ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. gave the Lions a C-plus for their weekend haul, one of the lowest grades on his board. Still, Kiper didn't seem too down on the Lions in a conference call Monday afternoon. The call is still going on, actually, but here are Mel's thoughts on the Lions:

"It's all about running the football. It's a whole attitude change. They went from all those wide receivers with Mike Martz and that passing game and forget about the run, we're going to throw it all over the place. That didn't work. Now they're back to old school football and what Rod Marinelli wants and Jim Colletto wants is to run the football and take on a new personality."

Kiper addressed each of the Lions' nine draft picks:

"Gosder Cherilus is a right tackle who opened a lot of holes at Boston College, did a good job there. Jordon Dizon certainly fits their scheme effectively. Kevin Smith's going to start as a rookie and he's a good football player. (Andre) Fluellen was just never productive. He flashed early in his career. I thought eventually he'd be a first-round pick and follow in the footsteps of the guys who've came out of Florida State in recent years. He never developed into that kind of player. (Cliff) Avril has great physical ability but only six sacks. For a guy that athletic and that talented you expected more productivity but he's got ability. Kenny Moore's got versatility, (Jerome) Felton is not your traditional fullback but he's got some running skills. (Landon) Cohen is just a guy who plays all out and Caleb Campbell, what a great kid. I had a chance to talk to him yesterday, he's excited. Rod Marinelli said either safety or outside linebacker, special teams. Great, great story there. One of the stories of the draft was Caleb Campbell, being selected at that point. That's got to fire up everybody in Detroit.

"They've kind of had their hits and their misses and they've taken a lot of criticism for that. But I think it's a personality change out there and the draft reflected that."