Mina Kimes: With New Cornerbacks, Aaron Glenn Can Run His Defense

The Detroit Lions identified the cornerback position as a clear need heading into the 2024 offseason. 

As a result, general manager Brad Holmes aggressively sought out talent at the position. At this stage of the offseason, the team has already traded for one, signed one and drafted two cornerbacks. 

With the 2024 Draft in the rearview mirror, pundits have largely praised the Lions’ decision to add two top-tier cornerbacks within the class in Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw Jr. ESPN analyst Mina Kimes listed both picks among her favorite selections in the entire Draft in a recent episode ofThe Mina Kimes Show.

This was based largely on how both players' styles fit the scheme they are entering. Neither Arnold nor Rakestraw shies away from the physical side of playing the position in addition to their ability to cover.

“I went back and looked at my notes for both of them, and some of the same words were appearing. Both can press, both blow up screens, both arrive downhill in a hurry, both can tackle. Tackling,” Kimes said. “Starting right away, that’s another thing I keep coming back to. Aaron Glenn, their defensive coordinator comes from New Orleans. They played a lot of man at the jump, but they don’t really have the personnel to do it. Last year you saw him dial that back, in large part because of the deficiencies they had in the secondary.”

Kimes' co-host for the show, Field Yates, agreed that both players' identities will match up nicely with what the Lions hope to do defensively.

"They're both Lions, they're both quintessential Lions," Yates said. "The Lions are looking for a bit more dog in their corners. They want guys who are just as likely to come up and blow up a wide receiver screen at the line of scrimmage as they are to play silky smooth man coverage, and rather than getting one of those, they got two."

As Kimes pointed out, the Lions want to be a man-to-man defensive team. Glenn wants the team to play on the line of scrimmage, making it difficult for opposing receivers to gain separation. However, with limited personnel, the team was unable to do so effectively in years past.

Now, with the addition of Arnold and Rakestraw, the Lions are much deeper at the position and can afford to experiment with their new pieces in different areas. Also, both players are talented enough to start right away thanks to their ability to play both the boundary and the slot cornerback positions. 

“These are two corners where I think, because of their ability to play press-man, I wouldn’t be surprised to see that dial crank back up, for him to run sort of the defense that he wants to,” Kimes explained. “I’ll be very curious to see who plays where, and how much, because they do have an excellent nickel. Brian Branch was a massive, massive success for them last year. Arnold was someone who had inside-outside versatility, you saw that in college. Rakestraw, there were questions as well. With Branch, it’ll be, okay Branch is a primary nickel but if they play big-nickel or dime packages, you’ll see two of these guys on the inside. I’m very curious to see how they’re deployed. But at minimum, Aaron Glenn has some really fun pieces to work with.”