5 out of nowhere productive individual seasons in Detroit Lions history

2. WR Germane Crowell (1999)

The Lions drafted Crowell in the second round (50th overall) of the 1998 NFL Draft out of the University of Virginia. He had 25 catches for 464 yards (18.6 yards a catch) and three touchdowns as a rookie, and over five seasons as a Lion (and in the NFL) he did not reach 40 catches in four of them. In 2000 and 2001, he played in 14 of a possible 32 games and he missed 24 games over the 2000-2002 seasons.

But in between his rookie season and those couple of injury-marred seasons, that lone exception was a big one. Crowell had 81 receptions for 1,338 yards and seven touchdowns in 1999. That catch total ranked 10th in the league, and the yardage was sixth-best.

Crowell was released by Detroit early in 2003. He did not sign with a team for the 2003 season, despite some rumored interest from teams, then New Orleans Saints gave him a shot in 2004. But a right knee injury led to him being waived/injured in August, and his playing career was effectively over.

But for that one shining season, Crowell was a combination of size (6-foot-3, 213 pounds) and speed at wide receiver the likes the Lions have not necessarily seen very often.