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Heading into the 2025 season, the Detroit Lions’ linebackers room will be led by the starting trio of Alex Anzalone, Jack Campbell and Derrick Barnes.
Manning the middle of the field will be Campbell, who is entering his third year in the league. The Iowa product is coming off a career-best campaign in which he produced a team-high 131 total tackles, including five for loss, five passes defensed, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble. For his efforts, he earned a 77.4 overall Pro Football Focus grade, the 20th-best mark among 189 qualified linebackers. Additionally, he received an 81.5 run-defense mark from PFF.
The third-year pro will be flanked by Anzalone, Detroit's starting weak-side linebacker, and Barnes, the Lions’ starting strong-side linebacker.
Anzalone, an integral addition during the first free-agency period of the Dan Campbell-Brad Holmes era, is currently in the midst of a contract dispute with the organization. He was a no-show for the team's two sessions of OTAs, and there's a good likelihood he will fail to report to training camp on time.
Like Anzalone, Barnes – a 2021 fourth-round pick of the franchise – has been around since the beginning of the Campbell-Holmes regime. His 2024 season was cut short by a torn MCL and PCL which he suffered in Week 3 against the Arizona Cardinals.
Detroit is expected to carry six total linebackers on its active roster, and the organization will have multiple defenders in the mix for those final three spots.
Presently, it seems like offseason acquisition Grant Stuard, who was signed at the beginning of free agency, has the best shot at being the team's top reserve linebacker coming out of camp.
Stuard suited up for all 17 games with the Indianapolis Colts a season ago, notching 40 total tackles, including two for loss.
Malcolm Rodriguez, the Lions’ primary backup linebacker last season, suffered a torn ACL in his right knee against the Bears on Thanksgiving Day. And subsequently, he's expected to begin the 2025 campaign on the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list and miss the first two months of the season.
Roster bubble
Based on the above, it appears the Lions have two linebacker spots up for grabs headed into training camp. And the list of contenders includes Ezekiel Turner, Trevor Nowaske, Zach Cunningham, Anthony Pittman and DaRon Gilbert.
At this present juncture, I believe that those final two spots will come down to a battle among Turner, Nowaske and Cunningham.
Turner, entering his eighth NFL season, split time between the Houston Texans (one game) and the Lions (nine games) in 2024. Meanwhile, Nowaske, also a member of Detroit last season, proved to be a valuable asset for the team's injury-ravaged linebackers group. The Saginaw Valley State product amassed 23 total tackles, including two for loss, two sacks and an interception in 14 games (two starts) last season.
As for Cunningham, he brings a wealth of experience to the position group. A 2017 second-round selection of the Texans, he logged seven games with the Denver Broncos a year ago. The 30-year-old was signed by Holmes & Co. in late May.
With all that said, it looks like Pittman and Gilbert will both be on the outside looking in when the Lions set their season-opening, 53-man roster.
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