Lions will lean on veteran Maddox as backup safety, plan to let five youngsters battle for fourth spot

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Allen Park — The Detroit Lions arguably have the best safety tandem in the NFL. However, following the departure of Ifeatu Melifonwu this offseason, the team has lingering questions behind starters Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch.

Last week, position coach Jim O'Neil confirmed plans to use veteran free agent addition — and Detroit native — Avonte Maddox to partially bridge that gap.

"Avonte will be an inside player, similar to what he's done his whole career, as far as a nickel/safety body," O'Neil said. "That's what he's done at Philly for the years (he was there)."

A fourth-round draft pick out of Pitt in 2018, Maddox has spent his entire career with the Eagles. As a rookie, he primarily played free safety before moving into the team's nickel role, where he's logged the majority of his snaps since 2019. The notable exceptions are when he shifted outside for the 2020 season and briefly returned to safety for the team's Wild Card playoff game at the end of the 2023 campaign.

Beyond the veteran, the Lions intend to carry a fourth safety on the roster, according to O’Neil. Five young players will vie for that job.

That group includes a trio who were with the team last season.

Undrafted out of Ball State in 2024, Loren Strickland was a surprise addition to the team's initial 53-man roster out of training camp. He ended up appearing in seven games, with all of his 78 snaps coming on special teams.

"He kind of came onto the scene late in training camp, made some plays in the preseason," O'Neil said. "(He) kind of was bounced back and forth on the roster, up on special teams, down (to the practice squad). Didn't get much playing time on defense.

"He's one of those five that are fighting for a spot," O'Neil continued. "We've got five guys fighting for their NFL lives. It's going to be highly competitive. He's one of those guys. I'm just looking to see where his jump goes (in) Year 2, because usually, as a football player, that's your biggest jump, is going from Year 1 to Year 2."

Also looking to make that second-year jump is another undrafted rookie from a year ago, Morice Norris. The progress he had been making through his inaugural training camp was derailed by an injury, which led to his release. Nonetheless, he was brought back later in the year, briefly appearing in the regular season finale before he was pressed into 21 defensive snaps during the team's playoff loss to Washington.

The third returning safety is Erick Hallett, a sixth-round pick for the Jaguars, who spent almost all of last season on Detroit's practice squad.

Those players will be joined by newcomers Dan Jackson and Ian Kennelly.

Jackson, a seven-round draft pick out of Georgia, was a former walk-on who worked his way into a starting job on the Bulldogs' star-studded defense.

"I did a full (pre-draft) evaluation on him," O'Neil said. "Did a Zoom interview with him. I met with him down at the combine in Indy. It's a great story. It is. He's a smart kid. We talk about grit around here, there's probably not a player that's kind of gone through more of that in his college career than this guy.

"I mean, he stays at Georgia through six years, earns the right to start on that defense, plays really good for them around a bunch of guys (and) first-round picks," O'Neil continued. "I'm excited. He was kind of the alpha in the back seven, that did most of the communication. Very, very football smart. (We've) got to make sure he's not thinking too much, because, again, we've thrown a lot at him, and we've done that on purpose to kind of force some of these guys to sink or swim. But I've liked what he's shown out there so far in the week that we've had him."

The dark horse is Kennelly. At 6-foot-2, 209 pounds, he offers a prototypical build paired with impressive athleticism. The Utica Eisenhower and Grand Valley State product posted high-end results with his speed, agility and leaping ability at his pro day. He then wowed the Lions when he visited the team ahead of the draft.

"I didn't know anything about the kid, at all," O'Neil admitted. "He came to local day, and he crushed it. Not just the DB coaches observed it, (but) (special teams coordinator Dave) Fipp ended up gravitating over, (coach) Dan (Campbell) ended up gravitating over. It's like, 'Who is this kid?'

"Then we went back and we watched some of the tape, and some of the stuff we saw at the local day was showing up: Physical, could run, could obviously track the ball," O'Neil said. "We've been impressed with him. He's in a little bit of a blender right now, mentally, because of how much defense we've thrown at him and what he's used to at Grand Valley. But when we're in the position drills, you can see the athletic ability. You can see him track a ball. He's a great developmental player right now that I'm hoping develops into a damn good player for us."