In his press teleconference with reporters on Friday, Lions GM Bob Quinn made it clear he wants to take advantage of the rare chance to pick in the top 3 in this week’s draft. And he doesn’t want to ever pick near so high ever again.
“Obviously, it’s different,” Quinn said of picking at No. 3. “You’re looking at hopefully a different level of player than we’ve been taking in the past. We’ve felt like we’ve done a pretty good job with drafting guys in the first round my first four years here. It’s a different level of player.”
The Lions have not picked third or higher since landing Ndamukong Suh in 2010. Matthew Stafford was the No. 1 overall pick one year earlier. Calvin Johnson was No. 2 overall in 2007. Those picks were all big hits on impact talents. Quinn expects that caliber of player from selecting so high.
“I’ve never been here in my career, hopefully never here again,” Quinn continued. “But we take the opportunity. It’s the opportunity to go out and you get hopefully an impact player that can help our franchise for years to come. That’s the goal.”
The GM also talked about weighing the value of getting a higher-impact pick at No. 3 versus adding more picks farther down in the first round.
“It’s something we’re consistently talking about,” Quinn responded. “What kind of player are you going to get at seven, eight, nine, 10, five? Like, it’s all those conversations and you kind of have the list of the players you like, right? And then you work backwards. So, if you like six guys and you feel like you can move back and they’re all similarly graded, then you try to do that. If there is a great variance in those six players, and you only feel really good about three or four of them, then you can’t go back as far. So, it’s a constant conversation. It’s a good question.”