These 5 Lions Defenders Are Grading Worse Than You’d Expect

The Detroit Lions will travel to Arizona to take on the 1–3 Cardinals, where Lions offensive coordinator Drew Petzing will have his first chance at revenge against his former team. Hopefully, Petzing can not only get his revenge with the offense, but also help Kelvin Sheppard and the defense expose the weaknesses of Trey McBride, Jacoby Brissett and Michael Wilson.

Detroit’s defense will need all the help it can get. The Lions have shown they cannot shut down opposing quarterbacks this season, with all four quarterbacks they have faced throwing for over 300 yards. In fact, when looking at all of the Lions’ Pro Football Focus grades, the bottom 15 grades belong to defenders.

We all know how bad the cornerbacks have been, as three of the bottom five grades belong to them. Rock Ya-Sin is dead last with a 42.4 grade, followed by Roger McCreary at 56.0. and Ennis Rakestraw at 57.4.

But what if we removed the cornerbacks from the equation?

The bottom five players might shock you.

1. Jack Campbell — 50.3

Jack Campbell currently has the worst PFF grade on the Lions when you exclude the cornerbacks, which I think everyone can agree is one of the most shocking developments of this season.

Just last year, Campbell was named a first-team All-Pro. He finished last season with a 90.3 PFF grade, which ranked second among all linebackers. He also had a 93.0 run-defense grade, which ranked first among all linebackers. Campbell also posted a solid 75.7 pass-rush grade, ranking 11th, along with a respectable 71.7 coverage grade.

Campbell’s numbers have taken a complete 180 this season.

He currently has a 67.2 run-defense grade, ranking 26th, and a horrible 50.5 pass-rush grade, which ranks 69th out of 74 qualifying linebackers. But it gets even worse when it comes to coverage. Campbell has a 44.5 coverage grade, ranking 63rd.

Campbell has not forced or recorded a single turnover this season and has no sacks.

Needless to say, Campbell has to turn things around, especially for a player wearing the green dot.

2. DJ Wonnum — 53.2

Over the past four seasons, Wonnum has hovered around a mid-50s overall PFF grade, but this is his worst grade since 2021.

Wonnum has been serviceable as a pass rusher, with a 63.8 grade that ranks 50th out of 110 qualifying edge rushers. What is really bringing his overall grade down is his run defense.

Wonnum currently has a horrible 39.6 run-defense grade, which ranks 109th among edge rushers.

Outside of his run defense, Wonnum has been pretty solid. He currently has three sacks, four QB hits and eight QB pressures. He has also done a great job getting his hands up at the line of scrimmage, batting down two passes, which is tied for the most among all edge rushers.

If Wonnum can improve his run defense, he could become a top-50 edge rusher. Until then, his struggles against the run are only hurting the Lions.

3. Skylar Gill-Howard — 58.1

For me, this number seems a little too low.

Gill-Howard was a sixth-round pick this season, and despite his low PFF grade, he has been impactful when given the opportunity.

Through just 136 total defensive snaps, Gill-Howard has recorded 11 total pressures, which ranks first among rookies, two QB hits, which ranks second among rookies, and eight QB hurries, which ranks first among rookies

Gill-Howard currently has a 57.1 run-defense grade, ranking 50th out of 134 interior defensive linemen, along with a 59.1 pass-rush grade, which ranks 73rd.

For a rookie, Gill-Howard has done just fine, and I expect his role to continue growing throughout the season.

4. Tyler Lacy — 61.9

Lacy has played just 103 snaps, so he is the player on this list I am least concerned about.

His run-defense grade currently sits at 62.9, ranking 53rd out of 110 qualifying edge rushers and putting him well ahead of Wonnum’s 39.6 grade.

Despite being one of the lower-graded players on the Lions, Lacy is currently having the best PFF-graded season of his career and is on pace to play the most snaps of his career.

Considering his limited workload, there is still plenty of time for Lacy to improve his overall grade.

5. Christian Izien — 63.3

I know Christian Izien could potentially be categorized as a cornerback, but I grouped him with the safeties for this list.

Izien currently has a 60.9 coverage grade, which isn’t too bad and ranks 41st out of 93 qualifying safeties.

What stands out the most, however, is his pass-rush grade.

Izien has shown that he can be an elite blitzer, earning an 82.0 pass-rush grade, which ranks fifth among all safeties. He also leads all safeties with 10 defensive stops.

For those unfamiliar, a stop is a tackle made by a defender that results in a failed play for the offense.

Izien has allowed a high 125.7 passer rating when targeted, but he has allowed just 7.5 yards per reception, which ranks 18th among safeties.

With Brian Branch returning, Izien should be able to contribute even more in different aspects of the game.

Izien has already surpassed the number of snaps he played last season, recording 163 snaps through three games. His overall PFF grade is also the best it has been since his rookie season, when he played 718 snaps and posted a 66.8 overall defensive grade.