The Detroit Lions' defensive style has been built around an identity of physicality.
Defensively, the Lions pride themselves on being a team that challenges opposing wide receivers with physical press-man coverage. As a result, it is no surprise that there were two players from the 2024 team within the top-10 of Pro Football Focus' most physical defensive backs list.
Last season, PFF introduced a new metric charting the most physical defensive backs based on how often they made contact with opposing receivers. Leading the league with contact on 50.5 percent of snaps was former Lions cornerback Kindle Vildor.
Serving as a depth option for the secondary last season, Vildor appeared in all 17 games with two starts and played a total of 244 defensive snaps. After nearly two full seasons with the Lions, he signed a one-year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this offseason.
"Vildor was extremely physical in 2024 with the Lions in a part-time role. Mostly seeing action in dime packages and when the defense started suffering injuries later in the year, Vildor got his hands on opposing receivers more than 50% of the time — but mostly to his detriment," wrote John Kosko. "He was called for four penalties on 100 coverage snaps where he made contact with the opposing receiver and also allowed six first downs and 1.54 yards per coverage snap on those plays, resulting in a 29.1 PFF coverage grade."
Also making the list was fellow former Lion Carlton Davis, who ranked sixth at 42.3 percent. Davis departed Detroit to sign a three-year contract with the New England Patriots worth up to $60 million with incentives.
"Our second Lion to make the list, Davis heads to New England after one season in Detroit," Kosko said. "He doubled his physical-snap total in 2024 from the previous two seasons when he played with the Buccaneers. He allowed a 40.6% completion rate and has surrendered just one touchdown the past three seasons when making contact with opposing receivers."
Here is a collection of Detroit Lions headlines on Friday, June 20.
1.) The Detroit News outlined the Lions' hopes for the development of offensive tackle Giovanni Manu.
2.) The Detroit Free Press debated which Lions players have been most impactful on the organization this offseason.
3.) The Athletic discussed which offensive players are the most important for the coaching staff to develop ahead of the 2025 season.
