Going back to1966, which comprises the Super Bowl era, here are my the top 30 NFL Draft selections in Detroit Lions history.
May 8, 2014; New York, NY, USA; A general view of a helmet, NFL shield, stage, and podium before the start of the 2014 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
The Detroit Lions have not experienced much success over the years.
One playoff win in the Super Bowl era is far and away the worst of any franchise.
And a lot of the perennial quagmire stems from poor drafting.
Still, there have been quite a few bright spots peppered throughout the years.
There are some obvious choices at the top of the list.
But also some sneaky-good draft picks who have proven more than worth their draft slot.
Going back to 1966, which comprises the Super Bowl era, here are the top 30 NFL Draft picks in Detroit Lions history.
Next: Numbers 30-25
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30. Paul Naumoff
Third round, No. 60 overall, 1967
Naumoff was a solid starting linebacker for the Lions from 1969-78. He was known for perennially being in the right place at the right time and for his toughness in taking on much bigger blockers.
The Tennessee grad only made one Pro Bowl, as part of the excellent 1970 team that lost 5-0 in the playoffs to the Cowboys. He still holds the team record for tackles in a game, with 25 in a 1975 game.
29. Dexter Bussey
Third round, No. 65 overall, 1974
Younger fans are probably thinking, who? Dexter Bussey was a running back in the 1970s and early 80s who never had a 1,000 yard rushing season. He scored just 23 total TDs in 11 seasons and is probably best known for fumbling a lot.
So why does he make this list? Because none other than Bill Belichick once cited the Texas-Arlington product as the type of player he was looking for as a third-down back when he was coaching the Cleveland Browns. If an otherwise nondescript player can make that sort of impression on The Hoodie, that’s worth something.
28. Jeff Hartings
First round, No. 23 overall, 1996
The offensive lineman from Penn State was a solid starter for five years in Detroit, even scoring a touchdown in 2000. He was an above-average right guard who helped paved the way for a lot of Barry Sanders runs.
Hartings hit his peak after leaving Detroit. He made two Pro Bowls as the center for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the early 2000s, earning a Super Bowl ring as the starting center in 2005.
He was a pretty good pick, but two players taken immediately after him would have been a better. Eric Moulds went 24th and had a four-year run as one of the better wideouts in the league for the Bills. But the big one that got away was Ray Lewis at No. 26 overall. Of course he had some off-field issues that pushed him down, but picture having Ray Lewis in Honolulu Blue…
27. Darius Slay
Second round, No. 36 overall, 2013
It’s still pretty early in his career, but thus far the cornerback from Mississippi State has proven quite a find. After struggling early as a rookie, Slay found his confidence and has emerged as one of the best cover men in the NFL. The arrow is definitely pointing up for Big Play Slay.
26. Jeff Backus
First round, No. 18 overall, 2001
(see under Dominic Raiola)
25. Dominic Raiola
Second round, No. 50 overall, 2001
These two come as a package deal. Matt Millen’s first two choices as GM were pretty solid hits. Both were solid starters along the offensive line for over a decade. Raiola even had a late-career hiccup where he was strongly above-average. For all the grief Backus took from fans, he was the best left tackle in the NFC North for most of his career.
Next: Numbers 24-20
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24. Charlie Batch
Second round, No. 60 overall, 1998
His career record as a starter in Detroit wound up being just 19-27 over four years with a completion percentage that ranks in the bottom five of QBs in that time frame with at least 20 starts. He fumbled a lot, negating his positive impact as a runner.
Yet Batch still gets viewed by many as the one who got away, who never got a fair shake with the new Matt Millen regime. He fled Pittsburgh after the 2001 season, where he spent over a decade as an above-average backup QB and effective spot starter.
The Eastern Michigan signal caller was a good draft value. The Lions traded 3rd, 5th and 6th round picks to Miami for the pick. Those picks made a total of five NFL starts and were all out of the league before Batch’s tenure in Detroit was (shamefully) cut short.
23. DeAndre Levy
Third round, No. 76 overall, 2009
For the first four years of Levy’s career in Detroit, he was a solid contributor but largely anonymous linebacker. The Wisconsin product was the image of an average, replacement-level starter.
Then it clicked. Levy broke out as a playmaker in 2013, picking off 6 passes and showing great range all over the field. His 2014 was even more dynamic; that he wasn’t an All-Pro is a travesty, let alone not even making the Pro Bowl.
A hip injury wiped out the free thinker’s 2015, and his future is somewhat in doubt. If he can return to the form of 13-14, he’ll rocket up future editions of this list. If he can’t ever get back above his early level of play, well, it was a heck of a ride.
22. Bennie Blades
First round, No. 3 overall, 1988
While he never achieved the greatness many hoped coming out of The U., Blades nevertheless had a solid nine-year career in Detroit as an above-average, sure-tackling safety.
Blades topped 100 tackles twice and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl in 1991. He was the leader of the back end of the defense in the successful run in the early 1990s.
In retrospect, he wasn’t the most optimal choice. Tim Brown, Sterling Sharpe and his Miami Hurricane teammate Michael Irvin all came off the board in the next 10 picks. Yet he was a good-not-great player and not the bust some revisionist fans have made him to be.
21. Johnnie Morton
First round, No. 21 overall, 1994
The speedy USC wideout was a reliable, exciting second fiddle in the wide-open run-and-shoot offense of the 1990s in Detroit. He caught 469 passes in eight season, topping 1,000 yards four times and scoring 35 TDs.
20. Greg Landry
First round, No. 11 overall, 1968
Landry was a good-not-great quarterback in Detroit for a solid 5-year stretch in the early 1970s. He made a Pro Bowl in 1971 and compiled a 25-16 starting record through 1972. The UMass product was a dual-threat quarterback well ahead of his time, rushing for over 500 yards twice.
His Pro Bowl berth was the only one for a Lions quarterback for over 40 years. Injuries and a propensity for getting sacked downgraded his later career, though he did have a solid 1976 campaign, enough to win Pro Football Weekly’s Comeback Player of the Year.
What helps his position on the draft pick list is the utterly brutal group of players taken after him. Only Forrest Blue, the 15th overall pick, ever made an All-Pro team of the other first-rounders after Landry. More than half never started a full slate of 14 games in their entire careers.
Next: Numbers 19-16
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19. Mel Farr
First round, No. 7 overall, 1967
Mell Farr, Superstar. That’s how those of us too young to really remember the running back from UCLA know him. But before he was a car dealer in Detroit, he was one of the more dynamic rushers in the league.
The 1967 Offensive Rookie of the Year, Farr made two Pro Bowls in his short career. He opted to leave football for the auto business, a trailblazer as an African-American owner. He passed away last summer and was fondly remembered by Lions fans and teammates from his era.
18. Ezekiel Ansah
First round, No. 5 overall, 2013
If we do this list again in a few years, Ziggy Ansah could be well up the list. Now in his third season, the defensive end from BYU has emerged as one of the most fearsome pass rushers in the league.
Considering he’s only been playing football for a handful of years, the Ghana native is doing some truly astonishing things on the field. His physical potential is perennial All Pro, and he’s well on his way.
In the context of his draft class, his fast start is even more impressive. He is the only top ten pick from 2013 who is even an average starter in their third seasons.
17. Larry Warford
Third round, No. 65 overall, 2013
As with Slay and Ansah earlier on the list, they’re not even through three seasons and that makes a final judgment quite premature. And right now Warford is behind his classmates in terms of career arc and ceiling.
Yet he’s the best pick of the threesome because of his draft slot. The guard from Kentucky fell to the third round because of concerns about his weight and lack of agility. He quickly squashed those like he did defenders who got in the way of his snowplow-style run blocking. Injuries have slowed his progress, but he’s proven well worth Martin Mayhew’s risk.
16. Eddie Murray
Seventh round, No. 166 overall, 1980
Scoring a solid contributor for over a decade in the seventh round is something we have not seen in quite some time with the Lions. In fact, Murray might be the last seventh-round pick who could be considered a great success.
The Canadian-born kicker earned second-team All-1980s, playing 12 seasons in Detroit. His rookie season was his best, leading the league with 27 made field goals. He played 12 seasons in Detroit.
It wasn’t all great; only Nick Lowery missed more field goals in the 1980s than Murray and his career 75% rate isn’t even average anymore. But as sheer draft value, the Tulane grad was an absolute gem.
Next: Three Big Lions
Oct 9, 2016; Detroit, MI, USA; General view of Detroit Lions helmet on the field prior to a game at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
15. Shaun Rogers
Second round, No. 61 overall, 2001
If only he could have stayed healthy…The beefy defensive tackle made three Pro Bowls (two in Detroit) and at his 2005-05 peak was one of the most disruptive interior defenders in the league.
The Texas product is responsible for perhaps my favorite all-time Lions memory, an interception return for a touchdown against the Broncos that shows off the full package of what was Shaun Rogers:
Technically, Rogers was a traded pick. He was acquired on a draft-day trade for picks that became CB Will Peterson and DE Cedric Scott. The Lions parlayed what was left of Rogers into a pick that became prodigal Lion Andre Fluellen and (alas) overrated CB Leigh Bodden.
14. Jerry Ball
Third round, No. 63 overall, 1987
The round mound from SMU was for a brief time one of the best nose tackles in the league. He earned an All-Pro honor in 1991, the third and final year he made the Pro Bowl.
His career spike was mighty impressive, but those three years were not sustainable. Ball left Detroit after his sixth season and played several more largely nondescript years as a solid role player.
13. Ndamukong Suh
First round, No. 2 overall, 2010
Love him or hate him, there is no denying the defensive tackle from Nebraska made a big impact on the NFL and the Lions. After an up-and-down first couple of seasons, Suh emerged as one of the preeminent, disruptive defensive linemen.
Few players have ever had his blend of power and quickness. He parlayed that into 36 sacks in five years in Detroit, earning two All-Pro nods and four Pro Bowl berths. The Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2010 is notorious for his questionable “dirty” play and unapologetic attitude.
He’d likely be higher on this list if he had stayed in Detroit after 2014, but also because the players taken after him, notably Gerald McCoy and Trent Williams, have been very good. Not even Matt Millen could have screwed up this one…
Next: Numbers 12-10
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12. Lomas Brown
First round, No. 6 overall, 1985
A great left tackle from the moment he was drafted out of Florida until he left Detroit 11 years later, Lomas Brown played with a timeless style that would make him equally effective in today’s NFL.
Brown played in the Golden Age of offensive tackles, overshadowed by several all-time greats and Hall of Famers. He was never quite that elite, but nonetheless widely respected by his peers and especially his teammates.
Brown made six Pro Bowls and one All-Pro team in his Detroit tenure. He left for Arizona in 1996 and was never quite the same player. He’s now a successful broadcaster but looks like he can still play even though he’s in his early 50s.
11. Doug English
Second round, No. 38 overall, 1975
A burly Texan who played with tenacity and a high football IQ, he spent a decade as the center of the Detroit defense. English made four Pro Bowls and earned an All-Pro nod in the strike-shortened 1982 season.
Injuries were an unfortunate part of his story; he missed the entire 1980 season, and his career was cut short with a bad neck injury. Still, he managed 59 sacks and is still tied for the all-time league lead in safeties, with four. He was an integral part of the Silver Rush defense.
He isn’t often cited as one of the Lions great players, perhaps because he played an unglamorous position. Older Lions fans know how valuable English was, and as a second-round pick he was a bright spot in a spotty draft for both the Lions and the league.
10. Al “Bubba” Baker
Second round, No. 40 overall, 1978
Baker was an instant hit with the up-and-down late 70s Lions. The 1978 Defensive Rookie of the Year, he was also a first-team All Pro as a rookie with 23 sacks. A powerful 6’6” defensive end from Colorado State, he was a dominating pass rusher in his five seasons in Detroit.
Unfortunately, Baker’s tenure in Detroit came before the NFL recognized sacks as an official total. The team website credits him for 75.5 in those five seasons, a freakish total.
Even though his Detroit tenure was short, Bubba was a great draft pick. Only one other player from the 1978 2nd round, Todd Christensen, ever made even one Pro Bowl.
January 7, 2017; Seattle, WA, USA; Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) throws against the Seattle Seahawks during the first half in the NFC Wild Card playoff football game at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
9. Matthew Stafford
First round, No. 1 overall, 2009
One of the most polarizing players in the entire NFL for most of his seven season, the quarterback from Georgia has proven to be a historically prolific passer.
Just last week, he became the fastest to ever accrue 25,000 passing yards. He did so in two fewer games than Dan Marino, and did so throwing 28 fewer interceptions. His three-year yardage total from 2011-13 is the second-most for any three-year span in NFL history.
Stafford already owns just about every passing mark in Lions franchise history. One of the most impressive is his 17 fourth-quarter comebacks. In 2014 he became the first Lions QB to make a Pro Bowl in over 40 years and earned MVP honors in the game.
It’s hard to overlook his warts at times. He misses too many throws and his erratic play is often the reason for the glorious comebacks. Yet the pick could have been much, much worse. Mark Sanchez went 5th overall as the next QB, and he’s not even close to Stafford’s level. Picks 2-4? Jason Smith, Tyson Jackson, Aaron Curry. Two are out of the league already.
8. Chris Spielman
Second round, No. 29 overall, 1988
My football hero as a teenager growing up in Ohio, Ohio State LB Chris Spielman remains one of my all-time favorite players. In eight seasons in Detroit, Spielman racked up over 1000 tackles as an inside backer in the peak of the relatively successful Wayne Fontes era.
One of the toughest SOBs to ever don the Honolulu blue and silver, Spielman was the leader of the defense and a shutdown run defender between the tackles. He earned four Pro Bowl berths and one All-Pro season, which curiously wasn’t one of his two best seasons.
A generation of young linebackers was brought up being coached to play like Chris Spielman. His efforts in cancer research in honor of his late wife are emblematic of a great Lion.
7. Herman Moore
First round, No. 10 overall, 1991
His accomplishments in the 1990s go strangely overlooked by the national media and even some Lions faithful. That’s a shame, because the lanky wideout from Virginia was one of the best in his era.
Moore holds the NFL record (albeit an unofficial one) for targets in a season, with 221 in 1995. He led the NFL in receptions twice and was a first-team All Pro from 1995-97.
Still a valued and beloved member of the Lions media, Moore proved a very savvy choice. Only one player (Alfred Williams’ one great year in Denver) chosen in the next 14 picks after him ever played in a Pro Bowl, while Moore made four and was snubbed at least two other times.
6. Jason Hanson
Second round, No. 56 overall, 1992
Were the Lions, or any team for that matter, to spend a second-round pick on a kicker these days they would be crucified. Heck, I’d hammer the first nail myself. Yet this second-round kicker is clearly one of the ten best picks in franchise history.
Jason Hanson is a Lions legend thanks to over 20 years of above-average kicking. The list of accolades is amazing…
- Only player ever to play 300 games with one team
- Most FG of 50 or more yards
- Most FG of 40 or more yards
- Most consecutive 40+ yard FG
- Fourth in career FG and total points scored
Taking the Washington State kicker proved a brilliant decision by GM Chuck Schmidt and scouting director Kevin Colbert. You’d need a great memory or an in-depth search engine to know almost every player taken with 15 picks either way from Hanson’s spot at the bottom of the second round.
Next: 5...4...3...2...
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5. Lem Barney
Second round, No. 34 overall, 1967
Barney was ahead of his time as a defensive back. At 6 feet tall and a muscular 190 pounds, he was huge for his time and would fit right in today.
The Jackson State product made an immediate impact in the NFL, leading the league with 10 INTs as a rookie. That was the first of his seven Pro Bowl seasons. He was first-team All Pro in both 1968 and 69 after being the 1967 Rookie of the Year.
Barney was the first of the modern Lions legends to don No. 20. He still ranks in the top 20 all-time in INTs and top 10 in return yards. Also an accomplished punt returner, Barney was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1992 after spending his entire 11-year career in Detroit.
4. Billy Sims
First round, No. 1 overall, 1980
Oh what could have been! Sims burst into the league as the top overall pick in the 1980 draft and immediately proved worthy of the lofty status. He rushed for over 2700 yards and a league-leading 26 touchdowns in his first two seasons.
Sims earned his third Pro Bowl nod in as many years in 1982. He topped 1,000 yards again the following year, but the knee injuries began to take their toll. After just one more year, Sims was done.
The only other player in the top 20 from that draft who had a better career, even considering the relative brevity, was Anthony Munoz, who went No. 3 overall. Sims was well on his way to a Hall of Fame career in his own right before the injuries derailed greatness.
As a personal aside, my No. 20 Lions jersey says Sims on it, and it’s not a throwback. Too bad it’s a size youth large…
3. Calvin Johnson
First round, No. 2 overall, 2007
For all the innumerable things Matt Millen did wrong, he got this one right. The athletic freak wide receiver from Georgia Tech is definitively the best Lions player of the 2000s.
Megatron holds the record for most receiving yards in one season (2012), most in a two-year span (11-12) and five-year period (10-14). He made the Pro Bowl all five of those year, the All-Pro team three times.
Johnson has proven one of the most dangerous offensive weapons in the league in his eight-plus seasons. At his peak, few receivers have ever been as effective or prolific.
2. Charlie Sanders
Third round, No. 74 overall, 1968
Any time a team can land a Hall of Famer in the depths of the third round, that’s a fantastic pick.
His numbers seem pedestrian now; his most productive season came in 1969 with 42 catches for 656 yards. In 10 years he caught only 336 passes and scored 31 touchdowns. Yet for his era, those were big numbers for a tight end.
Beyond Sanders’ on-field contributions, he remained a great team ambassador until his untimely death earlier in 2015. No player embodies the concept of Lion Pride more than Charlie Sanders. RIP.
Next: Barry!
Oct 18, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Lions former running back Barry Sanders during Pro Football Hall of Fame ring ceremony at halftime of the NFL game against the Chicago Bears at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
#1. Barry Sanders
First round, No. 3 overall, 1989
He’s Barry Sanders. Do you really need more reason?
Okay, I’ll indulge.
Sanders retired as the NFL’s all-time leading rusher with over 15,000. He holds two of the top 10 individual rushing marks, the only player with two in the top 15.
10 Pro Bowls in his ten seasons. Six first-team All-Pro nods. Offensive Rookie of the Year. NFL MVP in 1997. First-team All-Decade. Second all-time in rushing yards per game. First-ballot Hall of Famer in 2004.
Next: Ranking the 5 best Lions draft classes of the past 30 years
Beyond the numbers and accolades, Barry Sanders was one of the most exciting players in NFL history. He made avoiding tackles performance art, the gold standard of agility and acceleration to this day.