FAYETTEVILLE -- Frank Ragnow ended the Arkansas Razorbacks' nine-year drought without a first-round NFL Draft pick on Thursday as the Detroit Lions made the versatile offensive lineman the 20th pick of the draft at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Ragnow, a native of Victoria, Minn., is the first Razorback to be taken in the opening round since running backs Darren McFadden and Felix Jones were taken by the Raiders and the Cowboys, respectively, in 2008. He is the first University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, offensive lineman to be a first-rounder since the Eagles selected tackle Shawn Andrews with the 15th pick in 2004.
Ragnow was the fourth offensive linemen taken, behind Notre Dame's Quenton Nelson and Mike McGlinchey and UCLA's Kolton Miller.
Ragnow was rated the No. 19 player available in the draft by the NFL Network's Mike Mayock. ProFootballFocus gave the 6-5, 312-pounder its highest grade among offensive linemen last season.
Ragnow is going to the same team that last picked an Arkansas center. The Lions selected Travis Swanson in the third round of the 2014 draft and the Kingwood, Texas, native started 42 games before signing a free agent deal earlier this month with the New York Jets.
"That's a Bob Quinn, Matt Patricia pick right there," Mayock said, referencing the Lions general manager and new head coach, respectively.
Patricia had been the defensive coordinator at New England the past six years for a franchise that frequently drafted or signed former Razorbacks, including defensive linemen Trey Flowers and Deatrich Wise Jr., tight end A.J. Derby, linebacker Brooks Ellis and receiver Cody Hollister.
Ragnow was the first center selected, one choice ahead of Ohio State's Billy Price, who went to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Ragnow, a first-team All-America choice by Pro Football Focus and CBS Sports, made 33 starts at center and guard before suffering a severe ankle injury in Week 7 against Auburn. Ragnow played through the injury, which required surgery, for the rest of that game, earning plaudits from NFL personnel.
"Yeah, I've gotten a lot of respect for that," Ragnow said. "I guess that a positive out of it, is that I'm willing to play hard."
Mayock speculated the Lions would move second-year guard Graham Glasgow to center and work Ragnow in at guard.
The Lions have second- and third-round picks today along with slots in the fourth, fifth and seventh rounds Saturday. They went into the draft without a sixth-round selection, giving it up last year to acquire offensive tackle Greg Robinson from the Los Angeles Rams. Robinson started six games for the Lions, who released him in November.
The Lions had relative success a year ago in the draft, getting contributions from seven players it selected.
Detroit won three of their first four games last season and had a 6-4 record, but had setbacks in three of five games to fall out of the playoff picture and the late-season slide cost coach Jim Caldwell his job.
The Associated Press contributed information for this article.
Sports on 04/27/2018