Lions fans could not have thought it’d come to this.
When the Detroit Lions got Alim McNeill back last October, Dan Campbell couldn’t contain his excitement. With the enthusiasm of Metallica dropping a new album, Campbell exclaimed in a local radio interview that McNeill was “freaking playing, man,” after missing the first six games of the year as he recovered from a torn ACL suffered last December.
Although the excitement was warranted as a player who had become a cornerstone in the middle of the defensive line, this season has been a disappointment as he’s rounded into shape. After not logging a single tackle during last Sunday’s loss against the Los Angeles Rams and just one tackle over his past three games, McNeill hasn’t looked like the same player. At this point, the 25-year-old and the Lions may need to chalk it up as a lost year as they look to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Lions Have a Tough Alim McNeil Decision to Make Down the Stretch
McNeill’s 2025 campaign has come short of the lofty standard he set over his first four seasons. A third-round pick out of North Carolina State in the 2021 draft, McNeill broke out with 43 quarterback pressures, five sacks, and an 86.8 overall grade in 2023, according to Pro Football Focus. He was also on his way to replicating that effort, logging a 79.6 overall grade but 45 pressures and 3.5 sacks over the first 14 games.
Those numbers helped McNeill secure a four-year, $97 million contract extension in Oct. 2024 and made him one of the league’s highest-paid interior defensive linemen. But his injury suffered in a Week 15 loss to the Buffalo Bills set up for an underwhelming return this season.
McNeill’s overall grade has dropped to a career-low 51.8 mark according to PFF, but the drop off can be seen everywhere. In addition to 23 pressures and one sack on 275 pass-rushing snaps, his pass-rush win rate has dropped from 14.5% last season to 11.1% this season. He’s also been a massive liability against the run with a career-low 45.0 grade and seven run stops on 176 rush defense snaps, and has been largely unnoticeable outside of the seven pressures he collected in a Thanksgiving loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Last week’s quiet game in Los Angeles should be the turning point for what the Lions can expect from McNeill in the final stretch, and it should have them considering a role reduction for the final three games. Rookie Tyleik Williams has played better as the year has progressed, and the tandem of DJ Reader and Roy Lopez could also pitch in to help McNeill remain fresher in passing situations.
This isn’t the end of McNeill’s time in Detroit, as he’s still effective enough to be a playmaker in 2026. But with three must-win games approaching to close the regular season, Campbell and his staff have to do what’s best for the team to keep their season alive.
That means shelving some of the excitement Campbell felt back in October and realizing that McNeill isn’t the same player this year.
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