2011 Lions Draft Picks Titus Young, Mikel Leshoure Talk About Being Picked

The Detroit Lions' two second-round draft picks, Titus Young and Mikel Leshoure, had conference calls with the media after being selected by the Lions. The transcripts of those calls, via the Detroit Lions, are below.

WR Titus Young

On his thoughts about being drafted by the Detroit Lions
"I just thought about how good God was, first and foremost. Just with all the hard work and everything and for it to finally pan out and actually seeing it and seeing is believing for me. When I see things I become a real firm believer. Like my mom says, 'You've got to see it in black and white for it to be true. So I feel like that I'm just very excited that Detroit picked me, the Detroit Lions. That's my mother's hometown; that's where my family is originally from. I'm just so excited."

On the opportunity to play alongside WRs Calvin Johnson and Nate Burleson
"Calvin Johnson is extremely real already. They have to use a lot of people to guard him already. I feel like with me coming in and hopefully coming in and contributing early, if the Lord says the same, I feel like the sky is the limit for the Detroit Lions and the City of Detroit. I feel like when they come to the games, they're going to be able to come and have a lot of fun and a lot of entertainment."

On how long it's been since he's been in Detroit
"It's actually been a while... Actually it was my grandfather's funeral... Actually in 1998, that's when my grandfather passed and we went there for his funeral. That was the last time I was able to be there. It's a blessing to be able to get back there be there for good."

On what he thinks his grandfather would think of him playing for the Lions
"I know he would be very proud; I know my auntie would be very proud - my Auntie Valerie - she passed away.

On where all his emotion comes from
"It comes from family. My roots are in Detroit, like I said. Just the emotion of actually being able to be back in the family's town. Like, that's my home now; we'll take care of Detroit and I know they'll take care of me.

On how he would feel about being the third receiver in the Lions offense after being the primary receiver at Boise State
"That's fine. I feel like I'm going to fit my place and my role exactly the way I need to be. I don't need to do nothing extra. If they want me to come in for one play in the game, I'm going to come in for that one play and give them all I can. If they want me to play the whole game, I'm going to play that whole game and give them my all because this is what I love to do; this is what I've been loving to do and I've been doing it ever since I was two."

On where he was hoping to be drafted
"Like I told my parents the other day before the draft, I said, 'Mother, I'm going to be completely honest with you, I'm going to be a little upset automatically if I'm not chosen No. 1 just because I'm a competitor. That's just something that's always been about me, but that's not like the realistic gist of everything - I'm just a competitor. That's why I wore No. 1 my senior year because I believed I am No. 1 and I do everything to be No. 1 and I wanted to be on the No. 1 team and if my team is not No. 1, I want to make them to be able to get to No. 1. I know Barry Sanders, I know a lot about him. I know that he went to Detroit and he wanted to win and his whole thing was about winning and unfortunately he wasn't able to win as much as I believe that when I come in that we're going to be able to do, but I know that the whole thing is really just about winning. I feel like just being the winner that I am and coming around some more winners to sharpen me up, I feel like we're all going to be winners in Detroit. Not just me, but the community, the kids out there - they're going to know that the Detroit Lions are here to stay. We're not just anybody, we're coming to play."

On how much contact he had with the Lions before the draft
"I don't even remember talking to any of them. I just remember at the Senior Bowl, (Shawn Jefferson), I just remember him, and after the first day of practice I had at the Senior Bowl, he told me, 'Hey, you're dropping the ball because you're not getting your head around quicker; in this game, the ball is going to come quicker.' I just listened and I said, 'Oh, I've always loved a coach that actually watched me and told me what I'm doing wrong.' I've always loved for a coach to tell me when I'm doing something wrong. When he told me, and I took that coaching into the next day and guess what? I don't believe I had a dropped pass. But, I say that to say this: I knew that he saw something in me; when I looked him in his eyes through those glasses, I'm saying, 'This man wants me,' and I said I want to play for him because he already got me better in two seconds. Then, right after that, I saw him at the combine. So it was kind of like God was just moving and put him in a position to see me and be around me and get to know me and I got to know him and got to actually play for him. So hopefully we can just move forward and keep building our relationship."

On him having been referred to as a poor-man's DeSean Jackson
"I've never been another man's nothing. I've always known that I've been Titus Young from Day 1. My mother named me Titus Demetrius Young, she didn't name me nothing else and I know what I was. I know who I am and I know as people are going to compare you to people but God made me to be me and he made me to be Titus Demetrius Young. You can compare me all you want to, but I'm no man's poor man."

"My initials my whole life has been T.D. Young; so it's been Titus Demetrius Young - 'Touchdown' Young. So I just feel like football is just me ever since I was born and now I can go play some more football with Detroit."

RB Mikel Leshoure

On the draft process
"I'm just really happy - I'm really excited, I'm really privileged right now to have been selected by the Detroit Lions at whatever pick, whether it was first, second, third or whatever round. Like I said before, at this point everything was out of the players' control. We did what we had to do up to this point and it was just what team needed us and the best fit. I'm just so happy because the Detroit Lions gave me the opportunity to be a part of their organization."

On how he feels about the Lions moving back into the second round to draft him
"It makes me feel good - really good. I felt like when I took my visit to Detroit, I had a good connection with the coaching staff - especially the running backs coach. I liked the facilities and I liked everything that they were doing. To see that they feel the same way about me is just great and it just makes me feel good - I'm looking forward to the future."

On if they discussed how he and Best would split carries
"They definitely said they plan on getting us both the ball and splitting carries. Whether he's the starter, I'm the starter, whoever's the starter, I plan on coming in and working hard and playing my role - whatever role that may be."

On if he feels he is a good complement to Best
"Definitely. I watched Best a lot. He's a guy who's a smaller guy; he's a lot faster. He can hit the corner and hit the home run. I'm sure he can run in between the tackles as well, but to be a compliment to his running style will only make the running game a lot better in general."

On the offensive weapons in Detroit
"That makes me even more excited. They've already got a young quarterback that they're building on; they've got two big-time receivers; they just made a move defensively with Suh and another defensive lineman. They're a team to be reckoned with. It dates back to last year. There were five or six games where they were right in the loop and it could have gone either way and that could have affected their record. This team has always been fighting these last two years. They're right on the borderline and I hope I can be that extra help to push them over and get some wins this year."

For more coverage of the 2011 NFL Draft (i.e. NFL mock drafts, draft projections, scouting reports, the full NFL Draft schedule, etc.), check out Mocking The Draft, SB Nation's NFL Draft hub, SB Nation Detroit's NFL Draft StoryStream and Pride Of Detroit's 2011 NFL Draft archive.