Detroit Lions Weblog

Draft Mania!!!

With a little reticence, obviously, as a Lions fan, I am becoming quite excited about next weekend’s draft, in spite of my previously documented skepticism. It is still fun to speculate about whom the Lions may, err, I mean which wide receiver Matt Millen is going to select next Saturday(I’ve got 50/50 odds on Cal’s DeSean Jackson!).

Mlive.com is absolutely ablaze with Lions draft speculation. “Killer” Kowalski believes that the Lions target remains Derrick Harvey entering the weekend, but he also would not be surprised to see Oregon running back Jonathan Stewart emerge as a potential pick. I will be mighty surprised if Harvey remains at pick #15, and it is well-documented how I feel about the Lions selecting a running back at that spot in the draft, given their vast needs.

Nolan Nawrocki, of Pro Football Weekly, was recently interviewed by Mlive.com, and he believes that the Lions will select a linebacker, and that they may be considering selecting Jerod Mayo, in spite of his widely perceived draft value being significantly lower than pick #15. With that in mind, the Lions have to look at their own draft board, which we are not privy to, and not those of the “experts”.

I hope that Matt Millen can deftly maneuver trading down for Mayo, if the situation arises that Harvey is gone. The Lions could benefit from adding another pick or two. I realize that given Millen’s track record, I may be a little unrealistic in my expectations, but miracles sometimes do occur.

Mlive also tantalizes us with the description of a defensive end who is a small school sleeper candidate to be selected in the later rounds. Winston-Salem State DE William Hayes is a talented unknown who the Lions have a legitimate interest in.  Hopefully, if he is eventually selected by the Lions, he will not be there next Jonathan Taylor, Bill Swancutt, or Kalimba “The Ghost” Edwards.