Detroit Lions: 30 Best Draft Picks in Team History
By Eli Kaplan
3. Jason Hanson (kicker) – I know what you’re thinking. He’s just a kicker. You can’t put a kicker this high on a list of best draft picks. He’s just a kicker!
Well that’s probably something similar to how many Lions fans felt when Detroit drafted Hanson with the 56th overall pick (2nd) in the 1992 NFL draft. You can’t take Hanson that high in the draft. You just can’t. He’s just a kicker. Is this thing on?!?
Jason Hanson was just a kicker. But he was a really good kicker, a really good player, and he played for the Lions for a really long time.
From 1992-2012 Hanson was the Lions steady kicker. His 495 career field goals made is #3 all time in the NFL, and his 2,150 points scored is #4 all-time in NFL history.
Hanson was a two-time Pro Bowl selection, and he still holds virtually every Lions kicking record there is, including most career points, most points in a season, most extra points in a season and a career, most field goals in a season and a career, and highest field goal percentage in a season and a career.
What’s more, Hanson is the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th place leader in most of the Lions categories as well.
As far as kicking/scoring/and special teams go, it didn’t get much more special than Jason Hanson of the Detroit Lions.
And if you ever forget that, and say to yourself, but he’s just a kicker, remind yourself how the Lions kicking game floundered the first season after Hanson retired.
Remember Nate Freese? Remember Alex Henery? Not nearly as special as Jason Hanson.
Next: Number 2