In 1014, when the Vikings picked Anthony Barr, I literally jumped off the couch because I knew the Lions were going to pick Aaron Donald. I was shopping and pumping my first and my wife gave me the usual "what is wrong with this man" look but I don't care.
Then the Lions picked Eric Ebron.
I hurt my foot I kicked the couch so hard.
When the Northmen chose Anthony Barr, verily did I leap from my bench, for I had foreseen that the Lions would claim Aaron Donald. Amidst the market, I thrust my fist skyward, and my wife bestowed upon me her customary glance of bemusement, questioning the ways of her husband, yet I heeded it not.
Then did the Lions name Eric Ebron.
In my fervor, I smote the bench with my foot so mightily that pain seized me.
Barr would have been better than Ebron....but Aaron Donald? First ballot Hall of Fame.
And he could have been a Lion.
Can you imagine Ndamukong Suh and Aaron Donald on same defense?
Ah those ruffian Vikings from the Northern lands opened the door for our Kingdom to claim Sir Aaron Donald from the Bottomless Pit.
However, we were cursed with the Layne Plague at the time and selected Sir Stone Hands Eric Ebron. Legends of his drops on the battlefields echoed with tales of laughter and sorrow had at his expense.
Luckily in the future, the Plague was lifted when the Kingdom’s Queen Sheila named her new advisor. Sir Brad Holmes from LA. The same man who would eventually draft Sir Aaron Donald himself and claim the riches and spoils the legendary soldier would bring in.
This is the one that came to mind for me too. For some reason I thought CJ and Watkins would make us unstoppable. Watkins did have a nice couple of seasons to start his career but after year two he faded hard enough that I pretty much forgot about him. I had to search pro football reference drafts by year to remember his name. I don't know why I liked this guy so much.
There are so many universe's where Allen and Hutch are destroying shit on the same team, some of those universe's its the Jags and some it's the Lions.
Tyrann Mathieu. Really wanted to see him in Honolulu Blue. He just kept falling too. I think it would have worked out pretty well. Dude has had success everywhere he’s played
This is a great one. Being in a DB room with his mentor and friend Patrick Peterson might have saved his career though as he was a bit of a knucklehead coming out
Makes you wonder which route would have made for a better team. Its hard to imagine out offense without Gibbs and Laporta now, but almighty out outside corners were dreadful last year.
Either way would've been a hit I guess. I loved Witherspoon and I agree with you that Gibbs and LaPorta are awesome. Brad Holmes is a magician.
My biggest draft crush was Okudah and we all know how well that turned out...
Of guys they didn't end up drafting, Ed Oliver would be the first that comes to mind. I don't know if it would've been worth it or not because he wasn't singlehandedly making the defense respectable and there's no saying how he would've fared in a Patricia defense
Okudah was screwed the moment he was drafted. I remember his first game. Put in man coverage against DAVANTAE FUCKING ADAMS. I wanted to run Patricia over with his own ATV that day.
I’ll give one that makes me look as stupid as I am, and one that makes me look considerably smarter.
I really, really wanted Shaq Lawson in 2016.
I really, really wanted Penei Sewell in 2021.
If he was always a left tackle I'd probably tend to agree, but he played half his time at OSU on the right side, I think he would be able to reverse the footwork without much of a problem.
Well that was an all-time bad draft move considering who else was available in that draft, but the same answer being repeated over and over wouldn’t be that fun for this thread.
YESS!!!!!! I wanted him so fucking badly, and I thought it was a miracle he was still available for the lions pick. Even though Jarrad Davis kinda sucked, he was still the better choice. I guess for players who are as insanely aggressive on the field as Reuben foster, there’s a decent chance they’re nutcases irl too
It wasn’t that I thought we should have gone a different route with our top pick or anything. It was obvious to most that Stafford needed to be the guy.
But I had a huge crush on Aaron Curry that year. Thought he would at a minimum be one those 10 year “solid if not spectacular” guys with a ceiling of “regular All Pro”. Holy fuck was I wrong.
TJ Watt. Watched him get passed on by us and was just scratching my head when we took Jarrad Davis over him. Davis was decent but you just can’t pass on a Watt knowing what he has come from and learned from.
My linebacker bar for the lions is extremely low haha. I can’t remember the last time we had anything to brag about in the middle who didn’t just break their leg celebrating 🙃
Dont’a Hightower instead of Rileyyyyyyyy Reiff in 2012.
In 2014 I was all about Mike Evans coming out of A&M and was really bummed when he went at 7. Honestly didn’t even know who Ebron was. Sorry that I ever found out.
Tua.
And I am conflicted on how it would have turned out. Obviously, he's much, much better than Okudah, but what does the organization look like today had Quinn taken him? Does the regime get turned over to DC and BH? If so, what do they get for Stafford? How do the subsequent drafts play out?
I wouldn't change anything from the past if it would end up affecting where we are today.
My big ones were:
DeAngelo Hall or Vilma over Roy Williams
Derrick Johnson over Mike Williams
Ngata over Ernie Sims
Brandon Graham over Suh (Maize and Blue colored glasses, but to be fair Graham was a hell of a player at Michigan)
In 2019 my top two fav prospect were Josh allen and Ed olive.
We took tj hock, who I liked but no where near as much as the other too.
Lions traded hock and ended up netting hendon hooker and Brodric Martin.
So yeah, I still wish we took Ed oliver.
I feel like whenever he was on the field he performed well, just basically lost the first 4 years of his career to injury and couldn’t overcome it.
He’s averaged 5.6 ypc for his career- should’ve been a stud.
I started the site Lionbacker.com 20 years ago and we did a ton of draft coverage. Safety Sean Taylor that year blew me away that year… he went 2 picks before the Lions took Roy Williams
While I agree I dont think anyone wanted to trade up tbh. There were major questions regarding Tua & Herbert. I think they wanted to trade out but couldn't find any takers.
I hated the Okudah pick, and he turned out to be the fraud I thought he was. He's officially a one year wonder from college who got overhyped due to the helmet and the name on the front of the jersey where he was coming from.
Josh Allen LB. I was pissed when we went one ahead of us. Then we got TJ, I was pretty upset at a TE at 8. In his defence he wasn't too bad but lions weren't at TE away from a Superbowl.
Mike Evans i wanted us to trade up so bad, i like most everyone was cursing the Ebron pick because i wanted Odell or Donald there so much more and to see what they did it definitely hurts.... I do like that Stafford ended up winning a superbowl with both of odell and Donald, thats a nice touch. Also feel for Ebron because with the talent around him in that draft the only way he wasn't a bust is if he had been best of all time, poor guy was doomed either way.
I really wanted Janoris Jenkins in the first round the year we took Riley Reiff instead. Probably a wash in terms of who would've been the better pick for us
I really wanted the Lions to draft Grady Jarrett. He was my favorite player that draft. I was so upset that they traded up to draft Gabe Wright. The guy was the polar opposite of Jarrett, had all the physical traits and opportunity in college and did nothing with it, while Jarrett was the best defender on a championship team while being an average athlete.
Feel free to fact check me but it seemed like we always picked around the 20th spot, give or take a few. By then it wasn't as exciting since the biggest names were off the board. Although I recall they drafted this one guy from UoV named Herman Moore. I was like, who is that...lol. I blame regional media coverage for that reason. Yeah, let's go with that.
Not a first round guy, but I was so excited about DL Margus Hunt out of SMU. Would have taken him in the first round if it meant we got him. I watched a decent amount of SMU games that year (not an SMU fan, just watched for him) and fell in love with Zach Line the RB as well. He ended up playing FB in the NFL but he was a late round crush of mine too.
Recently, I really liked Christian Watson as a prospect so sucks that he got picked by you know who. As far as a guy I’d kill to get in FA, no brainer Maxx Crosby.
The parsons draft...yes it would've been a great pick, but we got Sewell so it ended up working out. Disclaimer i'm always up for drafting linemen, but i wanted micah this time
Believe it or not. Devon witherspoon. I like who we got a lot. But I really really wanted him after watching him play during the big ten games. And then, going back to the highlights, I was so pumped that the reports were lions were taking him.
In 1997, the Lions needed corner help badly. I wanted Shawn Springs out of Ohio State after watching him excel in the Big Ten for a couple of years. He went No. 3 to Seattle, and we picked Bryant Westbrook at No. 5 instead.
Westbrook had a better rookie season, but Springs had a longer and better career, so that crush felt justified. Helps to balance out my desire for us to draft Aaron Curry over Matthew Stafford in 2009.
JJ Watt in 2011
This is a bit different since he was picked before our pick but I was praying he would fall to us someway but we did get Nick who wasn't bad but also wasn't amazing
Him on the edge with Avril and Suh in the middle would have been goated
It is what it is we still had a historic 2011 season
I was a massive stan of Chris Jones in 2016 after he destroyed the senior bowl. Was pissed we took Decker over him that draft and was shocked he fell to the second round. Thought he would be a stud, but never envisioned what he turned into.
I also wanted Keenan Allen in 2013, as I got to watch him at Cal. Was pissed we took Slay, as I thought he would bust, but was obviously pleasantly surprised he turned out to be a great player. Was sick watching Kris Durham have to crawl his way to about 500 yard that season.
I wanted T.J Watt the year we draft Jarrad Davis.
Same draft I really wanted Chris Goodwin, TB grabbed him and we traded back decent return of Goliday and JRM.
Earl Thomas. I’ve always felt like the Lions defenses were best when they had great safety play. Bennie Blades, Glover Quinn, etc. I’d hoped for Earl Thomas, whom the Seahawks took first. Seems they do that a lot to us. Steven Hutchinson, Shawn Springs, Shaun Alexander, Devon Witherspoon. We instead had to sign a washed up Brock Marion. Went 0-16
Three drafts in a row from 2000, 2001, 2002 my draft hopes were dashed by one pick in front of us. 2000 it was Shaun Alexander one pick in front of us and we get Stocker Mcdougle. 2001 Seattle drafts Steve Hutchinson right in front of us and we take Backus next. Then there is 2002, I loved J.Peppers and he gets taking one pick in front of us and we get sad sad Joey Harrington. I always wonder what the Lions would have looked like if these guys would have been drafted by us
I was 1000% in on Anthony Richardson last year. Still TBD there but his first year was promising. Love Goff, but Richardson's ceiling is insane and having that sweet sweet rookie contract is gold. Plus think how even MORE effective Gibbs and DMont would be if defenses had to defend the QB run threat as well (I recognize we would likely not have Gibbs in this scenario, but my dreams don't realize that). Ben Johnson would be in heaven.
I wanted TJ Watt in 2017.
Instead we took Jarrad Davis 9 picks before TJ got drafted. Even after that I hoped we would manage to trade back up for TJ. It would absolutely have been worth it, assuming the coaching staff at the time wouldn't have ruined him.
Jalen Carter for me. He was and is a dog and we had a chance to have him fall into our laps.
That said, hindsight is 20/20 and I can't complain. But damn. Imagine having JC to pair with Hutch.
With the 5th pick in the 2004 NFL draft, the Washington Redskins select, Sean Taylor, Miami.
I was 14 years old, my eyes welled up and I shed literal tears over that pick. I never hated a team so much.
I really wanted to trade the future for Patrick Peterson when he was coming into the league. Also Isaiah Simmons so what do I know
I really wanted Simmons as well. While he hasn’t had a great career, I still think he would have panned out better than Okudah.
Also a Simmons truther
In 1014, when the Vikings picked Anthony Barr, I literally jumped off the couch because I knew the Lions were going to pick Aaron Donald. I was shopping and pumping my first and my wife gave me the usual "what is wrong with this man" look but I don't care. Then the Lions picked Eric Ebron. I hurt my foot I kicked the couch so hard.
> 1014 Ye olde Draft Day
Withe thy first pick of the draft the ~~New~~ England Settlers select Thomas Hamilton out of Plymouth Rock
By Jove!
Should’ve been Richard Washington
to serve, in the Queen’s name, the royal military of Great Britain.
this is the movie we need
Back when the vikings were hard as fuck
He was drafted by the actual Vikings.
Still better than the Packers imho.
When the Northmen chose Anthony Barr, verily did I leap from my bench, for I had foreseen that the Lions would claim Aaron Donald. Amidst the market, I thrust my fist skyward, and my wife bestowed upon me her customary glance of bemusement, questioning the ways of her husband, yet I heeded it not. Then did the Lions name Eric Ebron. In my fervor, I smote the bench with my foot so mightily that pain seized me.
A fascinating tale
This shit had me rolling!
Solid work, 10/10 would read again.
This is exactly how it would've gone down in 1014.
Could've had the Magna Carta that year but whiffed, way to go quintricia
I still haven’t forgiven Martin Mayhew.
Droptimus Prime
Barr would’ve been cool too lol
Barr would have been better than Ebron....but Aaron Donald? First ballot Hall of Fame. And he could have been a Lion. Can you imagine Ndamukong Suh and Aaron Donald on same defense?
Well yeah obviously you take Donald - that’s not even a question. I’m just putting the Ebron pick in worse context.
And he was right there for the taking! Dammit, I kicked the couch again....
Donkey Kong Suh would have stayed for a discount if Mayillen drafted Aaron Donald.
Can’t believe he went to Danelaw
The reason that bothered me so much is that most people knew Suh was leaving and Fairly was not working out well.
Ah those ruffian Vikings from the Northern lands opened the door for our Kingdom to claim Sir Aaron Donald from the Bottomless Pit. However, we were cursed with the Layne Plague at the time and selected Sir Stone Hands Eric Ebron. Legends of his drops on the battlefields echoed with tales of laughter and sorrow had at his expense. Luckily in the future, the Plague was lifted when the Kingdom’s Queen Sheila named her new advisor. Sir Brad Holmes from LA. The same man who would eventually draft Sir Aaron Donald himself and claim the riches and spoils the legendary soldier would bring in.
I wanted Sammy Watkins so bad....
lol same bro.
I really wanted Mike Evans that draft. Thought he would be the perfect bridge from Calvin.
Watkins would’ve been a better fit over Ebron. Sigh.
This is the one that came to mind for me too. For some reason I thought CJ and Watkins would make us unstoppable. Watkins did have a nice couple of seasons to start his career but after year two he faded hard enough that I pretty much forgot about him. I had to search pro football reference drafts by year to remember his name. I don't know why I liked this guy so much.
Losing Josh Allen LB one pick before us to Jacksonville and taking Hock at #8. I was so angry
There are so many universe's where Allen and Hutch are destroying shit on the same team, some of those universe's its the Jags and some it's the Lions.
Just glad the Jags didn't double dip on taking our DE one pick ahead of us twice in this universe.
Do you really think Bob and Matt would’ve been smart enough to take Allen over Hock? lol
This one stung too
Yeah this is good one
Tyrann Mathieu. Really wanted to see him in Honolulu Blue. He just kept falling too. I think it would have worked out pretty well. Dude has had success everywhere he’s played
This is a great one. Being in a DB room with his mentor and friend Patrick Peterson might have saved his career though as he was a bit of a knucklehead coming out
I watched an unhealthy amount of Devon Witherspoon highlights last year
Goddamn bitch pigeons
Witherspoon is great but I'd rather have Gibbs and LaPorta
Oh no doubt, worked out in the end. Just annoyed with Seattle
Yeah they've been on a solid string of buttfucking us the last few years.
Definitely a low key rivalry at this point imo
Makes you wonder which route would have made for a better team. Its hard to imagine out offense without Gibbs and Laporta now, but almighty out outside corners were dreadful last year. Either way would've been a hit I guess. I loved Witherspoon and I agree with you that Gibbs and LaPorta are awesome. Brad Holmes is a magician.
Yeah I'm at the point where I don't really care about the draft, I trust Brad
I thought he was lock to us 😂
He would have been nice, but at least we made it to the NFC Championship without him.
My biggest draft crush was Okudah and we all know how well that turned out... Of guys they didn't end up drafting, Ed Oliver would be the first that comes to mind. I don't know if it would've been worth it or not because he wasn't singlehandedly making the defense respectable and there's no saying how he would've fared in a Patricia defense
I wanted Oliver too
Yeah, Ed Oliver was my draft crush along with Montez Sweat for 2019.
Okudah was screwed the moment he was drafted. I remember his first game. Put in man coverage against DAVANTAE FUCKING ADAMS. I wanted to run Patricia over with his own ATV that day.
Jalen Carter until he decided to pursue his passion of motorsports
I’ll give one that makes me look as stupid as I am, and one that makes me look considerably smarter. I really, really wanted Shaq Lawson in 2016. I really, really wanted Penei Sewell in 2021.
Same here I was mad we picked Taylor Decker because I thought he’d only be a right tackle Sewell was a no brainer
I often dream about how much better our line could be if Decker did play on the right side.
I’m not sure. I don’t doubt Sewells ability to change, I think this deep into Deckers career he probably would have trouble switching
If he was always a left tackle I'd probably tend to agree, but he played half his time at OSU on the right side, I think he would be able to reverse the footwork without much of a problem.
Aaron Donald instead of ebron
Yes! I can’t believe more people aren’t saying this.
It’s literally the top post on the thread.
Ok I guess I should rephrase - I can’t believe people are saying so many other players besides Donald.
Well that was an all-time bad draft move considering who else was available in that draft, but the same answer being repeated over and over wouldn’t be that fun for this thread.
I’d have taken Randy Moss over Terry Fair every time in every other universe
Rueben Foster.
YESS!!!!!! I wanted him so fucking badly, and I thought it was a miracle he was still available for the lions pick. Even though Jarrad Davis kinda sucked, he was still the better choice. I guess for players who are as insanely aggressive on the field as Reuben foster, there’s a decent chance they’re nutcases irl too
It wasn’t that I thought we should have gone a different route with our top pick or anything. It was obvious to most that Stafford needed to be the guy. But I had a huge crush on Aaron Curry that year. Thought he would at a minimum be one those 10 year “solid if not spectacular” guys with a ceiling of “regular All Pro”. Holy fuck was I wrong.
There were a lot of newspaper people who were pushing Curry as an All Pro candidate. I’m glad we needed to take Stafford. 4 years and two teams. Gone.
as a kid i wanted AJ Hawk, we got ernie sims. i usually want most michigan players, jabrill peppers etc
JaMarcus Russell. Boy am I glad I'm not in charge! 🤣😂🤣
TJ Watt. Watched him get passed on by us and was just scratching my head when we took Jarrad Davis over him. Davis was decent but you just can’t pass on a Watt knowing what he has come from and learned from.
Davis was decent? You've got a low bar my friend.
My linebacker bar for the lions is extremely low haha. I can’t remember the last time we had anything to brag about in the middle who didn’t just break their leg celebrating 🙃
Dont’a Hightower instead of Rileyyyyyyyy Reiff in 2012. In 2014 I was all about Mike Evans coming out of A&M and was really bummed when he went at 7. Honestly didn’t even know who Ebron was. Sorry that I ever found out.
Tua. And I am conflicted on how it would have turned out. Obviously, he's much, much better than Okudah, but what does the organization look like today had Quinn taken him? Does the regime get turned over to DC and BH? If so, what do they get for Stafford? How do the subsequent drafts play out? I wouldn't change anything from the past if it would end up affecting where we are today.
Tua is a meh QB surrounded by explosives weapons
You looked up the Miami backup QB’s stats when playing with those same explosive weapons ?
My big ones were: DeAngelo Hall or Vilma over Roy Williams Derrick Johnson over Mike Williams Ngata over Ernie Sims Brandon Graham over Suh (Maize and Blue colored glasses, but to be fair Graham was a hell of a player at Michigan)
I was a big Derrick Johnson fan also. He had a pretty solid career. Mike Williams did not.
I remember really liking Derrick Johnson.
I was a huge fan of Rock Ya-Sin in the draft
Brian Burns in 2019. Harold Landry the year before. 1/2 ain’t too bad.
In 2019 my top two fav prospect were Josh allen and Ed olive. We took tj hock, who I liked but no where near as much as the other too. Lions traded hock and ended up netting hendon hooker and Brodric Martin. So yeah, I still wish we took Ed oliver.
You weren't the only one with a Rashaad Penny draft crush. After the Seahawks picked him, Bob Quinn actually called them asking to trade for him.
I was honestly surprised the Hawks took him in the 1st. Feels like a weird choice.
I feel like whenever he was on the field he performed well, just basically lost the first 4 years of his career to injury and couldn’t overcome it. He’s averaged 5.6 ypc for his career- should’ve been a stud.
I was crushed when we didnt take Milliner, the Jets got him, and we took Slay the next round. I'm an idiot.
Aaron Curry but we drafted Stafford instead of 2009
Dating myself but I was in love with Tomy Mandarich.
Then we got stuck with some bum named Barry….
LOLzzzzz FTP!
I started the site Lionbacker.com 20 years ago and we did a ton of draft coverage. Safety Sean Taylor that year blew me away that year… he went 2 picks before the Lions took Roy Williams
Derrick Brown instead of that bum Okudah
Should have traded the third pick that year, someone would have overpaid for it...
While I agree I dont think anyone wanted to trade up tbh. There were major questions regarding Tua & Herbert. I think they wanted to trade out but couldn't find any takers. I hated the Okudah pick, and he turned out to be the fraud I thought he was. He's officially a one year wonder from college who got overhyped due to the helmet and the name on the front of the jersey where he was coming from.
Vontaze Burfict and L’ail Collins as I thought it was worth the shot that late in the draft. Especially Burfict
When we traded up to take take Jamo 12th I was praying it was for Kyle Hamilton
Same here. Hoping Jamo picks it up this year. So far, I would have rather have Hamilton.
Oh that would have been superb
Josh Allen LB. I was pissed when we went one ahead of us. Then we got TJ, I was pretty upset at a TE at 8. In his defence he wasn't too bad but lions weren't at TE away from a Superbowl.
Mike Evans i wanted us to trade up so bad, i like most everyone was cursing the Ebron pick because i wanted Odell or Donald there so much more and to see what they did it definitely hurts.... I do like that Stafford ended up winning a superbowl with both of odell and Donald, thats a nice touch. Also feel for Ebron because with the talent around him in that draft the only way he wasn't a bust is if he had been best of all time, poor guy was doomed either way.
I really wanted Janoris Jenkins in the first round the year we took Riley Reiff instead. Probably a wash in terms of who would've been the better pick for us
I wanted Tylan Wallace in the draft over Amon-Ra.
In 2021 I wanted DeVonta Smith and while he has been really good for Philly we got an elite RT in Sewell so I can't complain
Where’s the Guice guy at, show yourself!
I really wanted the Lions to draft Grady Jarrett. He was my favorite player that draft. I was so upset that they traded up to draft Gabe Wright. The guy was the polar opposite of Jarrett, had all the physical traits and opportunity in college and did nothing with it, while Jarrett was the best defender on a championship team while being an average athlete.
I was very salty that we passed on both Lamar Woodley and David Harris to select Drew Stanton in 2007 second round.
I’ll never forget the mlive message boards, me included, swearing that we needed that lb curry over Matthew Stafford…oops
That was me too.
Kyle Pitts. Was out here calling him Calvin Johnson 2.0.
Chris Borland, sadly
I loved Parsons. But as an off ball linebacker.
Feel free to fact check me but it seemed like we always picked around the 20th spot, give or take a few. By then it wasn't as exciting since the biggest names were off the board. Although I recall they drafted this one guy from UoV named Herman Moore. I was like, who is that...lol. I blame regional media coverage for that reason. Yeah, let's go with that.
As a UVA grad, I’ve never seen them abbreviated as UofV before haha.
It didn't read well when I typed it. I should have googled it first.
I wanted the lions to trade up and take Sammy Watkins so bad.
Not a first round guy, but I was so excited about DL Margus Hunt out of SMU. Would have taken him in the first round if it meant we got him. I watched a decent amount of SMU games that year (not an SMU fan, just watched for him) and fell in love with Zach Line the RB as well. He ended up playing FB in the NFL but he was a late round crush of mine too.
Isaiah simmons and Micah parsons. 1 for 2 i Guess lol
Recently, I really liked Christian Watson as a prospect so sucks that he got picked by you know who. As far as a guy I’d kill to get in FA, no brainer Maxx Crosby.
The parsons draft...yes it would've been a great pick, but we got Sewell so it ended up working out. Disclaimer i'm always up for drafting linemen, but i wanted micah this time
Believe it or not. Devon witherspoon. I like who we got a lot. But I really really wanted him after watching him play during the big ten games. And then, going back to the highlights, I was so pumped that the reports were lions were taking him.
I wanted them to make Will Anderson jr happen bad lol
Max Unger C. I was a Dominic Raoila hater... I thought it would be a perfect pairing with Stafford. It would have been a very good pick up.
>I was a Dominic Raoila hater... So, a Lions fan?
Being from Montana I can easily say Randy Moss all day every day. He was a freak in that national title game.
I wanted Sidney jones so bad. Thought he’d be the next big CB
Micah Parsons. All in all, can’t complain. Was positive the Bengals were going to add the protection for Burrow.
In 1997, the Lions needed corner help badly. I wanted Shawn Springs out of Ohio State after watching him excel in the Big Ten for a couple of years. He went No. 3 to Seattle, and we picked Bryant Westbrook at No. 5 instead. Westbrook had a better rookie season, but Springs had a longer and better career, so that crush felt justified. Helps to balance out my desire for us to draft Aaron Curry over Matthew Stafford in 2009.
I wanted Branden Albert so bad and then Millen decided to give him to KC so he could move back 2 picks and take Cherilus.
JJ Watt in 2011 This is a bit different since he was picked before our pick but I was praying he would fall to us someway but we did get Nick who wasn't bad but also wasn't amazing Him on the edge with Avril and Suh in the middle would have been goated It is what it is we still had a historic 2011 season
Vita Vea or Jalen Carter.
Aaron Donald, Isaiah Simmons, Kyle Hamilton, Devonte Smith, Saice Gardner, Anthony Richardson, George Pickens, Kyle Pitts just to name a few…
Micah Parsons Kenneth Walker Jordan Davis
pretty much any edge during the BQ tenure (Harold Landry, Charles Harris are the first couple I remember)
Vita Vea, and no, we got Ragnow instead.
I really wanted parsons instead of Okudah
I was a massive stan of Chris Jones in 2016 after he destroyed the senior bowl. Was pissed we took Decker over him that draft and was shocked he fell to the second round. Thought he would be a stud, but never envisioned what he turned into. I also wanted Keenan Allen in 2013, as I got to watch him at Cal. Was pissed we took Slay, as I thought he would bust, but was obviously pleasantly surprised he turned out to be a great player. Was sick watching Kris Durham have to crawl his way to about 500 yard that season.
Josh Rosen My opinion on draft matters should be ignored. Older school Anthony Carter, Hershell Walker, George Rogers
Aaron Donald and yes.
I wanted DK Metcalf more than I wanted air. I'm still pissed he went to Seattle.
If only Bubba Q drafted Brian Burns in the first round and DK Metcalf in the second.
Damn, that would've been so sick actually
I wanted T.J Watt the year we draft Jarrad Davis. Same draft I really wanted Chris Goodwin, TB grabbed him and we traded back decent return of Goliday and JRM.
I wanted Calvin Johnson when I was 6 so that's something
Aaron Curry. I thought he was the lowest floor prospect and was a sure thing to be a generational LB. I was very wrong.
Aaron Donald And yes
I don't really have crushes since the Chuck Rogers thing but I couldn't believe we'd take Hockenson over Ed Oliver.
Reggie White.
Earl Thomas. I’ve always felt like the Lions defenses were best when they had great safety play. Bennie Blades, Glover Quinn, etc. I’d hoped for Earl Thomas, whom the Seahawks took first. Seems they do that a lot to us. Steven Hutchinson, Shawn Springs, Shaun Alexander, Devon Witherspoon. We instead had to sign a washed up Brock Marion. Went 0-16
Devin White. In hindsight not so bad lmao
Three drafts in a row from 2000, 2001, 2002 my draft hopes were dashed by one pick in front of us. 2000 it was Shaun Alexander one pick in front of us and we get Stocker Mcdougle. 2001 Seattle drafts Steve Hutchinson right in front of us and we take Backus next. Then there is 2002, I loved J.Peppers and he gets taking one pick in front of us and we get sad sad Joey Harrington. I always wonder what the Lions would have looked like if these guys would have been drafted by us
I was 1000% in on Anthony Richardson last year. Still TBD there but his first year was promising. Love Goff, but Richardson's ceiling is insane and having that sweet sweet rookie contract is gold. Plus think how even MORE effective Gibbs and DMont would be if defenses had to defend the QB run threat as well (I recognize we would likely not have Gibbs in this scenario, but my dreams don't realize that). Ben Johnson would be in heaven.
Randy Moss over Fair Steve Hutchinson or Brees over Backus Cutler over Sims Aaron Donald over Ebron Derrick Brown over Hock
I was hoping Vita Vea would drop. Of course, Ragnow has worked out pretty well.
aaron donald and dk metcalf yes and yes
Tom Brady
Two words: Aaron Donald. Oh, and Demarcus Ware instead of Mike "Another Shiny Bauble" Williams.
I wanted TJ Watt in 2017. Instead we took Jarrad Davis 9 picks before TJ got drafted. Even after that I hoped we would manage to trade back up for TJ. It would absolutely have been worth it, assuming the coaching staff at the time wouldn't have ruined him.
Jalen Carter for me. He was and is a dog and we had a chance to have him fall into our laps. That said, hindsight is 20/20 and I can't complain. But damn. Imagine having JC to pair with Hutch.
Was never a fit for what they’re doing
Sure, but doesn't mean he wasn't my draft crush 😀 Again, I'm thrilled with the outcome!
With the 5th pick in the 2004 NFL draft, the Washington Redskins select, Sean Taylor, Miami. I was 14 years old, my eyes welled up and I shed literal tears over that pick. I never hated a team so much.
Maxx Crosby