Every week during the regular season Tim Twentyman will answer 10 good questions from his X account @ttwentyman in a feature we call "10 Questions with Twentyman."
20man: The Lions traded a third-round pick for veteran cornerback Carlton Davis III this offseason and then pursued and signed cornerback Amik Robertson in free agency. A month later they drafted cornerbacks Terrion Arnold in the first round of the NFL Draft and Ennis Rakestraw Jr. in the second round. They moved Brian Branch from nickel to safety so he could play every down.
That's a lot of resources put into revamping the secondary, and to me that's the unit that has to step up. If it takes covering a half second or second more without Aidan Hutchinson, get it done. Find a way.
20man: I'd be surprised if the Lions didn't use the trade market to get some edge help, either with a front-line starter or depth.
The Lions reportedly checked in on the availability of veteran edge rusher Haason Reddick. I'd expect Lions general manager Brad Holmes to do his due diligence, but I also believe it has to be the right player and a culture fit. Not everyone can play here and fit into this culture.
20man: A lot of the players are the same, but the biggest difference watching it from my perspective is the emergence of wide receiver Jameson Williams in his third season. The Lions hit a couple deep shots to him in the first two games of the season and teams took notice and had to adjust. The Cardinals played two-deep safety the entire game trying to keep Williams in front of them, daring the Lions to run the ball. Detroit obliged to the tune of 188 yards.
If teams don't put a safety over the top, quarterback Jared Goff has so much more confidence and trust in Williams after they worked a lot together this offseason that he feels good about taking that shot and Williams is coming down with them. Just that consistent fear of Williams taking the top off the defense has opened up so much more possibilities for this offense, especially in the run game.
20man: This is the second year for Minnesota in DC Brian Flores' scheme and there's an inherent comfort level that comes with more time on task within the scheme. Guys play faster and understand what he's trying to do and they are much better this year at hiding where the rush is coming from and their coverages. The overall operation is just better.
Then look at some of the players they've added this offseason that are making a big impact early on. Two players I really liked in free agency were linebackers Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, and they fit Flores' scheme perfectly with their versatility. The two have combined for 7.0 sacks and six tackles for loss. Van Ginkel has two pick-sixes on the year. Minnesota ranks third in scoring defense (15.2 ppg), second in rushing (67.2) and fourth on third down (31 percent). Those are three key metrics to be good defensively.
I think the combination of the second year in the scheme and upgrading some personnel that fits the scheme better has really made a difference for the Vikings.
20man: T.J. Hockenson was a limited participant in Vikings practice Wednesday and Thursday and is getting close to returning after suffering a torn ACL late in the year against the Lions last season.
I had ESPN Vikings and pro football writer Kevin Seifert on my podcast this week and he thought it was more likely Hockenson would return next Thursday in Los Angeles as the Vikings have a short turnaround following the Lions game for a contest against the Rams.
20man: It's a good question because Jack Campbell is kind of the forgotten pick in last's year's draft class because Jahmyr Gibbs, Branch and Sam LaPorta have been so good. What I've seen from Campbell in his second year is a player who has gotten a lot more comfortable within the scheme and the game looks to have slowed down for him. I don't see him out of position very often. He leads the team in tackles (31) through five games. He's also got four tackles for loss and had that big forced fumble in the win over the Seahawks.
The one area he needs to continue to get better at is his pass coverage in space. Opposing passers have a 142.9 passer rating throwing at Campbell this season.
20man: Josh Paschal is going to be No. 1 on the list. He's looking forward to the opportunity. It's a big one for him in his third season. I could see Levi Onwuzurike play a little bit more of the big end role moving forward and I'm excited to see more of that. He's been good and I think his skillset can play there. The newest addition is Isaiah Thomas, who the team signed off the Cincinnati practice squad this week. He's got some physical traits that are appealing and now gets to work with one of the best in the business in Lions defensive line coach Terrell Williams.
The defense is going to miss Hutch, no question, but DC Aaron Glenn said Thursday he's really confident in the players they have and his ability to create a game plan that will get the most out of the players they will have Sunday and moving forward.
20man: I talked about the emergence of Williams earlier and when that happens, there are going to be some dips into other players' production. That being said, I'm not worried about LaPorta at all. It's a good problem for Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. He has too many good weapons and only one football. LaPorta had the big touchdown catch last week and I feel like his breakout performance from a catches and yards standpoint is coming.
Against Minnesota's aggressive blitz scheme this weekend where you need to get the ball out fast and win one-on-one matchups early, I wouldn't be surprised if LaPorta has his best game of the season Sunday.
20man: I thought Terrion Arnold had his best game as a professional last week in Dallas. He was aggressive, productive and avoided the penalties that had plagued him through the first quarter of the season.
The Lions coaches talk all the time about consistency and stacking good performances on top of one another. I'd like to see Arnold come out this week and play well again for a second week in a row. He's going to find himself matched up at times with the best receiver in the NFL in Justin Jefferson, so this is a great test for him and a great opportunity to have another good outing in a week when the Lions need some players to step up on that side of the football.
20man: I don't think we will see a lot of schematic changes.
"It's tough to lose a player like Aidan (Hutchinson)," Glenn said Thursday. "We all know the type of player he was, we all know the type of season he was having. But here's what we don't do. We don't ask guys to replace Aidan because everybody is his own man, and everybody has different traits and abilities.
"We ask those guys to be them. We try to put them in positions to be the best player that they can be. The one thing that I'm not going to do and the one thing that I don't want you guys to do is disrespect the guys that have been playing behind him or playing with him because those guys go out in training camp, OTAs, during the season, they bust their [butt] too to get an opportunity to come out here and play, and they're going to do a good job for us."
People have suggested Glenn will maybe blitz more, but Detroit's 31.3 percent blitz rate was already the sixth highest in the NFL. The defense isn't about one player, no matter how talented. It takes 11, and Glenn still feels like he has the personnel to run the schemes and game plans he wants to run.
