Fun fact: the Detroit Lions generated 13 interceptions in 2025.
Kerby Joseph, despite an injury shortened season, had three of them. D.J. Reed - again, despite an injury-shortened year - had two.
One player that contributed to those takeaways that you might be surprised to read? Thomas Harper.
The safety is headed into training camp this season as a member of the "Legion of Whom" from last year that survived the offseason. He, Rock Ya-Sin, and Nick Whiteside may figure to be much larger figures on the Lions defense for 2026 than originally anticipated thanks to injuries to their safety room, as well as due to the release of Terrion Arnold.
Harper, specifically, seems poised to really boost his stock in training camp with an open competition at safety underway.
Harper could see a huge stock boost headed into training camp
Harper recently spoke to MLive's Kory Woods about his preparation for this coming camp, sharing that he's locked in to cutting down on some mistakes that were prevalent in his play last year - specifically, sometimes not following his assignment within Kelvin Sheppard's defense, and also picking the wrong choice between going for an interception or just going for a batted pass.
“Like, am I playing through the man, or am I going to get a pick? Knowing what to do in this scenario. I think just improving that part of my game, which comes with time and experience.
“The main thing for me is not repeating the same mistakes that I did last year and just building upon that.”
Harper generated that one pick, but struggled in coverage in key performances. He had a blunder in coverage against the Green Bay Packers in a key divisional battle on Thanksgiving, and according to Woods' reporting, that play still haunts Harper as he trains in Tennessee before headed back to Michigan for training camp.
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The Lions' safety room presents the greatest opportunity for basically anyone to step up in place of Joseph and Brian Branch, and Harper is right in that conversation despite Chuck Clark and Christian Izien reportedly getting starters snaps in OTAs and minicamp.
As Sheppard, and head coach Dan Campbell, have harped on throughout this offseason, there are open competitions everywhere on this Lions roster. Cuts have to be made, and a practice squad has to be formed.
Detroit doesn't want to mess around with trying to figure out what kind of defense they're throwing out this season, and open competition should help the Lions to square this unit away. Harper seems ready to face that music, and make the most of his opportunity after an up and down 2025.
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