My apologies for a quiet weekend. I spent a few days out of town and wasn't able to update the blog. This week I'm pressed into action at the Final Four but will try to keep providing regular Lions updates here. Matt Stafford's got his private workout with the Lions Tuesday and USC's pro day is Wednesday. After that, it's time for the Lions to firm up the top of their draft board and begin serious negotiations with their No. 1 pick.

A couple quick housekeeping items on first mock draft. I had San Jose State defensive tackle Jarron Gilbert going to the Lions with the first pick of the second round. A few of you wondered about the wisdom of that, saying that's too high or he's a defensive end or a three-technique tackle and the Lions need more of a nose.

My retort is the Lions need playmakers on defense and Gilbert has both the frame (6-foot-5, 288 pounds) and the production (9 1/2 sacks as a tackle last year) to be a monster in coach Jim Schwartz's system. A late bloomer physically, he played defensive end his first three years in college and would retain some of that versatility in the NFL, though I think his ultimate position is tackle. I know the Lions have recent picks Andre Fluellen, Landon Cohen and Ikaika Alama-Francis already on their roster, but none is a locked-up starter on the inside and the Lions are bringing Gilbert in for a visit. Beyond that, I'm not sure there's another defensive tackle (assuming B.J. Raji, Peria Jerry and Evander Hood are gone) worthy of pick No. 33 and that's a gaping position of need.

One other thing on Gilbert, whose father Daren Gilbert played for the New Orleans Saints. He became a bit of a cult sensation with the YouTube video of him jumping out of a pool at one of his teammate's apartments in San Jose. How'd that video come about?

“One day our strength coach said Adam Archuleta could jump out of a pool and everybody was super amazed,” Gilbert said at the NFL combine last month. “I went out there one day – it wasn't that big a deal to me – and I just went and jumped out of the pool. I found out that I could do it, so I put it on film to make everybody else believe me.”

Asked if he planned on being as big a hit in the NFL, Gilbert said, “Definitely.”

“Jumping out of the pool is cool and everything, but being a good player is a little more important than that,” he said.

Here's video of the pool jump. Next time you're at your local YMCA, try it.

It's a good move for the Lions to begin contract dialogue with their top couple choices for the No. 1 overall pick. It should help them get a deal done before the draft and eliminate all the July hand-wringing that comes with a possible holdout. But don't think for a second that gives the Lions a leg up in the bargaining process.

Georgia quarterback Matt Stafford and Baylor offensive tackle Jason Smith are logically the top players on the Lions' draft board. Both play premium positions, both would fill immense areas of need, and both are represented by the same CAA Football agency.

Stafford and Smith have different agents – Stafford signed with Tom Condon, Smith with Ben Dogra and Michael Lartigue – and they have their own financial interests in having their client go No. 1. But to think the Lions will be able to play one against the other is naïve. Stafford and his people will know exactly where the Lions stand with Smith, and vice versa.

Now maybe the Lions' flirtation with Boston College defensive tackle B.J. Raji as the No. 1 pick is serious – I tend to think he's more an option if they trade down a few spots (interesting side bar: Raji has the same agent as Mark Sanchez) – and maybe Wake Forest linebacker Aaron Curry is still in the mix, though as of Tuesday night the Lions had not opened contract dialogue with his agent Andy Ross.

But as it stands now, unless there's meddling from above, it looks like the Lions will make their first choice in April's draft based on football reasons and football reasons alone. That's a good thing. (Usually.)

ESPN analyst Mel Kiper, in his second teleconference previewing the NFL draft, said Wednesday he still has the Lions taking Georgia quarterback Matt Stafford with the No. 1 overall pick.

“I'm not making the choice,” Kiper said. “All I'm saying is for the Detroit Lions, who do you take? And if you don't take Stafford and you take somebody else, who's going to be your quarterback? You got (Daunte) Culpepper and you got (Drew) Stanton. Are you just going to forget about quarterback this year because there's no guarantee (Josh) Freeman's going to be there at 20 (and) there's no other quarterback to think about until the fifth round?”

The Lions have a private workout set up with Stafford next Tuesday and already have begun contract dialogue with him and other potential No. 1 picks. Baylor left tackle Jason Smith, Boston College defensive tackle B.J. Raji and Wake Forest linebacker Aaron Curry are other potential top choice. Stafford and Smith are represented by the same CAA Football agency, and the Lions have yet to reach out to Curry's agent.

“He's got skills that very few quarterbacks have throwing the football,” Kiper said of Stafford. “And if the Lions don't take him and he goes say four to Seattle, then you say who would they take? You would probably have to take the offensive tackle Jason Smith. Curry, I don't know? Curry's a great player, but are they going to take another linebacker? They've kind of addressed that already during these last couple of months.

“I just think the Lions, at the end of the day, unless they make a deal for (Jay) Cutler and get the quarterback that way, I think Stafford's a guy you almost have to take. If they don't get Cutler, I'd be very surprised if they don't take Stafford.”

Chances are slim the Lions will do what they'd most like to with the No. 1 pick – trade it. There's no once-in-a-generation talent in this year's draft pool, and no team wants to give more than $30 million guaranteed to an unproven rookie.

The best hope the Lions have of moving out of the top spot is to generate a bidding war for Wake Forest linebacker Aaron Curry. That goes against the logic that says no linebacker is worth taking No. 1, but four of the top five teams in the draft (including the Lions) have gaping holes at that position and Curry is the closest thing to a safe pick.

The key here is for teams to think the Lions are still interested in Curry, something they did a good job selling last week. They say they'll play him at middle linebacker, and, oh, imagine the possibilities with Curry, Julian Peterson and Ernie Sims. (I'm not saying they're not interested, by the way, but with a bunched draft board, moving down a few spots, saving money and picking up additional compensation trumps getting your No. 1 player.)

St. Louis at No. 2 appears set on taking a tackle and probably won't argue with either Jason Smith or Eugene Monroe. But Kansas City at No. 3, Seattle at No. 4 and Cleveland at No. 5 all covet help for their bottom-seven defenses, and Curry is a practical fit. New Chiefs GM Scott Pioli drafted linebacker Jerod Mayo No. 1 last year in New England; Seattle traded Peterson to the Lions last week; and Cleveland's biggest need is pass-rushing help at outside linebacker.

Five years ago, San Diego essentially traded the No. 1 pick (the Chargers chose Eli Manning, then dealt him to the Giants) for four draft choices and still got the player it coveted in Phillip Rivers. If general manager Martin Mayhew's able to swing a deal, the Lions might have similar luck. Quarterback Matt Stafford seems destined to slide if the Lions don't draft him, but he'd be more attractive for less money at pick No. 3. If it's Mark Sanchez they covet, as ProFootballTalk.com reported Sunday, there's less uproar if he goes No. 4 than No. 1. And Boston College defensive tackle B.J. Raji would be an immediate contributor at defensive tackle, a position of even greater need than linebacker, is palatable as the fifth overall choice but a bit of a reach as the first.

Of course, the Lions might have to settle for something less than a San Diego-like haul in return (the Chargers got a first and third in 2004, and a first and fifth in 2005). But if they really want Raji or Sanchez or are OK with either of the tackles – if there's no discernible difference between the top five or six players on their board, basically – than taking less than market value shouldn't be that big of a deal.

I don't know if Boston College defensive tackle B.J. Raji is legitimately in the mix for the No. 1 pick. I can't imagine he ranks as the top player on many draft boards, including the Lions'. But if general manager Martin Mayhew could somehow trade down a few spots Raji seems like the best fit for a team short on interior linemen.

As of now, 36-year-old Grady Jackson and 33-year-old Chuck Darby are your presumptive long-in-the-tooth starters, and there's no telling if Darby will be on the roster when training camp opens in July. Andre Fluellen and Landon Cohen, third- and seventh-round choices last year, respectively, could play their way into the mix, but there's legitimate questions whether either fits into new coach Jim Schwartz's scheme.

Fluellen could play defensive end on early downs and move inside in pass-rush situations, as he did some last year, but Schwartz favors bigger linemen and Fluellen and Cohen were built with Rod Marinelli in mind (on the shorter side and under 300 pounds).

“The emphasis last year was on smaller, quicker guys where they didn't want them getting too big, where our emphasis is on, hey let's get them big and strong, as strong as you can,” Schwartz said. “The fine line there (is) you want to gain the right kind of weight. You don't want just guys that are fat and overweight, you want guys that are doing it the right way. When you have guys like Fluellen and Cohen, you can put it on the right way.”

This is an important offseason for Fluellen and Cohen. If they can add bulk in the new strength and conditioning program, they might be able to change the organization's perception about their long-term role with the Lions.

Asked about Fluellen and Cohen in the context of last week's Cory Redding trade, Mayhew said the Lions intended to play Redding some at left end anyway and were on the lookout for his replacement.

“It really doesn't change our thoughts at defensive tackle,” Mayhew said. “We needed a tackle before this and we still need a tackle.”

If it seems like the Lions are hosting their draft prospects earlier than usual this year it's because they are. But note entirely for the reasons you might think.

"As we looked at it, we have the league meetings coming up (next week) and then we have the NCAA tournament where we weren't able to get any hotel rooms," general manager Martin Mayhew said. "So that process of bringing guys in earlier didn't have anything to do with (starting) the negotiations (for the first pick). It was just we thought we were going to be limited as far as when guys are available to come in."

The Lions hosted two potential picks Wednesday in Boston College defensive tackle B.J. Raji and Oklahoma State tight end Brandon Pettigrew. Previously, they hosted Georgia quarterback Matt Stafford, Wake Forest linebacker Aaron Curry and Baylor offensive tackle Jason Smith. All but Pettigrew are candidates to go No. 1 overall.

Teams are allowed to host 30 prospects for on-site visits, and Lions coach Jim Schwartz said most are brought in for similar reasons, to update medical histories and double-check first-glance opinions.

"I think there's a lot of due diligence there because you never know what's going to happen," Schwartz said. "You better be prepared for a lot of different circumstances. You might bring a guy in that might not be a No. 1 pick, maybe he's a 10 to 15 pick. Well, you never know what's going to happen. Maybe someone blows your socks off with an offer and you say, 'Jeez, it doesn't make any sense not to do this.'

"When it comes to tipping hands, I think everybody's looking at the same guys and I think everybody has a lot of the same sort of follow-up questions."

The NFL combine wraps up today with defensive-back workouts. Lions fans should keep an eye on cornerbacks D.J. Moore of Vanderbilt and Alphonso Smith of Wake Forest, a couple potential No. 20 draft picks, and Utah's Sean Smith, one of the more intriguing secondary prospects in my mind at 6-foot-3 and 214 pounds. I'm back in Michigan getting ready for free agency, but a few final thoughts on the league's annual job fair:

• Wake Forest linebacker Aaron Curry had a phenomenal workout by all accounts, but that doesn't mean he's guaranteed to be the No. 1 pick. The question with him isn't about character or athletic ability or production, it's about whether he presents enough value as a strong-side linebacker (or whether he can move to the middle) to go No. 1. And that wasn't going to be answered in Indy. It's going to take more film study of not just him but offensive tackles Jason Smith and Eugene Monroe and quarterback Matt Stafford. If one of those grades out just as high at a more valuable position, they'll be the pick. If not, Curry would be a fine choice.

• Cincinnati defensive end/outside linebacker Connor Barwin had a big Monday, too, running a 4.66-second 40-yard dash and besting all linemen in the vertical (40.5 inches) and broad (10-8) jumps. I wrote about Barwin, a Hazel Park native and U-D High grad, in Sunday's paper. He's a fascinating story, really. He played two years of basketball for the Bearcats and switched from tight end to defensive end last year, when he tied for the Big East lead in sacks (11) and blocked three kicks. Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly said Barwin remade himself in part by studying a DVD of every sack in the NFL in 2007 (Bengals coach Marvin Lewis sent him the disk). Now, he projects as a second-round pick for a 3-4 team and casts easy comparisons to Patriots linebacker Mike Vrable.

“When you're putting your roster together this is a guy that gives you so much flexibility and everybody wants that so what happens, there becomes a run on that and sometimes he gets picked a little higher,” Kelly said. “They're saying he's a second-round draft pick. How high he goes in the second round depends on how patient some guys can be.”

• Keep an eye on Ole Miss defensive tackle Peria Jerry in the coming weeks. Jerry didn't work out in Indy – his pro day is March 26 – but if the Lions are serious about building from the inside out they need to find an impact defense tackle. There aren't many available in free agency and tackles typically rise on draft day. Boston College's B.J. Raji will be long gone by pick No. 20, but Jerry could be on the board.

• Speaking of free agency, the Raiders lavished record-setting contracts on cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha and punter Shane Lechler last week because that's the only way they could keep both players long term. An NFL person told me two teams are going to have to overpay to sign anyone of significance this offseason, the Raiders and Lions. Half of his prediction has already come true.

I asked Lions coach Jim Schwartz last week how hard it will be to attract free agents to an 0-16 team. His response: “People will look at a lot of different things. I don't know that anybody makes their decision strictly on the record the year before. That's the best thing about the NFL system as opposed to maybe some of the other sports is the NFL does offer a chance to turn around fairly quick, and players know that. I referenced Tennessee, a couple years ago we weren't a very attractive place to be, now they are. So I think players know that.”

We'll see.

• The Lions need a middle linebacker. There aren't many with the potential to step in and start immediately in the draft. USC's Rey Maualuga and Ohio State's James Laurinaitis are potential first-rounders, and Pitt's Scott McKillop might be next on the list. McKillop said he had a 15-minute meeting with Lions scouts Friday night in Indy. “One of the things I know they're going to count on initially is a linebacker to contribute early to special teams,” McKillop said. “At University of Pittsburgh, I didn't play my first two years so I was just trying to be a special-teams demon for Pitt and that was how I made my mark on the team and how I felt I contributed.”