5 reasons to be pessimistic about the Detroit Lions in 2025

Every year, about this time, we like to set the table before training camp begins and talk about the five things that have us optimistic about the Detroit Lions and the five things that have us pessimistic about the Lions. 

We first did the five things to be optimistic about earlier on Tuesday, now it's time to get a little pessimistic, even if we don't want to.

How long will it take to gel with new coaches? 

Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn are gone, and now the Lions have two new coordinators and a handful of new position coaches who need to gel with the players on the team. How long will that take, and what kind of effect could that have on the performance in the early part of the season? It's something to think about for sure. 

The interior offensive line went from proven to unproven really fast 

The Detroit Lions have long had the best offensive line in the game, but last year Graham Glasgow seemed to struggle, and then Kevin Zeitler left for the Titans, and Frank Ragnow retired. While the Lions do have a strong group of young players in the middle, we need to see that group come together and gel before we can comfortably say that everything is going to be ok there. Sadly, that means some rookie walls might get hit, and a sophomore slump could happen with Mahogany. 

That road schedule could be a problem

Playing the Eagles, Chiefs, Bengals, Packers, Ravens, and Vikings on the road is going to be rough. The Lions should walk out of some of these games with wins, but having a road record like they had in 2025 is going to take a lot of strong football and a lot of things going the right way to replicate. 

Could not getting an edge rusher wind up being a big mistake?

On the optimistic side of things, I said the Lions' defense is better than it was in 2024, and I still feel that way, but edge rusher was something I think we can all agree the Lions should have gone after. It didn't have to be an elite guy or even a first-round pick, but someone. I think Hassnein is going to be good, but he is still green. Marcus Davenport is really good when he's healthy, but usually isn't. 

The fear of injuries

It's way too early to be worried about injuries, but man, there has to be some fear there after last year when everyone and their mother got hurt. With a longer training camp this year and an extra preseason game, there's some reason to be scared and maybe a little pessimistic.