Heading into the 2024 NFL Draft, after the situation that led to Cameron Sutton's departure, cornerback stood as a clear need for the Detroit Lions. Using the 29th overall pick was certainly a possibility.
The Lions wound up trading up to 24th overall to take the cornerback they coveted most at that point Terrion Arnold out of the University of Alabama. Without rehashing what happened with Arnold, the bottom line is he's no longer a Lion after just two seasons.
If the Lions could, knowing what is known now for sure and perhaps even without Arnold's off-field situation, they'd surely go back and make a different choice. A deep draft class at cornerback provided multiple options that would look way better right now.
2024 re-draft somehow avoids filling Lions' biggest roster hole
Zachary Pereles of CBS Sports has re-done the first round of the 2024 draft with two years of hindsight knowledge. Some of the picks remain the same, but most are different.
Of course that includes the Lions at pick No, 24, with the real-life trade up sticking in the re-draft as they take safety Calen Bullock.
"The first third-round pick to end up in the first round of this redraft, Bullock is a menace who tackles like a linebacker and has nine career interceptions. He can drop down into the box and play in the slot. The Lions would have a tremendous trio of Bullock, Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph, all players Dan Campbell loves, or, in Bullock's case, would love."
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Bullock is a fine player, and the current health questions around Branch and Joseph, the latter especially, drives the idea of a safety in a 2024 re-draft for the Lions. Cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, Nate Wiggins and Kamari Lassiter would've looked good in hypothetical Honolulu Blue, but they were all gone by pick 24 in Pereles' re-draft.
The best available cornerback at No. 24 in the re-draft was Kool-Aid McKinstry, who was a popular mock draft pick for the Lions and ultimately went 41st overall to the New Orleans Saints.
McKinstry did not have a great rookie season, but he played all 17 games last season while picking off three passes and landing top-10 in the league with 17 pass breakups. The Lions would take all of that compared to what Arnold did on the field last year, amid a bunch of injuries.
A re-do is supposed to provide an opportunity to do a lot better than you did before. The Lions, in the wake of a hypothetical mulligan on drafting Arnold, didn't get that done here in the way they needed to.
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