Detroit Lions 2025 First Quarter Grades

Tight Ends: A+

Finally, an A+! The tight end unit is thriving in year one of John Morton calling the shots.

Sam LaPorta has 177 yards, which has him on pace to surpass last years’ numbers. With LaPorta being one of the lone offensive bright spots in Detroit’s only loss, that inflates the grade a bit.

Brock Wright has produced the only tight end touchdown of the season so far, and his 28 yards put him a bit above pace to surpass his yardage from last season as well.

Shane Zylstra getting injured early puts a small damper on things, but not enough to drop the grade.

Offensive Line: B+

There was an expectation of a transitional period with the Lions losing longtime center Frank Ragnow to retirement. Week 1 certainly proved those fears correct. Since then, the line has held up well.

However, the disaster of Week 1, with every offensive lineman having a bad play in a crucial spot, hurts the grade. Myles Garrett did not completely disrupt Detroit last week, and Tate Ratledge has held his own early in the season.

Taylor Decker has done an admirable job playing through his pain so far, but the fear of a setback looms large each time he is on the injury report.

Defensive Line: A

Brad Holmes took some heat for not making an aggressive effort to re-sign Za’Darius Smith this offseason. But so far, Holmes is not paying the price.

Aidan Hutchinson has regained his early 2024 form, with the Michigan product more disruptive every week. If not for an untimely flag, he would be tied for the league lead in sacks.

Al-Quadin Muhammad is already at 3.5 sacks, and was Lamar Jackson’s nightmare on Monday Night Football. Tyleik Williams has batted a few passes down and caused pass disruption, and teams are averaging under four yards per carry against the Lions so far.

Linebackers: A-

Kelvin Sheppard, a former linebacker, took the helms of the defense when Aaron Glenn left for New York. So far, the linebackers are thriving with Sheppard calling the shots. Four linebackers have taken down the quarterback this year at least once.

Jack Campbell continues to play well, Alex Anzalone is working well, and Derrick Barnes is getting back to form after injury. Overall, a few minor struggles on third down and against the pass dock them down.

Defensive Backs: B-

This unit has had the biggest struggles so far. Terrion Arnold is not having the second year that was expected of him, with multiple touchdowns, big plays and holding calls against him. DJ Reed gave up a few plays, too, before an injury put him on injured reserve.

Brian Branch has been all over the field for Detroit, but sometimes, a little bit too much. He has been whistled for inopportune penalties multiple times this year. If it was not for a multi-interception game against the Browns, the Lions' secondary would be looking in the ‘C’ range.

All the first-drive scores by opponents have come with the Detroit's defense getting gashed a time or two in the pass, and that hurts the final grades. The good news for the secondary is, while the unit is down Reed, it does play Bengals backup Jake Browning on Sunday.

Special Teams: A

Outside of a pair of Jake Bates missed field goals and a few penalties on kick returns, the Lions' special teams have done their job this year. Bates made up for one of his missed kicks by tying his career-long last week. Additionally, both misses have been attempts over 50 yards.

Hogan Hatten has yet to have a bad snap, and Jack Fox has had half his punts land inside the opponents’ 20-yard line.

On the return side, Raymond took a punt to the house last weekend, and gave the Lions a spark on a kick return where he stole the ball from Jacob Saylors.

However, the Lions have had two drives where their opponent has gotten a shorter field due to a penalty or missed tackles on the kick return, leaving the squad with room for improvement. 

Coaching: A

The Lions, outside of a Week 1 performance to forget, have capitalized so far this year. In their lone slugfest, against Baltimore, the Lions pulled ahead late.

With the other two wins being dominations of Chicago and Cleveland, there is a lot to like.

However, the game against Green Bay still looms large. Part of this was from the Lions knocking rust off after the whole starting unit did not play in the preseason.

Additionally, there was a brief bit of concern after a few stalled drives against Cleveland that the Lions were not doing enough, until the Raymond punt return broke the game wide open. 

Dan "Gamble" has been executing at a high level on his fourth-down calls, and the metrics agree with nearly all of his decisions to punt, kick or go for it. It has paid off well so far. 

Both first year coordinators have had a few growing pains, but the transition has been much closer to seamless than pulling teeth for Motown.