Lions roster preview: What can Terrion Arnold provide as a rookie?

As we head toward a new season, All Lions is looking at each member of the 53-man roster to recap their 2023-24 season and look ahead to the upcoming campaign. Today, we focus on cornerback Terrion Arnold. Check out our past stories on each member of the offense , punter Jack Fox , the plan at kicker , the defensive linemen , the linebackers , safeties and cornerback Carlton Davis III .

Carlton Davis III was the first of several additions at cornerback for the Detroit Lions this offseason.

In addressing the team’s biggest weakness last season, bringing in a veteran to help shore up the secondary was a great way to help the team in 2024. Going the draft route is more of a bet on the long-term benefits, although there’s hope the youngsters can help sooner rather than later. Still, the Lions used their top two draft picks this past spring on corners, the first being Terrion Arnold.

The 21-year-old spent three years at Alabama, redshirting his freshman year before excelling the past two seasons. Last year, Pro Football Focus rated him as the seventh-best corner in the FBS, giving him a 90.0 overall grade, an 87.6 coverage grade (13th), a 67.9 pass-rush grade (102nd), a 90.2 run defense grade (third) and a 74.9 tackling grade (93rd).

Like Brian Branch — also an Alabama product — before him, Arnold is a great athlete who was able to excel in a variety of ways in college. Can he put together a season like Branch did as a rookie? The Lions certainly hope so and there’s reason to believe he could.

Related: Lions roster preview: Will Brian Branch shine in a bigger role?

According to PFF’s data, Branch was solid in both man and zone coverage in his final collegiate season, then turned in a top-10 rating in zone as a rookie while still offering decent man coverage abilities.

Arnold’s season last year was incredibly similar, earning a top-10 grade in zone coverage and a worse but still respectable grade in man. That’s great for the Lions, who certainly mix in man coverage a good amount but, like most, play far more zone coverage overall.

However, like with Branch, Arnold’s versatility should help him as he adjusts to the next level. Here’s what he did in his final year in college compared to other FBS corners:

• 4 pressures (tied for 23rd) on just 11 pass-rush snaps
• 40 tackles (T-60th)
• 10.3% missed tackle rate (T-98th-lowest among corners with 300+ snaps)
• 18 stops — tackles constituting a “failure” on offense (T-29th-most)
• 1 forced fumble (T-28th)

That supports his strong run defense grade. Here’s how he did in coverage compared to other FBS corners:

• 34 catches allowed (55th-most) on 64 targets (T-27th-most)
• 53.1 rec. rate allowed (131st-lowest among CBs with at least 300 snaps)
• 382 yards (121st-most)
• 11.2 yards per catch (123rd-fewest)
• 234 yards after catch (23rd-most)
• 2 touchdowns allowed (T-155th-most)
• 5 interceptions (T-2nd)
• 11 pass breakups (T-6th-most)
• 49.1 passer rating allowed (29th-lowest with at least 300 snaps)

Yeah, that’ll do.

Again, jumping from college to the NFL is difficult for every athlete, even first-round picks, so it’s hard to project how well Arnold will fare as a rookie. That being said, there’s a lot of reasons to be optimistic he’ll help right away, especially compared to last year’s group.