The Detroit Lions have spent much of the offseason improving their roster. However, after the release of former first-round pick Terrion Arnold, the Lions’ secondary remains a spot of bother.

The legal troubles of Terrion Arnold forced the Lions to release him, and they now have seven-year veteran Rock Ya-Sin as their starting cornerback option. With the Lions desperate for a cornerback, a recent trade proposal has seen them trade for the Indianapolis Colts’ Jaylon Jones.

“He’s fallen on the depth chart with the addition of Sauce Gardner and Charvarius Ward over the past year,” wrote Bleacher Report analyst Moe Moton. “Jones could blossom with another opportunity to start elsewhere.”

Moton of Bleacher Report especially pointed out his performance during the 2024 season, since Jones had missed considerable time due to a hamstring injury last season

In 2024, Jones started all 17 games and recorded 100 tackles, with three of them being tackles for loss. He also recorded 12 pass breakups and two interceptions. Jones, while in coverage, also allowed just one touchdown while allowing a decent 86 passer rating.

The former seventh-round pick from the 2023 NFL Draft, so far in his career, has appeared in 44 games with 29 of them as starts. In those three years, on average, he has a pass completion percentage allowed on targets of 61.8% and allowed a passer rating of 92.7.

Arnold, over his two years with the Lions, had allowed a passer rating of 96.3, and in the 2025 season, he had a pass completion percentage allowed on targets of 62.8. While Jones might not be a flashy move, if the Lions only have to trade a late 2027 pick for him, as per the proposed trade, the Lions could do a lot worse.

Meanwhile, one Lions defender has been ranked in the top 10 list for his position.

Lions’ star defender ranked top 10 in ESPN’s latest rankings

While the Lions have not been an amazing defensive unit, they still do possess a few stars, and one such star is off-ball linebacker Jack Campbell. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, on July 14, released the results of their survey, conducted among NFL executives, coaches, and scouts. In their ranking of the league’s top 10 off-ball linebackers, Campbell was ranked fifth.

After a season where Campbell registered 176 tackles, the most for a Lions player since Chris Spielman in 1994, it was no surprise to see Campbell ranked so high. So much so that one veteran AFC assistant coach had very high praise for the Lions star.

“Excellent football IQ, tough, physical, plays downhill, instinctive, aware, leader - throwback football player,” said the veteran coach.

The one-time All-Pro player has been a mainstay of the Lions’ defense since he got drafted and ranked fifth among linebackers for run stop win rate with 40%. Ranking below Fred Warner of the San Francisco 49ers, Roquan Smith of the Baltimore Ravens, Carson Schwesinger of the Cleveland Browns, and Zack Baun of the Philadelphia Eagles, Campbell received votes to be ranked first during the survey.

Having signed a four-year, $81 million deal in May, Campbell is set to be a cornerstone of the Lions’ defense for years to come.

Do you agree with Campbell’s ranking in the list? Let us know in the comments!

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Written by

Dhruv Vishnu Nair

Edited by

Soheli Tarafdar