There are surely plenty of candidates, but we’ve narrowed to the 10 biggest draft busts in Detroit Lions history.
The Detroit Lions have literally participated in every NFL draft there has been, since 1936. There have been some successes, and a lot of failures.
Narrowing a list to any number of draft busts for the Lions could be a challenge, depending on how far you’d like to go. For us here 10 is a nice, round, digestible number, without subjecting the audience of the team’s fans to more misery than necessary.
Some might point to the Lions’ draft history when talking about what they should do this year (take Malik Willis at No. 2?, but what about….?). Failing to learn from history may make you doomed to repeat it, but history is just that in the scope of a single NFL draft year–history that has to be kept in its place.
Within that history, dating back as far as it does, here are the 10 biggest draft busts in Detroit Lions history.
10 biggest draft busts in Detroit Lions history
10. FB James Jones
Jones, the 13th pick in the 1983 draft, had a 10-year NFL career, including the first six with the Lions. Lasting that long in the NFL is an achievement, and he did have 23 rushing touchdowns in his first four seasons.
But Jones primarily makes this list based on the opportunities the Lions missed. The pick after him, to the Buffalo Bills, was Jim Kelly. Dan Marino of course had a famous draft fall, to the Miami Dolphins at No. 27. Going a little further, Darrell Green (No. 28) and Joey Browner (No. 19) headline others who went after Jones in that first round. Still others, like Willie Gault, Gil Byrd, Jim Jeffcoat and Don Mosebar, had recognizable NFL careers.
The Lions took a non-descript fullback in the first round of the 1983 draft, as opposed to some future Hall of Famers or others who stuck around at a solid level for awhile.
9. QB Chuck Long
In their quest for a franchise quarterback, set back in hindsight by not drafting Kelly or Marino, the Lions drafted Long No. 12 overall out of the Univerity of Iowa in 1986. He started two games as a rookie, 12 in his second season and seven as a third-year player, totaling 19 touchdowns and 28 interceptions (a league-high 20 in 1987). He last three more NFL seasons, alternating between the Lions and the Rams, playing in five games and never making another start.
Long landed in a less than ideal situation in Detroit. But he was a failed quarterback first-rounder, and only the first on this list for the Lions.
8. TE Eric Ebron
The Lions made Ebron the 10th overall pick in the 2014 draft, then saw him deliver 25 catches for less than 250 yards as a rookie. The team cut bait on him after four seasons, then watched from afar as he set a (fool’s gold) career-high with 13 touchdowns for the Indianapolis Colts in 2018.
As much of a dud as Ebron was, his place on this list is fortified by who was drafted after him (Odell Beckham Jr., Aaron Donald, Zack Martin, even Brandin Cooks).
7. TE Brandon Pettigrew
The Lions immediately added a weapon for Matthew Stafford with their second first-rounder in that 2009 draft (No. 20 overall).
Pettigrew had back-to-back 70-plus catch seasons in 2010 and 2011, but his production slowly faded, culiminating in 17 total receptions over his final two seasons (2014 and 2015, 22 total games) after Ebron was drafted to replace him.
Percy Harvin is the most notable 2009 first-round pick drafted after Pettigrew, but that was a huge missed opportunity for the Lions.
6. CB Bryant Westbrook
Going back a little further than we have to this point, Westbrook was taken by the Lions with the fifth overall pick in the 1997 NFL Draft. He started 54 games over five seasons in Detroit, with 11 interceptions (six in 2000).
The pick after Westbrook was Hall of Famer Walter Jones, and at 13th overall another Hall of Famer was drafted (Tony Gonzalez).
A cornerback taken with a top-five pick better be someone who takes the receiver he’s matched up with out of the opponent’s game plan. Westbrook was just not that.
5. WR Mike Williams
In NFL parlance, this is the “other” Mike Williams–not the current Los Angeles Chargers receiver. Then-Lions general manager Matt Millen made the USC product his third straight top-10 drafted wide receiver, 10th overall in 2005. Williams also sat out the entire 2004 season, after being part of a legal challenge to the NFL’s draft eligibility rules.
Williams was built like a tight end, and moved like one. He lasted two seasons in Detroit (with 37 catches), before being traded to the Oakland Raiders in 2007. He had something of a pop-up season with the Seahawks in 2010 (65 catches for 751 yards), and his final season came in 2011.
4. DE Reggie Rogers
Going back in time again, the Lions drafted Rogers seventh overall in the 1987 draft. He wound up playing four NFL seasons, separated by a drunk driving incident, with 11 games played for the Lions over his first two.
Almost anyone drafted after Rogers in the first round in 1987 would have been a better pick for the Lions.
3. QB Joey Harrington
For a lot teams, Harrington would have a strong case as the No. 1 draft bust ever. The third overall pick in 2002 after a good college career at Oregon, he went 18-37 over four seasons with the Lions including a league-high 22 interceptions in 2003. After starting 11 games for the Miami Dolphins in 2006 and 11 games for the Atlanta Falcons in 2007, he was done as a rosterable NFL quarterback.
Harrington was simply not an NFL-caliber signal caller, and the lack of talent around him in Detroit didn’t help.
2. WR Charles Rogers
Millen started the aformentioned run of top-10 wide receivers with Rogers as the second overall pick in 2003, with the added local angle of him being a Michigan State product and a Saginaw native.
Injuries and off the field issues led to Rogers lasting just three seasons and 15 games in the NFL. He was released by the Lions just before the start of the 2006 season.
In November of 2019, after being diagnosed with cancer and in need of a transplant, Rogers died at age-38 due to liver failure.
1. QB Andre Ware
On the heels of winning the Heisman Trophy in 1989, as he set a chunk of NCAA records and piloted a prolific Houston Cougars’ run-and-shoot offense, the Lions took Ware seventh overall in the 1990 NFL Draft. The Lions had their version of a run-and-shoot, coined the “Silver Stretch”, and Ware seemed like an ideal fit.
Not so much. Rodney Peete and Erik Kramer joined Ware on the depth chart, and head coach Wayne Fontes mostly went with them as the Lions’ starting quarterback. Over four seasons Ware appeared in 14 games, with six starts. The landed with the Raiders and the Jaguars before playing some in the CFL, and never played another NFL regular season game.
Ware represents a bit of a chicken-or-the egg scenario about being given a real chance to develop/play or simply not being nearly good enough. In any case, he comes in No. 1 on this list of Detroit Lions all-time draft busts.