Fixing the Lions

It looks as if the still incompetent front office in Detroit is going to take Matt Stafford with the first overall pick, in an attempt to bring fans to the stadium and sell jerseys. However, football is about winning games. The team has way too many other issues to spend a #1 pick and 50-60 million dollars, probably 20-30 million guaranteed, to an quarterback, who, as all top prospect quarterbacks, has about as good of a chance of being Joey Harrington as he has of being Matt Ryan. Here's what front office should be thinking. 

They should first try to trade down. That would have been a lot easier if Michael Crabtree hasn't gotten hurt. Now Crabtree's stock falls a little and teams like Seattle or Oakland no longer have the desire nor the need to move up to secure Crabtree. However, they still might be able to work out a deal to move the #1 overall pick. 

Oakland would be the most likely trade partner as they have interest in Michael Crabtree and there is still only a slim chance Crabtree slips past Seattle at 4. San Francisco is a possibility too if they decide they want to move up to make sure they get either Matt Stafford or Mark Sanchez, but I don't see that happening. Oakland gets the #1 pick, and Detroit's pick from Dallas in the 3rd round. Detroit gets the #7 pick, Oakland's 2nd rounder, #40, and Oakland's 4th rounder. 

Detroit's first priority at 7 should be linebacker Aaron Curry, but that's unlikely to happen, as he'll either go #3 to Kansas City or #5 to Cleveland. Detroit's next should look to take one of the top 3 tackles, Eugene Monroe, Jason Smith, or Michael Oher. Oher is the one likely to still be on the board at 7. If none of those 3 are available, defensive tackle BJ Raji should be Detroit's last resort. 

At 20, Detroit should then look to take either defense, if they took a tackle ay 7, meaning either linebacker Brian Cushing, linebacker James Laurinaitis, or cornerback Darius Butler or, if they took defense at 7, take an offensive lineman such as Eben Britton, Duke Robinson, or William Beatty. 

If Detroit cannot move the #1 pick, they should use the #1 on franchise left tackle Eugene Monroe and then at 20 look to take either Cushing or Laurinaitis or maybe Butler as a last resort, but I think cornerback should be saved for the #33 pick. 

At #33, regardless of whether or not the #1 pick was traded, a cornerback should be taken. This is the point in the draft where cornerbacks are very deep and the Lions' secondary was awful last year. Darius Butler is the best option, but they could also take DJ Moore, or Alphonso Smith. 

If Detroit gets #40 from Oakland, that pick should be used on Ron Brace. He is the type of guy they need for their system. Shaun Rogers was excellent in their system before they let him go and Brace looks like he could be the same type of player. 

Detroit's #65 pick, the 1st in the 3rd round should be traded to Cleveland for Derek Anderson, if Detroit no longer has Dallas' 3rd round pick, as it was sent back to Oakland in the earlier mentioned deal. If the Oakland deal never got done, Detroit should send Dallas' pick to Cleveland for Derek Anderson, along with a 5th rounder. Detroit needs a quarterback, but there is no need to use a first rounder on Matt Stafford or trade a first rounder for Matt Cassel. Derek Anderson is an excellent bounceback candidate this year. He had a great year in 2007 and can do the same again, at a cheap price. 

If the Oakland deal was never made, meaning the Lions never took Brace at 40, and meaning that the Lions are still in possession of the #65 pick, they should use that pick on Brace. If he is not available, Fili Moala, Evander Hood, or Dorell Scott will work find in Detroit's defensive tackle hole. 

Detroit will only have a 4th round pick if they make the deal with Oakland and that should be used on either a safety or an interior offensive lineman. The rest of the picks, 5th to 7th round, should be used on depth guys.