The Detroit Lions moved another few steps closer to completing their 30 pre-draft visits by hosting the following three players today: Clemson defensive end Andre Branch, Oregon defensive end Josh Kaddu and Utah cornerback Conroy Black. (Kaddu played linebacker at Oregon, but Dave Birkett reports that he is being looked at as a defensive end by the Lions.)

These visits continue the theme of the Lions taking a hard look at defensive ends and cornerbacks in the lead-up to the draft. With Branch and Kaddu joining the list, the Lions have now brought in five defensive ends for pre-draft visits. Black is the fifth cornerback to visit the Lions.

Obviously, pre-draft visits can only be taken with a grain of salt. Even so, it is quite interesting that there is such a big emphasis on these two positions. Overall, we now know about 21 of the Lions' pre-draft visits, and nearly half of them have involved defensive ends and cornerbacks.

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