A break from the Bene-diction here of late.

[If you are new here, I periodically talk sports--football and hockey mostly, with sidelights into baseball and basketball. This is not an apology, merely an advisory.]

I know what you are thinking:

Why did the Lions take their third receiver in a row in the first round?

Two reasons: (1) you can't pass up talent like that, and (2) they need one.

No, (2) is deadly serious. Despite the addition of Charles Rogers and Roy Williams the last two years, the Lions' receiving corps remained thin. For starters, despite great promise and ability, Rogers has shown all the durability of a thrown champagne flute the last two seasons. He's played in six whole games. His injuries are described as "freakish" (i.e., not chronic or likely to repeat), but you can't count on that. Roy Williams was also hobbled by ailments near the end of last season. And after those two, you have the towering talents of Scotty "Where Are Your Testicles?" Anderson and Az-Zahir Hakim (a good locker room presence with speed, but another champagne flute). The Lions needed another pair of hands, and M. Williams has the best in the draft. I know his speed was supposedly lacking (in the high 4.5s), but he hasn't played ball in over a year. He'll be faster than that. If Rogers is healthy (gigantic if), an NFC North defensive coordinator has to face the prospect of twice stopping an offense featuring Rogers, the Williamses, newly-signed Kevin Johnson as the No. 4, Marcus Pollard at TE and Kevin Jones, who shows every sign of being a 1500 yard RB this season. The question remains at QB, but perhaps Harrington can do a Drew Brees transformation in his fourth season, too. If not, Jeff Garcia is waiting in the wings.

If the Lions had passed up a bona-fide defensive can't miss prospect, I'd be upset. But those were all gone as of the Lions' pick.

Time will tell, but it looks like the Lions may--MAY--be turning the corner.

But these are the Lions.