A night that showcased Detroit shined on the Lions. It left Brad Holmes nearly "speechless." The words came naturally to Terrion Arnold, who took the stage and the microphone after being drafted 24th overall and told a record-setting crowd in downtown Detroit, "I'm home, man!" The Lions wanted a cornerback in the draft and got the best one on their board. "Y'all got a star," said Arnold.
Holmes and Dan Campbell figured Arnold was a longshot. He was projected to go long before pick No. 29. Then the draft began with 13 straight offensive players and Holmes started making calls about moving up. He had his eye on Arnold, who always has an eye on the ball. Even then, Holmes "never thought he'd be there." But here he is now, ready to help a Super Bowl-caliber roster "take that one extra step," said Arnold. "And I think we could do it this year.”
"We couldn’t be more ecstatic or thrilled how it went," said Holmes.
It cost the Lions a third-round pick to trade up five spots. It might just push them over the top in the NFC. The more Holmes watched Arnold play last season, especially in the SEC championship against Georgia, the more he loved the player. Then the Lions got to know him, first at the combine and later when they brought him in for a pre-draft visit, and fell for the person. Arnold said that Campbell told him early in the process, "If the opportunity presents itself, we’re coming to get you."
"So when they called me (Thursday night), I said, ‘It’s go time, Coach.'"
Arnold is fast and fearless on the field, with a knack for finding the football, evidenced by his five picks against SEC foes last season. And he has an "infectious personality," said Campbell, which popped Thursday night in his shimmery pink suit and even brighter smile. During his visit with the Lions, Arnold told defensive coordinator and former Pro Bowl corner Aaron Glenn, "Coach, I would love to play for you. Being a cornerback, man, we’re going to be best friends." You can imagine Glenn chuckling and shaking his head.
He shook it often last season watching the Lions' corners try to cover top receivers. It was hard to watch by the end of the year. In their final six games including the playoffs, the Lions allowed Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, Puka Nacua, Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel to catch 56 of 72 passes for 977 yards. In Detroit's collapse in the NFC championship game, 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk caught a pivotal deep ball that deflected off Kindle Vildor's face.
The Lions had no choice but to upgrade at corner this offseason. They couldn't bring back the same group after giving up the most air yards and second most yards per pass in the NFL. So they traded for Carlton Davis III, signed Amik Robertson, re-signed Emmanuel Moselely, and entered the draft hunting for more. And they wound up with their "highest-rated corner," said Holmes, a perfect match between the "the best football player" and an area of need.
The old regime dumped Darius Slay four years ago, and the Lions have been searching for a No. 1 corner since. Now they might have two. Davis III arrived in March and let everyone know, "You about to get a lockdown corner ... I'm here to take the No. 1 receiver on these teams." The numbers back him up. Arnold arrived Thursday night and declared, “I’m a shutdown corner. I’m coming in to guard receiver 1's off the rip." The Lions have turned last year's problem into a good one to have.
"I feel like I was already coming in with a chip on my shoulder, just based on the draft and how everything was going," said Arnold. "On top of that, Brad traded up to get me and that means a lot to me. I’m going to go out there and show why he did it.”
In a passing league where offense wins, you can't have enough speed on defense. It's the only way to match up with teams like the rebuilt Chicago Bears, who suddenly have an armory of receivers in Keenan Allen, DJ Moore and ninth overall pick Rome Odunze to catch passes from first overall pick Caleb Williams. Arnold has the quickness to play under a receiver's chin. You also can't have enough ballhawks, and that's what the Lions might love about Arnold the most.
"I am not looking to get (pass-breakups)," he said. "Anytime the ball is in the air, I am looking to take it away. Not only am I looking to take it away, I am looking to score. ... I can’t promise I’m going to score because I don’t want to sit up here and give false hope, but I promise you I’m not going down without a fight.”
Too often last season, Detroit's corners weren't even in the fight. They were overmatched one on one, in a game where one-on-one matchups make all the difference in 11 vs. 11. Arnold gives the Lions another player to swing the numbers in their favor. Holmes and Campbell both called him "sticky" in man coverage, a staple of Glenn's defense and the team's bold demeanor. And while Arnold is smaller than some of the other corners in the draft at 6'0, 190 pounds, "That's not an issue," said Holmes. "He’ll get in your face."
"He’s got a challenge mentality. He will tackle. He’s got the right mindset that we’re looking for. He fits us like a glove," said Holmes.
This was an aggressive move by Holmes, at a position where he's admittedly picky. In his first three years in Detroit, he hadn't drafted a corner in the top 100. While he stops short of calling himself "a snob of outsider corners," Holmes said this offseason that he holds them to an extremely high standard after spending nearly a decade scouting and cross-checking the position for the Rams. There were some good ones in this year's draft, but Holmes said the Lions saw a "pretty significant" gap between Arnold and "the next guy."
"We feel really good about his floor, but we feel even better about his ceiling," said Holmes.
Arnold, who turned 21 last month, still has plenty of room to grow. And he can do so without having to cover No. 1 receivers off the bat, with Davis across the way. He said he's "not even into my grown-man strength" yet and needs to add more muscle. He also has some polishing to do, having only played corner for two years. But the traits and instincts are there. Lions defensive backs coach Deshea Townsend said Arnold's "understanding of football" immediately stood out in meetings.
Like relievers in baseball, you can never have enough good corners. They're the players who put out fires. The Lions were torched in the air last season. They still need to find more of a pass rush, which is the best coverage scheme in the first place. They could make a move there Friday. But their cornerbacks room is suddenly more than an emergency measure, which, as Campbell acknowledged, "was a priority for us" this offseason.
"You look at what’s going on in the division, these receivers that we know we’re going to have to face -- Chicago just got anther one -- so it’s important," Campbell said Thursday night on Fox 2. "This kid, let him come in and mix it up. We need him."
Arnold plans to do more than that, of course. Asked about the receivers and new quarterbacks in the NFC North, including Michigan's J.J. McCarthy who went 10th overall to the Vikings, where Justin Jefferson still looms as the most dominant pass catcher in football, Arnold said, “It’s just an opportunity to go out there and win Defensive Rookie of the Year."
"When you're a rookie, you know teams are going to try you," he said. "It’s a great opportunity to just establish myself and show the fans I really am a crowd favorite. You sit up here and talk, you’ve gotta be able to back it up.”
The crowd downtown roared when Arnold's name was announced Thursday night, a wall of sound that likely rattled the doors of Ford Field. Arnold, on his own Pride Rock, beamed when he gazed at a sea of Honolulu blue. It was a historic night in Detroit, the 275,000 fans shattering the record for first-night attendance at the NFL Draft, on the heels of a historic season for the Lions. Arnold said he was "ecstatic." So did Holmes. The sentiment was shared: They have more history to make.