The Lions made it a goal to rebuild their cornerback corps after allowing the league’s sixth-highest passing yards per game (247.4) last season. This offseason, Detroit traded for Carlton Davis III, signed free agents Amik Robertson and Emmanuel Moseley, and drafted Terrion Arnold (first round) and Ennis Rakestraw Jr. (second round) in the 2024 NFL Draft. On paper, the team appears to be much improved, and general manager Brad Holmes provided an early glimpse at what the competition will be like when training camp begins later this month.
“Yeah, it’s a carnage inside now. “It is, and that’s what makes everything better,” Holmes stated on the team’s website. “It improves the room, the defense, and the overall squad. Competition simply gets the best out of everyone.”
The Lions are hoping to pick up right where they left off last season. They fell just three points short (34-31) to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC title game.
Improving their secondary will help them do just that. However, now comes the difficult decision of deciding who will start. Head coach Dan Campbell still has no idea who that will be.
“The talent level, competitiveness, versatility, honestly, we don’t know who our starting lineup will be right now, and it’s exciting,” Campbell said, according to Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. “We don’t know who will be our outside corners, nickel backs, or safeties. “This thing is completely open.”
Davis seems to be an early favorite to be one of Detroit’s starting outside corners. The 27-year-old has 324 tackles, three forced fumbles, nine interceptions and 73 passes defensed since entering the NFL as a second-round pick in 2018.
Arnold is the other favorite to play across Davis after registering 108 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble, six interceptions and 20 passes defensed the past two years at Alabama.
Still, the Lions aren’t going to make any decisions right now, and rightfully so. They will only be better for the competition in the long run as they hope to build off an impressive 2023 campaign.
The only difference is Detroit won’t be catching anyone by surprise this year.
