ALLEN PARK, Mich. — The fans have heard it all offseason. The media has participated in it. The Lions? They've DEFINITELY heard how many people are picking them to have a big year.
"The thing that's always going to worry you as a coach is the 'hype train', this thing has taken off and it's out of control right now," head coach Dan Campbell said.
On Sunday, the Lions opened their 2023 training camp in a rare spot: the favorite. Many people are picking the Lions to win the NFC North, which would be their first division championship in 30 years. BETMGM is reporting that more than 36 percent of the bets on this season's NFC champion have been placed on the Lions.
Despite barely finishing above .500 last season, the hype train appears to be chugging at full steam heading into the 2023 campaign.
"It's kind of hard not to see it," Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson said. The second overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft said all you can do is ignore it. "Just stay off of it just because it can get to your head a little bit. I think we're doing a good job of keeping our mentality and keeping what we've been doing and building off of it. We keep the underdog mentality. We haven't won anything yet. So there's a lot of expectations, but then again, I think we still feel like the underdogs."
Things have been slowly building under third year head coach Dan Campbell. The Lions finished 3 and 13 in 2021, then 9 and 8 last season. Those who have been here since the beginning, like wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, are noticing the change.
"Coming in as a rookie I don't think the lions had any hype, really," St. Brown said. "But from now to then it's a huge difference. I'm glad to say that I was a part of it. I was here for at all. I'm just excited. I know this team is, the coaches are, I mean, everyone in this organization is excited for the future for what's to come."
But just because everybody is picking them to win, doesn't mean they expect anything to be given to them.
"I mean, we got to put the workout in the day," added St. Brown. "Everyone can say this or that but if we don't put the work in each day then it's all for nothing."
The Lions will have fresh faces this year and new starters on both sides of the ball. On offense there's receivers Denzel Mimms and Marvin Jones Jr., to go along with rookie tight end Sam LaPorta and running backs David Montgomery and first round pick Jahmyr Gibbs.
On defense there's a re-tooled secondary, with the additions of C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Emmanuel Moseley, Cameron Sutton and 45th overall pick Brian Branch.
Campbell says no matter who the Lions put out on the field, all that matters during camp is the process.
"It's about the work, and I've said that from day one," Campbell said. "It'll always be the same message--it's about work. That's what we do. You've got to earn your right every year, it doesn't matter what the players are, who the coaches are, what the expectations are, where you were or where you're going. You've got to work, and this is day one of that."
Quarterback Jared Goff has tasted NFL success before. He led the Rams to an NFC Championship and Super Bowl birth in 2018. He knows that championships aren’t decided by fan votes and offseason media hype.
"I think it's funny to me that like, you know, you go 9-8, you don't make the playoffs and now you're all of a sudden the favorite," Goff said. "Of course, we've got good players, we've got good coaches, and we got good team but we ain't done anything and we have a lot of work to do. You know Minnesota won 13 games last year, Green Bay has won the division a handful times in the last handful of years. So, you know, we've got we got some work to do to put a stamp on who we want to be and are nowhere near that yet, but are on our way."
Training camp runs through August 28, with the regular season kicking off in primetime on Thursday night, September 7 at 8:30 p.m. against the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.