When Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes says he takes the best player available on his draft board, he means it. After selecting Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Lions went back to the cornerback market and selected Ennis Rakestraw of Missouri with pick No. 61 overall.

Rakestraw’s physicality and mental makeup has made him an easy connection to the Lions all offseason, something we saw early in the process.

“Rakestraw is my guy,” ESPN’s Matt Miller said in a February video conference. “That is my draft crush this year […] If you’re looking for a prototypical Detroit Lions-type player, I think that physicality at the line of scrimmage—he is a great tackler in space as well, especially for not being the biggest guy. He’s probably going to come in at like 6-foot, 190 pounds, maybe 195 if we’re lucky. He’s not a striking physical player when you’re just looking at height, weight, strength, but man, he absolutely plays as one of the most physical corners in this draft or in any draft. He’s right there with some of the best corners I’ve evaluated at playing near the line of scrimmage and using that physicality.”

NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah—who ranked Rakestraw as the 32nd-best player in this year’s draft class—also echoed that Rakestraw would be an ideal pairing with Detroit’s culture.

“The feistiness and toughness, the aggressiveness that he plays with, the energy, the passion that he plays with, yeah, he fits 100% with Detroit,” Jeremiah concluded.

Coverage scheme, positional range

Rakestraw is comfortable in zone and man coverage schemes but has a strong preference to stay in press man coverage whenever possible—which should come as no surprise considering the Lions’ preference to stay in man coverage as much as possible.

“Man-to-man is what I’m best at,” Rakestraw told Justin Melo of the Draft Network. “That’s how you maximize my skill set in coverage. Zone is great too, but I’ve always preferred to play man coverage. In my mind, I’m always using instincts to disrupt timing in man coverage. Not every rep is going to go your way, but man coverage gives me an opportunity to battle throughout the course of that rep.”

Rakestraw played roughly 80 percent of his college snaps on the outside but showed the ability to kick inside and play in the slot as well—which is where he started his career at Missouri. He’ll get his first shot in the NFL on the outside, but Rakestraw’s skills very much translate into the slot, where he could supplement Brian Branch and allow the Lions’ current nickel starter to roam the field and match up with opponents.

Skill set

“I’m an extremely physical and competitive cornerback,” Rakestraw self-scouted his game. “I love to tackle. I thrive when playing man coverage. I need to have more ball production, but my ability to judge the ball in flight is second to none. I don’t get a lot of interceptions, but I’ve rarely given up any catches, either. I know how to play the ball in the air.”

That’s an honest and fair assessment of Rakestraw’s skills, but I believe we can expand on that a bit more.

Rakestraw is very confident in his skills, plays with a chip on his shoulder, and carries his play with swagger. He’s the type of player who will deliver a big hit on you and then make sure you knew it was him.

In coverage, he is patient in getting into phase with receivers, showing solid range and fluidity in his tracking/mirroring movements. He is best in press man, and easily turns and runs with his man. His change-of-direction skills are on point and he can travel with routes. He is smart about knowing when to turn and locate the ball, which leads to fewer penalties.

Rakestraw does have some long-speed issues which can lead to problems if he is straight running with receivers, but more often than not he relies on his instincts to get over the top of his assignment and stay in a good position to make a play on the ball.

As Rakestraw pointed out, his overall ball production is something he can work on, but he is often in the right position to make plays on the ball, which is a highly positive step. With some NFL coaching, this is an area where he can improve.

Rakestraw’s best attribute is his run defense, as he is one of the best in the class. He is incredibly quick to diagnose what’s in front of him and he is willing to take on all blockers—yes, even offensive linemen—and is a highly proficient tackler.

Additionally, Rakestraw has experience as a gunner, which is an immediate path to snaps on special teams. Having a way to produce on special teams will be important because the Lions’ cornerback room is suddenly logjammed full of quality options and there will be strong competition in training camp for snaps.

Fighting through the bloodbath

The Lions wanted to improve their cornerbacks room this offseason and they used quite a bit of draft capital to do so. In acquiring Arnold, they used a third-round pick to trade up in the first and selected him. They used a second-round pick to grab Rakestraw. And they used another third-round pick to trade for Carlton Davis. In total, that’s four top-100 draft picks to acquire an instant starter and two young players who will help stabilize the room for the future.

In addition to the draft capital, the Lions re-signed Emmanuel Moseley, Kindle Vildor, and Khalil Dorsey, as well as signed Amik Robertson. When you add in the fact that they also had nickel defensive back Brian Branch in a starting role and Steven Gilmore and Craig James under contract.

With 10 cornerbacks on their roster and just three starting roles, the Lions will enter training camp with healthy competition for starting and depth roles, which should lead to improved depth and a better overall secondary.

Being drafted was great, but it’s what came after that really had new Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold feeling his emotions.

“Just to hear them chanting my name last night, I’ve always dreamed of moments like that as a kid,” Arnold said at his introductory news conference Friday. “I’ve considered myself like a fan favorite. I’ve always wanted the rep that, when they show up to games on Mondays, Thursdays or Sundays, I just get the name that, ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen today, but I feel like Terrion is going to do something incredible.’”

One of the last players in the green room Thursday, Arnold was greeted with thunderous cheers from an estimated crowd of 275,000 when the hometown Lions traded up five spots to take him with the 24th pick in the draft.

SHAWN WINDSOR: Terrion Arnold said it: ‘Y’all got a star.’ If he’s right, they’ve got a Super Bowl, too

He addressed the crowd during an on-stage interview with NFL Network immediately after the pick, grabbing the microphone from host Kaylee Hartung and declaring Detroit his new home and telling fans they were getting “a star.”

Arnold, widely regarded as one of the draft’s top two cornerbacks — one of the Lions’ biggest positions of need —said he’s always looked at Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders as the model of flash and excitement he wants to emulate on the field.

On Friday, Arnold said he wanted to “be the Deion Sanders, or have that era in this generation here in Detroit.”

Sanders, ironically, said when he was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in 1989 — after the Lions took Barry Sanders with the No. 3 overall pick — that he didn’t want to go to Detroit and would have asked for so much money the Lions would have had to put him “on layaway.”

“When you watch Deion Sanders you just think about excitement,” Arnold said. “Like you’re going to the games to see a show. Same thing with me. When the ball’s in the air, you know who’s coming down with it. And then we play in a tough division, so as far as going against the Bears, going against the Vikings, it’s going to be amazing. Those are the games you live for and it’s going to be a chance to just go out there and really show I am an alpha dog.”

DRAFT NIGHT: Terrion Arnold told Lions to trade up to draft him, shares his ‘Michael Jordan moment’

Arnold said he celebrated his selection for 3 seconds Thursday, the approach he and his grandfather always take with big accomplishments.

“He says it like this: He say, ‘T, let’s celebrate,’” Arnold said, deadpan. “And then we done.”

Arnold did make a special morning-after phone call Friday to his great-grandmother, whose initial reaction to the pick was, “That’s far.”

“So my great-grandmother, I would have had her in the green room with me but she had a crazy experience with a plane and she doesn’t fly,” Arnold said. “So for her to just say, ‘Well, now I might have to get on a plane,’ I feel like, I call it like a Detroit blessing. There’s just something about being in here, being in this city, it’s going to be fun, there’s going to be blessings everywhere.”

Arnold is expected to play a key role in the Lions secondary this fall and should compete for the starting job opposite Carlton Davis.

He tied for the SEC lead with five interceptions last season, in his first full year as starter, and said he plans to come in “humble and just open to learn.”

“I don’t want to come in here and just be that rookie who thinks he’s going to start,” he said. “I know I’m going to have to work for everything. I want to learn from the vets. Even me being in the locker room, I was in there with some of the veterans and they just said that they were grateful to have me here so you can just tell they welcome you with open arms.”

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

The Detroit Lions were able to get the No. 1 cornerback on their draft board, filling a pretty significant need on their roster. Terrion Arnold comes in and immediately transforms a cornerback room that struggled for nearly all of the 2023 season.

On the surface, it looks like a home-run pick for the Lions, considering Arnold was a consensus top-12 talent in the 2024 NFL Draft class. That said, it did cost the Lions significant draft capital to move up from pick 29 to 24, leaving some wondering if Detroit needed to overpay with so many strong defensive players still on the board.

Let’s take a look at the national reaction to the Lions’ pick of Arnold, and the grades they handed out to Lions general manager Brad Holmes.

SB Nation (J.P. Acosta): A+

“This is my favorite pick of the entire first round. Arnold is the perfect fit in Detroit in that defense. He’s a feisty, aggressive corner who can play inside or outside and has the ball skills to immediately be an impact player. Despite trading for Carlton Davis, the Lions still needed help at corner and Arnold can be an instant boost there. This pick is phenomenal.”

Pro Football Network (Cam Mellor): A+

“Though he doesn’t have elite vertical speed, Arnold is an extremely fluid, hyperactive short-area mover who can suffocate WRs in press-man with his corrective athleticism and 32” arms. At the catch point, he’s a natural playmaker, and he’s the exact kind of support presence Dan Quinn [sic] and Aaron Glenn will crave.”

USA TODAY (Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz): A

“Here are your flowers, Brad Holmes. One year after the Lions general manager was roundly criticized for going against the grain with his first-round selections, Holmes makes a pick that deserves instant applause. Arnold is hypercompetitive and seems like the kind of cornerback Dan Campbell would make in a lab.”

The Athletic (Nick Baumgardner): A

“Like the Eagles, the Lions landed outstanding value in the 20s — Arnold and Mitchell were pretty clearly the top two corners in this draft. For Detroit, this was also a perfect fit for the team’s established culture. Arnold is a confident corner who plays with swagger, loves to work, loves tough coaching and loves to win.”

The Ringer (Danny Kelly): A

“Lions GM Brad Holmes does it again. This is an excellent pick for Detroit, who grab my top-ranked corner (and no. 11 overall player) in Arnold here with the 24th pick. Arnold fell a bit, I would guess, because he ran a disappointing 4.50-second 40-yard dash at the combine. But he makes up for a lack of elite speed with high-end instincts and ball skills in coverage—and gives the Lions a plug-and-play starter for their cornerback-needy defense. It didn’t come cheap for Detroit, who surrendered their third-round pick (while getting back a seventh-rounder next year) to move up five spots. But I think Arnold is good enough to justify that cost.”

Yahoo Sports (Charles McDonald): A-

“Detroit trades up to get a quality prospect who was falling down the board at a position of need. Arnold has a chance to be the best cornerback on Detroit’s roster from Day 1 and gives the Lions a fortified presence in the secondary as the division adds Caleb Williams and J.J. McCarthy.”

PFF (staff): Very Good (just below ‘elite’)

“…an alpha presence in the secondary who plays with a fearless mentality. He led all SEC cornerbacks in interceptions and pass breakups in 2023. He also led the conference with a 90.6 PFF run-defense grade. Detroit has officially overhauled their cornerback room with the additions of Arnold, Carlton Davis and Amik Robertson.”

NFL.com (Chad Reuter): B+

“Considered a potential top-12 pick for much of the pre-draft process, he presented good value at No. 24, but we’ll see if trading a third-rounder to Dallas instead of waiting for Arnold’s former teammate, Kool-Aid McKinstry or Nate Wiggins later in the round would have made more sense.”

The 33rd Team (Ian Valentino): C

“The Detroit Lions desperately needed a stud at corner, and Terrion Arnold is a playmaker. However, some of his best play came in the slot where Brian Branch is. Arnold will have to improve his technique to blossom as a full-time outside corner.”