Dan Campbell says the Lions will use a 3-man front on defense

One of the bigger questions surrounding the Detroit Lions and new head coach Dan Campbell is what sort of defensive scheme the team will use.

Campbell and new defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn come from the New Orleans Saints, which used a base 4-3 with one of the three LBs as a primary rush end. The Lions holdovers come from Matt Patricia’s “multiple” front, which used three or four base linemen depending on the situation.

In an interview on Tuesday with Sirius XM NFL radio, Campbell let it out that he plans on deploying a base 3-4 defense.

After talking about the appeal of second-round pick Levi Onwuzurike to the team’s scouting department, Campbell said,

“Just our base defense, you know, we’re going to run a 3-4 style defense.”

Campbell continued, noting the versatility of both Onwuzurike and third-round pick Alim McNeill.

“You can see Onwuzurike playing in a 4i or reduced down to a 3-technique and being able to two-gap at times, control defenders, hit the blocks but also take a side and get up the field as a pass rusher.”

It’s the first real concrete declaration of what style of defense the Lions will play under Campbell and a good idea of how Onwuzurike fits within the scheme.

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