Lions DC Kelvin Sheppard adding principles from NFL’s top defenses
· Yahoo Sports
Many Detroit Lions fans are eager to see what Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard has up his sleeve in his second year as the team’s defensive coordinator. After a frustrating season that started out so promisingly, the Lions defense needs to take a big jump in 2026. Some have suggested Detroit is in need of a schematic overhaul, while others believe a tweak to the existing system would be sufficient.
While we don’t yet know what’s in store for the Lions defense this upcoming season, Sheppard joined Fox 2 Detroit’s “Sports Office” show, and dropped a pretty interesting tidbit in response to a fan’s question about whether he watches some of the best defenses in the league.
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“That’s a part of my self scout, when I’m looking at myself and then just in general,” Sheppard said. “You always want to know. Say what you want—you don’t want to know about other people. B.S! You want to know what people at the highest level within your career is doing. So I stepped back and I pulled the (tape of the) top five defenses.”
Sheppard pointed specifically to three different defenses he studied: the Seahawks, the Texans and the Jaguars—teams that ranked third, second, and sixth respectively in points allowed last year. But it’s not as simple as just recreating those team’s defenses, he has to find aspects of their games that fit the Detroit Lions.
“Understand who you are and who they are,” Sheppard said. “We can’t go play a certain style that some of these teams play, whether that be personnel, complementary football and what we’re trying to do here knowing the offense that we have, so on and so forth. […] If it’s something that’s applicable to us is there, we apply it. And I’d be lying to you if I said I didn’t kinda pick and prod. And some things that felt right within what we do as our core principles, we applied it, and I think it’s going to make us better.“
As to what some of those changes are, Sheppard didn’t provide much detail. However, he may have let one thing slip, as he talked about some of the new faces on the Lions defense.
“The nickel position, a critical position within the defense, wanting to expand upon how much volume we use the nickel,” Sheppard said. “Who is that going to be? It was Amik Robertson the last two years. So who is that going to be? It’s a lot of guys that are in flux, but a guy that’s kinda popped to me early Roger McCreary has come in and done a great job.”
Last year, the Lions were in subpackages just 34 percent of the time per Sharp Football Analytics, the lowest rate in the NFL by a significant margin. It’s worth noting that the Seahawks (first), Jaguars (10th), and Texans (11th) all were in the top half of the league in subpackage percentage. With no more Alex Anzalone at linebacker and a lot of free agent additions in the secondary, Detroit may lean on their defensive backs a little more in 2026.