ALLEN PARK — Ennis Rakestraw flew to Detroit for a pre-draft visit 17 days ago. He knew the Lions were looking for a hard-hitting cornerback, and figured he’d be a good culture fit. So did everyone else, and Rakestraw became a trendy pick for the Lions at No. 29.
Then he arrived in Detroit, and got into a car provided by the team. And there was Alabama All-American Terrion Arnold, too
They were the top two cornerbacks in the nation’s best conference. Turns out, they were the top two cornerbacks on the Lions’ draft board, too. Both were in town on the same day for pre-draft visits. Now the Lions have opened the draft by landing both star cornerbacks, blistering their top remaining need by trading up for Arnold in Round 1 and then taking Rakestraw in Round 2.
“We didn’t go into it saying that we were going to get two corners in the first two rounds,” general manager Brad Holmes said a few minutes after making the pick. “We really didn’t. It was just (Rakestraw) was the highest-graded guy for us at the time. And you know how we roll. We went ahead and got him. Those were also our top-two ranked corners.”
The Lions might not have intended to take back-to-back cornerbacks, but it’s difficult to imagine this draft — hosted in their streets, with record crowds screaming with their every move — breaking any better than this.
They’ve been saddled with a bottom-five pass defense for the last half-decade. Holmes tried to attack the weakness last year, signing cornerbacks C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Cam Sutton and Emmanuel Moseley in free agency, plus spending a second-round pick on Brian Branch in the draft. But while Branch turned out to be a stud in the slot, Gardner-Johnson wound up missing most of the season, Moseley did too and Sutton was a flop in the starting lineup.
Detroit finished 27th against the pass overall and allowed the second-most passing yards per game in the postseason, before losing Gardner-Johnson to the Eagles in free agency and then cutting Sutton due to domestic violence allegations in Florida.
The Lions still have one of the best rosters in the NFL, but had graver issues at cornerback than anywhere else. Holmes invested heavily again in free agency, trading for Carlton Davis and then signing Amik Robertson to a two-year deal. Then whether he intended to or not, he made a historic investment in the draft too, spending his first two picks on cornerbacks, a first in franchise history.
Detroit had selected just two cornerbacks in the first two rounds over the last decade combined, both of whom were busts. With Arnold and Rakestraw now joining Davis and Robertson, plus re-signing Kindle Vildor and Emmanuel Moseley, not to mention the return of Branch in the slot, there are a whole lot of options heading into a season where Detroit will be Super Bowl favorites.
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