Alabama CB Terrion Arnold has long been a respected 2024 NFL Draft prospect. But this week, he’s having one of his best games yet against the Kentucky Wildcats. With Arnold playing at such a high level, the question has to be asked: How high can he rise in the 2024 NFL Draft?
Terrion Arnold Solidifying Early-Round Stock, Still Rising Up 2024 NFL Draft Board
Coming into the year, Kool-Aid McKinstry was the headlining presence in the Crimson Tide secondary. He’s been as advertised — carrying his standing as CB1 in the 2024 NFL Draft — but opposite him, Arnold has been a massive riser in 2023.
Arnold was already a known quantity after a strong redshirt freshman season, but he’s grown by leaps and bounds across the 2023 campaign. He came into Week 11 with 45 tackles, five tackles for loss, a sack, two picks, and eight pass deflections, and he’s now having his best game yet against Kentucky.
At the half, Arnold already has a pick and a forced fumble, and he’s been a menace in both run support and coverage all day for Devin Leary and the Wildcats.
The Crimson Tide lead 28-7 at the half, and Arnold has been a primary force in the team’s dominance. And in the process, he’s showing how underrated he is in the 2024 NFL Draft CB group.
Can Arnold Join Kool-Aid McKinstry in Round 1?
Consistency was the biggest thing Arnold needed to work on heading into 2023, but talent was never the issue. Arnold was a five-star recruit in high school, and his athleticism and playmaking ability both showed up in 2022.
But this year, Arnold has drastically improved the efficiency of his technique and the sharpness of his processing, and he’s morphing into a true lockdown CB with high-level run support ability on the side.
MORE: Free NFL Mock Draft Simulator With Trades
In coverage, Arnold’s explosiveness, effortless hinge fluidity, and corrective twitch make for a suffocating combination, and he can crash down on route breaks immediately with his closing burst and reaction speed. Add in his ball skills, and there’s little to criticize.
At around 6’0″, 195 pounds, Arnold doesn’t quite have the length of McKinstry, but he’s just as impressive, if not more impressive, as an athlete. And as a football player, he’s shown tangible, rapid development from Week 1 to Week 11 this year.
Looking at Arnold’s track record in a vacuum, we can almost guarantee he’s an early-round prospect. But how many CBs are ahead of him, with how he’s been playing?
There’s a group of CBs separated at the top of the 2024 NFL Draft: McKinstry, Iowa’s Cooper DeJean, Clemson’s Nate Wiggins, Ohio State’s Denzel Burke, and Penn State’s Kalen King. You could argue Arnold is in this group and perhaps better than some of the names listed.
Arnold is more fluid than DeJean, stronger than Wiggins, and more explosive than King. Burke is the only CB who has the all-encompassing coverage framework to the degree Arnold does — but health has been an issue for him at times.
There’s a real outcome where Arnold is not only a Round 1 pick like McKinstry but also one of the first CBs taken in the 2024 NFL Draft. He’s extremely young, he’s a superlative talent, and he’s playing better football than most in the league.
