Former Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold is clearly a talented player. You don’t get picked in the first round of the NFL Draft and earn All-American honors in college without being extremely skilled.
With that said, Arnold is not a finished product after being selected in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions.
Former Patriots coach Bill Belichick joined Pat McAfee for the first round of the Draft and shared where Terrion Arnold must improve moving forward.
“Terrion was one of the two good corners down there. Kool-Aid [McKinstry] was the other one,” Bill Belichick said. “Terrion’s a tough kid. He’s a good tackler. He’s obviously been well-coached by coach [Nick] Saban. But there’s some plays where he kind of loses concentration.”
Terrion Arnold recorded five interceptions and had 17 passes defended in 2023 as he was statistically one of the best defensive backs in the SEC.
However, Belichick didn’t see the consistency on film that he was hoping to.
“There’s too much separation on this route and that happens to him a number of times,” Belichick said. “He’s got talent, just at times, he loses focus, gets out of position, then misses a tackle. I think this is just a consistency thing.”
Arnold was ranked as a four-star recruit and the No. 35 overall player in the country in the class of 2021, according to the On3 Industry rankings.
He excelled in high school and in each of the past two seasons at Alabama. In addition to earning All-American honors for his play in 2023, he was named a Freshman All-American in 2022.
Bill Belichick expects Terrion Arnold to continue to be productive in the NFL, but he does see some areas where Arnold needs to improve.
“There’s enough talent there. He’s a good kid; he’s a good teammate. I think he’ll fit in well in coach [Dan] Campbell and coach [Aaron] Glenn’s culture,” Belichick said. “Just really needs to work on more consistency with his fundamentals. Good talent, good guy to work with. Will develop under coach Glenn’s coaching.”
Barry Sanders gives his stance on Terrion Arnold to Detroit Lions in NFL Draft
With the NFL Draft right in its backyard, Detroit lined up its first selection and got ready to make the pick on Thursday night. Sure enough, the guy they wanted was still available, so the Lions snatched up Alabama defensive back Terrion Arnold with the No. 24 overall pick.
It was a pick meant to shore up the defense in a league where quarterback play figures to steadily improve.
Lions legend Barry Sanders weighed in on the pick after it was made.
“I mean, you look at all these dynamic young quarterbacks coming into our division, we’ve got to have somebody to neutralize that out on the corner,” Sanders said on the set of the Pat McAfee Show on Thursday night. “I think also, you just look at our defense, bringing in a personality that can really mix well with the guys that are there, that have had success. We were just a few steps away from a Super Bowl last year.
“So bringing in a guy who’s a proven winner, great program, who you know is a player and you figure can really fit into that scheme and those personalities in the locker room.”
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