The Lions hope to take the next step after losing in the NFC Championship Game last season and part of the plan to do that involved changes to the cornerback group.
Cameron Sutton and Jerry Jacobs played the most snaps at corner last season, but both players are gone from this year’s roster. The Lions traded for Carlton Davis and signed Amik Robertson as a free agent before drafting Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw in the first and second rounds in April. They also have Emmanuel Moseley, who is coming off a torn ACL that limited him to two snaps last season, back along with Kindle Vildor, Khalil Dorsey and nickel back Brian Branch.
Davis and Arnold were the top two outside corners in the spring, but General Manager Brad Holmes promises a spirited competition for snaps is coming this summer.
“Yeah, it’s a bloodbath in there now. It is, and that’s what makes everything better,” Holmes said, via the team’s website. “It makes the room better, it makes the defense better, it makes the team better. Competition just brings the best out of everybody.”
The names at the top of the depth chart may not change before the start of the season, but the Lions defense will be better if Holmes is right about the impact that fighting for jobs will have on all involved.