The Detroit Lions best draft picks by round since 2009
First Round – Matthew Stafford, QB
What can we say, here? Matthew Stafford is by far the most productive first rounder but Ndamukong Suh, defensive tackle, Reilly Reiff, offensive tackle, Ezekiel Ansah, defensive end, Taylor Decker, offensive tackle, Jarrad Davis, linebacker, and Frank Ragnow, offensive guard, have all been successful to varying degrees. Of course, several other players were not successful from round one.
Although many of these players have done some things, many have simply moved on through free agency instead of getting a new contract to stay. Matthew Stafford has his new contract but he was temporarily paid the highest salary per season. Russell Wilson is currently the highest paid player in the NFL on a per game average at $35 million per year to Stafford’s $27.5 million dollar salary.
Stafford has the kind of big arm that is rare and he has the gunslinger mentality, in both the good ways and the bad at times. He also has 38,526 yards passing, 237 touchdowns, 129 interceptions, and a 62.4 percent career completion percentage. He’s achieved these milestones at younger ages than any Super Bowl winner and often without much help from his defense or run game.
That’s it. Those are the superlatives from each round. We have one week until we add new players to each as the draft starts next Thursday at eight p.m. It should be fun to see whose name Bob Quinn sends up to the podium this year!
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