Lions safety Kerby Joseph may not be ready for Week 1 of the 2026 regular season as he wrestles with a degenerative knee condition that sidelined him for much of last year.
Head coach Dan Campbell said last week that the team would not know more about Joseph’s prognosis until they were well into training camp. In the meantime, according to Justin Rogers of the Detroit Football Network, the Lions have tapped free agent signing Christian Izien to step into Joseph’s free safety role over the top of their defense.
Izien emerged as the Buccaneers’ primary nickel defender as an undrafted rookie in 2023 before stepping into a more varied role in 2024 with 308 snaps at free safety, 205 in the slot, and 135 in the box, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required). But last year, the 26-year-old was pushed to the periphery by Tampa Bay’s offseason additions to their secondary and played just 166 defensive snaps in total. It initially seemed like he might have to fight for a rotational role to re-establish himself with a new team, but Joseph’s ongoing knee troubles have opened a door to a potential starting job.
Joseph has played a majority of his career snaps at free safety with 24.7% in the box and 14.5% in the slot (via PFF). But in 2025, Detroit’s first year under defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard, he saw more time in the first two roles and a significant drop in the final in his six games before going down. Izien’s experience would seem to be a better fit for the diverse usage from Joseph’s first three seasons, but the expected return of Brian Branch and the signing of Chuck Clark give Detroit other options for slot and box duties.
Izien did primarily play free safety for two of his years at Rutgers, but his junior and senior seasons featured more involvement closer to the line of scrimmage. He is back at his former spot, now in the Lions defense, and can focus purely on that role rather than lining up all over the secondary. The team is still holding out hope that Joseph can play sooner rather than later, but until and unless that happens, Izien seems poised for a key role in Detroit’s defense.