The Detroit Lions’ EDGE depth may be in even more trouble this week against the Tennessee Titans.
It’s been a tough season for the Detroit Lions edge defenders. They’ve already lost Aidan Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport, Derrick Barnes, and John Cominsky to injured reserve. Of those four players, it appears only Cominsky has a realistic shot at returning this season.
The outlook for this week could be even more dire for the Lions, as the next man up—2022 second-round pick Josh Paschal—is dealing with what the team is calling an “illness.” Per coach Dan Campbell, Paschal will miss his third practice this week and is trending towards missing Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans.
“Paschal’s dealing with something right now,” Campbell said. “He’ll be okay long-term, but he’s got a little bit of something so I don’t see him practicing today.”
Paschal has been the player who has stepped in since Hutchinson’s devastating injury against the Cowboys. Last week against the Vikings, Paschal played 86.7 percent of defensive snaps, leaving Detroit with—once again—a significant role to fill this week on the edge.
Detroit only has two healthy options on their 53-man roster: James Houston and the recently-added Isaiah Thomas, who was poached off the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad two weeks ago. Campbell indicated that those two, plus practice squad’s Al-Quadin Muhammad, would have to step up this week.
“Those three guys have to step up, between Isaiah, Al Muhammad, and Houston,” Campbell said. “They’ve got to help.”
Thomas and Muhammad have not played in an NFL game since the 2022 season. Houston, has made three game appearances for Detroit his season, but he has yet to make a tackle in his 26 defensive snaps this year.
Of the three, it certainly sounds like Thomas is headed for the biggest role.
“We’re excited to see him play, really,” Campbell said on Friday. “(DL coach) Terrell (Williams) and I were talking about it this morning. He’s got length, he’s got size, strength. He’s smart, plays hard. So it’ll be exciting to see how he does.”
That said, Campbell was quick to point out that the rest of the defensive line will pitch in and help as needed. Guys like Levi Onwuzurike, Mekhi Wingo, DJ Reader, and Alim McNeill can play different roles on the line—including some on the edge—and they’ll have extra pressure on them to win their battles.
“As always, we spread the load across that d-line,” Campbell said. “With Levi and Mac and Reader and Wingo and (Pat) O’Connor. We’ve got plenty in there and they pick up the slack.”
Of course, if there’s any week to be thin on the edge, this may be one of the more ideal weeks to be shorthanded. The Tennessee Titans are averaging just 17.7 points per game (26th), and have ceded 19 sacks through six games (t-10th most).
Detroit also won’t be shy about sending extra defenders to pressure the quarterback, if necessary. Blitzing has been a hallmark of defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn’s defense, and he doesn’t see that changing anytime soon, particularly with his physical and athletic group of linebackers, including Jack Campbell, Malcolm Rodriguez, and Alex Anzalone, among others.
“I want to blitz those guys as much as possible because I think it’s hard for a running back to actually block those guys,” Glenn said. “You’ve got Jack, he’s a 6-foot-4, 250-pound man on the running back. Man, I’m going to take that matchup all the time. Same thing with Alex, you have a 6-foot-3, 240-pound man on a back, I’m going to take that matchup all the time.”
The biggest question that remains is whether the Lions will eventually acquire some extra help at the edge position before the trade deadline on Tuesday, November 5. Dan Campbell has said several times that the Lions are working diligently to find deals, but they aren’t going to rush and they’re going to evaluate their in-house talent first.
“(Lions GM) Brad (Holmes) is still looking at everything right now,” Campbell said Monday. “It’s not like we turned our back on that (and) nobody’s looking or anything. So, we’ll find it, but until that time we’re gonna find whatever we need to here. If we need to try out a couple of guys—we still have Isaiah Thomas, we’ve got (Mitchell) Agude, we’ve got Al-(Quadin) Muhammad that we brought in. So we may give those guys a go. We’re open to looking for anything we can.”
