There’s no sugar coating the fact that the Detroit Lions have missed on many of their NFL draft picks over the years.
One of the most infamous misfires in Detroit sports history was when the Pistons passed on three future hall of famers in favor of Darko Milicic, who provided next to nothing for the franchise.
For the Lions, fans often think about the Eric Ebron draft pick as one the worst ones in recent memory, but this is debatably amongst the worst of all time for the Lions.
With the 10th pick in the 2013 NFL draft the Detroit Lions selected Ebron, a tight end from the University of North Carolina. The former Tar Heel never panned out in the Motorcity, but it was who the team passed up on that still haunts Lions fans to this day.
The Lions front office used their pick so that Stafford could have a third weapon in the passing game other than Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate. However even at the time it didn’t make sense why they’d target Ebron, as he was raw even by collegiate standards.
Two picks later the New York Giants took phenom Odell Beckham Jr. with the 12th selection in the draft and the rest is history (we’ll gloss over the fact they also passed up on a future hall of famer in Aaron Donald at 13th overall for now as well).
Odell wound up putting up 1300 yards in his rookie year, 1400 in his second year and then 1300 again in his third year. That rookie year for OBJ was one of the best rookie seasons in NFL history for a wide receiver, and he instantly became a household name.
The case wasn’t the same for Eric Ebron in Detroit though, as he only had 1500 yards in his first three seasons combined.
His rookie year only consisted of 248 yards, meaning Odell had over 1000 receiving yards more than him. The Lions had a receiving core of Calvin Johnson, Golden Tate, and Ryan Broyles that year.
However Ebron was the one that most fans grew frustrated with quickly. Following that season, which ended in a heartbreaking loss to the Dallas Cowboys, hall of Fame receiver Calvin Johnson unexpectedly retired leaving a massive void for the Lions on offense.
It also opens one of the bigger “what ifs” in recent Lions history. What if Calvin decided not to retire at all after that year? Many believe that Odell’s addition could have enticed Calvin to stay longer due to playing more meaningful football. He didn’t want to keep hurting his body only to come out on the losing side time after time, but Odell would have given them one of the best trios of all time with Golden Tate’s ability to play in the slot.
We can’t change the past, but the Lions lost out on an opportunity of a lifetime. Calvin is amongst the most dominating receivers of all time, whose game breaking ability was right up there with Jerry Rice and Randy Moss.
OBJ’s legacy was tainted by injuries, so it’s hard to say what heights he could have reached, but it would be interesting to see what the Lions could have accomplished with a trio of WRs like that on their roster.
-Robert Martin
Twitter: @Defense_Rob
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.