Top 10 Lions of 2013, No. 5: Nick Fairley

Pride Of Detroit is counting down the top 10 Detroit Lions players of 2013, as voted on by readers of the site. 1,051 ballots were submitted, and next up is a look at the No. 5 player on the list.

No. 5 - DT Nick Fairley - 4,237 points (2 first-place votes)

The first player to be revealed as a member of the top five on our list is defensive tackle Nick Fairley. He picked up 4,237 points after appearing on 811 of the 1,051 ballots. Fairley received two first-place votes this year, which helped him jump up the list after being 13th a year ago.

Fairley is entering his third season in the NFL. His first two seasons were riddled with injuries, but he really started to show his potential last season when he became a starter. He ended up starting in a total of seven games for the Lions, and he finished 2012 with 34 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 1 pass defended and 2 forced fumbles.

This year, Fairley will open the season as one of the starters at defensive tackle. He wants to form the best defensive tackle tandem in the entire NFL with Ndamukong Suh, and expectations are quite high for Fairley.

Suh may garner the majority of the attention at defensive tackle for the Lions, but clearly Fairley hasn't been forgotten with him coming in at No. 5 on the Top 10 Lions of 2013.

Previously: No. 10 Ryan Broyles, No. 9 Stephen Tulloch, No. 8 Riley Reiff, No. 7 Chris Houston, No. 6 Glover Quin