At just over the quarter point of the season the Detroit Lions head to their bye week with a 3-2 record. The bye week will be a good time for Detroit to rest and get some players back off injury and make a push in October and November ahead of the stretch run in December and January.
There have been some impressive individual performances for the Lions through the first five games that deserve highlighting. Here's a look at five players who have impressed to start the year:
1. Quarterback Jared Goff
Goff is playing at an MVP level. He joins Russell Wilson (2019) as the only players in NFL history to throw for at least 12 touchdowns with no interceptions through the first five games of the season.
Goff threw three touchdowns and ran for another in Detroit's 45-21 win over Arizona in Week 5. It was the 28th-straight game he's recorded at least one touchdown pass.
He is currently first in passing yards (1,485), second in touchdown passes (12) and third in passer rating (111.3) among the league's signal callers. He's playing the best football of his career to begin this season.
2. Defensive lineman Alim McNeill
McNeill said in training camp this year that when he returned last year midseason from an ACL injury he suffered at the end of the 2024 season, he didn't quite feel himself. He didn't fully trust the leg yet. That's common for players returning from major injury. This year he felt back to his explosive self again and we've seen the best version of McNeill through the first five games of the season.
He is graded among the Top 10 defensive linemen by Pro Football Focus and leads all interior defenders in total pressures with 23 through his first five contests. He's currently third on the Lions with 3.5 sacks and has added eight quarterback hits and four tackles for loss. McNeill is making a difference in the middle of Detroit's defensive front.
3. Running back Jahmyr Gibbs
How good has Gibbs been to start the season?
He joins Priest Holmes (2002), Emmitt Smith (1995), Erick Dickerson (1983) and Jim Brown (1958 and 1963) as the only players in league history to total at least 740 scrimmage yards and nine touchdowns through the first five games of a season. Not a bad list.
He has 504 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns to go along with 243 receiving yards and another two scores. He's been a versatile weapon in Detroit's offense. He just passed Barry Sanders for the most touchdowns by a player before the age of 25 with 58. He's one of the early favorites for Offensive Player of the Year.
4. Edge rusher DJ Wonnum
Wonnum has recorded a sack in three straight games for Detroit. He is coming off a two-sack Week 5 performance in Arizona and currently leads the Lions with 5.0 sacks on the season. He's had two multi-sack performances this season and has also chipped in seven quarterback hits, four tackles for loss, a pass defended and a fumble recovery.
Wonnum is a savvy veteran with an extensive tool box of pass-rush moves and he's been a consistent playmaker opposite Aidan Hutchinson to begin the season.
5. Tight end Sam LaPorta
LaPorta set franchise records at the tight end position as a rookie back in 2023 when he caught 86 passes for 889 yards and 10 touchdowns. He's on pace to smash those reception and yard marks in his fourth season. LaPorta's 27 receptions and 316 receiving yards are both the most produced by a Lions tight end through the first five games of any season. His three touchdowns are tied for most.
He came up with several critical catches in Detroit's Week 5 win over Arizona that sparked the offense in the second quarter. He's become a go-to pass catcher in critical moments for Goff.
"I thought (LaPorta) was the catalyst today for everything. He really was," Goff said after the Cardinals game. "He had the fourth-down conversion on the in-cut which wasn't a great throw, and he made a great catch. Then he had the fourth down, fourth-and-one touchdown.
"Then he had a number of other catches — the third down and long that I checked down to him that he went and I think he got us into fourth and one, which we then scored on. Those three plays alone changed the entire landscape of the game and he's a hell of a player and I'm happy he's on our side."
