Alim McNeill

Detroit Lions

Pos IDL

Updated October 8, 2026

Compare Alim McNeill IDL rankings →

Model Score

74.8 MODEL

2021

73.4

2022

74.5

2023

79.0

2024

78.0

2025

69.6

2026

74.8

How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →

STM Take

Tier 2 (#15) 2023 peak plus tier 3 (#23) 2024 confirms the structural top-20 IDL ceiling exists. The 2024 late-season ACL plus the 2025 tier 8 (#73) post-recovery return puts McNeill in the recovery-context band. The NC State 3rd-round origin plus the Lions' position-specific coaching makes the career résumé strong. The 2026 question is whether McNeill returns to tier 3 territory in his year-two ACL recovery or whether the structural injury wear closes the elite chapter.

McNeill came out of NC State as the Detroit Lions' 3rd-round pick (72nd overall) in 2021 and delivered back-to-back tier 2-3 breakouts in 2023-2024. He tore his ACL in the late 2024 season and missed the start of 2025 before returning. His STTM career runs tier 7 (#55) rookie, tier 6 (#46) in 2022, tier 2 (#15) peak in 2023, tier 3 (#23) in 2024, and tier 8 (#73) in 2025 post-ACL.

Strengths

Back-to-back top-25 STTM finishes (#15, #23) in 2023-2024 plus the 3rd-round draft pedigree puts him in the outlier-positive class at the position.
NC State ACC pedigree plus five years of Lions development gives him real structural value as the team's interior anchor.

Concerns

2024 late-season ACL plus the 2025 tier 8 (#73) post-recovery return puts the recovery curve at significant downside risk.
Detroit's broader defensive identity around the Hutchinson primary pass-rush priority puts continued McNeill production partly dependent on team-fit.

What to watch: Whether McNeill returns to tier 3 (top 25) in 2026 in his year-two ACL recovery, the threshold for confirming the 2023 ceiling can be recaptured.