Which Detroit Lions players will take the biggest jump in performance during the 2025 season?
They say every NFL player’s biggest jump happens between Year 1 and Year 2. After a season spent preparing for the draft and learning an NFL playbook, Year 2 provides the relief and comfort of a familiar routine. That allows players to slow down, stop overthinking, and just focus on football.
But for the Detroit Lions , we’ve seen big improvements in just about every season of a players’ career. While Amon-Ra St. Brown took the step into superstardom in Year 2, it took Derrick Barnes and Alim McNeill three years. It took Levi Onwuzurike and Ifeatu Melifonwu four, and as Jameson Williams enters his fourth year, it seems like he’s only scratching the surface of his overall talent .
So instead of just predicting who takes the biggest Year 2 or Year 3 jump, let’s just open it up to everybody. Today’s Question of the Day is:
Which Lions player will show the most improvement in 2025?
My answer: I think there are so many good candidates for this answer. I’m excited to see Derrick Barnes with (hopefully) a full season at the SAM linebacker position. I do think this could be another breakout season for Williams. And after his first season as a full-time safety, I think it’s fair to think that Brian Branch takes it to another level in 2025.
But my answer is Terrion Arnold. We already saw significant improvement in his rookie season, with penalties becoming smaller and smaller of an issue, but I think there’s so much more room for him to improve. And the Lions coaching staff is raving about how hard he’s attacking his Year 2.
“He understands how they’re attacking him, and he found out about himself,” defensive backs coach Deshea Townsend said last week. “‘What do I do best? How can I make those strengths stronger? And my weaknesses, what do I do now, this offseason, to make them better?’ Just conversating throughout the process, before he got back, then he grabbed me right now, we were in the office watching tape just now. He is trying to be the best player he can be. That’s what it takes. You have to work on your craft. You have to find out how you can get better in the offseason. He’s working that.”
It’s hard to know if the Lions will consider him CB1 or CB2 after signing D.J. Reed this offseason, but it’s clear they will be leaning on him to improve. Does that mean he’ll suddenly have eight interceptions? No, probably not. The Lions defense tends to funnel those pick opportunities to the safeties because of their high man-coverage percentage. Still, I think we’re going to see tighter coverage from the Lions’ 2024 first-round pick, and certainly some bigger plays.
Which Lions player do you think shows the biggest improvement in 2025? Scroll down to the comment section and share your thoughts.