 |
 |
 |
|
ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Another first-round pick, another wide receiver for the Lions.
Detroit selected Georgia Tech's Calvin Johnson on Saturday with the second overall pick in the draft, making it four out of five drafts in which the Lions took a wideout in the first round.
| Advertisement |
|||
| |||
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 (2003) and Mike Williams (2005), sandwiched around Pro Bowler Roy Williams (2004), were busts
Detroit cut Rogers last year and rid themselves of Mike Williams in a draft-day deal Saturday.
Team president Matt Millen insisted in the days before the draft that his previous failures wouldn't scare him away from taking another receiver. And he was quick to try and head off his critics when discussing the pick at the team's headquarters in Allen Park.
"Calvin Johnson is going to team with the rest of this offense and turn it into one of the most dynamic offenses in this league. I firmly believe that," Millen said. "You can scoff at it if you like. I really don't care, because I think it's going to happen."
It's hard to argue with selecting Johnson.
Nicknamed "Spider-Man" because of his height and sticky hands, many considered him the best prospect in this year's draft class. The Lions spurned trade offers from teams that coveted Johnson and wanted to move up to get him.
Millen did pull off a trade later, sending Detroit's second-round pick (34th overall) to Buffalo in exchange for the Bills' second- (43rd) and third-round (74th) selections.
And the Lions went local with that pick, taking Michigan State quarterback Drew Stanton, who played his high school ball in Farmington Hills.
The 6-foot-3, 235-pound Stanton is tough and mobile, but a bit of a project. He'll have time to learn behind starter Jon Kitna, and have a shot to be the backup after Detroit traded quarterback Josh McCown and Mike Williams to Oakland for a fourth-round pick.
McCown made 22 starts with Arizona before signing with the Lions last offseason. He wasn't much of a factor in Detroit, spending all of 2006 sitting behind Kitna.
The Lions had high hopes when they took Williams in the first round out of Southern California, but he caught only 37 passes for two touchdowns in two season.