Detroit Lions: The history of the seventh overall draft pick

The Detroit Lions earned the seventh overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft. And they did so by posting a 5-11 record this past season that resulted in both the general manager and head coach being fired in late November.

Having hired a new regime in the Motor City, a new coaching staff being assembled, and the pending trade of their longtime franchise quarterback in Matthew Stafford, the upcoming draft hasn’t meant this much to Motown in more than a decade.

With the seventh overall pick, the Lions could address several positions. That includes quarterback. But several draft analysts and draftniks believe the top passers will be long gone before Detroit’s number is called.

So what kind of luck have other teams had in finding talent at the seventh overall selection? Let’s take a look at the players selected with the seventh overall selection in the first round of the NFL draft for the past ten years …

2020 – Carolina Panthers – Derrick Brown, DT – Auburn
2019 – Jacksonville Jaguars – Josh Allen, OLB – Kentucky
2018 – Buffalo Bills – Josh Allen, QB – Wyoming
2017 – Los Angeles Chargers – Mike Williams, WR – Clemson
2016 – San Francisco 49ers – DeForest Buckner, DE – Oregon
2015 – Chicago Bears – Kevin White, WR – West Virginia
2014 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Mike Evans, WR – Texas A&M
2013 – Arizona Cardinals – Jonathan Cooper, G – North Carolina
2012 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Mark Barron, S – Alabama
2011 – San Francisco 49ers – Aldon Smith, LB – Missouri
2010 – Cleveland Browns – Joe Haden, CB – Florida

There have been some big hits and major misses at this pick over the past decade. I’m sure the Lions would love to have someone like Bills quarterback Josh Allen under center for them. Or how about an All-Pro pass rusher like Aldon Smith who recorded a whopping 42.0 sacks over his first three seasons with the Niners?

But the Lions have experienced their fair share of draft busts as well. And there might not be two better examples of busts than Kevin White of the Bears and Jonathan Cooper of the Cardinals, both selected with the seventh overall pick too.

White started a mere five games in three years in Chicago and sat out of football in 2019. And Cooper played just two seasons in Arizona before being traded and released by his new team a mere seven months later.

Looking further back into the history of the NFL draft, the seventh overall selection has resulted in teams acquiring some legendary players. In 2007, the Minnesota Vikings landed Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson at that pick. And Washington landed Hall of Fame cornerback Champ Bailey with the seventh overall selection in 1999.

The Detroit Lions themselves have made a few seventh overall selections in the Super Bowl era as well. Detroit picked wide receiver Roy Williams out of Texas at that selection back in 2004. The Lions also drafted Houston quarterback Andre Ware at that same pick in 1990.

In 1987, the Lions drafted defensive end, Reggie Rogers, out of Washington seventh overall. And UCLA running back Mel Farr was the Lions’ No. 7 pick in 1967.