Fact or Fiction: Lions Have Top-10 Secondary

Evaluating whether Lions have a top-10 secondary entering 2024 season.

Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch (32) breaks up a pass intended for Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson (9) during their football game on Thursday, September 28, 2023, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Detroit Lions made a significant effort this offseason to revamp their much-maligned secondary.

And most notably, fourth-year Detroit general manager Brad Holmes worked on upgrading the team's cornerbacks room. He added a pair of veterans in Carlton Davis and Amik Robertson to start off the offseason. Plus, he doubled up on cornerbacks in this past April’s NFL Draft, selecting Alabama's Terrion Arnold and Missouri's Ennis Rakestraw in the first and second rounds, respectively.

Davis, who is expected to replace the departed Cam Sutton as the Lions’ No. 1 corner, and Arnold are projected to be Detroit's top two cornerbacks in 2024. 

Meanwhile, Robertson has a chance to absorb a healthy dose of nickel corner snaps from Brian Branch, who is expected to slide over to safety in the place of C.J. Gardner-Johnson this season. Gardner-Johnson, who spent just one campaign in Motown, left the Lions this offseason to re-join the Philadelphia Eagles. All of this leaves Rakestraw in a reserve role entering the 2024 season.

Branch, a rookie phenom in 2023, was the Lions’ best defensive back last season. He was an adept defender against both the run and pass while manning the nickel corner position. He compiled three interceptions, including one returned for touchdown, 13 passes defensed, a sack and a forced fumble. And, for his efforts, he earned a 78.1 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, including a 76.0 coverage grade and an 83.6 mark against the run.

The second-year pro is expected to be a valuable asset in the Lions’ safeties room, which also includes incumbent starters Kerby Joseph and Ifeatu Melifonwu, plus part-timers Brandon Joseph and C.J. Moore.

Melifonwu, coming off a breakout season in 2023, has a chance to be the Lions’ top-performing full-time safety in 2024. He had a starring role in Detroit's secondary down the stretch last season, securing 26 total tackles, including three for loss, seven passes defensed, two interceptions and three sacks in the team's final five games. 

For Melifonwu’s efforts as a whole last season, he earned an 85.6 overall mark from PFF, including an impressive 92.0 pass-rush grade and an 80.9 coverage mark.

Despite the vast improvements made to its cornerbacks and safeties groups, Detroit still likely does not own a top-10 secondary in the NFL. Pro Football Focus, in fact, just ranked the Lions’ secondary as the league's 11th-best unit. In case you were wondering, it ranked the N.Y. Jets' secondary, featuring All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner, as the league's best.

At this present juncture, I'm also of the mindset that Detroit does not deserve to have its secondary ranked in the top 10.

The Lions possessed a porous pass defense a season ago, one which allowed the sixth-most passing yards (4,205) and the sixth-most touchdowns through the air (28). I want to see those numbers significantly improve before I start giving consideration to the team's secondary as a top-10 unit.

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