Pleasepleasepleaseplease

Lions GM Martin Mayhew has already stated numerous times that he wants the deal with the first overall pick done before the draft tomorrow and luckily for those of us who do not feel that Stafford is the answer to Detroit's woes, a deal with Stafford remains unfinished as of Friday afternoon. To be honest, all signs seem to point towards Stafford still being the first overall pick in the 2009 draft - even Curry thinks he will be - but it's still a glimmer of hope.

It's not that I feel as though Stafford is a "bad" player, it's just that he is maddeningly inconsistent and wasn't as productive as I feel he should have been in college with the ridiculous amount of talent around him. Plus, if you whiff on your high first round QB pick, you get the Alex Smith-effect and your franchise is killed for a minimum of three years. I see the upside in Stafford (and, admittedly, it is tremendous), but I just don't agree with taking a very risky player at an already risky draft position for a franchise that needs anything but more risk at the moment.

Another thing that not many people seem to be talking about is the fact that next year's QB draft class projects to be very strong. Trying to guess how college players will perform in the upcoming season in April can be a dangerous prospect, but no matter how well the Lions draft this year they will, most likely, still be pretty bad this upcoming season and get another high draft pick. Then if you're not sold on Stafford at first overall, it's pretty enticing when you see names like Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy entering the NFL next year. The Lions have so many gaping holes that they really just need to take the best player available right now and build for the future.

In Miami, The Tuna took the Best Player Available in last year's draft (OT Jake Long) and relied on a vet as a stop-gap at QB while grooming Henne as heir apparent. Culpepper seems motivated enough to be passable while the team searches for its real franchise QB of the future.

If negotiations fall through with Stafford, reportedly a deal is already in place with Curry. How does a Julian Peterson, Ernie Sims and Aaron Curry linebacking core sound? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Although I have been a proponent of taking Jason Smith first overall for a while, the OT class this year is so ridiculously deep that the Lions could easily still get a quality left tackle with the 20th pick in the draft.

No matter what happens, the day before the NFL draft is an exciting time. Between rumors flying (Patriots want to trade into the top 10, the Cards' asking price for Boldin has gone down, Andre Smith and Mark Sanchez draft stock soaring, etc.) and the uncertainty of who is going where... it is a good time to be an NFL fan.

Edit:

I was just watching NFL Live and Cris Carter suggested that the Lions take Sanchez first overall and then trade up from 20 and take Andre Smith. Whatever you do Mayhew... don't do that.