Dan Campbell confirms worst-case scenario for Lions DT Levi Onwuzurike

The Detroit Lions defense was ravaged by injuries last season, and this season is not off to a good start. Head coach Dan Campbell spoke to reporters before the team's first training camp practice on Sunday, and announced defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike is out for the season with a torn ACL.

"Let me start with Levi. Levi’s out for the year," Campbell said. "Levi’s surgery, it was significant but it needed to be done. Out of his control, so he will miss the season.” 

When the Lions announced players who would start camp on the Physically Unable To Perform (PUP) list, Onwuzurike's placement on it invited the idea his past back issues have cropped up again, as he would miss at least the first four games of the season. He missed the entire 2022 season after having a very significant back surgery, and caution was clearly the word as he only played 10 games and 132 defensive snaps in 2023 despite apparently being healthy.

Last season Onwuzurike was absolutely healthy, playing 16 games (10 starts) as he was productive beyond the traditional box score. He lined up across the defensive line to help fill injury voids, and Pro Football Focus graded him out as a top-30 defensive tackle in the league. His pass rush win rate (12.5 percent) and total number of pressures (47) were both top-15 among defensive tackles.

Levi Onwuzurike has probably played his last snap as a Detroit Lion

Onwuzurike seemed set to cash in a bit in free agency off his breakthrough last season, but he came back to the Lions on just a one-year, $4 million deal as the rest of the league apparently wanted to see him do it again in 2025.

Onwuzurike got some traction as a potential late first-round pick as the 2021 draft approached, but the Lions made him the second draft pick of the Brad Holmes/Dan Campbell regime early in the second round (No. 41 overall). Back issues from his college days at Washington bothered him as a rookie, but he played in 16 games before being injured more severely during the first practice of 2022 training camp and having the aforementioned back surgery.

Now headed for free agency in 2026 when he'll be coming off an entire season on the shelf, Onwuzurike has all but surely already played his last snap as a Detroit Lion. And what the broader market for his services will look like next March is a huge question.