NFL DRAFT: Lions Keeping Everyone Guessing With No. 2 Pick
Apr 26, 3:57 AM (ET)
By LARRY LAGE
ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) -Matt Millen settled into a chair behind a table at a predraft news conference and quipped before he was questioned, "Can I start lying now?"
Even if the president of the Detroit Lions was required to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth in a court of law, he would struggle Wednesday to speak freely about his plans in the NFL draft.
Detroit does have the No. 2 pick Saturday, but no one knows for sure what Oakland is going to do to kick off the draft. And Millen doesn't know what his trading-down options are because the best offers probably won't come until the Raiders make their pick.
"Once we're on the clock, that's when it starts," he said.
If Detroit does not trade the second overall pick, a case could be made for taking any of the following players: Georgia Tech wide receiver Calvin Johnson; LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell; Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn; Wisconsin offensive tackle Joe Thomas; Clemson defensive end Gaines Adams; or Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson.
The Lions were the first team since the NFL and AFL merged drafts in 1967 to take a wide receiver in three straight first rounds. Charles Rogers and Mike Williams, sandwiched around the skilled Roy Williams, were busts.
Millen insisted that wouldn't scare him away from taking a first-round receiver for the fourth time in five years.
"Calvin Johnson is unique," he said. "We wouldn't hesitate at all."
Would he say the same about Russell?
"Oh yeah," he said.
Did reporters just figure out the plan?
"Possibly," Millen said smiling, adding he "wouldn't hesitate" to take Adams.
Perhaps in a moment of public honesty, Millen said he would be comfortable taking a "few players" second overall.
Millen knows whatever he ends up doing, his moves will be the subject of jokes and criticism by some.
The Lions are an NFL-worst 24-72 since 2001, when he was handed the keys to the Motor City's franchise - a stretch of futility that compares only to Tampa Bay's 12 straight double-digit loss seasons from 1983-94 in league history.
"The way to get rid of it and take care of it is to win," Millen said. "That handles the whole thing. It's not difficult. The equation is not difficult, the winning part is difficult.
"I'm responsible. I understand that. Put the target on me. Start firing."
Entering his second season, coach Rod Marinelli appears to be very much a part of Detroit's draft process.
Ideally, Marinelli said, the Lions will take not only the best player available, but also one who fills a need.
"What you don't want to do is fill a need with a guy that's not as good - that doesn't make sense," he said. "You also don't like to start stacking players, one behind the other. That doesn't make sense to me.
"Where you get a first-round pick and he doesn't play this year, that's not smart either, in my opinion."
Even though Marinelli has committed to sticking with quarterback Jon Kitna in 2007, when he'll turn 35, he wouldn't rule out taking a quarterback in the first round.
NFL draft analyst Gil Brandt said if Oakland takes Johnson, the Lions should take Russell or Quinn if their research puts them that high on their draft board.
"If you like a quarterback, I think you have to take a quarterback in their position with Kitna as their starter," Brandt said.
After the Lions make their high-profile pick - or picks - in the opening round, they will work on their many holes. They enter the weekend with four fifth-round picks, assets that could be used to add depth or to make moves for higher picks.
"I think the meat of this draft is there, two through the middle rounds," Millen said. "I just think there are some good, good players in this draft who will make football teams and who will do really well.
"We've got to get it right."
