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

player. 50. Grabbing the reigning Heisman trophy winning quarterback in the top 10 doesn’t seem like a bad idea when you’re in the war room. It’s too bad that it turned out to be a huge bust and the Lions quarterback woes continued. The next best option was Neil O’Donnell. Honestly the Lions were screwed here either way. Quarterback. Houston. Andre Ware. 7

Herman Moore. 10. player. 50. Like Barry on the last slide, what can you say? Herman was the best receiver in Lions history until some guy named Calvin showed up.. Wide Receiver. Virginia

Robert Porcher. 26. player. 50. What a steal this turned out to be with the 26th pick. Growing up, Robert Porcher was my favorite player outside of Barry of course. He was just so good in my eyes. He would go on to be come both a three-time Pro Bowler and All-Pro. He also never left the city. You have to love this guy.. Defensive End. South Carolina State

50. Everyone loved Superfly. Johnnie Morton was the perfect complement to Herman Moore and Barry Sanders. There’s no wonder this offense would rank number one in the NFL the very next year. So far the Lions haven’t drafted that bad at all. but dark clouds are moving in fast.. Wide Receiver. USC. Johnnie Morton. 21. player

What can you say about Luther Ellis? He gave the Lions some great years and even made the Pro Bowl twice. He stuck around for eight years before spending his final season in Denver. Ellis was great for the Lions, but you just tend to forget he ever existed for some reason.. Defensive Tackle. Utah. Luther Ellis. 20. player. 50

player. 50. Brown was a guy with a lot of upside and potential. unfortunately his career was cut short in a moment that’s seared into my brain to this day. Brown suffered a spinal cord injury against the Jets and laid on the field at the Silverdome for 17 horrifying minutes. Brown almost died there on the field until emergency CPR kept him alive. Luckily Brown would have successful surgery that would prevent him from being confined to a wheel chair for the rest of his life. However he would never play football again.  . Linebacker. Texas. Reggie Brown. 17

player. 50. Hartings would go on to have a pretty nice career. A two tie Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro. Even won a Super Bowl. The bad part is that none of that happened to him until he left Detroit to play for the Steelers.. Guard. Penn State. Jeff Hartings. 23

Cornerback. Texas. Bryant Westbrook. 5. player. 50. Keep in mind that i was just a pre-teen at the time. But I thought that Westbrook was going to be the greatest corner ever. I was wrong. Westbrook wasn’t terrible, but injuries would often get in the way and he never reached the ceiling I thought he had. What were you thinking 12-year-old me?

Terry Fair. 20. player. 50. Again the same story as Westbrook. “Terry Fair is going to be awesome you guys. now leave me a lone while I listen to my Will Smith tape.” Fair wound up paying just four years in Detroit and then skipped town. Just think, Randy Moss was the very next pick.. Cornerback. Tennessee

50. Was a decent linebacker for the Lions. But nothing to write home about. Like Fair, he was on the first thing smoking out of Detroit after just four years.. Linebacker. USC. Chris Claiborne. 9. player