The Lions made the playoffs last season for the first time in seemingly forever and they are clearly headed in the right direction as a franchise. However, one area where they still lack elite talent is cornerback. Last season their starters were Chris Houston and Eric Wright, two players who are best described as mediocre to average at best. This offseason, they lost starter Eric Wright. Wright got an undeserved giant contract from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Right now, it appears that Aaron Berry will replace him in the starting lineup. Berry has never been a full time starter, but the organization has been high on him since they signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Pittsburgh after the 2010 NFL Draft. He’s been working out with the first team in OTAs and will be given every chance to be the starter. He will, however, get competition from Dwight Bentley and Chris Greenwood, rookies drafted in the 3^rd round and 5^th round respectively of the 2012 NFL Draft.

They’ll be bailed out by one of the best front 7s and pass rushes in the league, but no matter who ends up starting next to Chris Houston, the Lions will have some of the worst defensive back talent of any playoff contender once again, unless one of their rookies steps up big time or Berry has a breakout season. It’s worth noting that the Lions did rank 8^th in the league in fewest YPA allowed last year with 6.8 YPA, despite only having 3 of 12 defensive backs grade out above average on ProFootballFocus. One of those 3 was Berry, who played very well in the slot last year (the other two were Chris Houston and Don Carey).

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