Martin Mayhew, the Lions’ general manager, prefers to remain tight-lipped about the Lions second overall pick in the NFL draft which begins on Thursday night.

But he does say that it’s a good year to have the second overall pick. That is not always the case.

“I would say this year being at No. 2 is a lot better than being at No. 2 the year (2003) we drafted Charles Rogers in the terms of the number of concerns you have with different players,’’ Mayhew said.

“The players that are there now, a lot of them — I’ve talked to a lot of people in the last week or so — head coaches and people who’ve been around these guys. A lot of these guys are solid, off-the-field character guys, relatively healthy guys, high-effort guys, very motivated, intrinsically motivated type of guys. There’s a good pool to pick from,’’ he added.

What he wouldn’t add — and who can blame him — is which of those highly motivated, high-character guys he will pick.

Join me from noon to 1 p.m. on Wednesday for an online, pre-draft chat at TheOaklandPress.com. Also, follow me on Twitter @paulapasche.