NFL Draft season is upon us and for the next few weeks we will be ranking our top five options for the Lions at each position of need. We'll also be ranking players based off of where the Lions are picking. So these will be players that they will be able to draft. Today we start with cornerbacks. 

The Lions recently lost a starting cornerback when Cameron Sutton was released after news of his arrest warrant had come to light. The Lions were probably going to draft a cornerback anyways, but now that they Sutton is gone, that probably has become a definitely. Here's my top five cornerbacks that the Lions could draft next month:

Kool-Aid McKinstry

The name alone is a perfect match. Lions fans have been drinking that Honolulu Blue Kool-Aid for years now. It makes sense that the guy with that name plays for Detroit. 

What also makes sense is that he's a pretty dang good cornerback that the Lions would be able to get with the 29th pick. He's also someone the Lions have been around a lot during the draft process. Detroit had a formal meeting with him at the NFL Combine and then Brad Holmes went to the Alabama pro day. 

There's definitely some real interest there.

Ennis Rakestraw

Rakestraw was originally someone that was expected to go a lot higher. He’s fallen to the second round in recent weeks as other players have risen up the board. The value is there for the Lions if they were to take him with the 29th pick since he’s slated to go at the top of the second. 

This might actually make more sense for the Lions if they were to trade out of the first round and gain more second round picks. 

Rakestraw is a solid outside corner that has a lot of the skills that the Lions are looking for. The big thing is that he has size that can help him matchup with some of the bigger receivers.

Kris Abrams-Draine

I’m sort of going in order here, but Abrams-Draine is my personal favorite of the two Missouri corners. The big thing is that he’s not just solid in coverage, he can tackle better than pretty much every cornerback in this draft.

Abrams-Draine had a 7.5 missed tackle percentage last year. That's one of the best in the country and there's only a couple guys in this draft that have better percentage. One of them (Quinyon Mitchell) is going very early in the draft. The Lions could get a steal on day two with Abrams-Draine

Cam Hart

Hart was probably the most impressive defensive back at the Senior Bowl this year. He was giving receivers fits all week long. We talked about Rakestraw having size, but Hart has more. At 6-foot-2 he is one of the bigger cornerbacks in this draft. 

The thing that makes him attractive to the Lions is that he has leadership ability. Hart was captain at Notre Dame. The other good thing is that Hart is a pretty good run stopper and the Lions used their corners a lot in the run game in 2023. 

Nehemiah Pritchett

Speed, speed and more speed. Pritchett ran a blazing 4.36 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. One of the big problems the Lions had last year is that their corners couldn’t keep up with the fast guys and they got burned a lot. Here’s a guy that can keep up with just about anyone. 

The thing that intrigues me the most though is Pritchett's ability to be a return man. The Lions could use someone to come in and be that guy and with the new kick return rules, Pritchett's speed could come in handy.

It’s time for the Detroit Lions to try the international kicker thing again

Way back in 2013 the Detroit Lions took a shot on a Norwegian YouTube kicking sensation named Havard “Kickalicious” Rugland. He wowed everyone with his crazy trick videos that he put out and he caught the eye of the NFL. The Browns and Lions both brought him in for a workout, but it was the […]