Lions Hold Key in First Round of Draft

The Detroit Lions hold the key to the entire first round of this weekend’s NFL Draft in New York. All the teams with picks in the top 10 will have to have a plan A, B, C, and D based on which direction the Lions go with the second overall pick. Many early mock drafts had the Lions taking the talented OT Joe Thomas from the University of Wisconsin, who would be as close to a safe pick as they could make and boy, could GM Matt Millen use a safe pick. It seems, however, the closer it gets to draft day the more it looks like they will go in a different direction.

It is believed that the Lions’ brass is, at least for now, satisfied with Jon Kitna as their starting quarterback, so I don’t expect them to select Notre Dame’s Brady Quinn. If, for some reason however, the Oakland Raiders pass on LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell and he is available at #2, there is no way the Lions let him slip past as they did last year with Matt Leinart. Short of that, they will not draft a quarterback in this spot.

Another choice for the Lions is DE Gaines Adams out of Clemson University. This would make a lot of sense, because he would be an immediate impact player on a defense that had big problems in 2006. The Lions ranked 11th in the NFC in both rushing and passing defense, 15th in scoring defense, and 14th in the conference in total defense, so this choice at #2 wouldn’t be a tragedy.

Stand out running back Adrian Peterson from The University of Oklahoma could be an option here, but with the recent acquisition of Tatum Bell from the Broncos and Kevin Jones on his way back from a foot injury, this selection is highly unlikely.

The most talked about scenario has the Lions trading out of the #2 spot with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at #4. The Bucs want Calvin Johnson, the extremely talented WR from Georgia Tech and are willing to part with picks to get him and who knows what would happen to Lions GM Matt Millen if he were to draft another wide receiver in the first round. He would probably be strung up by his earlobes from the rafters of Ford Field. If this trade does, in fact, happen I look for the Lions to then pick DE Gaines Adams who will still be there at #4.

The bottom line is this. The Lions have a myriad of ways to make themselves a lot better with this pick and only a couple of ways to screw it up. What happens this weekend, with Mr. Millen’s recent draft record, is any ones guess.