Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold made a bold declaration about his career track

As the Detroit Lions focused on reshaping their cornerback depth chart last offseason, Terrion Arnold as a tentpole of that as their first-round pick. He started off battling penalty issues, particularly pass interference as a rookie corner might, but after the Week 5 regular season bye week he was flagged just twice.

The Lions play man and press coverage as much or more than any team in the NFL. That puts a huge onus on their cornerbacks to hold up on an island, and Arnold did so quite well. He played more snaps in man coverage (307) than any cornerback in the NFL this season, and nearly 100 more than any other rookie cornerback.

Arnold allowed passer rating in man coverage of 75.8, according to Pro Football Focus, which was 10th among cornerbacks with at least 150 man coverage snaps.

While PFF (for whatever it's worth) was not high on his work in coverage overall (50.2 coverage grade for the season, including the playoff game), Arnold allowed just four touchdowns all season and Pro Football Reference had him allowing a 55.6 percent completion rate (50 catches on 90 targets) and a 93.7 passer rating in his coverage over 16 regular season games (15 starts, 948 snaps)

Terrion Arnold makes bold proclamation about his career track

Arnold spoke to reporters as the Lions were cleaning out their lockers on Sunday. He spoke broadly about his rookie season and the experience it was, with an eye on next season.

"I learned a lot," Arnold said. "I feel like coming into this role it was a lot. I got better as the season went on. Started to find myself. It's just one of those things where really looking forward to next year. Looking forward to playing again, that’s all I think about. When I woke up this morning, I said, 'I can’t believe it’s over. But the only way to ease the pain and this type of heartache is to get back to the drawing board and get to work."

He'll have to wait until next season for his first career interception, but Arnold knows being thrown into the proverbial fire as a rookie will benefit him moving forward. He also does not suffer from a lack of confidence looking toward his second season.

"It was nothing but experience," Arnold said, regarding his rookie season. "A lot of teams sit back and play zone, and I had to go out there and challenge receiver one's and I'm young. I know I'll be the best corner in the league pretty soon."

After what's been a steady run for about 18 months, through his final season at Alabama to training for the NFL Combine to his rookie season, Arnold said he'll take a couple weeks off before getting "right back at it" on the path to paying off his bold declaration.