During these months without sports, writers have come up with a plethora of creative ways to stay busy while actual games are not being played.
One of the most popular things we have seen is NFL re-drafts.
Most of those re-drafts focus on a single season and basically just reorders the players selected based on their success in the league…yawn.
But we happened to stumble across a piece put together by Josh Edwards of CBS Sports, where he takes a look at picks 1-256 over the past 50 years and then gives his opinion of who was the top player to be selected in that slot.
For example, of all of the players who have been selected No. 1 overall, Edwards believes Peyton Manning gets the nod as the best.
Now, with 256 total slots and 32 NFL teams, you would think our beloved Detroit Lions would have at least a handful of players make the cut, right?
Well, according to Edwards, only two former Lions made the list, one is pretty obvious and the other, not so much.
The obvious is Barry Sanders, who Edwards has slotted in as the greatest player who was selected with the No. 3 overall pick.
No. 3 overall: Barry Sanders, RB, Oklahoma State (1989)
Drafted team: Lions
It was incredibly difficult to choose Sanders over Anthony Munoz, but it had to be done. Not all heroes wear capes. Despite a shortened career, Sanders was named to 10 Pro Bowls. He compiled 15,269 rushing yards and 99 rushing touchdowns as well as 352 receptions, 2,921 receiving yards and 10 receiving touchdowns
The not-so-obvious pick is former Lions WR Leonard Thompson, who gets the distinct honor of being the greatest No. 194 pick of all-time.
No. 194 overall: Leonard Thompson, WR, Oklahoma State (1975)
Drafted team: Lions
Thompson emerged as a starter later in his career but still hung on to play 175 games, a great accomplishment for an eighth-round pick in 1975. He had 277 receptions for 4,682 yards and 35 touchdowns, all coming with the Lions, and though he never averaged more than 60 yards per game in any season, he did explode for 150 yards on seven catches in a playoff loss for the 1982 Lions.
Nation, would you include any other former Detroit Lions on this list? Have fun doing the research!
