Lions Rookie Report After Four Games

Evaluating the performance of Detroit's rookies through first quarter of 2024 season.

Sep 22, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold (0) defends a pass to Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. (18) during the second half at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images / Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

The Lions have had a solid start to the 2024 campaign, going 3-1 in their first four games.

Additionally, Dan Campbell's squad has had its fair share of positive moments on both sides of the ball. Yet, the team has received very little contributions from its rookie class. First-round pick Terrion Arnold has made the biggest impact thus far, but still has struggled to find his feet to start his NFL career.

Let's take a look now at how Arnold and the rest of the Lions’ six 2024 draft picks have fared through the first quarter of the season.

CB Terrion Arnold 

Arnold has experienced his fair share of struggles to start his career. He's suited up and started in all four Lions games, and has racked up 16 total tackles and three passes defensed. Yet, the 2024 No. 24 overall pick has also looked like a rookie in an overwhelming amount of the reps he's logged up to this point. 

Through four games, he's recorded a passer rating against of 98.4, and has earned subpar Pro Football Focus grades in coverage (48.8) and against the run (51.6). He's also posted an underwhelming overall mark (47.6). Along with all that, he's had difficulty avoiding being penalized. In fact, through the first quarter of the season, he's already accounted for eight penalties, including a career-high three this past Monday against the Seattle Seahawks.

The Alabama product certainly has some things to improve upon before the Lions can trust him to be a No. 1-caliber cornerback.

CB Ennis Rakestraw 

The Missouri product has been active for just two games, sitting out Weeks 2 and 3 with a hamstring injury that he suffered in warmups prior to Detroit's loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Additionally, in those two games, the 2024 second-round pick played mostly on special teams, logging just four total snaps on defense (as opposed to 19 on special teams). 

In his limited snaps on defense (two in coverage and two as a run defender), he's earned a 61.3 coverage grade and a 60.0 run-defense mark from PFF. 

Rakestraw is definitely still a work in progress, and needs more live game reps before he can be fully evaluated. 

OL Giovanni Manu 

The third-round pick has yet to log a single snap this season. It's a sign of two things: the Lions’ immense depth at offensive line and Manu not being ready for game action. 

It'll be interesting to see if the University of British Columbia product garners some game reps as the season progresses.

RB Sione Vaki 

Vaki, presently Detroit's fourth-string running back, has yet to record a single snap out of the backfield. He has, however, caught one ball for 17 yards, which came in Week 3 against the Buccaneers. 

As long as David Montgomery, Jahmyr Gibbs and Craig Reynolds are ahead of Vaki on the RB depth chart, you can expect his production to remain minimal. 

At this juncture, the Utah product is basically a special teams-only performer, with 69 of his 76 total NFL game reps so far having come on special teams.

DL Mekhi Wingo 

Wingo, the first of Detroit's two sixth-round picks this past April, has contributed both on defense and special teams up to this point. In fact, the LSU product has racked up 73 total defensive snaps and another 16 on special teams. Along the way, he's produced three total tackles (all of which came in Week 3 against the Arizona Cardinals), a QB hit (which came in the season opener vs. the L.A. Rams) and four total pressures.

With the likes of Alim McNeill, DJ Reader and Levi Onwuzurike ahead of Wingo on the depth chart, there's not a great likelihood that he logs a ton of reps in his debut NFL season.

OL Christian Mahogany 

Mahogany, the final pick of Detroit's 2024 draft class, missed all of training camp with mono, and was unable to play in the season's first four games due to being placed on the team's non-football illness list to start the campaign.

According to Lions head man Dan Campbell, Mahogany's return-to-play clock could be activated following the team's Week 5 bye. Once Detroit designates the Boston College product for return, it will have three weeks to activate him. If the Lions decide not to do so, they will lose him for the rest of the season.

With all the time he's missed, it would hardly be fair – or possible – to assess the offensive lineman at this point.