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Detroit Lions draft picks (1970–present)

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The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the North Division of the National Football Conference.[1] The franchise was founded in Portsmouth, Ohio, as the Portsmouth Spartans and joined the NFL on July 12, 1930.[2] After being purchased by George A. Richards in 1934, the franchise was relocated to Detroit and renamed to the Detroit Lions in reference to the city's Major League Baseball franchise, the Detroit Tigers.[3][4] The team plays its home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.[5]

The NFL draft, officially known as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting",[6][7] is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment.[8] The draft order is determined based on the previous season's standings; the teams with the worst win–loss records receive the earliest picks. Teams that qualified for the NFL playoffs select after non-qualifiers, and their order depends on how far they advanced, using their regular season record as a tie-breaker. The final two selections in the first round are reserved for the Super Bowl runner-up and champion. Draft picks are tradable and players or other picks can be acquired with them.[9]

In 1970, the Lions took part in the first modern NFL draft after the completion of the AFL–NFL merger.[10] With the nineteenth pick of the first round of that draft, Steve Owens, a running back out of Oklahoma University, became the Lions' first modern draft selection.[11] In addition to the annual draft, the Lions participated in the 1984 NFL supplemental draft. This supplemental draft occurred after the formation of the United States Football League (USFL), with the primary purpose of selecting players that had already signed with a USFL team in a separate process from the annual draft. The Canadian Football League (CFL) was also included in this supplemental draft.[12] In addition to the 1984 supplemental draft, the NFL has hosted an annual supplemental draft since 1977 for players who had circumstances affect their eligibility for the NFL draft.[13] The Lions have only selected a player once in a supplemental draft, taking Kevin Robinson in the ninth round in 1982.[14] Two players drafted by the Lions since 1970 have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson.[15] The Lions have taken part in every modern NFL draft since 1970, doing so most recently in the 2025 NFL draft, where they drafted seven players.[11]

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Key

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1970 draft

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1971 draft

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1972 draft

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1973 draft

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Leon Crosswhite, pictured here in 2019, was the Lions' second-round selection in the 1973 draft.
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1974 draft

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1975 draft

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1976 draft

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1977 draft

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1978 draft

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Al Baker, pictured here in 2014, was the Lions' second-round selection in the 1978 draft.
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1979 draft

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1980 draft

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Billy Sims, pictured here in 2010, was selected first overall by the Lions in the 1980 draft.
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1981 draft

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1982 draft

Supplemental draft pick

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Annual draft picks

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1983 draft

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1984 draft

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1984 NFL supplemental draft

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1985 draft

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Lomas Brown was the Lions' first-round selection in the 1985 draft.
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1986 draft

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Chuck Long, pictured here in 2015, was the Lions' first-round selection in the 1986 draft.
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1987 draft

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1988 draft

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Chris Spielman, pictured here in 2023, was one of the Lions' second-round selections in the 1988 draft.
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1989 draft

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Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders, pictured here in 2019, was the Lions' first-round selection in the 1989 draft.
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1990 draft

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Andre Ware, pictured here in 2012, was the Lions' first-round selection in the 1990 draft.
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1991 draft

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1992 draft

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Jason Hanson was one of the Lions' second-round selections in the 1992 draft.
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1993 draft

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1994 draft

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Van Malone, pictured here in 2022, was the Lions' second-round selection in the 1994 draft.
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1995 draft

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1996 draft

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Jeff Hartings was one of the Lions' first-round selections in the 1996 draft.
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1997 draft

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1998 draft

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Charlie Batch, pictured here in 2021, was one of the Lions' second-round selections in the 1998 draft.
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1999 draft

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2000 draft

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Reuben Droughns, pictured here in 2021, was the Lions' third-round selection in the 2000 draft.
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2001 draft

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Dominic Raiola was one of the Lions' second-round selections in the 2001 draft.
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2002 draft

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2003 draft

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2004 draft

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2005 draft

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2006 draft

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2007 draft

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Hall of Fame wide receiver Calvin Johnson was drafted second overall in the 2007 draft.
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2008 draft

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Cliff Avril was one of the Lions' third-round selections in the 2008 draft.
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2009 draft

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Matthew Stafford was selected first overall in the 2009 draft.
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2010 draft

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Ndamukong Suh was selected second overall in the 2010 draft.
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2011 draft

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2012 draft

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Bill Bentley was the Lions' third-round selection in the 2012 draft.
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2013 draft

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Darius Slay was the Lions' second-round selection in the 2013 draft.
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2014 draft

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2015 draft

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Ameer Abdullah was the Lions' second-round selection in the 2015 draft.
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2016 draft

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Taylor Decker was the Lions' first-round selection in the 2016 draft.
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2017 draft

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Kenny Golladay was the Lions' third-round selection in the 2017 draft.
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2018 draft

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Da'Shawn Hand was the Lions' fourth-round selection in the 2018 draft.
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2019 draft

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2020 draft

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Jonah Jackson was one of the Lions' third-round selections in the 2020 draft.
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2021 draft

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Penei Sewell was the Lions' first-round selection in the 2021 draft.
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2022 draft

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Aidan Hutchinson was the Lions' first-round selection and the second overall pick in the 2022 draft.
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2023 draft

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Brian Branch was one of the Lions' second-round selections in the 2023 draft.
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2024 draft

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2025 draft

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Notes

  1. Position reflects the source for each table (Pro Football Reference) and may not be representative of a player's college position or current position.

References

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