The Detroit Lions have a top-10 pick again in this year’s draft, and here are grades for their last 10 top-10 picks.
The Detroit Lions are obviously no strangers to having a high first-round pick. Since 2002, they’ve had a top-10 overall pick 14 times. But this year, that top-10 pick (No. 6 overall) comes via the Los Angeles Rams and the Matthew Stafford trade after the Rams’ epic Super Bowl hangover last year.
So there’s a piece of solace, that a top-10 pick this year isn’t coming via the Lions’ own ineptitude.
Ideally, as a team on the rise under the guidance of head coach Dan Campbell and the roster building of general manager Brad Holmes, the Lions won’t have a top-10 pick again for awhile. So the Lions may operate that way, if a certain opportunity strikes at sixth overall on Thursday night.
While the team has not had a ton of success lately, the Lions have had some stars they drafted in the top-10 overall end up having nice, if not too short for some, careers in Detroit. Maybe the most recent two, Aidan Hutchinson and Penei Sewell, will join that list of high draft pick hits when we look back years from now. They are certainly both off to a good start.
Going from the most recent back to furthest away in time, here are grades for the Detroit Lions’ last 10 top-10 draft picks.