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	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 Navel	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 *	End	Notre Dame	[2]
	5	Joe Watson	C	Rice
1951	No first-round draft pick				[3]
1952	No first-round draft pick				[4]
1953	13	Harley Sewell	G	Texas
1954	13	Dick Chapman	OT	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	OT	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	OT	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	OT	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	OT	Wisconsin	[16]
2000	20	Stockar McDougle	OT	Oklahoma
2001	18	Jeff Backus	OT	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	OT	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	OT	Iowa
2013	5	Ezekiel Ansah	DE	BYU
2014	10	Eric Ebron	TE	North Carolina
2015	28	Laken Tomlinson	G	Duke
2016	16	Taylor Decker	OT	Ohio State

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).