The Lions come in somewhat high in my power rankings, but they finished with a pretty strong 9-8 record in 2022 and they just feel like they're ready to make the playoffs in 2023.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff looks like he's playing his best football. Goff and the Lions were a top five offense in 2022! The Lions receiving core is sneaky good with Amon St. Brown and Marvin Jones as their main receiving targets.
I like who the Lions have at running back. They added a proven steady producer in David Montgomery. Montgomery is only entering his fifth season and he's had over 1,000 yards from scrimmage in four consecutive seasons. That's a way to start a career.
In addition to Montgomery, the Lions drafted a great running back prospect out of Alabama in Jahmyr Gibbs.
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The Lions could have a nice running back duo on their hands.
The Lions traded tight end T.J. Hockenson midway through the season in 2022 and so the Lions drafted Sam LaPorta, a tight end out of Iowa, in this past draft. A good choice considering Iowa's stellar history with tight ends.
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Defensively, the Lions must improve, but at least they've got a promising young talented second year defensive end to build with in Aidan Hutchinson. AND the Lions added cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson who just had six interceptions with the NFC Champion Eagles in 2022.
The NFC feels like a funny conference to really predict other than maybe the Eagles, but the Lions have a distinct identity with intense head coach Dan Campbell and positive momentum thanks to the team coming off their first winning season since 2017.
