We all know the running joke in the league is that the Lions only take Wide Receivers in the first round, especially when they are in the top 10.  Thankfully for Lions' fans, Matt Millen is no longer drafting for them, even though I think he had learned from drafting the same position in the top 10 3 years in a row.

I took a look at the last 3 drafts for the Lions, to try and see if they had any tendencies, which may help shape where they will go in 2009.  Here's a list of their picks from the first 3 rounds, as well as the number of games played by those picks:

Some notes:

• After a few years of really struggling in the draft, the last 3 years have been pretty good.  I'd consider Calvin Johnson the best player drafted in that time frame, and I credit the Lions organization for taking the PR lumps, taking another WR, and ending up with a fantastic player.
• The Lions had 5 picks in the first 3 rounds last year, which is the same as 2009.  They went 3 on defense, all up front.  I'm guessing they'll take at least a Safety this year, as they've brought in 2 CBs since Friday.  They'll probably stay away from a RB as well, especially with the signing of Maurice Morris on Friday.
• These 12 guys have played in 231 of a possible 352 games, which is 65.6%.  I don't know what the league average is, but this seems pretty low.  Only 3 players have played in every game of their career, with 2 others being just 1 game short.
• Of the 22 starters in Week 1, only 11 of them were drafted by the Lions.  Again, I don't have any stats from other teams, but I'm guessing the more successful teams are in the 15 to 16 range.  They'll need to work on drafting and retaining their talent to get back to competing for the playoffs.

With the Lions choosing #1 overall, here are a few interesting notes:

• The last time the Lions had the #1 overall pick was 1980, and they took Heisman trophy winner RB Billy Sims.  Had 2008 Heisman winner Sam Bradford decided to come out this year, I think the Lions would have selected their 2nd Oklahoma Heisman winner.
• Over the past 20 years, there have been 11 QBs taken #1 overall, but only 5 have turned out to be NFL quality QBs (Aikman, Bledsoe, Manning x 2, Palmer).  The Lions should tread wisely when contemplating taking Stafford #1 overall.
• The last 2 times the Lions have taken a QB with their first pick, they've come away with Joey Harrington and Andre Ware.  Again, there's no need to take the QB #1 just because everyone says you should or will.

Lastly, here's a chart of what positions the Lions have picked over the past 3 years.  This should give us a glimpse into what the Lions could do in 2009:

From a sheer numbers look, the Lions have drafted heavily on defense the past 3 years.  I expect them to focus a little more on offense than in the past, but still get at least 3 or 4 defensively, as that's where they really struggled last season.