This is going to be fun. It's not everyday that you get to disagree with a co-worker in front of the world, but I think my guy got it wrong here.
Ian Valentino, who covers the NFL Draft for The 33rd Team and A to Z Sports recently put out grades for all 32 of the first round picks in the 2024 NFL Draft. He graded pretty fairly, I'll give him that. Valentino might be that professor you hate to get grades from because not a lot of guys came out with report cards their parents would be happy with, but I especially think he got the Arnold grade wrong. A D- is way too low.
I know, it's a shocker right? People are looking at me like a heel that just turned face in the WWE. I'm supposed to be the guy that hates Arnold or something like that. Last week I was told In was obsessed with killing his career because I pointed out he had a penalty problem, which he does.
The truth is I'm a big fan of this pick and I always have been. I think the Lions got a steal and the best corner in the draft. Once he gets over some of his issues, he'll show that.
But have the issues been that bad? Valentino points out that Arnold has allowed 64 percent of his targets to be completed for 178 yards. That's 16 catches on 25 targets to be exact.
There's a couple things about those numbers that might help explain what's happening here. The first thing is that only one rookie cornerback has been thrown at more than Arnold and that's Bucs corner Tykee Smith. He's been thrown at 32 times.
He's had a lot of targets to deal with and when you consider what everyone else with that many targets at them has done, that 64 percent actually seems pretty good.
18 corners have been targeted 25 times or more this season. Arnold's 64 percent catch percentage is the sixth lowest of all those guys. That's not too bad for a rookie. The aforementioned Smith is allowing 78.1 percent. Christian Gonzalez, who Lions fans wanted pretty badly in last years draft, is allowing 60 percent. Arnold isn't far off from being pretty good.
The last little bit of context feels fair to mention. Of those 25 targets, 10 of them came in Week 1. Of the 16 catches, 8 of them came in that same Week 1 game. Arnold has consistently gotten better since then. From week 2 on Arnold has been targeted 15 times and allowed eight catches for a 53.3 catch percentage and 121 yards. 41 of those 121 yards was on one play. That 53.3 percent is one of the lowest in the league in the last few weeks.
Now, this doesn't mean that Arnold doesn't have work to do because he does. The league leading eight penalties is way too much. That has to go away. He also needs to watch the big play. that 41-yarder was rough. All in all you have to like what you see so far. I think a C+ grade is more than fair. I also think that grade will be higher at the end of the year.
