ALLEN PARK -- The Detroit Lions decided to improve its offensive line in the 2012 NFL Draft by selecting Iowa left tackle Riley Reiff in the first-round (No.23 overall).

Reiff, a 6-foot-6 and 300 pound junior, was a first team All-America by Pro Football Weekly in 2011. Some of Reiff's other honors include third team All-America by College Football Madness; fourth team All-America by Phil Steele; honorable mention All-America by SI.com; first team all-Big Ten by league coaches and media; first team all-Big Ten by Phil Steele and second team all-Big Ten by College Football Madness.

""Big, smart, tough guy, versatile," Lions general manger Martin Mayehw said. "We think he could play four positions. The guy is a three-year starter in a good program. A good, solid offensive lineman. We came into this draft thinking we need to try to add some young players to that group, and Riley certainly fits that mold."

Mayhew said the Lions tried to trade up, and even talked about moving back, but stayed put and taking Reiff.

Detroit's offensive line has three players 30-years old older on its roster. Lions center Dominic Raiola is 33-years old and turns 34 on December 30; left tackle Jeff Backus, who signed a two-year deal with Detroit this offseason, will turn 35-years old in September, while guard Stephen Peterman is 30-years old.

With Reiff on Detroit's roster, he will eventually replace Backus and become Detroit's long-term solution at left tackle.

Lions coach Jim Schwartz said he does not consider Reiff to be a developmental player, but should come in and compete on day one.

"I don't know necessarily having somebody that can grow with him (Stafford), but having a guy in the pipeline that can be able to play that position is very important to us," Schwartz said. "Jeff Backus has been incredibly consistent for us. He's been extremely durable over the course of his career, and we still think he has more left, but to be able to have other guys ... We have a very experience offensive line with Dominic Raiola and Jeff Backus. We've been very fortunate the last couple of years, particularly last year, to be healthy at the position.

"We experience a lot of injuries in some positions. We stayed healthy at the offensive line position, the wide receiver position. A few years before that, we hadn't stayed healthy in those positions. We were very happy to get a talented player that was our best player on the board when were were able to pick, combining that with an area we need to get young guys in the pipeline, we were very fortunate."

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford is 24-years old and entering his fourth NFL season. Stafford threw for 5,038 yards, 41 touchdowns and 16 interceptions during the regular season. He helped led Detroit to a 10-6 regular season record and the team's first playoff appearance since the 1999 season.

The Lions could have addressed its secondary need at No.23, but most of the top cornerbacks were off the board. The Dallas Cowboys made LSU's Morris Clairborne its sixth pick, Buffalo drafted South Carolina's Stephon Gilmore (10th overall) and Cincinnati selected Alabama's Dre Kirkpatrick (17th overall).

University of North Alabama defensive end Janoris Jenkins was available, but Detroit passed on him.

Detroit's secondary struggled in the second half of this season, which resulted in bad performances against the Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints. Packers quarterback Matt Flynn completed 31 of 44 passes for 480 yards, six touchdowns and one interception against Detroit earlier this month, while Saints quarterback Drew Brees threw for 466 passing yards and three touchdowns in New Orleans' playoff victory.

In addition, the Lions gave up an average of 239.4 passing yards per game (22nd in the NFL) last season

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed former Lions cornerback Eric Wright this offseason, leaving Detroit with Aaron Berry and Alphonso Smith to compete for his starting position. As a result, Detroit signed Indianapolis Colts free agent Jacob Lacey, this offseason, but are still looking to add depth.

Montana's Trumaine Johnson, Central Florida's Josh Robinson, Georgia's Brandon Boykin, Virgina Tech's Jayron Hosley, Vanderbilt's Casey Hayward and Coastal Carolina's Josh Norman should be available in later rounds.