Who will be the Detroit Lions’ Breakout Player of the Year? Our 2024 season preview and predictions continue here.
Normally during our 2024 Detroit Lions preview, this would be where we predict the team’s Rookie of the Year. However, that’s a little anticlimactic this season, with only first-round pick Terrion Arnold set to take over a starting role this year (unless you include Hogan Hatten).
What is a much more interesting question is figuring out which player will break out this season. There are a handful of players who have either flashed during last season, or shown something in training camp season. So let’s take a look at our predictions for 2024 Detroit Lions Breakout Player of the Year:
Previously:
2024 Detroit Lions Breakout Player of the Year
Morgan Cannon: Jameson Williams
Give me all of the Jameson Williams stock. He is coming off of a Spring and Summer where he got a ton of praise from this coaching staff, including being called, “A man on a mission,” by coach Dan Campbell. During his post-preseason press conference, general manager Brad Holmes also talked about how far he thinks Williams has come as a person as well as a football player over the course of the last two years.
At the end of the day, a lot of this offense is still going to flow through the running game, St. Brown, and LaPorta. But if Williams can take the steps many are hoping for in 2024—watch out. This offense could reach new levels of terrifying for opposing defenses.
Jeremy Reisman: Jack Campbell
After splitting time at the MIKE position with Derrick Barnes last year, Campbell is expected to take over full time, and if training camp is any indication, he’s ready for the role. With his rare combination of size, speed, and smarts, I expect Campbell to be a force in three phases of the game: pass rush, run defense, and—perhaps the biggest jump he’ll take—in coverage.
Meko Scott: Levi Onwuzurike
This really came down to Jameson Williams and Levi Onwuzurike for me. And while Jamo will have more opportunities and would be the more exciting answer, I can’t help but be excited about everything we’ve heard about Levi this offseason. As a former 2nd round pick, Onwuzurike has dealt with a number of setbacks in his young career due to injuries. Getting through camp and playing meaningful snaps last season was a big step in the right direction, and it’s sounding like this upcoming season we could finally season the type of player that nearly had Brad Holmes ready to trade up for him. So yeah, I’m rooting like hell for Levi and I believe we could see him make some big plays has a key rotational player on the defensive line.
Ryan Mathews: Terrion Arnold
Terrion Arnold could be a popular candidate considering he’s slated to be the starting outside cornerback opposite of Carlton Davis, but just because he’s the popular choice doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be the pick here for the Lions player to breakout in 2024.
An opportunity like this for a rookie is about as high stakes as it gets in the NFL, and from all indications, Arnold looks ready for the challenge. If his learning curve isn’t steep and Arnold helps improve the Lions pass defense from being just an average unit from a year ago (16th in pass defense DVOA, 6.5%), he’s likely going to be an important piece to the overall improvement of that unit.
Erik Schlitt: Levi Onwuzurike
The Lions have several players who could find themselves in the “breakout player” category, but based on what I saw at training camp, Levi Onwuzurike should run away with this award. Now fully healthy, Onwuzurike has been sensational on the field and finally looks like the player we were expecting to see coming out of Washington. If you haven’t been out to training camp this offseason, buckle up, he’s been a lot of fun to watch.
Brandon Knapp: Jameson Williams
Jamo is going to pop off this year, as I even wrote about him hitting a 1,000-yard season. He took a few weeks last year to move into the WR2 role and he still missed time due to his suspension. This year he’s had another offseason to grow and improve and he’s looked good in a lot of training camp practices. With the offense having him, St. Brown, and LaPorta being the main targets, I don’t think teams will respect him enough to start the year to worry about him until he starts breaking out. Also, with his speed he can be used on jet sweeps, reverses, and other trick play ideas that he’ll be used creatively at times and get wide open.
Hamza Baccouche: Levi Onwuzurike
When I look up and down the Lions roster, it’s hard to see anyone competing with Levi Onwuzurike for this title, assuming reports out of Allen Park aren’t an exaggeration. We’ve heard nothing but phenomenal stuff all preseason, and I’m excited to see it with my own eyes come regular season. Onwuzurike is an established veteran with several offseasons under his belt, so I’m expecting to play like a force to be reckoned with from Week 1.
John Whiticar: Derrick Barnes
With Alex Anzalone as the leader of the linebacking corps and Jack Campbell as the heir apparent and partner in crime, Barnes might be forgotten by many. As the projected starting SAM linebacker, it is unclear how many snaps he will see during the 2024 season, but I think he could make a serious impact when he is on the field. He quietly had a great season at linebacker last year, and this year he will get to channel his college pass rushing skills at SAM. The Lions have pass rushers like Marcus Davenport and James Houston, but I think it could be Barnes that emerges as one of the Lions’ best weapons on defense—he can cover, he can stop the run, and if he can rush the passer, watch out.
Max Gerber: Sione Vaki
I’m giving the Breakout Player of the Year title to rookie running back Sione Vaki. While he won’t be Detroit’s best rookie player this upcoming season, I do think that Vaki will make his presence known on both offense and special teams. His rushing and receiving performances in the preseason inspired a lot of confidence in the rookie, and I foresee much more success for him in the regular season as well. My guess is that he will usurp Craig Reynolds as the team’s third running back and be the one returning kickoffs for Detroit in 2024.
Jerry Mallory: Jameson Williams
JAMO/WAYMO. He’s electric, it seems like his has 10 NFL catches and 10 touchdowns (in actuality he has an impressive 25 receptions, 3 receiving TDs and 1 rushing TD). Everytime he gets the ball he has the threat to score. But he’s been fine tuning his game to become a more complete player, gaining chemistry with Jared Goff, getting familiar with the offense and improving his already solid route running. This year, he will track the ball better and lessen some of those concentration drops to add “complete receiver” to his player profile.
Alex Reno: Jameson Williams
Jameson Williams, to me, is the obvious answer. Jack Campbell deserves consideration, but Williams is set to become the No. 2 receiver for Detroit, and when you take into account every report from training camp, every quote from the coaches, it’s clear that he is more than ready to take on that role. I’m expecting big things from Williams this year.
Al Karsten: Jack Campbell:
It may be one of the obvious choices but I have to go with Jack Campbell. It’s very logical to expect the former first round draft pick to make the leap in his second season. With the game slowing down for him, and the ability to focus solely on the role of Mike linebacker, Campbell has the supporting cast around him, including one of the best defensive lines in football and massive upgrades in the secondary, to feast in every aspect of the game.
