The Lions’ Most Underrated Pick In The 2026 NFL Draft: This guy is a starter all the way; it just hasn’t happened yet

The Lions drafted a starting cornerback; all he has to do is go win the job. We believe he will

Mike Payton — Detroit Lions Beat Writer
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Sep 26, 2025; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils defensive back Keith Abney II (1) covers TCU Horned Frogs wide receiver Jordan Dwyer (7) in the second half at Mountain America Stadium, Home of the ASU Sun Devils. Mandatory Credit: Jacob Reiner-Imagn Images

The 2026 NFL Draft is out of the way, and it’s time to dig a little deeper into the Detroit Lions’ haul. One of the biggest questions is, who is the most underrated pick for Detroit? This one is easy.

Keith Abney II is ready to start for the Lions in 2026 and, more than likely, will win the job in camp

The best place to start with this one is to really talk about how big a steal this is. It’s like teams passed out and forgot to draft him for a few rounds. We had a second round grade on him. He was the 61st-ranked player on our big board.

It wasn’t just us. The Athletic had him at 61, Mel Kiper had him at 77, Matt Miller had him at 62, and Trevor Sikkema had him at 50. He somehow fell 100 picks to the Lions. This just wasn’t supposed to happen.

It’s not because Abney has some sort of injury history or that people thought his game wouldn’t translate. It’s probably because he’s kind of short. But that shouldn’t matter. Indiana’s D’Angelo Ponds went to the Jets in the second round, and he’s smaller than Abney.

He played on the outside at Arizona State, but the place he would really fit in well in Detroit is on the inside in the slot. He has the play style and the aggressiveness to get it done, and there isn’t a lot of competition there right now.

Roger McCreary is really the only guy slated for that job at the moment. Ennis Rakestraw was theoretically going to be in the slot, but now the Lions are saying they want him back on the outside. So it’s McCreary or Abney.

McCreary has experience in the slot in the NFL, and that gives him the upper hand, but Abney might be the better player. Even if he has to learn to make that shift from the outside to the inside. Something he hasn’t really done a lot of.

When it comes time to start the season, I fully believe Abney will have won the starting slot corner job and that he is the Lions’ biggest steal of the draft.

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