Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes recognized a huge weakness on the roster this offseason, and he attacked it. In the first week of free agency cornerback Cameron Sutton, cornerback Emmanuel Moseley and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson were added to the secondary.
Then in the draft, the Lions got one of the instantly perceived steals of the proceedings by taking Alabama safety Brian Branch at No. 45 overall.
Cornerback Jerry Jacobs was a find for the Lions as an undrafted free agent in 2021. After coming back from a torn ACL late in his rookie season last year, he was very good (eight pass breakups, 70.0 passer rating allowed). He and Moseley are set to compete the starting job at the outside corner spot opposite Sutton in camp, assuming Moseley is good to go from his torn ACL last season.
In any case, it now feels like the Lions have a practical embarassment of riches in the secondary, with versatile pieces for Aaron Glenn to find ways to to deploy.
Jerry Jacobs expects the Detroit Lions secondary to be high-level good
Jacobs appeared on NFL Network's "Good Morning Football" on Tuesday morning. Via NFL.com, he talked about the veteran additions to the Lions' secondary.
"We got guys like Cam Sutton, C.J. (Gardner-Johnson). Them veteran guys, they've been in the room these OTAs and minicamp and they're helping us out a lot with just learning the scheme and playing in the NFL and making the defense better. Cam Sutton has been in the league for seven years, so getting every knowledge from him. Emmanuel Moseley, he's coming back from an injury, but he's still in there 24/7.""
Jacobs then lauded what Gardner-Johnson has immediately brought to the table, and got to his expectations for the secondary.
"Chauncey, man. Chauncey, he's gonna make the game more fun," Jacobs said. "I love his enthusiasm. I love the way he comes out there and talks trash. That just turns us up. Man, the guys that we added this offseason, I think that we're going to be pretty dominant in the back end.""
The Lions have added a group of guys to the secondary who have a mentality and confidence level like Jacobs does. That's as much an indication of how good the unit will be this year as the upgraded raw talent level is.