The Lions hope to take a step forward in head coach Dan Campbell’s second season on the job and one of the players who could help make that happen is defensive lineman Levi Onwuzurike.
Onwuzurike was a second-round pick last year and he appeared in 16 games as a reserve, but his preparation for the season was hampered by a back injury that he picked up in the offseason. Onwuzurike has remained in Detroit to work out at the team facility since the end of the season and head coach Dan Campbell sees the effort that Onwuzurike is putting in as a good sign for his chances of significant improvement this season.
“As we all know, you don’t make any greater jumps than you do from [year] one to two,” Campbell said, via Justin Rogers of the Detroit News. “That is the greatest jump that most guys make. . . . So we’re expecting him to take a leap forward, you know? I know he’s of the right mindset. . . . He’s put his money where his mouth is. I know that from a training standpoint, he’s got enough pride and he knows what he needs to do. Everybody learns at a different rate in this league, man.”
The Lions took Alim McNeill in the third round last year, so they have a couple of young linemen who could be taking a big step in 2022. If both progress as hoped, the Lions should be tougher to beat this time around.