By Sunday 
Detroit’s star-studded squad didn’t like what they saw. And they’ve got receipts.
If there’s one thing you don’t want to do ahead of a fired-up NFL season, it’s poke the Lions.
CBS Sports’ annual Top 100 player rankings dropped recently, and while eight Detroit Lions made the cut — more than most teams — a deeper look at the list tells a different story. Underappreciated. Undervalued. Maybe even disrespected. And you can bet the Motor City is revving up in response.
Aidan Hutchinson Leads the Pride
Let’s start with the bright side. Defensive end Aidan Hutchinson cracked the Top 20, coming in as the highest-rated Lion on the list — a jump from #47 last year. Despite a mid-season injury in 2024, Hutchinson’s 7.5 sacks in just five games were enough to earn him national praise. CBS even suggested he could be a Defensive Player of the Year candidate. So yeah, he’s good.
But he’s the exception. The rest of the pride? Not quite so lucky.
Sewell, Gibbs, and St. Brown: Snubbed?
Penei Sewell, arguably the best right tackle in football, somehow dropped from #17 to #21. This after anchoring one of the league’s best O-lines and making First-Team All-Pro again. The reasoning? A slight dip in his pass-blocking grade. But Lions fans know the truth — the man’s a brick wall in cleats.
Jahmyr Gibbs, the electric running back with over 1,400 total yards and 20 touchdowns, landed at #32. Not bad, but considering his second-year leap and game-changing explosiveness, it feels like a ceiling left untouched.
And then there’s Amon-Ra St. Brown. One of the most reliable and dangerous wide receivers in the league was stuck down at #58, behind lesser-producing players like CeeDee Lamb and Tyreek Hill. That one stung.
But don’t worry. St. Brown has a long memory. He’s known for keeping the names of every receiver drafted before him in 2021 — and you can bet this list is going straight on the bulletin board.
Goff’s Ranking Sparks Debate
Quarterback Jared Goff led the highest-scoring offense in football and threw for nearly 4,700 yards with 37 touchdowns. His reward? A spot at #77, somehow behind a rookie (Washington’s Jayden Daniels) and Baker Mayfield.
Say what you want about stats, schemes, or style — Goff’s the engine of this Lions machine. And he’s not about to let one list define his season.
A Super Bowl or Nothing Mentality
The rest of the Lions to crack the Top 100 include Kerby Joseph, Brian Branch, and Sam LaPorta, all rising stars deserving of recognition. But there’s a theme here: underrated, underappreciated, and overly motivated.
Head coach Dan Campbell built this team on grit. On biting kneecaps. On proving doubters wrong. So you can bet these rankings aren’t just going to be ignored — they’re going to be used.
As Amon-Ra St. Brown put it:
“The team’s mindset is Super Bowl or nothing.”
This CBS list? Just more fuel for the fire.