The Detroit Lions have done as much as possible to redefine their secondary in the 2023 offseason. This was a necessary construct. Last season, Detroit finished with a 9-8 record, just missing the playoffs right at the end of the regular season, and compiling the franchise’s first winning record since 2017.
The Lions and head coach Dan Campbell did so despite a defense that ranked 28th in Defensive DVOA, and a secondary that allowed opposing offenses to put up some pretty garish numbers. The Lions’ cornerbacks and safeties allowed 171 completions on 295 attempts for 2,657 yards, 17 touchdowns, eight interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 95.8, which was the fourth-worst in the NFL behind only the Titans, Chiefs, and Panthers. Detroit’s EPA allowed of 28.18 among their secondary was also the NFL’s fourth-worst, behind the Raiders, Bears, and Falcons, and their Positive Play Rate allowed of 47.1% was the NFL’s sixth-worst.
In free agency, general manager Brad Holmes and his staff engineered three team-friendly deals with potential impact players on team-friendly deals.
- Cornerback Cameron Sutton signed a three-year, $33 million contract with $22.5 million guaranteed;
- Cornerback Emmanuel Moseley signed a one-year, $6 million deal with $2 million guaranteed; and
- Safety/slot defender C.J. Gardner-Johnson signed a one-year, $8 million contract.
Then, the trade of 2020 third-overall pick Jeff Okudah to the Atlanta Falcons for a 2023 fifth-round pick. Okudah had some good moments in his 2022 season to partially offset a career that had been marred too often by injuries and inconsistency, and there are times when a fresh start is the best thing.
Now, the Lions have the sixth overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft as part of the Matthew Stafford trade, and it becomes a virtual certainty that they’ll go for a top cornerback with that pick. Sutton and Moseley are both good players, but the Lions are telling you with the Okudah move that there’s still a need for a true franchise player at the position.
Based on what the Lions seem to prefer, and the traits of the top cornerbacks in the upcoming draft, here’s how I’d rank the possibilities.
What the Lions (seem to) want.
Last season, per Sports Info Solutions, the Lions played the third-most man coverage in the NFL — only the Saints (216) and the Giants (215) had more opponent dropbacks defended by man coverage (Cover-0, Cover-1, 2-Man) than Detroit’s 209. On those man snaps, the Lions allowed 110 catches for 1,717 yards, nine touchdowns, five interceptions, 23 pass breakups, an opponent passer rating of 84.6, and an EPA per play of 0.04, which put them in the middle of the pack, as opposed to the football purgatory they suffered in most iterations of zone coverage.
So, let’s assume this will be Detroit’s defensive DNA in 2023, and address the top cornerback position thusly.
1. Devon Witherspoon, Illinois
Why he fits: Witherspoon is an aggressive cornerback in press coverage, but he also has the footwork to excel in zone coverage, especially on the quick timing routes that give a lot of aggressive cornerbacks fits.
Stat to Know: Witherspoon picked the right year to put it all together at an utterly ridiculous level — in 2022, he allowed just 22 catches on 62 targets for 209 yards, 71 yards after the catch, no touchdowns, three interceptions, 14 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 25.3. That was by far the lowest passer rating allowed for any FCS cornerback in the 2023 class — Tulsa’s Jaise Oliver finished second at 37.4.
Strengths: Any cornerback is going to be tested deep, especially when he gets to the NFL level. Quarterbacks testing Witherspoon deep might want to have a Plan B, because his combination of backpedal, transitional movement, and balletic footwork make such completions quite difficult.
Quarterbacks targeted Devon Witherspoon 15 times on passes of 20 or more air yards last season. This was a Very Bad Idea, as Witherspoon allowed ONE CATCH for 39 yards, no TD, and two INT. One of many reasons he's my CB1. The footwork for a guy his size is just special. pic.twitter.com/dAOid5F84o
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) March 31, 2023
Witherspoon allowed an opponent quarterback rating of 0.0 on deep passes in 2022. Yes, he went Full Blutarsky.
But it’s when Witherspoon is defending short and intermediate passes that you really see the unusual footwork for his size. He has what I call “match feet,” which allow him to trail receivers through any bend and angle, and then just snuff things out at the catch point.
Witherspoon’s NFL team will love his alpha playing personality — whether he’s tracking a receiver or stopping the run, he goes all-out to the ball, and he’s bis and aggressive enough to make those hits stick.
Weaknesses: That aggression does come with a potential price — Witherspoon was penalized six times in the 2022 season, but NFL officials (such as they are) may find that his proclivity for nearness to the receiver when the ball shows up lands on the wrong side of pass interference more often than one would prefer. He’s going to have to time those hits and breakups microscopically at the next level.
There aren’t a lot of massive dings in his game, but Witherspoon can get beaten by savvier receivers on angular routes right when those routes start to turn. His grabby demeanor might be an adaptive strategy; it’ll certainly bear watching for his NFL coaches.
Conclusion: Illinois has become an underrated “DBU” over the last couple of years. Two of the Fighting Illinis’ safeties in this class (Sydney Brown and Jartavius Martin) made out top 9 list there, and 2022 graduate Kerby Joseph, a third-round pick by the Lions, picked Aaron Rodgers off three times in his rookie season. With all that said, Witherspoon comes out of the gate with the most obvious NFL skill set of all these players, and his blend of size, aggressiveness, and transition speed should make him a plus starter at the next level as soon as possible.
NFL Comparison: Sam Madison. Selected by the Dolphins in the second round of the 1997 draft out of Louisville, Madison transcended any concerns about his size (5-foot-11, 180 pounds) with great movement skills and the toughness to take any receiver right to the woodshed. Madison parlayed all that into four Pro Bowl appearances and two All-Pro nominations. Witherspoon seems to have the tools to possibly put up an equivalent NFL career, given the right home.
2. Joey Porter Jr., Penn State
Why he fits: Porter is a big, hyper-aggressive cornerback with a wingspan longer than some offensive tackles. He’s becoming more nuanced with the little things in coverage, but he is a press-coverage eraser at heart.
Stat to Know: Porter aligned in press coverage on 39% of his 2022 snaps.
Strengths: Porter is a natural in man coverage, and it’s not just on solo boundary stuff — as he showed on this deflection against Northwestern in Week 5, Porter is quite able to break off against a short crosser in Cover-1 and just demolish it. You’d better run that pick concept correctly and get him out of the way if you want the play to succeed.
And if you want your cornerback to smother a receiver in man coverage… well, this rep against Purdue’s Mershawn Rice is teach tape.
There are times when Porter a bit more vulnerable in zone, or he’ll give up short completions that are almost automatic in the scheme, but his 2022 zone defense tape is where the development really shows up.
On this deep deflection against Minnesota in Week 8, Porter took receiver Daniel Jackson all the way up the rail on the right boundary in Cover-3, and there was no way Jackson was moving Porter away from his outside position through the vertical route. Porter has a way of smothering receivers with that aggressive demeanor and developed technique, and this is an excellent example. If you were to change the unform and tell me that this was a Richard Sherman rep from about 2012, I’d be inclined to believe you.
And this deflection against Central Michigan’s Finn Hogan in Week 4 shows something that would have to come to bear were Porter to be considered a top prospect — the ability to charge and recover in off-zone coverage. It’s great to plaster guys all over the field when you have that ability, but NFL teams will challenge you to play off-coverage with route combinations and reduced splits, and you’d better be ready for it.
Weaknesses: Porter’s NFL coaches will want to work with him on advanced route combinations, because there are times where his aggressiveness will get the better of him in those circumstances, and he’ll be out of position to get to the ball. Opposing offenses also deal with him by throwing screens and picks at him, and that doesn’t always work in Porter’s favor. This screen against Michigan in Week 7 is one example.
The best cornerbacks and cornerback coaches will talk about staying in phase and not chasing plays. Porter is better with this than he used to be, but there are still coaching points to consider.
At the same time, even if Porter is a step off at any point in the route, his recovery speed and closure to the ball combine to make a great adaptative strategy. Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. got an 11-yard catch on the crosser here, but it wasn’t a pleasant experience — and Harrison had to throw everything he had at Porter at the angle to get the ball in the first place.
Regarding Porter’s low interception totals, I don’t think it’s an indication of terrible ball skills. I think he’s so focused on breaking up the play, that he’ll forget to go after the ball. The same was said of Sauce Gardner, and Sauce Gardner turned into a pretty good NFL cornerback in his 2022 rookie campaign.
Conclusion: Porter obviously breaks the matrix when it comes to measurables — when you have a cornerback with a wingspan that outdoes a lot of offensive tackles, that’ll get coaches excited. What I think will make Porter a plus NFL starter has a lot more to do with development than traits. He’s still got some work to do with the spatial stuff, but the improvement seen in 2022 augurs well for his future.
NFL Comparison: Jaycee Horn. The Panthers selected Horn with the eighth overall pick in the 2021 draft, and he’s become a lockdown cornerback regardless of coverage concept. While I like to go into the Wayback Machine for a lot of these NFL comps, I think that Porter and Horn have a lot of the same attributes in the sense that they can become scheme-transcendent defenders at the highest level when a lot of comparable players are stuck on one side of the man/zone debate.
3. Christian Gonzalez, Oregon
Why he fits: Gonzalez has the best pure ball skills in this class, and if the Lions want to focus on that as opposed to his relative lack of aggression at the catch point… well, it’s generally tougher to get pure playmakers than it is to acquire route bullies.
Stat to Know: Last season, Gonzalez lined up in the slot on 29% of his snaps, by far the highest rate for any cornerback in this class — TCU’s Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson ranked second at 28%.
Strengths: Okay, here’s the REAL stat to know with Gonzalez — in 2022, against throws of 20 or more air yards, he allowed two catches on nine targets for 69 yards, no touchdowns, and three interceptions. Metrics aren’t always the optimal indicator of performance, but if a cornerback has more interceptions than catches allowed on deep passes, that’s probably pretty good. Gonzalez’s tape backs that up in a couple of ways.
Gonzales is also the best zone cornerback on this list from a statistical perspective — he gave up nine catches no 21 targets in zone last season for 107 yards, one touchdown, four interceptions, and five pass breakups. Because he’s so smooth and athletic through his transitions, he can make these kinds of deep dropbacks look far easier than they are. You don’t really get the sense that Gonzalez is physically overwhelmed at any time.
And whether Gonzalez is in man or zone coverage, throwing any kind of ball to the boundary when he has position is just… well, you don’t want to do it.
Weaknesses: I was surprised that the Ducks wanted Gonzalez in the slot as much as they did, because he just doesn’t seem as comfortable there. Richard Sherman once told me that the tough part of playing in the slot is that the boundary is no longer your friend, and that lack of “friendship” makes him look a bit lost at times when he’s playing inside.
There’s been a bit of talk about Gonzalez’s lack of “killer instinct” — that if he worked more on affecting the receiver instead of just playing the ball, he could be even more dominant. I’m not trying to venture inside his head, but there are times when it’s clear on his tape. If he had Devon Witherspoon’s playing personality, he might be illegal.
Conclusion: There are players at every position in the NFL who just make things look easier than they have any right to make them look. Christian Gonzalez has all the attributes to become one of those players sooner than later at the next level. If he manages to add a bit of grit to the reams of teach tape, there’s no telling how good he can be — especially if he’s aligned as an outside cornerback as much as possible.
NFL Comparison: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. There’s a little Richard Sherman to Gonzalez’s game in that he defends every deep fade with a curiosity that any quarterback would try such a thing, but Gonzalez also has a smoothness to his game that’s just unusual for his size, and he doesn’t have Sherm’s obvious desire to physically embarrass his opponent. That puts me in mind of Rodgers-Cromartie, who at his best was just impossible for receivers to shake.
4. Deonte Banks, Maryland
Why he fits: Banks may be a bit rich for the sixth overall pick, but if the Lions can get him with their 18th pick, or by trading that sixth pick down, there’s nobody better in this class when it comes to pure press coverage.
Stat to Know: Banks had the highest rate of press coverage among cornerbacks on this list at 45%. Targeting Banks in press coverage was not a great idea — he allowed nine catches on 23 press targets for 46 yards, and only seven of those targets were deemed successes.
Strengths: Banks’ reps in press coverage are consistently hilarious, because it’s just bust after bust after bust for opposing offenses with very little relief. If he’s on you from the first step, his sense of technique and “matchability” to the receiver create a suffocating environment for receivers.
Banks will also stick and stay through the entire route, and he has the temerity to create pass breakups even when the play is extended and the receiver in question isn’t his original assignment. Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. found that out here.
And while he wasn’t asked to stick his nose in a lot in run support, Banks has no aversion to it.
Weaknesses: So, how is Banks in off-coverage? I wouldn’t say it’s a problem for him, but he’s naturally inclined to give up more ground to receivers when he isn’t pressing, and though his recovery rate makes him a pest when he’s not pressing, he’s a different cornerback on plays like this.
Conclusion: Teams in need of a smart, aggressive, consistent cornerback to go to the head of the room in a hurry would do well to look Banks’ way. The off-coverage issues aren’t problematic to the point where they’re going to prevent him from NFL success; they just stand in stark contrast to his press skills. Put him on a team whose defensive coaches want their cornerbacks to breathe all over receivers before the snap, and reap the rewards.
NFL Comparison: Jamel Dean. The Buccaneers took Dean in the third round of the 2019 draft out of Auburn, and were rewarded with a top-notch cornerback with a specific knack for pressing and matching receivers all over the field. Banks has a lot of attributes that make up his game, but any team involved in a lot of aggressive press coverage should find him especially intriguing.
