Lions' 2017 Draft Class Disappoints

The results are in: the Detroit Lions' 2017 draft class produced disappointing results.

The Detroit Lions' 2017 draft class is almost no more. 

Drafted by the organization's former regime -- led by ex-Lions general manager Bob Quinn,  the team missed on a lot more players than it hit on. 

The best player of the class -- and by far -- was the franchise's third-round pick, wide receiver Kenny Golladay. 

Golladay had a career year in 2019, and became a Pro Bowler for the first time.  

However, he only suited up for five games a season ago, and now is likely to leave the organization via free agency this offseason. 

Then, there's Detroit's first-round pick from the class, linebacker Jarrad Davis. 

Davis, a product of the University of Florida, never lived up to the bill in four seasons in the Motor City. 

He inked a one-year, $7 million deal with the N.Y. Jets earlier this week. 

Arguably the worst pick of the class -- based on production and where he was drafted -- came in the next round. With their second-round selection, the Lions selected cornerback Teez Tabor. 

Tabor, a Florida product like Davis, ended up playing two seasons in Motown, and made just five total starts at corner, before being cut by the organization in September of 2019. 

The 25-year-old is presently on the Chicago Bears' practice squad. 

After picking Golladay, the gem of the class, out of Northern Illinois in the third round, Detroit proceeded to take linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin and tight end Michael Roberts with its two picks in the fourth round. 

Reeves-Maybin was just re-signed by the organization to a one-year deal, and has been a high-end special teams performer since his rookie campaign. Meanwhile, Roberts lasted just two short seasons in Detroit, and started only five games, before being waived by the franchise in June of 2019. 

Most recently, he was employed by the Miami Dolphins, who cut him in July of last year. 

This brings me to the Lions' second-best selection of the 2017 draft -- return specialist Jamal Agnew, who was taken in the fifth round.

Raj Mehta, USA TODAY Sports

Drafted as a cornerback out of the University of San Diego, he did his most damage in a Lions uniform as a punt and kick returner. 

In his first season in the league, he became an All-Pro returner by returning 29 punts for a league-high 447 yards and two touchdowns. 

In his career, he's logged four punt return TDs and one kick return score. 

He never started a single game at cornerback with the Lions. Additionally, in 2020, he was converted to receiver, making two starts at the position and accumulating 13 receptions for 89 yards. 

Agnew recently came to terms with Urban Meyer and the Jacksonville Jaguars on a three-year deal worth a maximum of $21 million. 

The rest of the class -- sixth-rounders Jeremiah Ledbetter (defensive lineman) and Brad Kaaya (quarterback) and seventh-rounder Pat O'Connor (defensive end) -- combined to appear in 16 games (all attributed to Ledbetter in 2017) and to make zero starts while donning Honolulu Blue. 

Kaaya, in fact, never played a single regular season snap in the NFL. 

Fair to say, the 2017 draft, on an overall scale, was a disaster for the Lions. 

It will be very important for new Detroit general manager Brad Holmes to avoid such subpar draft results in his tenure in the Motor City. 

And, from all accounts, he's much more inclined to pick the best player available, rather than reaching for players based on position of need, like the past regime. 

"When you’re picking inside the top 10, you better know every single position, regardless of what your circumstance is currently on your roster," Holmes expressed earlier this month. "There’s really not a position that I can sit here and say that I see as thin right now, just because in relative to where we’re picking at, we have to be prepared to know all positions, and that’s (a) part of the process that we’re doing now." 

The Lions are on the clock at No. 7 overall in this year's draft, which kicks off Thursday, April 29, from Cleveland, Ohio. 

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