Three hottest seats on the Detroit Lions

With the team’s first winning season in five years, there’s plenty to be optimistic about for the Detroit Lions heading into 2023, including a season-ending win over NFC North rival Green Bay. 

However, a nine-win season and narrowly missing out on the playoffs presents a higher bar of expectation for next season.

Here are the three Lions with the hottest seats heading into 2023:

1. D’Andre Swift, RB

Swift has yet to play a full season in three years with the Lions, in which he has just 1,680 rushing yards, 18 touchdowns and four 100-yard games to show. The 24-year-old has logged 20 or more carries just once in 40 career games, and he’s dangerously close to being relegated to No. 2 running back duties.

Although Jamaal Williams (1,066 yards, 17 touchdowns) is set to hit free agency, there’s no guarantee Detroit is comfortable going into 2022 with Swift as the starting tailback. The Lions may opt to draft a running back or sign another veteran in free agency to compete with the former second-round pick for the starting job.

2. Jared Goff, QB

It’s safe to say very few people expected the bounce-back season Goff had this year under new offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. Detroit started the year a favorite draft a quarterback and now with Goff, who’s just 28, it could be set at the position for at least a few years.

Goff ended the year as a top-10 quarterback, ranking seventh or better in passing yards, touchdowns and passer rating, and he’s likely under pressure to perform at that level or better in 2023 with a healthy complement of weapons including Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams.

3. Aaron Glenn, defensive coordinator

There was a point in 2022 when it looked like Glenn might not make it through the season. The Lions had the worst defense in the NFL, they had lost six of their first seven games, and they couldn’t hold anyone below 24 points per game. Fortunately, a heart-to-heart with Dan Campbell and improved play from the pass rush helped Detroit hang in until the final week of the regular season.

However, if Detroit finishes next year with the last-ranked defense in the NFL, it’ll be awfully hard to make a case for bringing Glenn back in 2024 despite the multi-year contract extension he agreed to in February.