I didn’t love him as a fit for us. I think slot corner is our deepest position on defense. Which is what Abney also plays. Hopefully he gets plenty of run and he’s our slot of the future. McCreary, Rake, and Maddox are all either on one year deals or unproven. So I get it…
I know it was a massive value pick. That’s why I wasn’t mad. I had him going 67th to the Rams so I was aware that he was a very good player.
While I think his most likely position is slot, I still think there’s a chance he can stick outside. One of my favorite draft analysts comp’d him to Cortland Finnegan, and he played both inside and outside with equal aplomb. Hopefully we’ll get something like that out of him.
Kid might be the lions st Brown, but on the defense side. By far my favorite pick
He’s definitely going to get a strong look on the outside. Aside from our two starters, we don’t have many outside guys. So Abney and Rake with both be getting plenty of snaps there. Hopefully one or both prove to be serviceable. If so they become much more valuable long term.
Some Abney Koolaid
Freep: Keith Abney is a ‘dog’ who you better believe will boost Detroit Lions
Five days before the NFL draft, Arizona State assistant head coach and defensive pass game coordinator Bryan Carrington sent Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard a text message comparing Sun Devils cornerback Keith Abney’s relative athletic score – a measure of each draft prospect’s overall athletic ability – to that of a similarly undersized cornerback who left college eight years earlier: D.J. Reed.
Abney and Reed had nearly identical testing numbers entering the draft.
Both ran fast enough 40-yard dashes that weren’t quite elite by NFL standards and, at a shade under 5 feet 10, excelled in other ways. They were tough, smart and competitive, and after watching Reed carve out a successful eight-year career and sign to be the Lions’ No. 1 cornerback last spring, Carrington wanted Sheppard to know he could see Abney doing the same.
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“Because he had such competence, we trusted him more in the boundary because he had to be responsible for run fits,” Carrington said. “We played a lot of hard Cover 2. We did a lot of disguises. We blitzed our corner off the edge, we blitzed him through the B gap, and Keith was somebody that executed it from a flawless standpoint.”
When Abney broke a finger in a game last fall and had surgery to insert what Carrington said was a 4-inch screw in his left hand, the Sun Devils moved him exclusively to left cornerback so he could use his right hand to jam receivers at the line of scrimmage.
Abney did not miss a game with the injury until opting out of Arizona State’s bowl game, and Carrington pointed to a game-clinching interception Abney made in a November win over West Virginia to highlight his smarts and versatility.
“We kind of gave him a little freedom in his disguises,” Carrington said. “It kind of showed forth in that West Virginia game when anytime West Virginia lined up two-by-two with the back to the boundary, they were going slants to the field.
“Keith was somebody on the last play of the game, we’re playing Trap Cover 2. He shows like we’re playing Zorro, which is a Cover 2 progression, which shows that the slant will be open because the corner’s playing thirds and is not playing man. Keith was actually showing zone and then drops into his trap technique, and the quarterback literally looks at him and is already releasing the football, and he picks it to cash the game.”
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We got us a dawg round 5
Important very important if he comes through for CB depth CB4 this year
Allows Maddox & Rock to play safety. We may need them there
Brett Whitefield brought up a great point on a PODcast recently.
DB is the position with the second-most amount of injury attrition (to RB 
), and he points out that a big reason for that is you can’t play through as many injuries at CB. If you have any sort of lower body injury, for instance, even below average WRs will torch you. So even though they might be healthy enough to play at a different spot, they’re going to do nothing but hurt the team by doing so. A mistake at CB can cost the team 40 yards and possibly a TD.
That’s why I always say you can never have enough DBs. There will be games where 2-3 guys miss, that’s just league averages.
@Thats2 interesting. Would an extension of that logic then be that DB should not be a be a high draft pick choice, due to the higher likelihood of missed games?
This pick is breaking the Internet.
The Villain strikes again.
Our best 5th round pick since Tahir Whitehead
I would think you wouldn’t assign a value to it that way because individual missed games differ from games missed by a unit (so a stud CB who plays 14+ games is still very valuable, but as a unit you need to be able to absorb those 3+ games missed).
However, I do think there’s insane CB value to be had from late day 2 onwards, so it will generally always be a part of my strategy. I just won’t avoid any great ones at the top of the class.
Leonard Moore for instance is about to be the highest-rated CB prospect since… man I don’t know. I’d have him above Stingley, Surtain, Ramsey and Revis as a prospect right now. And I would love to have him.
Then we won’t be able to get him after we win the Super Bowl baby!
He will not
Just wait until about week 10 of the regular season and we’ll see how deep the CB depth chart is… I’ll be happy if we’re not pulling guys off the street.
Reed, Arnold, Rock Ya Sin, Rakestraw, Roger McCreary, Abney, Dorsey and Whiteside. Eight guys who could make the 2026 roster.
Abney is making this roster at this point outside injury. Best CB group I have ever seen for the Lions. If that ain’t enough it is time to quit.
Don’t forget Roger McReary former 2nd round pick and damn good NB.
He fits better inside than Amik did for us
Arnold…. Rock
Reed…. Abney…. Whiteside
McReary….Maddox … Rake
Time to move on from Dorsey.
If Abney can be the primary backup at NB/CB then hypothetically Maddox & Rock could be our starting Safety or at least depth there too.
Harper, Clark, Izien
They could likely even get Dorsey back on the PS as well. Then he could be insurance for special teams coverage if they have injured gunners.
Very true. Just look at how terrible DJ Reed was trying to play with a bad hammy
One of the main reasons I’m expecting a big bounce back from him.