On the roster: Aidan Hutchinson, Alim McNeill, DJ Reader, Marcus Davenport, Josh Paschal, John Cominsky, Mekhi Wingo, Levi Onwuzurike, Brodric Martin, Mathieu Betts, Chris Smith, Kyle Peko

Key losses: Benito Jones, Isaiah Buggs, Romeo Okwara

^with another team *college stats

Best competition: Rotation opposite Hutchinson

The Lions believe the addition of Davenport, a strong, veteran presence on the edge, is going to push more action to Hutchinson and allow a lot of those close opportunities where Hutchinson was just a half second or a step away from a sack to go into the stat sheet for him this season.

Hutchinson earned his first in what the Lions expect to be many Pro Bowl nods last season in his second year. He led the NFL in quarterback hits (23), was second in total hurries (67) and chipped in 11.5 sacks. He's a star.

Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn likes to rotate players upfront to keep them fresh, and it will be interesting to see how many combinations and different types of rushers he opts to deploy opposite Hutchinson.

Davenport, Paschal, Cominsky, Wingo and Onwuzurike all have inside-outside versatility, which gives Glenn a lot of options with some of the combinations he can use. Betts will be an intriguing player to watch in training camp. He led the CFL in sacks last season and showed some versatility in camp and the ability to play in space.

Inside, the addition of Reader is expected to make a huge impact. The Lions now employ two interior defenders in McNeill and Reader who both ranked in the Top 10 as run defenders by Pro Football Focus. Reader can also provide some pass rush too. He's recorded at least 30 quarterback pressures in each of the last three seasons. It's unclear when he'll be back on the field, however, as he's rehabbing a torn quad injury suffered last season while playing for the Bengals.

Twentyman's take: The additions of Reader and Davenport are big for the Lions' defense. Those are two proven veterans with a track record of production. Along with Hutchinson and McNeill, that's a dangerous starting unit upfront with good depth behind it.

Another huge addition is new run game coordinator and defensive line coach Terrell Williams, who is widely considered one of the best D-line coaches in the league. He'll get the most out of this unit.

What could really take this defense to the next level this season is if players like Paschal, Onwuzurike and Martin take the next step, and if Wingo can be as disruptive as the Lions think he can be.

Paschal, the former second-round pick, has battled injuries his first two seasons (12 games missed) but we've seen productive streaks from him. Onwuzurike is finally past the back injury that limited him early in his career. He looked good in the spring and he's entering a contract year. The Lions knew Martin needed development when they drafted him in the third round last season out of Western Kentucky, but going into his second season he needs to be a contributor.

Wingo is going to be a fun watch for me in training camp. He fell in the draft because of his size (6-0, 291) but he's got a terrific first step and knows how to use his hands. The Lions are going to use him both inside and along the edge because of his pass-rush prowess.

The Lions were second in the NFL last season in quarterback hits (77) and sixth in quarterback hurries (236), but their 41 sacks ranked just 23rd. Why is that significant? Last year, teams scored a touchdown or field goal 22.9 percent of the time when taking a sack on a drive. They scored a touchdown just 7.6 percent of the time on those drives.

Detroit revamped their cornerback room this offseason in the hopes that stickier coverage in the back end will give the players upfront more time to get to the quarterback. If that ends up being the case, the Lions' defense could be much improved in 2024.

By the numbers:

3.37: The Lions only allowed a rushing average of 3.37 yards on first-down runs last season, the lowest mark in the NFL.

12: Contests last season in which the Lions' defense held opponents under 100 rushing yards, the most in the league last season. Detroit's 1,509 rushing yards allowed last were second fewest and opponents' 3.7-yard average per rush was third.

15 & 4: Hutchinson is the first player in NFL history to record at least 15.0 sacks and four interceptions over their first two career seasons.

354: Total pressures generated by the Lions in 2023. That ranked sixth most in the league behind Baltimore (397), San Francisco (389), Miami (376), Dallas (361) and Cleveland (356).

Quotable: "In my head it just looks like destruction, to me, honestly," McNeill said at the conclusion of Detroit's mandatory minicamp about the duo of him and Reader. "There's no other way I can see it. Every time I close my eyes and visualize it, I just see destruction, honestly."