With Levi Onwuzurike out for the season, how will the Detroit Lions replace him?
After years of battling injuries, Levi Onwuzurike rebounded in 2024 with a career-best season. Yet instead of a breakout 2025 season, Onwuzurike will instead spend it rehabbing from an ACL injury .
It was a difficult blow for the Detroit Lions , not even a day into their training camp. The mystery of his reserve/PUP placement a few days ago was answered on Sunday in devastating fashion. Now the Lions have to find answers for themselves: how will they replace a player like Onwuzurike?
Today’s Question of the Day is:
How should the Detroit Lions replace Levi Onwuzurike?
My answer: With multiple in-house players.
As usual, whenever a significant injury arises, there will be talk of finding a solution via trade. However, I think that is firmly out of the question for the Lions. The Lions under general manager Brad Holmes have rarely made knee-jerk reaction trades, and though Onwuzurike was a valuable piece on defense, he is one they can survive without. The Lions have options already on the depth chart. It may not be a sexy solution, but the fact remains that the coaching staff has plenty of faith in their depth options and plenty of creativity to make it work.
To figure out how to replace Onwuzurike, we need to examine his role. Though a defensive tackle by name, he filled a versatile role for the Lions in 2024. Of his 697 snaps last season (fifth-most on defense and the most among linemen), he spent over half of them on the outside. This was partly due to the monumental number of injuries at defensive end, but it nonetheless spoke to his ability to play inside and out.
In terms of one-to-one replacements, the two likeliest in-house options are Mekhi Wingo and Pat O’Connor. Wingo, a 2024 draft pick, saw the field in limited fashion before suffering a season-ending injury. He has some pass rushing pop with the flexibility to play across multiple defensive line spots, but the biggest question mark for him is experience: he missed nearly half of his rookie season, and we have not yet seen Wingo in training camp . As for O’Connor, he was primarily a defensive tackle with the Lions last season, but experience is his strength: not only has he played both inside and outside over his NFL career, he is also reuniting with defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers from their time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers .
The Lions have some options that can fill a similar role, but the likelier solution is a committee approach.
Returning Aidan Hutchinson to the lineup will be the biggest boost that the Lions get this year, and with his size (6-foot-7, 268 pounds), he can play inside on some passing downs—not a perfect replacement for Onwuzurike, but it gives the Lions options. Similarly, the Lions are betting on Marcus Davenport to return to health across from Hutchinson. As another towering defensive lineman (6-foot-6, 285 pounds), he and Hutchinson could be used in NASCAR packages, in which two large-yet-quick linemen rush from the interior.
With a healthy Hutchinson and Davenport, the Lions can lean on the likes of DJ Reader, Roy Lopez, and Tyleik Williams along the interior. None of these tackles will line up outside in a regular capacity like Onwuzurike did, but by solidifying the interior with disruptors, the Lions can replicate his impact in a different way. There is value in having your best talent on the field, and even without Onwuzurike, the Lions have multiple talented players at their disposal. This does not even factor in Alim McNeill and his eventual return from injury.
Losing Onwuzurike is a blow to the defense, without question. That being said, there are still enough chess pieces on the board to create a threatening defensive line. I do not believe that the ceiling for this front seven has changed much. What has changed, however, is the margin for error. The Lions can ill-afford more injuries up front.