Burning Questions: Lions' Rookie Minicamp

What lies ahead for Lions' rookies?

Mar 1, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Alabama defensive back Terrion Arnold (DB02) works out during the NFL Scouting Combine. / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL Draft has come and gone, and teams are now able to get their picks in for their first workouts.

For the Detroit Lions, the rookie class will compete in minicamp May 10-12. This will give the coaching staff a first look at what they have in this year's crop after months of extensive evaluations.

The crop includes Terrion Arnold, Ennis Rakestraw, Giovanni Manu, Sione Vaki, Mekhi Wingo, Christian Mahogany and a slew of undrafted free agents. The result will be an interesting three days where players can make strong impressions with their new coaches.

Here are three burning questions for the Lions ahead of the start of rookie minicamp.

How ready is Giovanni Manu?

A tackle at the collegiate level, Manu is reportedly set to take reps at guard for the Lions moving forward. Given that the Lions have young guard depth on roster from last season, it could set up for an interesting position battle throughout training camp.

Minicamp should start to give the Lions an impression of how ready to go Manu will be heading into training camp for his rookie year. It will be an adjustment in a number of ways, as he is going to be learning a new position at the highest level of competition.

Manu won't be pressured to start right away, but this week should provide a helpful benchmark about where he needs to improve heading into training camp. While it will likely be mainly install and positional drills, the Lions staff will get their first opportunity to evaluate Manu's trajectory going forward.

Inside or outside for Arnold, Rakestraw?

With so many new faces at the cornerback position this year, the Lions will have to find ways to best allocate all of their new talent. Two of these newcomers, rookies Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw, will get their first opportunities to learn the scheme beginning this week.

The Lions' plethora of new talent gives them different options. Both Arnold and Rakestraw have the ability to play either in the slot as the nickel or on the boundary as a traditional cornerback. This week, Aaron Glenn and his staff should begin to evaluate which option suits each player best.

Both of these cornerbacks have the necessary physicality to be solid fits in the defensive scheme. The team should greatly benefit from that, as it will allow them to experiment with these players in different areas.

As a result, the coaching staff should treat the week of rookie minicamp as an exploratory one, seeing which of the two demonstrates the best fit in either cornerback spot.

Who will be next training camp standout?

A fun storyline to follow through the team offseason workouts are the annual rising stars. Each fall, teams deal with undrafted rookies or other unknown players who steal the spotlight and make compelling cases to make the final roster.

In recent years, the Lions have had several undrafted rookies make the roster and wind up playing significant roles. Additionally, there have been multiple players who were among the final cuts after strong training camp performances.

An interesting aspect of rookie minicamp is that it also allows players to earn roster spots for training camp. There are several players who will get the chance to do so for the Lions, including Grand Valley State quarterback Cade Peterson, Northern Iowa quarterback Theo Day and Hillsdale running back Michael Herzog.

Last year, Dylan Drummond earned a roster spot after being a minicamp invite and nearly cracked the roster. Could yet another undrafted rookie put pressure on the staff when training camp comes around? Minicamp is a good place to start.