Detroit Lions: Bob Quinn’s best draft picks by round

Bob Quinn’s Best Draft Picks – First Round

Alright! Let’s finish this up! The Detroit Lions have mostly selected near the middle of the first round of the draft since Quinn took over, up until the last two years. Both of those years have led to Top-10 selections, T.J. Hockenson and Jeff Okudah.

Taylor Decker, Jarrad Davis, and Frank Ragnow have been the other top picks that have made their way to the Motor City. We can single out Davis as the worst pick of the bunch pretty easily, he has rated near the bottom of linebacker grades every year of his career and may be getting let go after this year if he doesn’t improve immensely.

Taylor Decker is the longest-tenured pick, the left tackle, and has performed well most of the time that he has been on the field, although he missed some games and seemed to not be ready to be back on the field at first. Ragnow, is another guy who is entrenched in his position as the starting center for the offense, flashing a Pro-Bowl level of play after being drafted from Arkansas.

Hockenson looks like a George Kittle clone but is still battling his Top-10 pick expectations and rookie injuries. Jeff Okudah has a chance to be a very good cornerback after his standout career at Ohio State but hasn’t lined up against any NFC North opponents, yet. Being a Top-5 pick gives you an advantage in this kind of ranking, too, plus he’s very smooth and physical as a pass defender who is in the perfect man-cover system to use his abilities.

Although it’s tempting to pick Decker, just due to experience, Frank Ragnow is our selection as the best first-round pick of the last five years as of right now. Ragnow has only missed one game and started the other 31 that he has been around for. Some people doubted taking him at draft pick number 20 overall but he is getting close to All-Pro/Pro-Bowl consideration.

The 6-foot-5, 311-pound center started his Lions career at guard but took over at center last year when he and Graham Glasgow switched positions. He was a great college center and Quinn always projected him to take over at center after adjusting to the NFL. He has the mentality and nasty streak that linemen should have plus he’s quite agile for a big man.

Hockenson, Okudah, and Decker could all make a case to be the best down the road but they are all going to have to produce at a high level and do it consistently to knock Frank out of the top spot.