Tabbing the No. 1 breakout candidate for the Lions has become a pretty easy exercise, and looking toward next season it’s no different.

The Detroit Lions pulled no punches and aggressively addressed their need at cornerback last offseason. After trading for Carlton Davis and signing Amik Robertson, they doubled-dipped with their first two draft picks by taking Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw.

Injuries derailed Rakestraw’s rookie season, but Arnold was thrown right into the proverbial fire. He played more man coverage snaps than any cornerback in the league (307), and it took blowout wins or an injury for him to play less than 90 percent of the Lions’ defensive snaps in a game.

All the experience from his rookie season will benefit Arnold. He cleaned up his early penalty issues, with just three flags over the final 14 games (including the playoff game). and even if some metrics didn’t always show it he improved as the season went along,

When the Lions were cleaning out their lockers after the playoff loss to the Commanders, Arnold said “I know I’ll be the best corner in the league pretty soon.”

A 2025 breakout from Terrion Arnold could be extra critical for the Lions

The Lions’ top breakout candidate looking toward the next season seems to be easy to identify lately, and Bradley Locker of Pro Football Focus nailed it by naming Arnold the Lions’ top early breakout candidate for 2025.

‘”Arnold helped compose a captivating Detroit draft class, but his first year as a Lion wasn’t as thrilling as anticipated. His 50.4 PFF coverage grade ranked 12th worst among 117 corners with 300 or more snaps, and his 10 penalties were the seventh most at the position. But Arnold rose to the occasion in a momentous Week 18 with a career-high 71.8 PFF coverage grade. Simply put, there’s too much talent here to give up on a player like Arnold, especially this early.”

Arnold had his overall best PFF grade of the season of the season in the regular season finale. He then allowed four catches on five targets in the playoff loss to Washington, but allowing a 38-yard play skews numbers that were otherwise good (26 yards on the other three receptions he allowed, 14 total yards after the catch allowed according to PFF).

For the season, according to Next Gen Stats, Arnold forced the highest rate of tight-window throws among Lions’ cornerbacks (27.9 percent).

Davis is a free agent, and he could be gone as it’s anticipated he’ll have a solid market for his services and suitors ready to pony up. So Arnold could become the Lions’ No. 1 corner and tasked with covering the opponent’s top wide receiver more often than he was was a rookie next season-if not almost exclusively.

A player having a breakout can sometimes be an unexpected bonus for a team. Arnold is certainly lined up to have a second-year breakout, and it practically feels like the expectation. But the Lions may need him to go beyond that, and take a huge step toward paying off his end of season declaration.