Reserves: Dan Skipper, Giovanni Manu, Netane Muti, Colby Sorsdal

Work to do: Jemarco Jones, Kingsley Eguakun

Thoughts: After letting Kevin Zeitler walk in free agency, that vacancy in the starting lineup is Mahogany’s to fill. Quickly working his way to the top reserve spot on the depth chart as a rookie last season, he impressed in a pair of opportunities, including the playoff game against Washington.

The remaining depth is fluid. The returning Skipper will have pole position for the swing tackle job. Still, it will be interesting to see how Manu developed behind the scenes as a rookie.

Along the interior, there’s room for a draft pick to make some noise. Muti was pushing for a roster spot last offseason before he was lost to a torn pectoral muscle during a training camp practice. With Mahogany getting the bump, Muti has the talent, demeanor and experience to be a top backup and potentially even push Glasgow for a starting job.

Defensive line

Starters: Aidan Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport, Levi Onwuzurike, DJ Reader

Reserves: Roy Lopez, Josh Paschal, Mekhi Wingo, Brodric Martin, Al-Quadin Muhammad, Pat O’Connor

Injured: Alim McNeill

Work to do: Myles Adams, Mitchell Agude, Nate Lynn, Isaac Ukwu, Chris Smith

Thoughts: By re-signing Onwuzurike, Detroit's defensive line looks a lot like the group coming into last season. The unit is supplemented by a couple of experienced veterans, O'Connor and Muhammad, who stepped in and played meaningful roles after injuries ravaged the unit.

There are lingering questions about the edge opposite Hutchinson. Instead of exercising the admittedly pricey option on trade deadline acquisition Za'Darius Smith, the Lions have opted to run it back with Davenport, who has missed most of the past two seasons with injuries. The setup carries plenty of risk, but he's unquestionably cost-efficient as Detroit braces for a bank-breaking extension for Hutchinson.

The offseason strategy makes edge one of the prime positions for the Lions to address early in the draft. Davenport, Paschal and Muhammad are all on deals that expire at the end of the 2025 season. A long-term, cost-controlled solution would be a valuable addition.

Of course, the same could be said for defensive tackle. Onwuzurike, Reader and the newcomer Lopez will play next season on expiring contracts.

Linebacker

Starters: Alex Anzalone, Jack Campbell, Derrick Barnes

Reserves: Grant Stuard, Trevor Nowaske, Ezekiel Turner, Anthony Pittman

Injured: Malcolm Rodriguez

Work to do: Abraham Beauplan, DaRon Gilbert

Thoughts: Detroit was able to retain Barnes with a three-year deal, keeping its starting group together for a third consecutive season. The question is whether this will be Anzalone's last season in a Detroit uniform. The defensive captain turns 31 later this year and is on an expiring contract.

In terms of depth, the Lions tweaked the group slightly. Jalen Reeves-Maybin was let go and Ben Niemann hasn’t been re-signed. Instead, the team added Stuard and brought Turner and Pittman back to round out the corps with high-end special teams contributors.

The Lions opened last season with seven linebackers. It’s tracking that way again, even with Rodriguez still recovering from the ACL he tore in December.

Cornerback

Starters: Terrion Arnold, D.J. Reed, Amik Robertson

Reserves: Ennis Rakestraw, Khalil Dorsey, Rock-Ya Sin, Avonte Maddox

Work to do: Stantley Thomas-Oliver

Thoughts: For the second consecutive offseason, the cornerback room has changed more than any other position group. Carlton Davis III, a key acquisition a year ago, accepted a big offer from New England and was quickly replaced by an equally capable starter in Reed.

With their reserves, the Lions haven’t re-signed Emmanuel Moseley after two injury-plagued seasons, while Kindle Vildor joined Tampa Bay. Maddox and Ya-Sin were brought on board to replace those departures.

Ya-Sin, a former second-round pick, is a physical outside corner with 39 starts under his belt. Maddox, the Detroit native who spent seven years in Philadelphia, is an athletic and agile nickelback who played outside and some free safety earlier in his career.

Safety

Starters: Brian Branch, Kerby Joseph

Reserves: Morice Norris, Loren Strickland

Work to do: Erick Hallett

Thoughts: Arguably owing the best safety tandem in the league, Detroit hasn't felt compelled to add at the position this offseason, even after losing top reserve Ifeatu Melifonwu to the Dolphins.

As it stands, Norris and Strickland, two undrafted free agents from a year ago, are the projected backups. That seems untenable unless the Lions intend to move Maddox to safety. We might get some clarity on the topic when coach Dan Campbell and GM Brad Holmes meet with the media at the league meetings.

It wouldn't be unexpected for the Lions to turn to the draft to bolster the group. Not only could the team use a versatile backup, but there are lingering concerns about whether they'll be able to afford top-of-the-market extensions for both of their starters, with Joseph's contract expiring after this season and Branch up in 2027.