By Michael Stets
ALLEN PARK — With the way that NFL offenses continue to pass the ball at an increasingly high rate, teams need as many good cornerbacks as they can get their hands on, especially with having to rely on a nickel corner being just as good as those that man the outside.
The Lions didn’t draft a cornerback last year, but with this year’s draft class being deep at that position, they may be inclined to add one to their defense with one of their eight selections this coming weekend. Adding depth would be of great benefit since Slay missed three games last year due to injury, Quandre Diggs was lost for the year with a pectoral injury in Week 13 win against the Saints, and the team was forced to play several games with a secondary featuring backups and players from the practice squad. The Lions allowed 33 touchdown passes in 2016 and opposing teams had a 106.5 passer rating against them. So while the team may not add one in the first round on Thursday night, they will more than likely draft one in one of the following rounds.
“You really can’t [have enough cornerbacks],” said Darius Slay, when asked about the importance of having several good cornerbacks on defense. “But shoot, I will leave that up to [general manager] Bob [Quinn]. Whatever he do. I know he is going to bring in something to help us. That’s all I’m looking for. Bring him in and let’s get to work.”
The Lions did add a cornerback this offseason via free agency when they signed D.J. Hayden on a one-year deal. Hayden was drafted out of Houston in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders, where he played all of his first four seasons in the league. Slay is familiar with Hayden, having practiced with him in Houston during the offseason for the past several years.
“I already know what he is capable of,” said Slay, who was drafted the same year as Hayden. “I know what type of player he is. I know what type of work he puts in. Because we put in the same type of work, the same type of effort.”
Hayden, who has been hampered by injuries throughout his NFL career and survived a life-threatening heart injury in college, finished 2016 on injured reserve after posting 37 tackles and no interceptions in 11 games. The Lions No.1 corner says Hayden brings “more size” to the secondary.
“He is a little taller than Nevo [Nevin Lawson],” said Slay on Hayden, who is 5′ 11″ tall. “And [he has] a competitive edge. Everybody likes to compete. We just want to compete and make every body better. He’s going to push every body. He’s going to come to the group. He’s been around GQ [Glover Quin] because I train with GQ just like he does. He knows what we bring to the table and he knows how we work so he’s going to come in and see where he can fit in.”
Slay had only two interceptions in 2016, tying Quin, Tavon Wilson and Rafael Bush for the team lead. As a whole, the Lions had only 10 interceptions on the season to go along with just four fumble recoveries. Now entering his fifth season, Slay knows the defense must do better than that.
“Creating turnovers from everyone,” he said, when asked what improvements that need to be made on defense. “Not just from [individual] players, from everyone. Just need to create more turnovers to give the offense more chances to score. Other than that. We give Matt [Stafford] more chances to score he’s going to put more points on the board.”