Every year, there is change within NFL teams. There’s a fair amount of roster turnover year-to-year, and coaching staffs are usually tweaked here and there. But during Dan Campbell’s final press conference of the 2025 season, the Detroit Lions coach seemed to put an extra emphasis that, after a failed season, they are not going to stand pat this offseason.
“As with everything, when it doesn’t work the way we want it to work, it’s a number of things. There’s a lot of things that go into it,” Campbell said. “Do I have a couple of ideas? Maybe right now, but I need some time here. I need time to really sit down and think about all this.
“But what we do know is—one way or another—probably (that) is change is inevitable. Now, it may not be much, but there will be something that will change.”
There is certainly a perception that the Lions may have been a little too complacent last offseason. In terms of player acquisition, they essentially only added two starters (Tate Ratledge, D.J. Reed—although Tyleik Williams and Thomas Harper both started nine games). And while they were forced into coordinator changes on both sides of the ball, they opted to replace them with two coaches who were essentially internal promotions and didn’t bring much scheme change to either side of the ball—by design.
After regression on both sides of the ball, change seems almost mandatory. But what that change will look like remains a mystery. Campbell has remained purposely vague when he’s been talking about plans. Part of that is his focus on the final game against the Chicago Bears this week. Part of that is because he wants some time this offseason to fully assess the team.
But if there’s one thing that’s for certain, recapturing the running game will be amongst his highest priorities. We broke down the decline of the rushing attack earlier in the week, but there is a much simpler way to describe the downfall. Detroit failed to reach 100 yards rushing in seven games this year after failing to hit the century mark only once in 2024. And their record in those seven games this year? 0-7.
So, how big a deal is it to fix the running game in 2026? Campbell gave a two-word answer.
“It’s everything.”
Filling in some of the gaps here, it certainly seems like the offensive line will be a big priority moving forward. Not only will they need to find a long-term answer at center, but with two potential retirements on their hands—Taylor Decker and Graham Glasgow—Detroit will need to prepare for at least one more starter vacancy and probably a couple more depth pieces.
It’s no coincidence that when asked where he is hoping to see some improved play in the season finale against the Bears, Campbell pointed right to that offensive line.
“I’d probably start with the O-line,” Campbell said. “Just want to see—and just a tick more, just a little bit better. See if we can polish some things up, work together, work our combinations just a little bit.”
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