The Detroit Lions have been around seemingly forever. Have they hit on as many first-round picks as you would think? Here are their 15 best picks to date.
The Detroit Lions are one of the longest-running professional football teams in the NFL. They have played every season since 1930 when they were known as the Portsmouth Spartans. The Lions moniker would first stick in 1934.
While the Lions have not had much gridiron success in the Super Bowl era, they won four NFL championships before the AFL-NFL merger. Even during the lean last few decades, the Lions have occasionally rattled off a stellar regular season.
So it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that the Lions have had more than their fair share of experiences picking high in the draft. This isn’t always a bad thing, as the Lions have been able to nail a handful of their first-round picks to date. You might have heard of some of these guys.
Before we begin on this exercise, let it be known that former SMU Mustangs Heisman Trophy winning running back Doak Walker was drafted by the now defunct Boston Yanks in 1949 as a junior. He would never play for that franchise and would be traded to the Lions ahead of the 1950 NFL season. With that in mind, here are the 15 best first-round draft picks in Lions football history.
Honorable Mentions: Bennie Blades, DB, Miami (1988, No. 3), Lloyd Cardwell, DB, Nebraska (1937, No. 7), Keith Dorney, OT, Penn State (1979, No. 10), Luther Elliss, DT, Utah (1995, No. 20), Pat Harder, RB/LB, Wisconsin (1944, No. 2), Greg Landry, QB, UMass (1968, No. 11), Steve Owens, RB, Oklahoma (1970, No. 19), Frankie Sinkwich, RB, Georgia (1943, No. 1), Bob Westfall, RB, Michigan State (1942, No. 5), Roy Williams, WR, Texas (2004, No. 7)
While the 2013 NFL Draft did not produce a ton of Pro Bowl level talents in the first round, the Lions were able to make a sound selection by taking defensive end Ezekiel Ansah No. 5 overall out of BYU. It was a risky draft selection given that he only played three years of organized football, all at BYU, but this pick has worked out so far.
Ansah has just been franchise tagged by the Lions ahead of his of sixth year in the NFL at a cool $17.5 million. In five years with the Lions, Ansah has been an ever-present force in the Detroit pass rush. Though his sack numbers fluctuate, Ansah is often the biggest quarterback sacking threat the opposing offensive line has to deal with.
Through his first 73 NFL games, Ansah has made 71 starts for the Lions. He has recorded 155 tackles, 52 assists, 44.0 quarterback sacks, three forced fumbles, two passes defended and one fumble recovery. Ansah has twice gone over 10.0 quarterback sacks in a season. During the 2015 campaign, Ansah made his first trip to the Pro Bowl and earned Second-Team All-Pro honors.
2018 will be a critical year for Ansah, as he will be playing in a contract year for a new defensive-minded head coach in former New England Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. Should Ansah have his third 10.0-sack season, he could stand to make a bit of coin on the open market just before his 30th birthday.
When we look back on the proud history of the Lions, their glory years were like that of the City of Detroit: in the 1950s. Three of the Lions’ four NFL championships came in that fruitful decade. One of the best first-round picks Detroit made in that decade was two-time All-American tight end Leon Hart.
Detroit selected the Notre Dame Fighting Irish standout No. 1 overall in the 1950 NFL Draft. This came after Hart’s third national championship in four years at South Bend. He would be a part of all three NFL championship teams in the 1950s for the Lions, as he would spend his entire eight-year NFL career with the team that drafted him No. 1 overall.
Hart was an All-Pro in his second season in the league in 1951. That year, he set career highs in receptions (35), yardage (544) and touchdowns (12). He would also make his only trip to the Pro Bowl that NFL season. Too bad Hart played in an era before the modern passing game. Otherwise, he might have been a hall of fame level player at tight end.
Overall, Hart retired after the 1957 NFL season with 174 catches for 2,499 yards and 26 touchdowns. He would briefly play fullback, where he would rush for a career 612 yards on 134 carries for five touchdowns. Hart is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame for his brilliance while playing for the Golden Domers over in South Bend.
Back when the Lions were playing outdoors at Tiger Stadium in the elements, it was important to be able to pound the rock with conviction to achieve gridiron success. One player who was able to help the Lions out of the backfield in the late 1960s and early 1970s was running back Mel Farr.
Nicknamed “Mel Farr Superstar”, Detroit took the talented tailback out of UCLA with the No. 7 overall pick in the 1967 NFL Draft. Farr was a two-time First-Team All-Pac-8 player and a consensus All-American during the 1966 NCAA season. He would have immediate success with the Lions during his rookie campaign in 1967.
Farr would be named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and make his first of two career trips to the Pro Bowl. That season, Farr rushed 860 yards on 206 carries for three touchdowns. As a pass catcher that year, Farr had 39 receptions for 317 yards and three more touchdowns. He would make his second Pro Bowl in 1970, when he rushed for 717 yards and a career-high nine touchdowns.
Farr would retire in 1974 after he was traded in the offseason to the Houston Oilers. In his NFL career, Farr had 739 carries for 3,072 yards and 26 touchdowns. As a receiver, he had an additional 146 receptions for 1,374 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Before Mel Farr Superstar, the Lions had another reliable ball carrier in the form of former Golden Domer Nick Pietrosante. The Lions took Pietrosante with the No. 6 overall pick in the 1959 NFL Draft out of Notre Dame. He was coming off an All-American season with the Fighting Irish before going pro.
Pietrosante would be an impactful running back for the Lions his first three years in the league. As a rookie, he would rush for 447 yards on just 76 carries. His league-high 5.9 yards per rushing attempt was key in him winning NFL Rookie of the Year honors in 1959.
After that, Pietrosante would make two straight Pro Bowls in 1960 and 1961. Those were his first two years as a full-time starter. While he never rushed for over 1,000 yards in a season, Pietrosante would leave the Lions after seven seasons with nearly 4,000 in his career.
He would play his final two NFL seasons with the Cleveland Browns before retiring at the age of 30 after the 1967 NFL season. While Pietrosante was not a productive player in Cleveland, he was able to achieve all of his NFL success in the blue and silver for Detroit. He finished his Lions career with 3,933 rushing yards on 938 attempts for 28 touchdowns.
When it comes to getting after the quarterback, nobody did it better for longer in Lions uniform than defensive end Robert Porcher. The Lions selected Porcher at the end of the first round at No. 26 out of South Carolina State back in 1992. He would end up being the franchise’s all-time leader in quarterback sacks.
Porcher played his entire 12-year NFL career with the Lions from 1992 to 2004. He would make three trips to the Pro Bowl in his NFL career. Those three seasons in 1997, 1999 and 2001, Porcher would be named First-Team All-Pro by Pro Football Weekly.
After only recording one sack during his rookie year in 1991, Porcher would tap into his obvious pass-rushing talent and record over 10 sacks in a season five times. The most he ever totaled in an NFL campaign was in 1999 when he had 15.0.
He would retire with 95.5 quarterback sacks in 187 career games, all with the Lions. His 673 career tackles have him at No. 7 all-time in Lions franchise history. Keep in mind that he played on the defensive line.
Porcher remains an active member of the Detroit community, owning several businesses in the downtown area. The Lions’ Man of the Year Award is named after him. Porcher may never be a Pro Football Hall of Famer, but he is one of the best player to have ever donned a Lions uniform. He has set the standard for what it means to get after the quarterback in the Motor City.
With the Lions’ ability to run the football well in the 1950s, you better believe that they had a handful of talented offensive lineman. The standout for them during that era was pulling guard Harley Sewell. He proved to be well worth the No. 13 overall selection when the Lions drafted him in 1953.
In college, Sewell was a dominant linebacker. However in the pros, Sewell would best make a name for himself on the offensive line and in special teams. The guy played all out, all the time and that translated marvelously in his 10-year NFL career with the Lions. Sewell would make four trips to the Pro Bowl and helped Detroit win its last two NFL championships in 1953 and 1957.
He was an adept interior lineman, thriving as the lead blocker on sweeps, as well as in pass protection. Though tackles weren’t an official stat during his playing days, Sewell was often the unofficial team leader in that department while starring on special teams.
While he would play the 1963 NFL season with the Los Angeles Rams, Sewell is best known for his time as a Texas linebacker and an offensive guard for the Lions. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame while with the Longhorns, but Canton enshrinement has evaded him to this day. If he ever reaches the Pro Football Hall of Fame, it will be posthumously.
If not for a devastating knee injury versus the rival Minnesota Vikings in 1984, running back Billy Sims would not only be higher up on this list, but a certain Pro Football Hall of Famer. Detroit knew exactly what it was doing in taking the 1978 Heisman Trophy winning running back out of Oklahoma with the No. 1 overall pick in 1980.
Sims was electrifying collegiately for the Oklahoma Sooners, being a two-time All-American. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. Sims is considered to be one of the greatest football players that has ever played for the Lions. If only his NFL career last more than 4.5 seasons…
Sims was the 1980 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, earning his first of three trips to the Pro Bowl. He rushed for 1,303 yards for a league-best 13 touchdowns on 313 carries. Sims would make the Pro Bowl the next two seasons, including the strike-shortened 1982 NFL campaign. Three times would Sims rush for over 1,000 yards in a season.
Sadly, he only played in 60 NFL games, all with the Lions. In his brilliant, but short NFL career, Sims had 5,106 rushing yards for 42 touchdowns on 1,131 carries. While his injury was absolutely devastating to the Lions fan base, a running back we will surely get to in a few minutes wouldn’t have played in Detroit if Sims got to keep on playing in the NFL.
Playing at well at one position in football is tough. Starring at positions on opposite sides of the ball is even more difficult. Center/linebacker Alex Wojciechowicz did that during his 13-year NFL career split between two teams. Detroit selected the two-time All-American out of Fordham with the No. 6 overall pick in the 1938 NFL Draft.
In college, Wojciechowicz was part of the “Seven Blocks of Granite” offensive line at Fordham. He would absolutely bring his lunch pail mentality to the NFL as a 60-minute player for the Lions in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Wojciechowicz would earn First-Team All-Pro Honors twice in his eight-plus years with the Lions.
After the first game of the 1946 season, Wojciechowicz would be released by the Lions in the midst of a panic move. Days later, he would sign with the Philadelphia Eagles, where he would play the next five NFL seasons before retiring after the 1950 NFL season. He would win two NFL championships while with the Eagles.
Wojciechowicz is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame from his days starring at Fordham. He would make the NFL 1940s All-Decade Team. In 1968, he would earn Canton enshrinement.
His classmates in the Pro Football Hall of Fame include Los Angeles Rams running back Elroy Hirsch, Cleveland Browns fullback Marion Motley, Washington Redskins end Wayne Millner and Chicago Cardinals running back Charley Trippi.
It’s been longer than you think since disruptive defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh last played for the Lions. He is on his third NFL team now in the Los Angeles Rams. However, he remains one of the best first-round picks the Lions have made to date. He was so productive in his five years with the organization.
The Lions used their No. 2 overall pick on the dominant defensive lineman for the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the 2010 NFL Draft. Only Sam Bradford was taken before him in that draft. In five years with the Lions, Suh made four trips to the Pro Bowl and earned three First-Team All-Pro honors. He would earn Second-Team All-Pro honors the other Pro Bowl season.
Suh would leave the Lions in 2015 NFL free agency to sign a record-setting deal with the Miami Dolphins. After three years with Miami, he would be released this past spring before signing with the NFC contending Rams. While he is a five-time Pro Bowler and was the 2010 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, Suh has never been on a team that has won a playoff game.
In his five seasons with the Lions, Suh had 181 tackles, 60 assists, 36.0 quarterback sacks, 15 passes defended, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, an interception, a safety and a defensive touchdown.
Though he may never be beloved by the Lions after his departure in free agency to the Dolphins, you cannot deny Sup’s on-field productivity in his five years with the team. He might be a Pro Football Hall of Famer one day and is a lock to be in the College Football Hall of Fame.
Expect him to keep climbing up this list. For now, we’ll have to settle for putting Lions starting quarterback Matthew Stafford at No. 6 in the all-time hierarchy of greatest first-round picks in franchise history. Let’s just put it at this. It was a no-brainer move for the Lions to take Stafford No. 1 overall in the 2009 NFL Draft out of Georgia.
The Lions were coming off an embarrassing 0-16 season and were in desperate need of a franchise quarterback. After a few injury riddled years, Stafford has started every game under center for the Lions since 2011.
Known for his powerful right arm, his ability to throw for a ton of yards and his knack for fourth-quarter comebacks, Stafford stands to be the best quarterback in franchise history at the end of the day.
Stafford may only have one Pro Bowl nod on his résumé, but did win NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 2011. He has thrown for well over 4,000 yards in the last seven NFL seasons. Stafford has led the Lions to the NFC playoffs three times in his NFL career, but is still looking for his first playoff victory to date.
Overall, Stafford has brought much-needed stability to the Lions organization. He may not be a Pro Football Hall of Fame level player, but will put up some gaudy passing numbers before he hangs up the spikes. Through the 2017 NFL season, Stafford has completed 62.0 percent of his passes for 34,749 yards, 216 touchdowns and 118 interceptions.
One offensive lineman that keeps getting overlooked in recent years was former Lions’ Pro Bowl left tackle Lomas Brown. He had both a long and successful NFL career that all began with an initial 11-year stint in Detroit. The Lions used their No. 6 overall pick to take the technician at offensive tackle in the 1985 NFL Draft out of Florida.
Brown was a reliable left tackle in the league for nearly two decades. He would make six of his seven trips to the Pro Bowl in Lions uniform. Brown would earn his only First-Team All-Pro nod in his final year with the team in 1995. He would spend the next seven seasons with four other teams before retiring a Super Bowl champion with the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Lions made the NFC playoffs four times in his final five years with the team, including the 1991 NFC Central title campaign. Overall, Brown would start 163 of the 164 games he played in Lions uniform. He would play in a total of 263 of them, starting in 151 NFL regular season games with five different teams.
Brown may just end up in the Hall of Very Good when it comes to Canton enshrinement. The only championship team he was on was the 2002 Buccaneers and he never started a game for them.
That being said, it’s hard to overlook a guy that was the central figure on the offensive line that blocked for arguably the greatest running back of all time. We may have to wait a bit, but Brown could make the Pro Football Hall of Fame some day.
The Lions didn’t just achieve offensive success in the running game in the 1990s. It helped that they had one of the best wide receivers in the NFC in Herman Moore. Detroit used its No. 10 overall pick to draft the All-American wide receiver out of Virginia in the 1990 NFL Draft. For a generation, Moore was the best receiver the Lions had in franchise history.
Moore played 11 of his 12 NFL seasons with the Lions from 1991 to 2001. He would make four straight trips to the Pro Bowl from 1994 to 1997. All four seasons Moore went over 1,000 yards receiving. Twice would he lead the NFL in receptions with over 100. Moore made three straight First-Team All-Pro squads from 1995 to 1997. He would be Second-Team All-Pro in 1994.
While Moore looked to be destined for Canton, he would swiftly exit his prime after the 1997 NFL season. He would never have 1,000 receiving yards in a season or play in all 16 regular season games again. Moore would retire after the 2002 NFL season just one game with the New York Giants where he never caught a pass.
In his 11-year career with the Lions, Moore had 670 catches for 9,174 yards and 62 receiving touchdowns. These totals are stellar, but will likely have Moore forever stuck in the Hall of Very Good. Canton will presumably continue to evade Moore, but we should never forget how excellent of a receiver he was during his four-year prime in the mid-1990s with the Lions.
Historically, the Lions have certainly had some excellent players in the trenches. While no former first-round pick like this would classify as Pro Football Hall of Fame caliber for the Lions, the closest thing Detroit has to this would be former All-Pro defensive tackle Alex Karras. Detroit used its No. 10 overall pick to draft the defensive lineman out of Iowa in the 1958 NFL Draft.
Karras would play his entire 12-year NFL career over 13 seasons with the Lions. He was suspended by the NFL during the 1963 NFL season along with Green Bay Packers star running back Paul Hornung for gambling. Karras would return and play seven more years of consistent ball for the Lions after that mid-career suspension.
Overall, Karras would make four Pro Bowls, four All-Pro first-teams and three All-Pro second teams before hanging up the spikes after the 1970 NFL season. Karras would have a lucrative acting career post-football. He played Mongo in the comedic classic Blazing Saddles in 1974. Karras would also play Webster‘s adoptive father George Papadapolis for six seasons from 1983 to 1989 on ABC.
Though Canton enshrinement evaded Karras, he was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame during his time with the Iowa Hawkeyes. Karras will likely remain in the Hall of Very Good, but remains one of the very best first-round picks the Lions have made in franchise history.
It’s pretty simple when you think about who the greatest wide receiver in Lions history is. For a while, it was Herman Moore, but the last decade gave NFL fans something called “Megatron” to sink their teeth into. Wide receiver Calvin Johnson was something else in his pro career with the Lions. Detroit made a fantastic choice in taking him No. 2 overall in the 2007 NFL Draft.
The first pick of that draft was former LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell, who busted most catastrophically for the Oakland Raiders. The No. 3 overall pick in 2007 was left tackle Joe Thomas of the Cleveland Browns.
Like Johnson, Thomas recently retired and is certainly Canton bound. The same can be said for the player taken at No. 7 overall that year in former Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson.
In his nine years with the Lions, Johnson made six straight trips to the Pro Bowl and three straight All-Pro First Teams from 2011 to 2013. The former standout for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets set an NFL record for most receiving yards in a season with 1,946 in 2012. He led the NFL in receiving yards twice, receptions once and receiving touchdowns once.
Overall, Johnson retired after the 2015 NFL season with 731 receptions for 11,619 yards and 83 touchdowns. Johnson is a lock to earn Canton enshrinement, possibly on his first ballot in 2021.
Then again, there has historically been a logjam at wide receiver. Expect Johnson to join the College Football Hall of Fame as well as a transformative receiving talent for the Ramblin’ Wreck of Georgia Tech in the mid-2000s.
There was no other choice for No. 1 here. It had to be Barry Sanders. That’s because he’s not only the greatest player in Lions football history, but on a short list of the greatest running backs to have ever played football.
Detroit used the No. 3 overall pick to draft the 1988 Heisman Trophy winner out of Oklahoma State in the 1989 NFL Draft. Sanders played his entire 10-year NFL career with the Lions. He made the Pro Bowl every year of his professional career.
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Sanders was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1989. He was a six-time first-team All-Pro and a four-time second-team All-Pro.
Sanders led the league in rushing four times, was the NFL Offensive Player of the Year twice, led the NFL in rushing touchdowns once and was the 1997 NFL MVP.
With Walter Payton’s all-time career rushing mark in sight, Sanders abruptly retired after the 1998 NFL season in the midst of his prime at 30 years old.
Sanders finished his illustrious NFL career with 3,062 carries for 15.269 rushing yards and 99 touchdowns. He rushed for over 1,000 yards in all 10 of his NFL seasons.
Sanders has his No. 20 jersey retired by the Lions organization. He made the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team and has been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame for his time with the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
Next: Detroit Lions: All-time offensive team
In his first year on the ballot, Sanders would be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the Class of 2004. His classmates include Philadelphia Eagles tackle Bob Brown, Minnesota Vikings defensive end Carl Eller and Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway.