Cornerback was already a position of need for the Lions heading into this offseason, even before they lost starter Eric Wright in free agency. So many Lions fans were disappointed when the team didn’t address the position in the first round of the NFL draft, and downright baffled when the Lions didn’t take a corner in the second round, either.
But Lions coach Jim Schwartz says he’s got this.
Detroit drafted cornerbacks in the third, fifth and sixth rounds, so they know they have quantity at the position. And Schwartz says the Lions know they have quality at the position, too.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever really gone in saying, ‘You want to have good competition,’” Schwartz told the Detroit Free Press. “What you really want is you want to have good players. If you have enough good players, you’ll have competition, but I don’t know we’re really looking to say, ‘We’re trying to have competition.’ We’re trying to have good players, and I think we have a couple there.”
Chris Houston, who started 13 games at cornerback for the Lions last season and led the team with five interceptions, will be one of the starters at cornerback, and Schwartz will have to hope that one of the rookies (Dwight Bentley, Chris Greenwood or Jonte Green) will be ready to start as well. The Lions’ cornerbacks didn’t inspire much confidence at the end of last season, and the Lions’ offseason moves haven’t inspired much confidence at the position, either -- except from Schwartz.