Ifeatu

Melifonwu

The former third-round pick largely played a reserve role in Detroit, never starting more than six games in a season. Injuries were a major issue for him over his four years in Detroit and that was especially true in 2024. He played just three regular season games and had two separate stints on injured reserve. Melifonwu recorded one sack and 10 tackles in his three late-season starts. The Dolphins will give him a shot at winning a starting job this summer, but the value of his contract says a starting role is far from a guarantee.

Melifonwu was designated to return on November sixth, and the Lions activated him from injured reserve today. It sounds like he might not be ready and this may be a procedural move to place him on injured reserve a second time with a different designation. Melifonwu has not played yet this year, and it’s possible that the Lions don’t end up returning him from injured reserve after this setback.

Moseley and S Ifeatu Melifonwu (ankle/Achilles) had their 21-day practice windows activated today and both should return in the coming weeks, boosting a Lions defense that took a big hit when it lost star edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson (leg) in Week 6. The front office also notably traded for Za’Darius Smith earlier this week. Smith’s addition, plus the two returning defensive backs suddenly have this defense on the upswing.

A third-round pick in 2021, Melifonwu played as a corner as a rookie, but he made the switch to safety over the offseason. An explosive athlete that lacks ideal long speed for a corner, safety might be Melifonwu’s best shot in the NFL.

Melifonwu made his first career start against the Packers, injuring his quad in the game. Dan Campbell described Melifonwu’s injury as “a bad one” and the cornerback is expected to miss significant time. The Lions signed CB Daryl Worley from their practice squad in a corresponding move. Worley played in 10 games for three different teams in 2020, and will serve as emergency depth for the Lions secondary.

The Lions used the Rams’ third-round pick from the Jared Goff trade to draft Melifonwu, the last of their rookies to sign. Melifonwu will compete for a role behind Jeff Okudah and Amani Oruwariye in training camp.

Melifonwu (6'2/205) is the kind of tall, long, physical cornerback the Seattle Seahawks dominated with in the early/mid-2010s, posting good-not-great production with 23 passes defended and three picks as a two-year starter. He leaped 41.5 and 134 inches in the vertical and broad jumps, respectively, while also torching a 1.48-second 10-yard split. Though he finished with a middling 4.50-second 40-yard dash, the jumps and 10-yard split showcase Melifonwu’s explosive nature when going to play the ball, both in the air and when driving back towards routes. Melifonwu is not the smoothest athlete, however, which is why some have billed him as a potential candidate to move to safety, where that should hurt him less than at cornerback. If things go right, Melifonwu could turn out something like Xavier Rhodes.

Melifonwu measured in at 6-foot-2, 205 pounds while running consecutive 40-yard dashes timing 4.48 and 4.49 seconds. He also recorded excellent jumping marks by hitting 41.5 inches on his vertical while posting an 11-2" broad jump. The native of South Grafton, Massachusetts sports impressive length, with his arms measuring 32 1/4 inches. Melifonwu has impressive size and ball skills for the position, which should make him a fit for some more zone-oriented defenses. The rangy defensive back knocked down 21 passes over the past three seasons and projects as a late Day 2-to-Day 3 NFL Draft selection.

Melifonwu (6'3/207), brother of former Oakland Raiders draft pick Obi Melifonwu, is right in the range of player where it’s tough to decide if they should have declared or not. Well, perhaps that would be true in a normal year, but it makes sense for any player who believes they will be drafted in some capacity to leave for the NFL now rather than risk whatever next year’s CFB season may bring. Melifonwu has impressive size and ball skills for the position, which should make him a fit for some more zone-oriented defenses. The rangy defensive back knocked down 21 passes over the past three seasons.

Melifonwu, brother of former Oakland Raiders draft pick Obi Melifonwu, is right in the range of player where it’s tough to decide if they should have declared or not. Well, perhaps that would be true in a normal year, but it makes sense for any player who believes they will be drafted in some capacity to leave for the NFL now rather than risk whatever next year’s CFB season may bring. At 6-foot-3 and 207 pounds, Melifonwu has impressive size and ball skills for the position, which should make him a fit for some more zone-oriented defenses. Melifonwu knocked down 21 passes over the past three seasons.