Lions put rookie cornerback Ifeatu Melifonwu on active roster

The Lions have another young corner in the mix, with rookie Ifeatu Melifonwu now on the active roster.

The Detroit Lions have played very well defensively lately allowing 15 points per game over the last three games to give the team a chance to win. The secondary is about to get another young piece, as the team announced Monday morning that rookie cornerback Ifeatu Melifonwu has been added to the active roster. Cornerback Parnell Motley has also been re-signed to the practice squad.

Melifonwu suffered a thigh injury in Week 2 against the Green Bay Packers, a game he made his first NFL start in, which landed him on IR. He returned to practice coming out of the Week 9 bye for the Lions, and the 21-day window to add him to the active roster would have expired on Wednesday.

The Lions drafted Melifonwu in the third round (No. 101 overall) of last April’s draft out of Syracuse, with a pick that came to them from the Los Angeles Rams via the Matthew Stafford trade.

Ifeatu Melifonwu is another young piece to Lions’ secondary

Melifonwu’s size (6-foot-2, 205 pounds), skill set (19 pass breakups in three seasons for the Orange) and strengths look like a great fit for a perimeter corner in Aaron Glenn’s defensive scheme. Glenn and defensive backs coach Aubrey Pleasant will surely get the most out of him.

As solid as the Lions’ defense has been lately, there’s still room to improve against the pass. They are a solid 16th in the league in pass yardage allowed (242.9 per game) now, but their eight interceptions are toward the bottom of the league and cornerback Amani Oruwariye has five of them. Another ballhawking corner would be nice, now or certainly into the future, and Melifonwu is now healthy enough for an opportunity to show he can fit the bill.