Free Press sports writer Dave Birkett answers three questions about the Detroit Lions offense that will help determine how far they go this year.
How long will it take the offensive line to jell?
The Lions have two new starters on their offensive line this fall and a third – All-Pro tackle Penei Sewell – playing a new position. No starter is playing next to anyone he played next to last year. And the Lions’ projected starting center, Cade Mays, suffered a wrist injury two weeks into training camp that will keep him out at least another month. That’s a lot of “new” up front, but Lions coach Dan Campbell said in July this line has a chance “to be an upgrade, and not just [by] a little,” over the one the Lions fielded last year.
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I think the line will be better – it’s the second youngest starting five in the NFL, according to ESPN – but it may take some time, and it may depend on Lions starters staying healthy. Sewell will be fine in his transition from right to left tackle. Second-year guard Tate Ratledge is an ascending player. Mays should be solid, too, if his wrist is healthy. I expect some growing pains from first-round pick Blake Miller at right tackle and the Lions need to see more consistency from Christian Mahogany at left guard in his third season, but they won’t look as lost as they did in Week 1 last year – and with every starter under contract through at least 2027 they have plenty of room to grow.
Is Jahmyr Gibbs ready to handle to a “bell cow” workload at RB?
Yes. And I don’t share many of the concerns others do about the best running back in the NFL taking on an increased workload. At least not in 2026. The Lions are at their best when Gibbs is on the field and heavily involved in the offense, and that’s the approach I’d take if I was coaching the team.
Gibbs had 243 carries and 77 catches last season – 320 offensive touches overall, not a small number. Christian McCaffrey led the NFL with nearly 100 more touches (413), but just five other backs – Jonathan Taylor (369), Bijan Robinson (366), James Cook (342), Derrick Henry (322) and Ashton Jeanty (321) – topped the 320 mark. Gibbs did Muay Thai training this offseason to prepare for a bigger workload and the Lions still will spell him with Jacob Saylors, Sione Vaki and, eventually, Isiah Pacheco in games. I think Gibbs is in line for 350 or so touches this fall in what should be a monster season. If you look at the history of backs, the year after they see a big uptick in work is usually when it takes a toll on their body, so I’d be more concerned about what it means for Gibbs in 2027.
How will the offense evolve under new coordinator Drew Petzing?
The Lions are on their fifth offensive play caller in Campbell’s six seasons as coach so they desperately need Petzing to have some success and stick around for more than one year. Petzing and Jared Goff seem to have the makings of a good relationship, and that’s always a good start for a new play-caller and quarterback. Petzing has largely kept in place the offense Goff and the Lions’ other skill players have had so much success in, in recent years, albeit with twists of his own.
I do think we’ll see more multiple-tight end sets this fall; there’s a reason the Lions have four tight ends on their current roster. And we saw a creative side to Petzing in practices this spring and summer that was reminiscent of some of the things Ben Johnson did while calling plays in Detroit. Petzing has said he wants to exploit matchups in personnel and have a ferocious running game and strike for big plays downfield. There’ll be plenty of dink-and-dunk, too, but this is an offense that has finished among the top five in the NFL in scoring every year since 2022. With Gibbs, Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams and a potentially improved offensive line, I don’t expect that to change.
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lions questions on offense, from Jahmyr Gibbs load to OL continuity
