What Terrion Arnold Must Improve in 2025

Detroit Lions 2024 first-round pick Terrion Arnold took his fair share of bumps and bruises throughout his first NFL season.

Thrust into action as a starting cornerback right away, Arnold was often targeted by opposing quarterbacks. As a result, his early performances were often marred by pass interference penalties.

Arnold was flagged twice in his NFL debut against the Los Angeles Rams, then again in Week 2 against Tampa Bay. In total, Arnold was penalized seven times for pass interference in his rookie season.

When exploring areas of potential improvement for the Alabama product, avoiding these downfield pass interference penalties is the biggest. As the season wore on, Arnold demonstrated much more comfort in his coverage ability.

Arnold is coming off a season in which he allowed a 100.4 passer rating, according to Pro Football Focus. While he did perform better later in the year, he still allowed a high passer rating throughout the final games.

Against Minnesota in the regular season, Arnold played what may have been his best game of the year as he allowed just a 39.6 opposing passer rating. However, in the other four of the Lions' last five games including their loss to Washington in the playoffs, his passer rating allowed was above 100.

Arnold does have a tendency to be too handsy at the catch point, and as such he'll need to improve by being more subtle in this area. Physicality is a defining trait for the Lions' defensive backs, but finding a way to meet that standard without drawing penalties will be important.