The Detroit Lions come into the 2023 NFL season with high expectations after finishing 2022 with a winning record, knocking out Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in the last game of the season. With Rodgers gone, the NFC North appears to be up for grabs and the Lions have plenty of upward momentum with a young squad that features Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jahmyr Gibbs, Aiden Hutchinson in addition to other big talents acquired in the offseason.

Let's take a look at our crystal ball and give four bold predictions for the 2023 Lions.

 

1. Jahmyr Gibbs breaks the NFL record for most receiving touchdowns by a rookie RB

Rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs quickly supplants David Montgomery as the favored all-purpose back in Detroit, making good on his 12th overall draft selection by lighting up the field whenever he gets a touch. Although Gibbs still shares some of the early down between-the-tackles work with Montgomery, he becomes a favorite in the passing game for Jared Goff, who utilizes plenty of short dump-off passes once again.

Gibbs, who caught 44 passes in his last year at Alabama, gets behind his offensive line early and often in the screen game and takes a few early season receptions to the house. With Jameson Williams suspended and the Lions lacking explosiveness on the outside with Amon-Ra St. Brown, Gibbs lines up as a receiver multiple times a game with Montgomery in the backfield.

In the final week of the regular season against the Minnesota Vikings at home, Jahmyr Gibbs catches his 7th touchdown, breaking the NFL record for touchdown receptions (6) by a rookie held by Gale Sayers and Doak Walker that has belonged to Walker (a fomer Lions running back) for over 72 years.

 

2. Aiden Hutchinson finishes second in sacks with 16

After recording 9.5 sacks as a rookie, Aiden Hutchinson hits another gear and shows why he was the second overall selection in the 2022 NFL Draft. Thanks to a much improved secondary that holds up incredibly well in coverage, Hutchinson is allowed more time to generate pressure on quarterbacks, and feasts on a schedule chock full of young, inexperienced quarterbacks, highlighted by a three-sack performance against Jordan Love and the Packers.

Teams start to throw tight ends and running back help at Hutchinson, but it hardly makes a difference. With more faith in his secondary to hold their own, defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn dials up the defensive pressure with exotic blitzes that flush quarterbacks, only for Aiden Hutchinson to hunt them down.

The second-year star from Michigan finishes second only to Dallas Cowboys defensive end Micah Parsons, who leads the league in sacks.

 

3. Amon-Ra St. Brown leads the NFL in receptions

With Jameson Williams suspended for the first six games, rookie tight end Sam LaPorta still learning the ropes and the Lions lacking a true No. 2 wide receiver, Amon-Ra St. Brown explodes with huge performances as Jared Goff's preferred target and racks up a league-leading 124 receptions in a true breakout third season.

With his 124 catches, St. Brown breaks Herman Moore's Lions franchise record of 123 catches in 1995. Teams have no answer for St. Brown's short area quickness, as he routinely finds gaps in zone defenses as Goff's go-to guy in every passing situation.

St. Brown's biggest game comes when the Lions need it most in a Week 14 win against the Chicago Bears where he racks up 15 receptions in a comeback victory to help give the Lions a commanding lead for the division.

 

4. The Lions win the NFC North and first playoff game since 1991

While Justin Fields and the Chicago Bears give the Lions a good run for their money, it's Detroit who takes home the NFC North with a 12-5 record. But the Lions don't stop there. For the first time since 1991, the Lions record a playoff win in the Wild Card round in front of a hyped-up home crowd.

While the 2023 Lions don't make it to the Super Bowl, winning a playoff game for the first time in 32 years marks a huge achievement and another step in the right direction for one of the best young cores in all of football.