After Terrion Arnold’s arrest, the Detroit Lions face a difficult decision at cornerback, what are the immediate options?
Detroit Lions suddenly have a major question at cornerback after Terrion Arnold’s arrest. We break down Detroit’s internal options, possible free-agent and trade solutions, and why replacing a projected starter won’t be easy.
The Detroit Lions face a significant problem at cornerback after 2024 first-round pick Terrion Arnold was arrested in Florida on Wednesday night. Arnold was allegedly involved in a kidnapping and armed robbery that took place in Florida a few months ago, and he now faces major charges that could lead to lengthy prison sentences if convicted. Detroit’s secondary depth is thin, and the Lions’ internal and external options to replace their expected starter range from unproven to uninspiring.
The internal options
The most obvious move is DJ Reed, who was always going to start on the opposite side. He’s not the question. The question is who lines up across from him.
For starters, there’s Ennis Rakestraw, the young corner who has been injured during his first two seasons. We have yet to see him play meaningful NFL football outside of a few low-snap-count appearances as a rookie and some preseason work. If he can stay healthy, maybe there’s something there. But that’s a big “if.”
The guy who makes the most sense right now is Rock Ya-Sin. The veteran started a lot of games for the Lions last year when both Arnold and Reed were dealing with injuries, and he played fairly well. Ya-Sin graded out at 62.8 overall with a 64.8 coverage grade from Pro Football Focus, which is not bad at all. There were some struggles in run defense, and he allowed 27 receptions without recording an interception, but he held up his end of the bargain. I don’t think the Lions were looking at Ya-Sin as a potential starter going into 2026, but he might have to be the guy.
After that, you have rookie Keith Abney, who many evaluators expected to come off the board in the second round before he fell all the way to Detroit in the fifth. He’s been projected more as a slot corner than an outside corner, although he has played outside and has that ability. Asking him to start right away on the outside would be risky for a Lions team that needs its secondary to hold up more than anything.
Then there’s Roger McCreary, who was expected to be the starting slot corner. McCreary has played on the outside before with Tennessee and did it fairly well, but he was much better inside. If Detroit moves McCreary to the outside, Abney likely becomes the new starting slot corner by default. That’s a lot of shuffling for a secondary that can’t afford it.
Nick Whiteside and Khalil Dorsey round out the internal candidates. The UFL product played 40 snaps against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year and looked good, but he only saw 11 snaps after that. Not exactly a proven commodity. Dorsey has proven to be a solid special teams asset as a gunner, but we’ve yet to see a lot of him on defense.
What about the trade market and free agency?
The trade market doesn’t offer a ton of hope right now. You have to wonder who is willing to move a corner at this point in the offseason and what they would ask for in return.
The free agent pool isn’t much deeper, but there are some very intriguing options there with guys who could potentially start right away. We made a list of those guys that’s worth looking at.
The bigger picture
The secondary situation in Detroit was already worth watching before this news dropped. The Lions are still waiting on potential updates regarding Brian Branch and Kirby Joseph, and there’s no guarantee both safeties will be back. Now you’ve presumably lost one of your starting cornerbacks on top of all that.
That’s a problem for Detroit. The Lions are going to have to figure something out, whether it’s trusting Yassin as the starter, fast-tracking Abney’s development, making a trade, or bringing in a veteran free agent. None of those paths are clean. We’ll see what the Lions do from here, but this is definitely something to be concerned about right now.
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