For all that's made about the Detroit Lions lacking consistent juice from the edge rusher spot opposite Aidan Hutchinson, the pass rush has generally lacked consistency across the board around injuries and underachievement.
The Lions are attacking the need for more pass rush outside of Hutchinson with numbers to an extent. However, Brad Holmes finally devoted a notable resource to an edge rusher this offseason with second-round pick Derrick Moore.
Some of the improvement for the Lions' defensive front this season will have to come from players who were around last season though, and there are some early signs that will happen.
On a recent episode of the "Lions Collective" podcast, one of the bold predictions for 2026 from Will Burchfield of 97.1 The Ticket and Colton Pouncy of The Athletic were about the same Lions' player.
Two Lions reporters are all the way in on the same Lions' player for 2026
First up was Burchfield.
"On the defensive side of the ball I have Alim McNeill setting a new career high in sacks. His previous high was five in 2023. I think he breaks that this year. To take it a bolder step further, I’ll say that Alim McNeill finishes among the top five in defensive tackles in sacks.’
As Burchfield noted, a top-five mark among NFL defensive tackles in sacks last season was in the seven-sack range. That is realistically in play for McNeill this season.
After co-host Justin Rogers of Detroit Football Network suggested McNeill predictions are popular amongst the group, Pouncy took his turn and went a step further than Burchfield.
"Alim (McNeill) getting an All-Pro, whether it’s first or second team."
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As Pouncy said, McNeill looked to be on track for his first career Pro Bowl nod before he tore his ACL in 2024. In 2023, he had five sacks over 13 games in a breakthrough campaign after he had reshaped his body during the offseason.
Not long before he suffered that torn ACL, the Lions rewarded McNeill with a four-year, $97 million contract extension. While some have already said that makes him vastly overpaid, McNeill gets a mulligan for now.
Missed time in three straight seasons has prevented McNeill from taking his performance all the way to another level. Now, further removed from his major knee injury and after making it clear he feels like himself, he has a runway to start paying off the notable contract investment the Lions have made.
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