Just as they have done all offseason, Martin Mayhew and Tom Lewand are doing an excellent job of keeping fans wondering who the top pick will be. Tom Lewand made some comments yesterday that seemed to be setting up fans for Matthew Stafford, as he stressed the importance of building for the long-term.
"Our sincere hope is that (the fans are) going to be very happy, not only this weekend but, more importantly, a year from now, two years from now, three years from now, when the people we select this weekend are part of that cornerstone of the franchise that we're confident they'll become.''
"If we look at just next year, I think that's short-sighted. I think we have to look at -- whether it's the first pick, the 20th pick, the 33rd pick or the 82nd pick -- you need to look at guys who can come in and contribute long-term for this franchise. And that's the goal. When we talk about building our franchise through the draft, that's what you look at. It's not the quick fix, it's not who can come in and help immediately -- although that's important and you want that, too. But if you look only at that, you're missing the forest for the trees.''
If I went off that and nothing else, I would be inclined to go ahead and fill in Stafford's name in my draft tracker. However, Lewand wasn't the only one to speak recently. Martin Mayhew was also interviewed and seemed to be gushing over Aaron Curry. Take it for what it's worth since he dished out compliments to everyone, but it seemed like Mayhew had a hard time holding back his smile when talking about Curry. Take a look:
Yahoo! Sports' Shutdown Corner put together a podcast that runs through the first-round of SB Nation's mock draft. We actually phoned in our picks, so make sure to check it out.
The Free Press has a photo gallery from yesterday's unveiling. The Lions have one as well.
Apparently there will be changes made to the atmosphere for Lions games next season, but the team won't be adding cheerleaders. I still don't get that. Throw us a bone, will ya?
Bleeding Green Nation and Mile High Report, SB Nation's Eagles and Broncos blogs, respectively, will be at the draft this weekend as credentialed members of the media. This is awesome news and a big step in the right direction when it comes to the NFL dealing with blogs. I wish I could go to the draft in that capacity sometime in the future, but with the draft falling right in the middle of finals week, the chances of that happening seem slim.
Less than ten players tested positive for drugs at the combine, according to Pro Football Talk, and B.J. Raji, Vontae Davis, Clay Matthews, and Brian Cushing were not on the list. It looks like SI owes Raji an apology, as does NFLDraftBible.com. They need to issue one to all of the players mentioned, as it looks like they were dead wrong.
SB Nation has a new Michigan State blog called The Only Colors, referring to a line from the school's fight song.
Pride of Detroit shattered its single-day record for page views yet again yesterday. Thanks to all of the logo-related news, POD ended up with over 28,000 views. I can't wait to see what the numbers will be for this weekend.
