List of Detroit Lions first-round draft picks

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The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL), and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.

Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and called the Spartans, the team began play in 1929 as an independent professional team, one of many such teams in the Ohio and Scioto River valleys. For the 1930 season, the Spartans formally joined the NFL as the other area independents folded because of the Great Depression. Despite success within the NFL, they could not survive in Portsmouth, then the NFL's smallest city. The team was purchased and moved to Detroit for the 1934 season.

The Lions have won four NFL Championships, tied for 9th overall in total championships amongst all 32 NFL franchises; although the last was in 1957, which gives the club the second-longest NFL championship drought behind the Arizona Cardinals. They are one of four current teams to have never played in the Super Bowl.

Key[]

† Admitted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
* Selected number one overall

Player selection[]

Year Pick Player Position College Notes
National Football League, Early Era (1936–1969)
1936 8 Sid Wagner G Michigan State
1937 7 Lloyd Cardwell HB Nebraska
1938 6 Alex Wojciechowicz† C Fordham
1939 7 John Pingel HB Michigan State
1940 6 Doyle Nave QB USC
1941 5 Jim Thomason HB Texas A&M
1942 5 Bob Westfall FB Michigan
1943 1 Frank Sinkwich * RB Georgia
1944 4 Otto Graham† HB Northwestern
1945 6 Frank Szymanski C Notre Dame
1946 8 Bill Dellastatious HB Missouri
1947 2 Glenn Davis HB Army
1948 6 Y. A. Tittle† QB LSU [1]
1949 2 John Rauch QB Georgia
1950 1 Leon Hart * E Notre Dame [2]
5 Joe Watson C Rice
1951 No first-round draft pick [3]
1952 [4]
1953 13 Harley Sewell G Texas
1954 13 Dick Chapman T Rice
1955 12 Dave Middleton HB Auburn
1956 3 Howard Cassady HB Ohio State
1957 12 Bill Glass G Baylor
1958 10 Alex Karras† DT Iowa
1959 6 Nick Pietrosante FB Notre Dame
1960 3 Johnny Robinson HB LSU
1961 No first-round draft pick [5]
1962 10 John Hadl RB Kansas
1963 12 Daryl Sanders T Ohio State
1964 5 Pete Beathard QB USC
1965 11 Tom Nowatzke FB Indiana
1966 No first-round draft pick [6]
1967 7 Mel Farr RB UCLA
1968 11 Greg Landry QB UMass
24 Earl McCullouch WR USC [7]
1969 No first-round draft pick [8]
National Football League, Modern Era (1970–present)
1970 19 Steve Owens RB Oklahoma
1971 21 Bob Bell DT Cincinnati
1972 16 Herb Orvis DE Colorado
1973 17 Ernie Price DE Texas A&I [9]
1974 8 Ed O'Neil LB Penn State [10]
1975 13 Lynn Boden G South Dakota State
1976 10 James Hunter DB Grambling State [11]
16 Lawrence Gaines RB Wyoming
1977 No first-round draft pick [12]
1978 11 Luther Bradley DB Notre Dame
1979 10 Keith Dorney T Penn State
1980 1 Billy Sims * RB Oklahoma
1981 16 Mark Nichols WR San Jose State
1982 15 Jimmy Williams LB Nebraska
1983 13 James Jones FB Florida
1984 20 David Lewis TE California
1985 6 Lomas Brown T Florida
1986 12 Chuck Long QB Iowa
1987 7 Reggie Rogers DT Washington
1988 3 Bennie Blades S Miami [13]
1989 3 Barry Sanders† RB Oklahoma State
1990 7 Andre Ware QB Houston
1991 10 Herman Moore WR Virginia
1992 26 Robert Porcher DE South Carolina State
1993 No first-round draft pick [14]
1994 21 Johnnie Morton WR USC
1995 20 Luther Elliss DT Utah
1996 17 Reggie Brown LB Texas A&M [15]
23 Jeff Hartings G Penn State
1997 5 Bryant Westbrook CB Texas
1998 20 Terry Fair CB Tennessee
1999 9 Chris Claiborne LB USC
27 Aaron Gibson T Wisconsin [16]
2000 20 Stockar McDougle T Oklahoma
2001 18 Jeff Backus T Michigan
2002 3 Joey Harrington QB Oregon
2003 2 Charles Rogers WR Michigan State
2004 7 Roy Williams WR Texas [17]
30 Kevin Jones RB Virginia Tech [18]
2005 10 Mike Williams WR USC
2006 9 Ernie Sims LB Florida State
2007 2 Calvin Johnson† WR Georgia Tech
2008 17 Gosder Cherilus T Boston College [19]
2009 1 Matthew Stafford * QB Georgia
20 Brandon Pettigrew TE Oklahoma State [20]
2010 2 Ndamukong Suh DT Nebraska
30 Jahvid Best RB California [21]
2011 13 Nick Fairley DT Auburn
2012 23 Riley Reiff T Iowa
2013 5 Ezekiel Ansah DE BYU
2014 10 Eric Ebron TE North Carolina [22]
2015 28 Laken Tomlinson G Duke
2016 16 Taylor Decker T Ohio State
2017 21 Jarrad Davis LB Florida
2018 20 Frank Ragnow C Arkansas
2019 8 T. J. Hockenson TE Iowa
2020 3 Jeff Okudah CB Ohio State
2021 7 Penei Sewell T Oregon

Footnotes[]

  1. ^ Detroit traded their original first-round selection (No. 3 overall), halfback Bob Cifers, halfback Paul White, and halfback Bob Chappuis to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for halfback Bill Dudley on August 7, 1947.
    Detroit acquired the 6th overall selection from the Los Angeles Rams (no more details found).
    Tittle chose to play for the Baltimore Colts of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and never did play for Detroit.
  2. ^ The selection was a Lottery bonus pick.
  3. ^ This selection was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles (no more details found).
  4. ^ Detroit traded their first- and sixteenth-round selections, as well as Charley Schroll, Ed Wood, and cash to the Cleveland Browns for Jim Martin, Ed Pasky, Tom Lucia, Lowell Tew, and Dave Rakestraw on June 12, 1951.
  5. ^ Detroit traded their first-round selection and linebacker Bob Long to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for quarterback Jim Ninowski on July 19, 1960.
  6. ^ Detroit forfeited their first-round selection to the Green Bay Packers as compensation for free agent E Ron Kramer.
  7. ^ Detroit acquired this addition selection by trading defensive tackle Roger Brown to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for their 1968 first-round selection as well as their 1969 second- and third-round selections on September 7, 1967.
  8. ^ Detroit traded their first-round selection, punter and wide receiver Pat Studstill, running back Tom Watkins, and quarterback Milt Plum to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for quarterback Bill Munson and the Rams third-round selection on May 1, 1968.
  9. ^ Detroit traded their first-round selection (No. 19 overall) and tight end Craig Cotton to the Chicago Bears in exchange for their first- and third-round selections (Nos. 17 and 58 overall) on January 30, 1973.
  10. ^ Detroit traded their first-round selection (No. 13 overall) and center Dave Thompson to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for their first-round selection (No. 8 overall) and 1975 sixth-round selection January 29, 1974.
  11. ^ Detroit acquired an additional selection (No. 8 overall) from the Los Angeles Rams as compensation for free agent wide receiver Ron Jessie.
    Detroit traded the 8th selection to the Chicago Bears in exchange for their first- and third-round selections (Nos. 10 and 68 overall).
  12. ^ Detroit traded their first-round selection to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for wide receiver J. D. Hill on July 22, 1976.
  13. ^ Detroit traded their first-round selection (No. 2 overall) to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for their first- and second-round selection (Nos. 3 and 29 overall) on April 20, 1988.
  14. ^ Detroit traded their first- and fourth-round selections (Nos. 8 and 89 overall) to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for linebacker Pat Swilling on April 25, 1993.
  15. ^ During the 1995 NFL Draft, Detroit acquired an additional first-round selection in 1996 (No. 21 overall) from the San Diego Chargers in exchange for Detroit's 1995 second-round selection (No. 51 overall).
    Detroit traded the 21st overall selection and their third-round selection (No. 91 overall) to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for their first-round selection (No. 17 overall).
  16. ^ Detroit traded their second-, third-, and fourth-round selection (Nos. 39, 70, and 142 overall) to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for their first-round selection (No. 27 overall).
  17. ^ Detroit traded their first-round selection (No. 6 overall) to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for their first- and second-round selections (Nos. 7 and 37 overall).
  18. ^ Detroit traded their second- and fourth-round selections (Nos. 36 and 105 overall), as well as their fifth-round selection in 2005 to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for their first-round selection (No. 30 overall).
  19. ^ Detroit traded their first- and third-round selections (Nos. 15 and 76 overall) to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for their first-, third-, and fifth-round selections (Nos. 17, 66, and 136 overall).
  20. ^ Detroit traded wide receiver Roy Williams and their seventh-round selection (No. 210 overall) to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for their first-, third-, and sixth-round selections (Nos. 20, 82, and 192 overall) on October 14, 2008.
  21. ^ Detroit traded their second-, fourth-, and seventh-round selections (Nos. 34, 100, and 214 overall) to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for their first- and fourth-round selections (Nos. 30 and 128 overall).
  22. ^ https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2017/09/24/lions-eric-ebron-returns-butter-fingered-ways/105971172/
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