Defensive Outlook
The Lions secondary has been revamped with new additions via trades, free agent signings and the draft. Despite new additions being made to the pass defense, it remains to be seen if it actually does anything to improve it as they did lose their star player in the pass stopping game.
Also, this goes to all defensive positions but especially for the cornerbacks, they were unable to form a bond amongst each other as there was no game action leading up to the regular season.
The defensive line leaves lots to be desired as the front office relatively ignored the need to add pass rush help. While Flowers still remains with the team, they did let go of Damon “Snacks” Harrison and replaced him with less than ideal options in Shelton and Williams.
The middle of the defense should see improvements though as they brought in more versatile linebackers who can both rush the quarterback, aid in stopping the run game and play back to cover opposing wideouts.
For the 2020 season, the Lions are expecting their safeties, cornerbacks and perhaps the linebackers to stop balls in the air but the team may have trouble stopping the run game. This could cause opposing teams to rely on the ground attack more which would cause trouble for the Lions.
As there were no preseason games (which hurts the team), the defense is widely unproven and no one will really know how they will perform until we actually see them in action.