In one way, the Lions found an answer across from Aidan Hutchinson this season. In others, not so much. The position remains a question mark looking into next season.
Al-Quadin Muhammad had a breakthrough year, finishing 11th in the NFL with 11 sacks while playing for close to the veteran minimum. You can argue with the consistency of Muhammad's production, but that was a major win for Brad Holmes and the Lions, no two ways about it. Muhammad was one of the best bargains in the league.
But Muhammad, who turns 31 this offseason, is headed for free agency and looking to cash in. And as a pass-rush specialist who isn't trusted to defend the run, Muhammad doesn't really suit what the Lions have been seeking on the other side of Hutchinson. Even if they bring him back, they'll need more talent and depth at the edge position, with both Marcus Davenport and Josh Paschal looking like certain free agent departures.
As Holmes wrapped up a 9-8 season that he rightly called a "failure," he said Thursday that the Lions will take "the same approach that we took last year" in terms of searching for upgrades across from Hutchinson, whose career-high 14.5 sacks this season ranked fourth in the NFL.
To recap: the Lions didn't add an edge rusher in free agency and didn't take one in the draft until Ahmed Hassanein, a project in the sixth round. Their only external additions at the position were late-August wavier claims Tyler Lacy and Tyrus Wheat, neither of whom made much of an impact.
"The position wasn’t ignored in the draft, it just didn’t come together like how we would have liked it to be from a draft standpoint," said Holmes. "But you know, Muhammad played really well. I’m not sure many other teams had an 11-sack and a 14.5-sack guy. I thought the rush was good, but I understand he’s a free agent, Davenport is a free agent, so we’re definitely going to have to look and replenish opposite of Hutch, for sure."
It's true that the Lions were one of only three NFL teams this season with two players with double-digit sacks. The Texans (Will Anderson, Danielle Hunter) and the Saints (Cam Jordan, Chase Young) were the others. It's true that as a defensive end duo, Hutchinson and Muhammad combined for the third most sacks in the league.
It's also true that by pass rush win rate, Detroit's defense ranked 26th in the NFL. And that in terms of how quickly it pressured the quarterback, it ranked 30th. Even while producing 49 sacks, tied for fourth most in the league, the pass rush was slow to develop for much of the season. It was especially lacking in the interior, where Alim McNeill wasn't nearly as disruptive coming off a torn ACL.
Holmes said the Lions will have "honest and truthful" conversations about where they erred this season, in an effort to "re-calibrate this thing to just play more consistent football." If they're serious about that, it should lead to more aggression in acquiring talent at the edge position. The pass rush numbers might have looked good by the end of the year, but it was hardly a strength throughout the season.
Acknowledging that, and then attacking it, is one way for Holmes to back up his words, and boost his team.