Lions Think Raiders Will Take Calvin Johnson

Last year the Saints operated throughout the off-season on the assumption that the Texans would take Reggie Bush with the first pick in the NFL draft, and that they'd have their choice of all the players other than Bush. When the Texans announced the night before the draft that they were taking Mario Williams, the Saints quickly tore up their first-round plans and grabbed Bush.

Are the Lions in a similar situation this year? Raiders owner Al Davis, whose team has the first pick in this month's draft, is famous for his KGB-like secrecy when it comes to his assessments of college prospects: Take a look at any mock draft any year, and you'll see that no one ever knows who the Raiders are going to take.

This year everyone seems to think the Raiders will take LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell. But the Lions, owners of the second pick, think Oakland is planning to take Georgia Tech receiver Calvin Johnson. As Peter King writes,

I get the feeling that common sense be damned, Davis is going to pick Georgia Tech wide receiver Calvin Johnson first overall, and I'm not the only one. The Lions think that too.

The Lions, I'm sure, are hoping the Raiders will take Russell -- the second pick will have more trade value if Johnson is still on the board. I think the Lions will trade out of the second spot, but they might not find any takers until every team knows what the Raiders are going to do. And they might not know what the Raiders are doing until draft day.