Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the top 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we maintain and update our existing Top 50 lists annually.  We are pleased to present our pre-2026 revision of our top 50 Detroit Lions.

As for all of our top 50 players in football, we look at the following: 

1.  Duration and Impact.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Football League.

3.  Advanced Statistics.

4.  Playoff performance.

5. Their respective legacy on the team.

6. How successful the team was when he was there.

7. Respecting the era in which they played.

Criteria 1-4 will make up the lion’s share of the algorithm.  Please note that we have implemented this for the first time.  This has changed the rankings all throughout the board.

Last year, the Lions had high expectations but fell to a 9-8 record.  Nevertheless, the team had been so bad for so long that, despite the organization's longevity, four new entrants made our top 50.

As always, we present our top five, with no changes occurring.

1. Barry Sanders
2. Joe Schmidt
3. Bobby Layne
4. Dutch Clark
5. Lem Barney

You can find the complete list https://www.notinhalloffame.com/football/top-50-football-players-by-franchise/top-50-detroit-lions">here:

The first new entrant is Offensive Lineman, Penei Sewell.  He explodes into the #30 spot.

Quarterback Jared Goff enters the list at #42.

Wide Receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown debuts at #43.

The fourth and final new entrant is Offensive Lineman Taylor Decker.  He enters at #50.

We thank you for your continued support of our lists on Notinhalloffame.com.

We are diligently working away at Notinhalloffame on revising our Football lists to reflect the winter’s respective classes, but as you may have seen, we have been swamped with our main project, the United States Athletic Hall of Fame, which is the only one of its kind, where you can vote for the greatest Athletes, Coaches, Contributors, and Commentators for the 2026 Class.

This is a very important project, and please support us by voting daily at www.theusahof.com.

In the meantime, we have rebuilt the 281-300 (Part 15) on our Notinhalloffame Football List, which we are pleased to show below:

They are:

#281. Randy Cross
#282. Seth Joyner
#283. John Sitton
#284. Ed Danowski
#285. James Farrior
#286. Charles Mann
#287. Lawrence McCutcheon
#288. Ed “Too Tall” Jones
#289. Rich Saul
#290. Leon Gray
#291. Derrick Johnson
#292. Chris Samuels
#293. Charles Follis
#294. David Akers
#295. Keith Millard
#296. Dennis Smith
#297. Ray Wietcha
#298. Bart Oates
#299. Mitchell Schwartz
#300. Casey Hampton

Look for more updates soon!

Thank you all for supporting Notinhalloffame.com.

We are diligently working away at Notinhalloffame on revising our Football lists to reflect the winter’s respective classes, but as you may have seen, we have been swamped with our main project, the United States Athletic Hall of Fame, which is the only one of its kind, where you can vote for the greatest Athletes, Coaches, Contributors, and Commentators for the 2026 Class.

This is a very important project, and please support us by voting daily at www.theusahof.com.

In the meantime, we have rebuilt the 261-280 (Part 14) on our Notinhalloffame Football List, which we are pleased to show below:

They are:

#261. Kenny Washington
#262. Ted Washington
#263. Larry Brooks
#264. Ken Gray
#265. Troy Vincent
#266. Kyle Rote
#267. Jon Morris
#268. Pudge Heffelfinger
#269. Jeff Van Note
#270. Fuzzy Thurston
#271. NaVorro Bowman
#272. Jessie Armstead
#273. Len Younce
#274. Russ Francis
#275. Mark Clayton
#276. Travis Frederick
#277. Henry Thomas
#278. Al Nesser
#279. Clem Daniels
#280. Bud McFadin

Look for more updates soon!

Thank you all for supporting Notinhalloffame.com.

We are diligently working away at Notinhalloffame on revising our Football lists to reflect the winter’s respective classes, but as you may have seen, we have been swamped with our main project, the United States Athletic Hall of Fame, which is the only one of its kind, where you can vote for the greatest Athletes, Coaches, Contributors, and Commentators for the 2026 Class.

This is a very important project, and please support us by voting daily at www.theusahof.com.

In the meantime, we have rebuilt the 241-260 (Part 13) on our Notinhalloffame Football List, which we are pleased to show below:

They are:

#241. Carl Banks
#242. Earl Faison
#243. Russ Letlow
#244. Bill Osmanski
#245. Derrick Mason
#246. Jim David
#247. Charles Goldenberg
#248. Jim Ray Smith
#249. Mike Stratton
#250. Jurrell Casey
#251. Spec Sanders
#252. George Saimes
#253. Jamal Lewis
#254. Dave Butz
#255. Jim Plunkett
#256. Bob Gain
#257. Matt Forte
#258. Stanley Morgan
#259. Len Hauss
#260. Dan Towler

Look for more updates soon!

Thank you all for supporting Notinhalloffame.com.