The 2024 NFL Draft is now in the rearview mirror. After a flurry of selections from April 25 to April 27, 257 players were selected to join the NFL.
With that, we give you our full recap of the Detroit Lions‘ draft, with analysis on every selection the team made during the weekend and an in-depth look at their top pick.
For more information on the players your favorite team drafted, it’s not too late to get the 2024 NFL Draft Guide, which includes expanded scouting reports, draft grades, offseason reports, unique advanced data, PFF grades and much more.
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2024 Draft Picks
- 1 (24): CB Terrion Arnold, Alabama
- 2 (61): CB Ennis Rakestraw Jr., Missouri
- 4 (126): T Giovanni Manu, University of British Columbia
- 4 (132): S Sione Vaki, Utah
- 6 (189): DI Mekhi Wingo, LSU
- 6 (210): G Christian Mahogany, Boston College
Arnold — Detroit traded up to acquire the 14th-ranked player on the PFF big board, Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold. Arnold is an alpha presence in the secondary who plays with a fearless mentality. He led all SEC cornerbacks in interceptions and pass breakups in 2023 and led the conference with a 90.6 PFF run-defense grade. Detroit has officially overhauled its cornerback room with the additions of Arnold, Carlton Davis and Amik Robertson.
Rakestraw — The Lions continue to rebuild a defense that ranked 30th in coverage grade in 2023. Rakestraw, the 46th-ranked player on the PFF big board, is a physical cornerback who excels in zone coverage. He posted an 85.2 PFF zone coverage grade in 2023. The Lions have completely revamped their cornerback room in just one offseason.
Manu — Manu isn’t on the PFF big board because we don’t have any data on him, but he received a lot of hype in the final weeks leading up to the draft. He ran a 4.96-second 40-yard dash at 6-foot-7 and 352 pounds.
Vaki — Lions fans, get ready to love Vaki, one of the most athletic players in the 2024 NFL Draft. He played safety and running back at Utah, but he is a solid safety in coverage. Don’t expect him to make exceptional plays on the football very often, but Vaki packs a mean punch. He’s a plus tackler in run defense and perfectly fits Aaron Glenn’s mentality in the Motor City.
Wingo — This is a great spot to get Wingo, a good athlete for someone his size. His 84.9 run-defense grade since 2022 is the best among SEC defensive tackles in that span, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see him develop into a good rotational player in Detroit.
Mahogany — Mahogany fell further than expected, enabling the Lions to land a bit of a steal here in the sixth round. Over the past three seasons, he has allowed just one sack and seven total quarterback pressures from 711 pass-blocking snaps.
DRAFT GRADE: A
Rookie spotlight: CB Terrion Arnold, Alabama
Scouting summary
Arnold played mostly outside cornerback for Alabama over the past two seasons but gained some experience in the slot in 2023. He has great long speed, recovery speed, acceleration and agility. He also brings impressive ball skills with good on-ball production.
With just one year as a full-time starter, he is a bit erratic in his style and had some missteps and whiffs on punches in press that got him turned around or off-balance.
When he's aligned and in phase, he has the talent to shut down all kinds of receivers. Though green on total snaps, he does show a good understanding of post-snap adjustments and man-match principles.
Wins above average
WAA represents the number of wins a player is worth over an average college football player and is a metric evaluators can utilize to assess performance.
It combines how well a player performed in each facet of play (using PFF grades) and how valuable each facet is to winning football games. The result is a first-of-its-kind metric that allows for cross-positional valuation and predicts future value at the player and team levels.
How Arnold ranks in the stable metrics
Arnold played 790 snaps in coverage over the last two years at Alabama, earning an 87.6 coverage grade.
He’s been a solid man coverage corner and has the athleticism to keep that going at the next level. He displayed his impressive change of direction ability with a 6.69-second three-cone and showed off his explosiveness with a 10-foot-9 broad jump.
The bottom line
Arnold isn't the most polished cornerback in this class, but his high-percentile athletic abilities give him as high of a ceiling as any cornerback in man or zone systems.
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