A lot has changed since the Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl in dominant fashion over the New England Patriots. Trades, signings, departures, and draft picks have all reshaped each franchise heading into the 2026 season.
For the first time since the Seahawks' Super Bowl win, ESPN has released a new power rankings, revisiting each team after their flurry of offseason moves. These rankings are voted on by a "power panel of more than 80 writers, editors and TV personalities," so it's more than just the option of one person.
And it seems that "power panel" wasn't too impressed with the Lions' offseason.
The new power rankings have the Lions at #11, which is four spots down from the #7 spot they were in the previous post-Super Bowl ranking in February. The article doesn't explain what warranted the Lions' falling, whether it was the belief that the Lions got worse overall, or if they were passed up by teams that improved more.
As for who passed the Lions in this power ranking, it's not pretty. The Philadelphia Eagles, who were originally at #8 behind the Lions in the previous rankings, vaulted up to #5. Another bird team, the Baltimore Ravens, moved up from #14 to #10, just ahead of the Lions right now.
And those two other teams in between the Eagles and Ravens? The Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears. The Packers moved up from #10 to the Lions' former spot at #7, while the Bears moved from the Lions' current #11 spot to #9.
As of right now, this ranking suggests that the Lions went from the best team in the NFC North entering the offseason to the third-best team after free agency and the draft, which is fairly consistent with other recent power rankings.
ESPN does have the Lions as the seventh-ranked team in the NFC, which may initially seem like they think the Lions are still a playoff team. However, because the NFC South winner is guaranteed a playoff berth, and no NFC South team is ranked ahead of the Lions, the Lions would be the odd team out of the playoffs if this power ranking ends up being the final standings.
Of course, this is a power ranking created in May. Still, it does reflect some of the disappointment that a segment of the Lions fanbase has with the subdued Lions offseason, lacking in bold, splashy moves, while watching players like EDGE Al-Quadin Muhammad and linebacker Alex Anzalone walk in free agency.
The Lions certainly look overall improved, but are they improved enough, or as much as they could've realistically been? Those questions likely lingered with voters, resulting in the Lions dropping.
The area the Lions most improved in
This power ranking is more than just listing teams. The central topic of this ranking is how much teams have improved. For each team, that team's writer gives their opinion on which position the team they cover improved the most in.
For the Lions, Eric Woodyard says the Lions' most improved at offensive tackle, thanks to the team drafting Blake Miller in the first round and the signing of Larry Borom.
"Detroit's offensive line wasn't up to par in 2025, finishing with the second-worst pass block win rate in the NFL last season (56%). This offseason, the Lions beefed up their offensive tackle depth alongside Penei Sewell. They drafted Clemson's Blake Miller with the 17th pick after releasing veteran left tackle Taylor Decker in March. Miller started at right tackle for all four years in college.
Detroit also signed Larry Borom, who has experience at guard and at both tackle spots."
READ MORE: Lions' 2023 draft day trade named its "most impactful" by team reporter
In the previous ranking, team writers had to give three words to describe their team's upcoming offseason. Woodyard went with "Retool offensive line," and the Lions did just that. Not just with the OT position, but through the signing of center Cade Mays as well as guards Juice Scruggs and Ben Bartch to compete at left guard.
This retooled offensive line may not be enough to impress ESPN's voters to keep the Lions in their top ten, but it should make a world of a difference for a Lions team that was still high-scoring last season despite the OL.
If the Lions want to prove ESPN's power ranking wrong, in a positive way, that new look OL needs to play like the dominant OL everyone's grown to expect out of the Lions in recent years. If they can, expect the Lions to surge in all power rankings throughout this season.
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