Distilling a 53-man Detroit Lions roster for the first quarter of the 21st century
Allen Park — Believe it or not, we've experienced 25 seasons of Detroit Lions football since the turn of the century.
Admittedly, most of it hasn't been good. Anchored by one of the few winless seasons in NFL history in 2008, the team has won less than 40% of its games during that stretch, with only five postseason appearances.
The good news? Things have been trending up as of late. The team broke a three-decade skid without a division title, winning the NFC North the past two seasons. That earned the Lions their first home playoff game in Ford Field’s history and their first playoff victory since 1991. The team followed that up with a franchise-best 15-win campaign last season, although they couldn't replicate the previous year's postseason magic.
There's obviously plenty to reflect on at the quarter-century mark. However, we decided to put a different spin on the topic, producing a 53-man roster based on the performances of players who have worn the Honolulu blue since 2000.
Enjoy.
Quarterback (2)
In: Matthew Stafford, Jared Goff
First man out: Jon Kitna
Thoughts: There’s no need to shoehorn Kitna, Daunte Culpepper or Joey Harrington onto this roster. Stafford and Goff are more than enough.
Between them, they hold almost every meaningful single-season and career passing record in franchise history. Stafford tops the list when it comes to the majority of the counting stats, buoyed by his 5,000-yard, 41-touchdown season in 2011, while Goff reset the bar for efficiency by completing 72.4% of his passes and posting a 111.8 passer rating in 2024.
Who would be the starter between the two? I’ll leave it for you to debate. Stafford had more arm talent and racked up the fourth-quarter comebacks. Goff, meanwhile, is more efficient and has been the more consistent winner, including division titles and postseason victories that eluded his predecessor.
Running back (4)
Jahmyr Gibbs, David Montgomery, James Stewart, Theo Riddick
First man out: Kevin Jones