Why the Detroit Lions are a perfect fit for Alabama's Kool-Aid McKinstry in the 2024 NFL Draft

The 2024 NFL draft is next week. So in this final week ahead of time, I want to go over some of my top players for the Lions in this draft and make the case as to why they're the perfect fit for the Lions. I'll be starting off with Alabama cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry.

The Draw

I mean for starters, his name is Kool-Aid. He's going to win Pride of Detroit's name bracket every single year. The one thing that is synonymous with Detroit is drinking the Honolulu Blue Kool-Aid every time the team is good. It's a marketing directors dream. 

The real draw is that this guy is very good at playing football. There is a possibility that he could be a lockdown corner at some point. You saw a bit of that last year when teams refused to throw the ball his way. He was targeted just 39 times all year. 

That comes a year after he was targeted 80 times and was able to make sure only 37 of those passes were caught. 

The drawback

It's a little concerning that he allowed a passer rating of 73.1 last year. Teams weren't throwing his way, but when they were, he was allowing some catches to happen. Still, 19 catches for 205 yards and one touchdown isn't something to be overly concerned about. It's not like he was getting burnt constantly or anything like that. 

Where the Lions could draft him

He should be there for the Lions with the 29th pick and I would be shocked if his phone didn't ring during that time. The Lions have shown a lot of interest in him. 

They had a formal meeting with him at the combine, Brad Holmes attended his pro day and the Lions had him out for a top-30 visit. That's a lot.