ALLEN PARK >> The Detroit Lions have a good problem in their secondary.

Between safeties Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph, and cornerbacks Terrion Arnold, DJ Reed, Ennis Rakestraw Jr. and Amik Robertson, there’s no shortage of options in the defensive backfield. The issue? There are only five starting roles available.

Branch and Joseph have both safety spots locked up after teaming up to form arguably the league’s best tandem on the back end in 2024, and it’s safe to assume Reed, who inked a $48 million contract this offseason, and Arnold, Detroit’s first-round pick in last year’s draft, will get the nod on the outside.

That leaves Rakestraw and Robertson. The prevailing thought has been the two will duke it out throughout the offseason, with the winner entering Week 1 as Detroit’s starting nickel cornerback. Defensive backs coach Deshea Townsend, however, revealed the staff currently has Rakestraw zeroed in on playing on the outside.

“Right now, we’re going to let him focus on outside, let him go compete out there,” Townsend said Thursday of Rakestraw, who the Lions drafted with the 61st overall pick in 2024. “Amik has done a really good job (at nickel). We have Avonte (Maddox), who is another positional flex type of person.”

Rakestraw’s rookie season was marred by injuries. He was slated to start at nickel in Week 2, but he tweaked his hamstring in warmups and was a last-second scratch for the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Rakestraw eventually landed on injured reserve after making eight appearances, and Robertson took control of the position.

The majority of Rakestraw’s defensive snaps at Missouri (73%) came out wide, though he did see 374 reps in the slot over his four-year collegiate career. Rakestraw was limited to 46 defensive snaps as a rookie, 24 of which came out wide. Twenty were in the slot, and two were in the box.

Townsend said he’s appreciated Rakestraw’s “mindset” during offseason workouts, and he hopes a full year of being able to focus solely on being a pro (and not on training for the combine or other pre-draft events) will help Rakestraw develop.

“In our room, it’s about competition,” Townsend added. “We don’t care who gets a rep. A rep don’t care who gets it at this time of year. But when you get it, you better make sure you’re doing the right things. That’s our room. You’re going to have to prove it. …

“I think we’ve got a lot of good guys in there to go compete.”

Why time was right for Rodgers

New defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers found plenty of success in his time with the Buccaneers — Tampa Bay was a top-five defense in defending the run in five of his six seasons with the team, and it’s been a top-10 unit in sacks every year since 2019 — but he opted to exit for Detroit in January.

Why leave a good thing for the unknown?

“Sometimes you have to move to keep your skills sharp, if that makes sense,” said Rodgers, who has previously worked with head coach Dan Campbell and defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard. “Had a great experience there (in Tampa Bay), but the opportunity presented itself to come here. … It was just a really great opportunity.”

Rodgers replaced Terrell Williams, who left to be the New England Patriots’ defensive coordinator. The presence of some stars (defensive end Aidan Hutchinson and defensive tackle Alim McNeill, most notably) made Rodgers’ decision to leave the Buccaneers easier.

“That had a lot to do with it,” Rodgers said of Detroit’s personnel. “… And as a coach, you always want to learn. I got to where I was pretty familiar with Todd (Bowles)’s system (with the Bucs), the way he does things and everything. … As long as I’ve been in this league, you still can learn. When you get to the point where you think you know it all, that’s when problems set in. So, now I’m just kind of in a situation where I’m still learning the way we do things here.”

Joseph’s leadership shines

There isn’t much room for on-field improvement for a player like Joseph, who pulled down nine interceptions and earned All-Pro honors as a member of the first team in 2024. But the rising fourth-year pro, now a veteran at a young position group, is continuing his development as a leader.

Last season, Joseph routinely invited Detroit’s defensive backs to his home each Thursday to build camaraderie. Now, safeties coach Jim O’Neil is seeing Joseph’s off-field efforts extend to the classroom.

“Just his leadership in the meeting room. Like, (he may tell a teammate), ‘Hey, make sure you write that down.’ Or (he will) reemphasize a coaching point that he might know for a player is hard (to grasp) on the grass,” O’Neil said, when asked how Joseph has taken younger players under his wing. The Lions have five safeties who have played one or fewer NFL seasons. “… Or he might ask questions that he knows the answers to that other guys might need to hear the answer again or in a different way.”