The Detroit Lions Worst Move Since 2020 Revealed

As the 2024 season comes to a close, Detroit Lions fans have to take a step back and acknowledge just how far their franchise has come in the past four seasons. Back in 2020, the Lions were still coached by Matt Patricia, Matthew Stafford was still on the roster and the Lions played like the same old Lions.

Flash forward to this season and Jared Goff and Dan Campbell are in the running for offseason awards and the Lions are in control of their playoff destiny with eyes set on the top seed in the NFC for the first time in franchise history.

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The chain of events in the NFL can be a frustrating practice of give and take. For example, Patricia is on the shortlist of worst head coaches in Lions history - but without him, do the Lions ever hire Campbell?

Still, it's good practice to look back and see where you came from and what mistakes you've overcome to get to where you are now. ESPN's Bill Barnwell did just that by ranking all 32 NFL teams' worst mistakes since 2020.

Since Patricia was hired in 2018, his hiring wasn't eligible, but one of his decisions led to the worst decision the franchise has made in the past four years.

Patricia's final first-round selection was used on Jeff Okudah, a prototype cornerback from Ohio State who draft experts drooled over as a sure-fire lockdown cornerback in the NFL.

That wasn't the case as injuries, coaching turnover and crushed confidence derailed Okudah's NFL career. While Okudah has bounced around the league since he was traded to Atlanta in 2023, it was only recently the Lions found an outside cornerback they can trust - 2024 first-round pick Terrion Arnold from Alabama.

Luckily for the Lions, nearly every other decision has paid off since. Ultimately, Okudah's shortcomings didn't hold back the team from its rise to the top of the league. As such, Barnwell ranked it as the 29th-worst mistake in the league, meaning 28 other teams made much worse decisions over the same period of time.

You can check out the full list on ESPN here with an ESPN+ account.