Levi Onwuzurike rewarded Lions' patience with standout showing in Week 1

The Detroit Lions weren't sure what they were going to get out of former second-round pick Levi Onwuzurike this year. But the early return is promising.

Making the first start of his career, the 2021 second-round pick looked good against the Rams in Week 1. Pro Football Focus took note of his work.

This offseason, there was plenty of hype surrounding Onwuzurike's healthy return. After his 2022 season was lost to a major back injury that required a significant surgery and he was not impactful when he did play last year, Onwuzurike was firmly on the bubble as offseason work got going. Without big practice performances, he may have found himself on the chopping block. But he was fully healthy, really for the first time in his career, and was a consistent standout in OTAs and training camp.

A strong performance in his first career start serves notice that Onwuzurike is here to stay in 2024, and he may have turned a corner toward being the player the Lions felt they were drafting back in 2021.

Alim McNeill praises Levi Onwuzurike's Week 1 performance for Detroit Lions

Though the Lions defensive line didn't have a huge night against the Rams statistically, the front did enough to rattle Matthew Stafford at times and limit the damage from the Los Angeles ground attack.

McNeill was a key reason that was the case in the middle, but this week, he was more interested in talking about the impact that Onwuzurike made in arguably his first completely healthy regular season game with the Lions.

"Levi (Onwuzurike), that's who he is. That's the type of player that he is. He's worked and got himself back in that position to be Levi again and he's comfortable. You saw him. He got a sack (Sunday) night, so he's doing great. I'm really excited to see what Levi does."

Don't be shocked to see Onwuzurike gain confidence from a big performance and continue to stack quality weeks. It's the opportunity he has been working toward for a long time.