Detroit Lions: Full Position Breakdown and Depth-Chart Analysis at Cornerback

Change can be both good and bad. Often times, we fear change, but it almost always works out for the better. That's exactly how the Detroit Lions ended up here.

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With Bill Bentley's release the longest-tenured CB in Detroit is Darius Slay. And this will be their best CB group since the 90s...

— Jeff Risdon (@JeffRisdon) June 19, 2015"

It's also true that a high rate of turnover, especially among the starters, can be bad for a football team. In Detroit's case, it returns exactly 100 percent of its starting secondary, so the team can continue to embrace new faces behind its top line in an effort to find a winning combination.

Still the Starters

The Lions will stick to the script that wrote such a successful 2014 season. There's not much of a reason to change when Rashean Mathis and Darius Slay both finished the season as top-20 cornerbacks, per Pro Football Focus.

Player	Tackles	Passes Defensed	TDs Allowed	PFF Grade
Rashean Mathis	49	4	3	9.1
Darius Slay	64	9	3	7.2

There is a chance that the good times could keep rolling for another year too. Slay is still on his rookie contract. And Detroit re-signed Mathis for two more years on a $3.5 million contract, per Spotrac.com, although he'll turn 36 before the 2016 season starts.

But that isn't our focus here. We're only concerned with the 2015 season, and you know things are looking bright for Slay when Detroit Free Press' Drew Sharp is writing something positive. Here's what Slay had to say to Sharp about his immediate aspirations based on how his first two seasons went:

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I've got to be more of a turnover creator. I want to be known that if you throw it my way, a lot of bad things can happen. I think I got a lot more respect as the year went on. They tested me earlier to see if I was the same player that I was my rookie year. I had to let them know that there's a whole another man out there this time.

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That's one of the few parts of Slay's game he needs to improve. Both he and Mathis are excellent tacklers, as the above numbers bear out. Considering Mathis was one of the more energetic guys at minicamp and takes care of his body, maybe we shouldn't bet against a reunion next spring.

Turnover for Turnovers

Slay won't be the only one grasping for interceptions. Nevin Lawson, Quandre Diggs, Josh Wilson and Chris Owens are all out to prove how disruptive they can be in an effort to land a roster spot.

First, we should note that Diggs has practiced inside, outside and in the dime, per Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com. He's a lock for the roster, and Wilson looks safe too when you consider his special teams work.

That leaves Owens with the tough task of unseating Lawson in the nickelback rotation. Considering Lawson was a fourth-round pick and has a year in the system, Owens is the odd man out.

After Bill Bentley's release, who will be the starter? Diggs and Wilson have been handling the first-team repetitions while Lawson recovers from his foot injury, but a front-runner won't surface until late August.

Coming for that No. 6 Spot

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

The above discussion leaves one spot left on the roster for Alex Carter, Mohammed Seisay and Crezdon Butler.

There is little to no hope that Butler will make this team. The veteran of eight teams has appeared in 32 games with 22 tackles to his credit, but the other two players offer young potential.

And while Carter is "trying to make up" for missing the early OTAs because he was still in school, head coach Jim Caldwell told Kyle Meinke of MLive.com that "he's acclimated fairly well."

Plus, any advantage Seisay had over Carter because of his extra experience is wiped out by Carter's inability to clear waivers. Seisay's only chance to avoid the practice squad will come by beating out one of the nickelbacks above, and that's about as likely to happen as Jim Schwartz returning as the secondary coach.

All advanced stats, grades and positional rankings are courtesy of Pro Football Focus. Contract information courtesy of Spotrac.

Brandon Alisoglu is a Detroit Lions Featured Columnist who has written about the Lions on multiple sites. He also co-hosts a Lions-centric podcast, Lions Central Radio. Yell at him on Twitter about how wrong he is @BrandonAlisoglu.