Lions' Lewand: Chemistry key to 2015's revamped roster

The Detroit Lions open training camp two months from today, and in many ways they'll have a different-looking team than the one that won 11 games last year.

The defensive tackle position has been overhauled. The offensive line has several new starters. There's a more pronounced commitment to the running game.

And, naturally, the Lions like the changes they've made.

"Obviously, we feel like the guys that we've added can come in and contribute in meaningful ways at positions of need for us, whether that's the offensive line or defensive line," Lions president Tom Lewand told the Free Press last week after a speaking engagement at the Birmingham Country Club. "We've brought some guys in in the secondary. I think that we have the potential to improve in a lot of areas that the numbers show needed improvement over last year."

The biggest of those areas is the running game, where the Lions ranked 28th in the NFL last year and used three of their first five draft picks to upgrade an area that was a drag on their overall offense.

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First-round pick Laken Tomlinson will start at left guard and anchor a revamped offensive line. Second-rounder Ameer Abdullah should, at minimum, split carries with Joique Bell at running back. Fifth-rounder Michael Burton takes over for Jed Collins at fullback. And veteran Manny Ramirez, acquired in a draft-day trade with the Denver Broncos, could push for time at center.

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While the Lions have pinned their hopes for an improved offense mostly on three rookies and quarterback Matthew Stafford making strides in his seventh NFL season, their defense, from a talent perspective, appears to have taken a step back this off-season.

Ndamukong Suh, Nick Fairley, C.J. Mosley and George Johnson are gone from a defensive line that was the team's unquestioned strength last year, replaced by Haloti Ngata, Tyrunn Walker and rookie Gabe Wright.

Two of last year's draft picks, Kyle Van Noy and Larry Webster, could play valuable backup roles after barely contributing as rookies, and middle linebacker Stephen Tulloch is back after missing most of last season with a torn ACL.

For all the changes in personnel, Lewand said one factor that will play as a big a role as any in how the Lions fare this fall is the "critically important" team-building process that's just now underway.

Last year, many pointed to a strong locker room and group of players that genuinely enjoyed playing with one another as a big reason for the Lions' success, and the hope is the team can replicate that this year.

"I think we've got a lot of good additions and I think those guys can become part of something that can be successful," Lewand said. "But the process of doing that is new and different every year even though a lot of the same faces are there and the same players are there, the team changes every year. And those team dynamics will change and it's up to most of the veteran leaders that we have as well as some of the new guys who have those leadership characteristics like Haloti Ngata and others to embrace that challenge and to come together as a team over the course of the next four weeks and into training camp."

■ Briefly: The Lions cut receiver Erik Lora to make room for re-signed running back Rasheed Williams.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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