It doesn’t have to be L’Jarius Sneed, or Jaylon Johnson, or Kendall Fuller or Stephon Gilmore. The Detroit Lions don’t have to have one of the best cornerbacks on the trade or free agent market to win a Super Bowl next season.

But they do need a cornerback, badly. And they need a cornerback — a starting, No. 1 cornerback — more than they need any other player on defense, including the defensive line.

Which means if they don’t trade for one or sign one in free agency, then they’ve got to hit on one in the draft. Yes, that’s possible, as the Super Bowl champs have shown in recent years.

Not just with Sneed, who was taken in the fourth round in 2020, but also with Trent McDuffie, who was taken in the first round in 2022. McDuffie was the 21st pick. He made a difference immediately.

Well, after he returned from a season-opening hamstring injury. He missed six games. When he got back, he played at an elite level and helped Kansas City win the title. He made All-Pro this past season and was Pro Football Focus’ highest-rated cornerback among teams left in the divisional round ... not his teammate.

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PFF isn’t the Bible, obviously. Yet metrics backed up the difference McDuffie made on the field, especially his rookie year in 2022, when Kansas City’s pass defense fell from first to 27th in PFF’s coverage grade without him.

There are other recent examples of rookie cornerbacks changing a defense, including Sauce Gardner in New York. Gardner went fourth to the Jets two years ago, and to get to No. 4 from No. 29 — where the Lions are slated to pick in the first-round next month — might cost too much in a trade.

This is just as well, as there isn’t a cornerback worth a top-five pick this season. But there are plenty worth drafting in the second 10.

Kansas City traded up to get McDuffie at No. 21. What was their original pick? Why No. 29, of course. And if Brad Holmes believes he has found a similar difference-maker it would make lots of sense to go get him. The Chiefs, for what’s it worth, gave New England a third- and fourth-round pick, along with their pick at No. 29.

Not a huge cost for a player who helped win two Super Bowls, and who ranks as one of the best cornerbacks in the game.

There is a risk in betting on draft evaluation instead of trading for more of a “sure thing,” especially for a position that desperately needs upgrading. Also, cornerbacks are critical to Super Bowls.

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Kansas City had the best tandem in the league the last two seasons, and while Patrick Mahomes gets the headlines — as he should — the Chiefs don’t win either title without Sneed and McDuffie.

Three seasons ago, Matthew Stafford led the Rams to the title buoyed by talent all over the field. Not least among that talent, though, was Jalen Ramsey, whom Los Angeles had traded for two seasons earlier.

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Ramsey was the best cornerback in the game that season. And while Aaron Donald was the Rams’ most dominant player, and certainly their best defensive player, Ramsey was just as critical.

In fact, many observers — NFL scouts and coaches — believe a shutdown corner is more essential than a dominant edge rusher in this pass happy era. Though it’s not just the pass-run ratio that has made corners more valuable than ever.

It’s the way offenses design plays around ever-mobile quarterbacks and ever-swift receivers and tight ends. Think about the RPO (run-pass option), for example, no edge rusher on the planet can get to a quarterback before he holds the ball to the running back, unless a blocker misses an assignment.

Edge rushers are critical in figuring out where the ball is going, but then so are linebackers. Beyond the RPO, though, are the quick hitches and digs and slants, not to mention the screens. In other words, the ball leaves the hand from the quarterback quicker than ever.

Which is why a pass-rushing, interior lineman is more disruptive than the best edge rushers, though players who can blow up the pocket from the middle are the hardest to fine. And why cornerbacks are now the best way to defend against all that speed and chaos.

A good press corner can not only slow the receiver at the line of scrimmage and mess up the timing with the quarterback, but he can also shrink the window on all those slants and digs and hitches. This is what Sneed and McDuffie did so well against San Francisco, and Baltimore, and Buffalo during Kansas City’s Super Bowl run.

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Now, on third-and-long?

Absolutely, pass rush is critical, and when a defense can pressure a quarterback on those downs with just four rushers? Well, that’s Super Bowl-level stuff, too.

So, yes, Aidan Hutchinson could use some help. But not as much as Cam Sutton could use it. Besides, Hutchinson is part of a group that can get better with ... age and experience.

Consider: James Houston should be back and ready. Alim McNeill could take another step. Josh Paschal could take his first step. Brodric Martin? Hey, it’s possible.

The Lions don’t have these sorts of pieces in their cornerback room. Kindle Vildor showed some ability last season, but as a potential lockdown No. 1?

Not yet.

Whereas the defensive line is relatively deep, young, has a new coach — Terrell Williams — and an organization and coaching staff that’s shown talent for player development. More depth is always good. This also isn’t to say Holmes and Dan Campbell wouldn’t love another difference-maker on the edge across from Hutchinson, if for no other reason than injury insurance.

But as the team is constructed, and as Holmes and Campbell enter free agency and the NFL draft, the defensive line is in better position to improve organically.

And that takes us back to the cornerback room. One way or the other, Holmes has to improve it. If it isn’t by taking a swing on Sneed through a trade — Kansas City is reportedly listening — or spending on a free agent, then he’ll need to take a swing in the draft and hit the way he did on the offensive side of the ball last year.

It’s possible, as other teams have shown the last several years. However it gets done, next season’s dreams depend on it.

Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him @shawnwindsor.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions need a No. 1 cornerback, and could get him in NFL draft