2019 NFL Draft order: A look at the Detroit Lions’ 9 picks

Late last week, the NFL officially awarded compensatory picks for the 2019 NFL Draft. As expected, the Detroit Lions were not awarded any extra picks for the draft—the third straight year the Lions were shut out of the selection process. Compensatory picks are awarded based on activity in the previous year’s free agency period. In the Lions’ case, who they lost in free agency (Darren Fells, DJ Hayden, Tahir Whitehead among others) was not significant enough to offset the additions they made (Devon Kennard, Christian Jones, Kenny Wiggins, LeGarrette Blount, etc.).

Now that the extra picks have been handed out, the complete seven-round draft order has been established for 2019. The Detroit Lions have nine total picks at this point in time. Here’s a look at all nine of them:

Round 1, Pick 8
Round 2, Pick 11 (43 overall)
Round 3, Pick 25 (88 overall) — From Eagles (Golden Tate trade)
Round 4, Pick 9 (111 overall)
Round 5, Pick 8 (146 overall)
Round 6, Pick 11 (184 overall)
Round 6, Pick 32 (204 overall) — From Patriots (Johnson Bademosi trade)
Round 7, Pick 10 (224 overall)
Round 7, Pick 15 (229 overall) — From Dolphins (Akeem Spence trade)

Nine picks is quite a bit for the Lions, although it’s far from unprecedented for Detroit or even general manager Bob Quinn. In 2017, the Lions selected nine players and in Quinn’s first draft the team actually drafted 10 players in 2016.

Of course, there’s no guarantee the Lions will actually use all nine of their current draft picks. Last year, the Lions made two trades on draft weekend that netted them Kerryon Johnson and Da’Shawn Hand for a second and fourth-round pick and a 2019 third-round pick respectively. The year before, Detroit traded down 11 spots, netting Kenny Golladay and Jalen Reeves-Maybin in the process.

Perhaps the most intriguing part of Detroit’s nine picks is their first one. Detroit hasn’t selected in the top 10 in five years and they haven’t picked as high as eight since 2013. Recently, that eighth overall pick has been quite valuable to NFL teams. That selection has produced Roquan Smith, Christian McCaffrey, Jack Conklin and Vic Beasley in the past four years alone.

For a look at the complete seven-round NFL Draft order for all 32 teams, check it out here.