Three Division Rivals Made Picks That Could Haunt Detroit
While we’ve been busy breaking down Blake Miller’s film and debating whether Drew Petzing can fix the offense, our NFC North neighbors were quietly building their own problems for us. The Vikings, Bears, and Packers each made picks in the 2026 NFL Draft that could make life harder for the Lions down the road.
Here’s the one selection from each division rival that should have your attention.
Minnesota Vikings: Caleb Banks
Banks might not be an immediate headache in 2026 since he’s dealing with a foot injury this offseason. But once he’s healthy? This interior defensive lineman is going to be a problem.
He’s solid against the run and can rush the passer. The Vikings will likely plug him into their starting lineup as soon as his foot cooperates. The one silver lining here is that Pro Football Focus has not been kind to his tackling grades over the last couple years. Missing tackles in the NFC North is a recipe for long Sundays.
Chicago Bears: Dillon Thieneman
The Bears lost significant pieces in their secondary, but Thieneman has the profile of a guy who could stick around and annoy Lions fans for years. Think Harrison Smith but in a Bears uniform, which is exactly what nobody in Allen Park wants to hear.
He posted a 91.1 coverage grade at Oregon last year and an 87.1 tackling grade. The encouraging news is that despite those numbers, he still allowed a passer rating of 80.4 when targeted. He’ll make his tackles and break up passes, but he’s not bulletproof.
Green Bay Packers: Dani Dennis-Sutton
Plenty of Lions fans had their eye on Dennis-Sutton in the later rounds, but Green Bay snatched him in the fourth. With Micah Parsons expected to miss time early in the season, Dennis-Sutton could slide right into that role.
His versatility as a Sam linebacker gives the Packers options, and he can get after the quarterback. The bright side? Like Banks, he has a habit of missing tackles more often than Green Bay fans will appreciate.
Are we overreacting to division rivals adding talent, or should Lions fans actually be worried about these picks? Let me know what you think in the comments.
Honestly not losing sleep over any of these picks. Campbell and Holmes have shown they know what they’re doing in the draft, and if they wanted Dennis-Sutton they would’ve grabbed him. We’ve got bigger fish to fry on our side of the ball and I trust our front office is thinking two steps ahead like they’ve been doing.
Banks missing tackles is cool and all but let’s see him actually stay healthy first before we panic. The Vikings’ injury luck isn’t exactly stellar so maybe we catch a break there. That said, I’ll believe these guys are problems when I actually see them on the field doing damage to us in games.
This is what good teams do though, right? We build ours up and they build theirs up. The division arms race is real but that’s actually a sign that we’re finally in it as real competitors. Way better than the years when we didn’t have to worry about division rivals because nobody cared about us anyway.
Every division rival is adding talent that’s kind of the whole point of the draft lol. The question is whether our guys are better and our coaching can outscheme theirs and I’m betting yes on both counts right now.