Detroit Lions: Six worst first-round draft picks of all-time

Reggie Rogers

This one is easy.  Reggie Rogers is the Detroit Lions worst first-round draft pick of All-Time.  Detroit selected Rogers with the seventh overall pick in the 1987 NFL Draft out of Washington.  He’d only play two seasons’ with the Lions.

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Rogers was a defensive end that is remembered for his off-field troubles, rather than anything he did on the football field. First off, Rogers was the younger brother of the Cleveland Brown’s defensive back Don Rogers who died of a cocaine overdose at the age of 23 in 1986.

Rogers spent 13 months in prison after an auto incident that occurred in 1988.  With Rogers driving his car he struck another vehicle killing three teenagers.  His blood-alcohol level was over the accepted level.  Rogers broke his neck in the accident and was released by the Lions.

Rogers played in just six games as a rookie as be battled personal issues.  Rogers started only two games in Detroit while appearing in a total of eleven with Detroit recording just one sack. After the brief stop in Detroit, Rogers played with Buffalo, and then Tampa Bay only appearing in two games with each organization before his NFL career ended in 1992.

Rogers later played three seasons in the Canadian Football League (CFL), two with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and one with the Shreveport Pirates in 1995.

In 2008 Rogers was involved in a hit and run that would result in another arrest and he was charged with his fifth DUI.

He’s widely regarded as one of the biggest busts in NFL history.  Rogers died at the age of 49 in 2013 due to a combination of excessive alcohol and cocaine abuse.