Bob Quinn hit big on this Detroit Lions first round draft pick

The Detroit Lions have drafted well for the most part underneath general manager Bob Quinn, including nailing this widely questioned first round pick.

Underneath general manager Bob Quinn, the Detroit Lions have had a knack for hitting on their mid-round picks. Quinn has done a good job of drafting guys that have a safe floor, if not a spectacular ceiling. Most of these picks have provided a solid performance for the Lions, though not necessarily at an elite level.

Some examples of these picks are guard/center Graham Glasgow, defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson, offensive lineman Joe Dahl, linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin, and defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand. As impressive as Quinn has been at hitting on his mid-round picks, his history of hitting on first round picks has been less so through his tenure thus far.

Not including his most recent first round pick, tight end T.J. Hockenson (who hasn’t even played a full season yet), Quinn has selected left tackle Taylor Decker, inside linebacker Jarrad Davis, and guard/center Frank Ragnow. On draft day, two of these picks had high expectations and one was widely considered a reach throughout the industry.

Decker was seen as a prospect that could be an above-average pass protector and an absolute mauler in the run game. However, aside from his highly successful rookie season, Decker has been been a disappointment considering his first round pedigree. Decker has never seemed to have recovered from his injury early on in his career.

With that being said, aside from an abysmal performance in game one this year (that could have been in part due to a back injury), Decker has taken a step forward in his play this year. PFF, who grades every snap of every game for every player, has him graded out at a grade of 66.4.

While this may not seem all that impressive, keep in mind that on PFF’s grading scale that is an average grade. That grade is also good for the 26th overall tackle in the NFL. Decker has shown good improvement, and as long as he continues down this road he could very well end up living up to his first round draft status.

His second first round pick was linebacker Jarrad Davis. Davis was widely thought to be a sure fire pick that would be the backbone and leader of the defense. However, in his two plus seasons so far in the league Davis has been a massive bust considering his pedigree.

He has yet to crack a grade of 53 or higher on PFF’s scale and has been merely average to slightly above average in his run defense and pass rushing. However, his coverage has been simply awful and has been a liability to the team every season. This is one reason why acquiring a coverage linebacker is so high on the Lions’ list of needs at the moment.

Despite these two picks being viewed as safe and low-floor prospects, the two players have played closer to their floor than ceiling thus far into their careers. While Quinn may have missed (to this point) on his two first first round picks, he seemingly nailed his third first round pick.

With the 20th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, Quinn selected Arkansas guard/center prospect Frank Ragnow. Many people were surprised with this pick as most in the draft industry believed he would not be picked by a team until the second round at the earliest. However, soon after the draft, news broke that at least two other teams were seriously considering taking Ragnow with their first round picks, making Quinn’s selection look that much sharper.

His rookie season Ragnow played mostly right guard where he was a solid player for a rookie. His first season PFF graded him out at an average grade of 61.9.

This offseason it was revealed that the Lions would be swapping Ragnow and Glasgow out with each other, shifting Glasgow to right guard and Ragnow to center (his more natural position). The move was met with wide speculation as last season the two players had performed admirably and people were unsure about moving Ragnow to another position just his second season into his career.

The move has proven absolutely brilliant however as Ragnow has been the highest graded center so far this season with an elite grade of 74.9 and has had a dominant performance every game this year. Ragnow has played at an elite level and is easily performing up to his draft status.

Once an overlooked first round pick, Ragnow has commanded more respect this season and has been thoroughly outperforming his competition. Ragnow is approaching elite level status for a center, and could officially achieve that status should he consistently produce at a high level the rest of this season.

Bob Quinn may have slightly missed on his first two first round draft picks, but it seems that he nailed his 2018 first rounder by selecting a center that should easily be a pro-bowler and has all-pro potential that could very well be realized sooner rather than later. Ragnow has a very bright future in front of him, and Quinn is looking smarter and smarter for picking him 20th overall every time Ragnow takes the field.

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