Detroit Lions' Josh Paschal: 'It's Time to Prove It'

Josh Paschal enters the 2023 season as the “forgotten one” of the Detroit Lions’ second-year EDGE defenders.

Aidan Hutchinson, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 draft, and James Houston, the second of the Lions’ two sixth-round selections last year, stole the show along the defensive line with their dominant rookie campaigns. Meanwhile, Paschal, the No. 46 overall selection in the aforementioned draft, largely flew under the radar.

One of the primary factors contributing to Paschal’s subpar numbers a season ago was his inability to stay healthy.

The University of Kentucky product battled a sports hernia for the majority of last summer, and then proceeded to miss the first five games of the 2022 season.

Then, upon making his NFL debut, he struggled to make a significant impact. After playing and starting in four consecutive games from Weeks 7-10, he returned to the sidelines in Week 11 due to a knee injury. He ended up being held out for a total of two games with the ailment, and when he was re–activated, failed to regain his starting job on the Lions’ defensive line.

Paschal, unlike last year, has been healthy throughout the first week and a half of training camp this summer. And, he believes it’s made a significant difference in his development from his first year to second year in the league.

“I feel completely different,” Paschal said Wednesday, of the difference in year No. 1 to year No. 2 for himself. “I just feel more prepared, just because last year, coming in with injury, I didn’t have the camp for preparation and now I do. And, I feel like it’s preparing me for the season. Of course, I have to get better each and every day. But, it definitely is helping.”

Despite the slow start to Paschal’s NFL career, it wasn’t all bad for the 6-foot-3, 278-pound defensive lineman in year No. 1.

He recorded two sacks during the 2022 season, both of which came in a career-best performance for Paschal in Week 17 against the Chicago Bears. In the contest, he also produced a career-high four total tackles, including two for loss.

In the aforementioned NFC North divisional matchup, Paschal and his then-rookie defensive linemen counterparts, Houston and Hutchinson, amassed a combined 11 tackles, five-and-a-half sacks, four tackles for loss, five quarterback hits, an interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

Although Paschal wasn’t at the forefront of it, the ‘22 campaign proved to be a banner one for Detroit’s rookie class.

Collectively, Hutchinson, Houston, Paschal and fellow 2022 first-year pros Malcolm Rodriguez and Kerby Joseph compiled a rookie-best 92 quarterback pressures. Additionally, they combined to record 20.5 sacks, the most ever by a group of NFL rookies.

"Not only were we all very productive last year, I think the guys that Brad drafted and stuff, these are guys that bettered themselves in the offseason," Hutchinson said of the Lions’ 2022 draft class, in a recent interview on SiriusXM. "These are guys that -- we don't take the step back, you know, once you have time on your own to chill and do stuff like that. So, I feel like with the kind of characters that we got, it's only development and it's only improvement, based off of last year.”

Now fully healthy for the first time in his NFL career, Paschal is ready to prove his full capabilities this upcoming season.

“I know what I’m capable of. I knew that last year, but now, it’s time to prove it,” Paschal expressed. “I know that I have to prove myself, and I’m ready for that. So, I accept that challenge. But, most importantly, I have to prove it to myself first, because I know I’m able to do this stuff. But, now it’s about going out into games and doing it all over again.”