List of Detroit Lions first-round draft picks

Sid Wagner, the Lions' first-round pick in the 1936 NFL Draft.

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 Portsmouth 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 Guard San Francisco
1937 7 Lloyd Cardwell Back Nebraska
1938 6 Alex Wojciechowicz† Center Fordham
1939 7 John Pingel Back Michigan State
1940 6 Doyle Navel Quarterback USC
1941 5 Jim Thomason Back Texas A&M
1942 5 Bob Westfall Fullback Michigan
1943 1 Frank Sinkwich * Running back Georgia
1944 4 Otto Graham† Back Northwestern
1945 6 Frank Szymanski Center Notre Dame
1946 8 Bill Dellastatious Back Missouri
1947 2 Glenn Davis Halfback Army
1948 6 Y. A. Tittle† Quarterback LSU [1]
1949 2 John Rauch Quarterback Georgia
1950 1 Leon Hart * End Notre Dame [2]
5 Joe Watson Center Rice
1951 No first-round draft pick [3]
1952 No first-round draft pick [4]
1953 13 Harley Sewell Guard Texas
1954 13 Dick Chapman Offensive tackle Rice
1955 12 Dave Middleton Halfback Auburn
1956 3 Howard Cassady Halfback Ohio State
1957 12 Bill Glass Guard Baylor
1958 10 Alex Karras Defensive tackle Iowa
1959 6 Nick Pietrosante Fullback Notre Dame
1960 3 Johnny Robinson Halfback LSU
1961 No first-round draft pick [5]
1962 10 John Hadl Back Kansas
1963 12 Daryl Sanders Offensive tackle Ohio State
1964 5 Pete Beathard Quarterback USC
1965 11 Tom Nowatzke Fullback Indiana
1966 No first-round draft pick [6]
1967 7 Mel Farr Running back UCLA
1968 11 Greg Landry Quarterback UMass
24 Earl McCullouch Wide receiver USC [7]
1969 No first-round draft pick [8]
National Football League, Modern Era (1970–present)
1970 19 Steve Owens Running back Oklahoma
1971 21 Bob Bell Defensive tackle Cincinnati
1972 16 Herb Orvis Defensive end Colorado
1973 17 Ernie Price Defensive end Texas A&I [9]
1974 8 Ed O'Neil Linebacker Penn State [10]
1975 13 Lynn Boden Guard South Dakota State
1976 10 James Hunter Defensive back Grambling State [11]
16 Lawrence Gaines Running back Wyoming
1977 No first-round draft pick [12]
1978 11 Luther Bradley Defensive back Notre Dame
1979 10 Keith Dorney Offensive tackle Penn State
1980 1 Billy Sims * Running back Oklahoma
1981 16 Mark Nichols Wide receiver San Jose State
1982 15 Jimmy Williams Linebacker Nebraska
1983 13 James Jones Fullback Florida
1984 20 David Lewis Tight end California
1985 6 Lomas Brown Offensive tackle Florida
1986 12 Chuck Long Quarterback Iowa
1987 7 Reggie Rogers Defensive tackle Washington
1988 3 Bennie Blades Safety Miami [13]
1989 3 Barry Sanders† Running back Oklahoma State
1990 7 Andre Ware Quarterback Houston
1991 10 Herman Moore Wide receiver Virginia
1992 26 Robert Porcher Defensive end South Carolina State
1993 No first-round draft pick [14]
1994 21 Johnnie Morton Wide receiver USC
1995 20 Luther Elliss Defensive tackle Utah
1996 17 Reggie Brown Linebacker Texas A&M [15]
23 Jeff Hartings Guard Penn State
1997 5 Bryant Westbrook Cornerback Texas
1998 20 Terry Fair Cornerback Tennessee
1999 9 Chris Claiborne Linebacker USC
27 Aaron Gibson Offensive tackle Wisconsin [16]
2000 20 Stockar McDougle Offensive tackle Oklahoma
2001 18 Jeff Backus Offensive tackle Michigan
2002 3 Joey Harrington Quarterback Oregon
2003 2 Charles Rogers Wide receiver Michigan State
2004 7 Roy Williams Wide receiver Texas [17]
30 Kevin Jones Running back Virginia Tech [18]
2005 10 Mike Williams Wide receiver USC
2006 9 Ernie Sims Linebacker Florida State
2007 2 Calvin Johnson Wide receiver Georgia Tech
2008 17 Gosder Cherilus Offensive tackle Boston College [19]
2009 1 Matthew Stafford * Quarterback Georgia
20 Brandon Pettigrew Tight end Oklahoma State [20]
2010 2 Ndamukong Suh Defensive tackle Nebraska
30 Jahvid Best Running back California [21]
2011 13 Nick Fairley Defensive tackle Auburn
2012 23 Riley Reiff Offensive tackle Iowa
2013 5 Ezekiel Ansah Defensive end BYU
2014 10 Eric Ebron Tight end North Carolina
2015 28 Laken Tomlinson Guard Duke

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 end 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).