Detroit Lions GM: 'Now Would Be a Good Time to Draft a Quarterback'

Lending credence to the widely held belief that Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford will be the first pick in the 2009 NFL draft, the general manager of the Detroit Lions has acknowledged that the time is right for the team to find its quarterback of the future.

General manager Martin Mayhew hedged a bit in his comments at the Indianapolis scouting combine, but the bottom line is that Detroit needs a quarterback and isn't confident in any of the passers already under contract to the team.

Mayhew said on Friday:

"Yeah, I think if the right quarterback is there, now would be a good time to draft a quarterback," Mayhew said. "It has to be a good fit for us."

Mayhew also said it was possible that Daunte Culpepper or Jon Kitna could be the Lions' starter in 2009. But he doesn't exactly come across as enthusiastic when he says that, and why would he? Kitna is 36 years old and was off to a bad start in 2008 before an injury ended his season four games in. Culpepper is 32 years old and hasn't had a season with more touchdown passes than interceptions since 2004. Dan Orlovsky was with the Lions in 2008 but is now a free agent, and the early indications are that he won't be re-signed.

Interestingly, the one scenario that Mayhew has more or less ruled out is Drew Stanton starting. Mayhew said it would be "a tremendous leap of faith to say he can start for us." It may be time to add spending a high-second round draft pick on Stanton to the long list of draft failures by Mayhew's predecessor, Matt Millen.