Lions 'showing a ton of interest' in Sammy Watkins

At this point, it seems highly unlikely that Clemson wide receiver Sammy Watkins will fall to the 10th overall pick. He is clearly the No. 1 wide receiver in the 2014 NFL Draft, and if the Detroit Lions want to pick him, chances are they will have to trade up.

It obviously remains to be seen if the Lions will value Watkins enough to make a move up in the first round, but they do appear to have a lot of interest in him. From Ian Rapoport:

I don’t know if they can pull it off. But #Lions are showing a TON of interest in Sammy Watkins. They draft No. 10… & have Megatron. #scary

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 6, 2014

Dave Birkett reports that the Lions sent general manager Martin Mayhew, head coach Jim Caldwell and scout Dave Sears to Clemson's pro day on Thursday. They all got an up-close look at Watkins, and I'm sure the idea of trading up to draft him will be thoroughly discussed in the next couple months. Giving up picks in such a deep draft wouldn't exactly be ideal, but this is a valid point:

Re: Watkins and WR class. Yes, WR class is the deepest in years. Watkins is #1 but there's a big gap between him and #2 WR in class

— Beast1530 (@Beast1530) March 6, 2014

I suppose it will all come down to what kind of deals are out there on draft day. If a team is willing to move out of the top five for a reasonable package of picks, then trading up to take Watkins would really be a no-brainer. If it'd take most of your draft or something ridiculous like that to make a deal happen, though, then it'd be better to simply stay at 10 and go in a different direction.