QB Stafford to Detroit? NFL draft talk heats up

The Dallas Morning News

The Detroit Lions obviously do not know what a Pro Bowl quarterback looks like.

The last time a Detroit quarterback went to the Pro Bowl was 1972 (Greg Landry). The Lions have used a first-round draft choice on a quarterback three times since then and whiffed each time: Chuck Long in 1986, Andre Ware in 1990 and Joey Harrington in 2002.

If you don’t have one in the NFL, you don’t stand a chance. The Lions won three NFL titles in the 1950s in large part because they had a Hall of Fame quarterback in Bobby Layne. So the search continues.

Georgia’s Matthew Stafford is the top-rated quarterback in the April 25 NFL draft, and the Lions have the first overall selection. Pencil in Stafford to the Lions.

Here’s one paper’s mock draft:

Detroit: Matthew Stafford. QB, Georgia

St. Louis: Jason Smith, OT, Baylor

Kansas City: Aaron Curry, OLB, Wake Forest

Seattle: Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech

Cleveland: B.J. Raji, DT, Boston College

Cincinnati: Jeremy Maclin, WR, Missouri

Oakland: Percy Harvin, WR, Florida

Jacksonville: Eugene Monroe, OT, Virginia

Green Bay: Tyson Jackson, DE, LSU

San Francisco: Mark Sanchez, QB, USC

Buffalo: Aaron Maybin, DE, Penn State

Denver: Josh Freeman, QB, Kansas State

Washington: Brian Orakpo, DE, Texas

New Orleans: Vontae Davis, CB, Illinois

Houston: Robert Ayers, DE, Tennessee

San Diego: Rey Maualuga, MLB, USC

NY Jets: Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR, Maryland

Denver: Peria Jerry, DT, Mississippi

Tampa Bay: Beanie Wells, HB, Ohio State

Detroit: Ziggy Hood, DT, Missouri

Philadelphia: Brandon Pettigrew, TE, Okla. St.

Minnesota: Malcolm Jenkins, CB, Ohio State

New England: Clay Matthews, OLB, USC

Atlanta: Brian Cushing, LB, USC

Miami: James Laurinaitis, MLB, Ohio State

Baltimore: Andre Smith, OT, Alabama

Indianapolis: Knowshon Moreno, HB, Georgia

Philadelphia: LeSean McCoy, HB, Pitt

NY Giants: Michael Oher, OT, Mississippi

Tennessee: Kenny Britt, WR, Rutgers

Arizona: Donald Brown, HB, Connecticut

Pittsburgh: Alex Mack, C, California