Back in the offseason leading up to the 2013 campaign, the Detroit Lions took a chance on a free agent veteran cornerback who had played well in the past but was coming off an injury and hadn’t played his best football of late.

That player was Rashean Mathis, and the hirsute corner quickly proved a brilliant move. Mathis gave the Lions two very strong seasons as a starting corner despite the lack of fanfare and league interest in trying to revive the former Jaguars’ career.

Could the Lions have found the next Mathis in Rashaan Melvin?

Melvin comes to the Lions licking his wounds from a misfit season in Oakland with the Raiders. It was his fourth NFL team in five seasons and a dramatic change from his two years in Indianapolis, where Melvin played his best football.

The Melvin from 2016-2017, especially early in the ’17 season, would represent a major upgrade for the Lions over Nevin Lawson, who ironically has taken over Melvin’s spot in Oakland as the No. 2 CB.

I asked two people who covered Melvin in Indianapolis for some information on the 6-foot-2, 29-year-old Northern Illinois product.

First up is Kevin Hickey, the managing editor of brother site Colts Wire. He had positive memories of Melvin,

Melvin was actually pretty good with the Colts in 2017, the only year I covered him. He was surprisingly solid in man coverage but the biggest area he thrives is making plays on the ball. Has really good length and size. Wasn’t amazing but is definitely a solid depth player that can make plays on the ball

Seemed to be well-liked in the locker room as well.

Hickey also referenced a note from Pro Football Focus cited in one of his articles from the time,

PASSER RATING WHEN TARGETED: 60.3 Melvin has been a bright spot on a struggling Colts team this season before missing time with a hand injury. He ranks third on PFF’s ‘playmaker index,’ which measures plays on the ball (INTs + PDs), as he has disrupted passes thrown his way 23.6 percent of the time.

Jake Arthur from Colts.com offered a similar profile of Melvin, including how he outplayed bigger names to earn — and keep — his starting spot until he got hurt,

Rashaan Melvin was a celebrated fan favorite during his brief, two-year stint in Indianapolis. He quickly moved from a post-training camp waiver claim to a starter in a short amount of time. With high-dollar players above him, Melvin earned his starting spot with hard work, essentially moving from the very bottom of the cornerback depth chart to full-time starter by mid-season in 2016.

As notable players like Vontae Davis and Patrick Robinson began to get banged-up and fell by the wayside, Melvin inserted himself into the lineup and became a constant for the Colts’ defense.

He seemed to fit Chuck Pagano’s hybrid 3-4 defense like a glove as a man-to-man corner, getting in the receiver’s face, staying locked to their hip and using his length to harass would-be pass-catchers and make plays on the ball. Melvin began to breakout in 2017 — earning far and away the best Pro Football Focus grade of his career (77.9) and registering his first two interceptions in the process — before suffering a season-ending hand injury and landing on Injured Reserve.

It was a contract year for Melvin, so with his price tag increasing, he took a handsome deal with the Oakland Raiders as a result.

The Melvin that the guys who covered him with the Colts recall, that Melvin starts opposite Darius Slay and makes the Lions defense even better. Now healthy and seemingly cleansed of his career misstep in Oakland, Melvin is a player Lions fans need to root for as the next Rashean Mathis.