Analyzing The Last 30 Years of Detroit Lions 1st Round Picks

Lomas Brown. 6. player. 50. Lomas Brown starts off our journey in a pretty good way. As we all know by now, Lomas was a pretty big part of the Lions during his ten year stint with the team. Lomas would go on to be a multiple time pro bowler and All-Pro tackle in the NFL. He would later win a Super Bowl with the Bucs before retiring in 2002  . Tackle. Florida

50. Chuck Long is the first quarterback to show up on this list. But he won’t be the last as you know. Long never lived up to his first round potential and was out of Detroit after just four years. You can’t blame the Lions too much. The best quarterback in the draft that year was Mark Rypien who wasn’t taken until the 6th round. Quarterback. Iowa. Chuck Long. 12. player

Washington. Reggie Rogers. 7. player. 50. Many believe that Rogers is one of the biggest NFL busts of all time. They would be right. Rogers had a lot of personal demons and his career in Detroit was cut short after a drunken traffic accident left him with a broken neck, and the passengers of the opposite car deceased. Rogers was convicted of Vehicular homicide. He tried to make a come back after prison, but it just never worked out. The Lions should have taken future All-Pro defensive tackle Jerome Brown who went just two picks later. Defensive Tackle

The Lions definitely got it right here with Blades who would go on to be a Pro Bowl safety for the Lions a few years later. Bennie would spend all but one year of his career in Detroit. He may be the best safety to ever wear the Honolulu blue. Safety. Miami. Bennie Blades. 3. player. 50

Running Back. Oklahoma State. Barry Sanders. 3. player. 50. I really don’t need to go in-depth here. He’s the best running back of all time.