DetNews: 3 of 3 Lions final grades: Does Dan Campbell deserve a 'freaking F' for 2025?

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# Lions final grades: Does Dan Campbell deserve a ‘freaking F’ for 2025?
full link at article

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Coaching: C

Speaking with reporters after Week 18’s win over Chicago, Lions coach Dan Campbell was asked how he’d grade his own performance in 2025. He was harsh, giving himself “a freaking F” because the team fell short of the postseason. “We didn’t get in,” Campbell said. “We underachieved.”

Our grade here reflects the coaching staff as a whole, but its obviously heavily impacted by Campbell, who took play-calling duties from former offensive coordinator John Morton in Week 10 and never looked back. There was early optimism Campbell could remedy a few of Detroit’s issues — an inconsistent run game and the misuse of some players, like Jameson Williams and David Montgomery — but the Lions had similar warts in the back half of the season, and they actually averaged less points with Campbell (26.5) calling plays than Morton (29.9).

Campbell does deserve credit for unlocking Williams, and the offense did excel a handful of times under his guidance. Most notably, the Lions posted 34 points in a loss to the Los Angeles Rams in December. Only one other team scored more points against the Rams this season (Seattle Seahawks, 38), and overtime was required.

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Special teams: B+

With the NFL tweaking its kickoff rules prior to the start of 2025 — the ball is now placed at the 35-yard line after a touchback — there was a massive uptick in returns, with teams combining for more than 2,000 this season, much higher than the 980 from 2024. The Lions accounted for 66 of those returns, with Jacob Saylors (33), Tom Kennedy (16), Kalif Raymond (six) and Craig Reynolds (five) each chipping in at least five attempts.

The Lions averaged 26.6 yards per kickoff return, 10th-highest in the NFL. On punts, their average return (8.3 yards) was 23rd, though they fielded more balls than any other team, with 35. Special teams coordinator Dave Fipp defended Detroit’s approach on punt returns, explaining how he’d rather have a 1-yard return that drags down the average versus a fair catch that nets zero yards. To Fipp, that one yard is valuable, even if it means catching a punt inside his team’s own 10-yard line, which Kalif Raymond did multiple times.

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I decided to make a separate post on the Sheppard portion of the article.
The bolded section is by me as I think many folks don’t recall the good portion of the season.

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Defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard showed promise early in the season and, honestly, deserves a little more grace, given how he inherited this defense and most of its personnel from former DC Aaron Glenn. Sheppard’s unit was strong in more than half of Detroit’s contests before the bye week, but the wheels fell off down the stretch, allowing every opponent from Weeks 12-16 to score at least 27 points.

Should the Lions stray from their man-heavy, stack-the-box, crush-the-can approach on defense? It’d probably be wise, though difficult to do, considering the players on the roster. There is some opportunity for change, however, as a number of key defenders are becoming free agents, such as Alex Anzalone and Amik Robertson, as well as every defensive end outside of Aidan Hutchinson and Ahmed Hassanein. There wasn’t much wiggle room for Sheppard in 2025. He’s got a chance to make some alterations for 2026.

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Reposting links to the Detroit News grade for the offense and the defense posted earlier this week.

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