Two days of the 2024 NFL Draft are in the books, and the Detroit Lions have made two picks. In the first round they traded up to get Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold, who was the top-ranked cornerback for many analysts in a deep class at the position.
The deal to move up to get Arnold, and parting with the 73rd overall pick, left the Lions with only one pick on Day 2 of the draft. At pick No. 61 overall in the second round, they selected Missouri cornerback Ennis Rakestraw. Doubling-up on cornerbacks in this draft certainly felt possible, but after Arnold in the first round it seemed far more likely to be a Day 3 pick.
Barring a move up, the Lions will go more than 100 picks before they're back on the clock in this draft. They will enter Day 3 with a total of four picks.
While it's rare, Day 3 of the draft occasionally bears nice fruit.
The Lions took wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown on Day 3 of the 2021 draft (fourth round, No. 112 overall), and that has obviously worked out very well. In 2015, safety Quandre Diggs was a sixth-round pick by the Lions. In 2022, though he was usurped on the linebacker depth chart last year, Malcolm Rodriguez proved to be a steal in the sixth round (No. 188 overall).
2024 NFL Draft: When do the Lions pick on Day 3?
Here are the Lions picks on Saturday, the third and final day of the 2024 NFL Draft.
- 5th Round, Pick No. 164
- 6th Round, Pick No. 201 (via the Carlton Davis trade with the Buccaneers)
- 6th Round, Pick No. 205
- 7th Round, Pick No. 249
Will the Lions find another St. Brown-style gem on Day 3 this year? That's very unlikely, but never say never and a very useful player or two could very well be added.