5 out of nowhere productive individual seasons in Detroit Lions history

4. DE James Hall (2004)

Hall signed with the Lions as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Michigan in 2000. He toiled fairly non-descriptly for his first four seasons–though he did start 30 games over the 2002 and 2003 campaigns.

Then in 2004, Hall exploded with 11.5 sacks (tied for sixth in the league), 10 tackles for loss and four forced fumbles (tied for seventh in the league). He suffered a broken hand in the first game that season, and not only played through it but produced big.

Hall earned a contract extension from the Lions with that perfomance in 2004, but they traded him to the St. Louis Rams in 2007. He had another out-of-nowhere boom season in 2010 for the Rams, with 10.5 sacks. He spent 2011 with the Rams, and his NFL career was over. Playing 12 NFL seasons as an undrafted free agent when the average career for anyone (drafted or undrafted) is far shorter, is quite an accomplishment on its own.

Over his other six seasons in Detroit, Hall totaled 21.5 sacks with no more than five sacks in any of those. He had his big season in 2004, and was otherwise not a big producer even as he became a regular.