By most counts, the Detroit Lions had a successful 2022 campaign. Though they fell short of the playoffs, the fact that they were competing down to the wire was a testament to the fortitude of the roster. The Lions had some obvious stars—Aidan Hutchinson, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Penei Sewell, to name a few—but a team’s talent goes beyond its core pieces.
Finding players to grind out the tough snaps is an underrated and underappreciated task. A quarterback sack looks impressive on a player’s stat sheet, but it often takes an entire defensive line for it to happen.