The Detroit Lions are still about one month out from seeing their entire team come together for training camp, with rookies set to report in just under 30 days.
Preseason and training camp should offer a major glimpse into just how much the teams' depth chart has shifted since the end of 2025, and since Detroit brought in a bit more optionality at positions of need through free agency and the draft.
However, we have already gotten a good idea of some players' stock rising and falling with OTAs and minicamp having come and gone. The Lions' winners and losers from those offseason programs are pretty clear as we enter a major lull in the offseason.
3 winners (and 2 losers) from Lions' offseason so far
Winner: Rock Ya-Sin
Ya-Sin was one of the Lions' better stories coming out of their disappointing 2025 season. The cornerback was playing a ton of starters snaps in place of Terrion Arnold and D.J. Reed throughout the year, and he managed to piece together a really solid first year with Detroit.
Team reporter Tim Twentyman recently wrote about Ya-Sin's excellent camp, sharing, "opposing passers had just a 51.9 completion percentage when throwing at Ya-Sin last year with a 72.6 passer rating and one touchdown."
Ya-Sin now has a fairly clear path towards starting for the Lions due to the unfortunate situation around Arnold and his arrest ahead of this season. But, prior to this, it did seem likely that Ya-Sin would be competing for, and potentially winning, the starting job over Arnold.
Winner: Aidan Hutchinson
Hutchinson finally has some added help in the pass rusher room! While we don't yet know how great Derrick Moore will be in just his rookie season, we do know that there's help for Hutchinson beyond Moore thanks to the entire defensive line getting healthier: Alim McNeill, for example, stands to be a big factor for Detroit's pass rush this season.
The potential for an excellent, borderline DPOY-worthy season from Hutchinson is higher thanks to the Lions' additions this offseason, and thanks to the team just getting healthier.
Winner: Jahmyr Gibbs
Gibbs has to know that he's going to potentially reset the market for running backs this season, or at the very least, get very close to it. His new status as the catalyst for the Lions' offense and for most of their run game means he's likely to get paid for his troubles, so there's no way he's not a winner in that process.
Additionally, its just sounded like Gibbs came into OTAs and minicamp extremely focused and healthy, which is a great thing to see out of a star player that could very well be sitting out until they have a new deal on the table. Gibbs, though, told reporters that he doesn't really care to focus on his impending extension, and would rather focus on the teams' improvement in 2026.
READ MORE: Another potential cornerback trade target for the Lions has been revealed
Loser: Giovanni Manu
Manu is one of two 2024 draftees that'll be making the loser end of this list, unfortunately. The tackle has yet to find any consistency as a backup on the line to either Penei Sewell or, previously, Taylor Decker, and the team is now experimenting with him at guard to try and find him a role on the offense.
However, making that sort of switch isn't just as easy as telling a player that this is their new role now. Manu might not transition well into guard, which leaves him vulnerable to being a cut candidate ahead of this season. If he can't show that he's a better option than, let's say, Ben Bartch, Juice Scruggs, or Miles Frazier at backup left guard, his time with the Lions will likely end this year.
Loser: Sione Vaki
Running backs coach Tashard Choice recently told reporters that he's been yelling at and disciplining Vaki the most in camp:
"He gets back on the field, does what he’s supposed to do, and he works his tail off. And so, when you got people like him that works hard, and then he wants to get better, that’s the easy part for me. It’s easy to be a coach when you have guys like that, so I gotta continue to push his envelope.”
This is all well and good, and it shows that Vaki is still willing to try and put in the work to be a contributor on the Lions' offense, but the experiment of trying to change him from a safety to a running back or special teams ace feels like it's beginning to fail. With the signing of Isiah Pacheco in free agency, too, it feels like Vaki's spot on this roster really relies on his ability to at least show he can be a contributor on special teams as a returner. Even then, that room is quite crowded for the Lions.
Seeing this potential in Vaki is great, but until it translates on the field in training camp or the preseason, it feels like a bit of fantasy to imagine him making this roster as a running back or on offense.
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