The Detroit Lions are a dark horse Super Bowl contender for 2023-2024, but the team must improve upon a defense that ranked near the bottom of the league for much of 2022. Aidan Hutchinson and James Houston return as dark horse potential NFL All-Pros for this season, but depth has been lacking for Aaron Glenn's unit.

The Lions and Head Coach Dan Campbell have been focusing on the offense lately as Amon-Ra St. Brown got a key injury update that fans will love. At least three players have seen their stock skyrocket with the team lately.

Rookie defenders Brian Branch and Jack Campbell were among those who put the Lions coaches on notice Tuesday, just one day before the end of training camp in Allen Park, Michigan.

Campbell told his guys to ratchet up the intensity and physicality before practice, with Branch and Jack Campbell among those responding.

“We’re going to try to put a load on our guys,” Dan Campbell said. “It’s going to be intense. It’ll be pretty physical, so I think yeah, potentially that’s what you could lose (without preseason reps), is some of that, but I feel like we can mimic that in practice, and we can do it in a controlled environment.”

Branch “absolutely blew up” a wide receiver screen during the practice intended for Josh Reynolds. Campbell followed Branch's big play up with a similar one of his own, showing why the Lions drafted him 18th overall out of Iowa this past offseason.

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The former Alabama Crimson Tide superstar Branch made his presence felt again on the offense's final drive of the day. He notched another tackle for loss and ended the opposing squad's final drive with an interception of a pass intended for Kalif Raymond. New offseason addition C.J. Gardner-Johnson has called him a “star.”

After dealing with a lack of depth at linebacker and in the secondary in 2022, the Lions suddenly have an embarrassment of riches at both position groups heading into the 2023 season. There are at least three preseason roster cuts that still could be made, but for now, Dan Campbell's Lions have plenty of bullets in the chamber heading into a likely week one shootout at Arrowhead Stadium against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.