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          Three classes in, what has been learned about how Lions GM Bob Quinn drafts?

          Lions GM Bob Quinn has shown he'll aggressively attack areas of need in the draft. AP Photo/Carlos Osorio
          • Michael Rothstein, ESPN Staff WriterApr 30, 2018, 11:30 AM
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              Michael Rothstein is a reporter for NFL Nation at ESPN. Rothstein covers the Atlanta Falcons. You can follow him via Twitter @MikeRothstein.
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          Every Saturday (although in this case, it’s a special, post-draft, Monday version) we take some of your questions for a Detroit Lions mailbag. To ask a question for a future mailbag, use the hashtag #LionsMailbag on Twitter, email me at michael.rothstein@espn.com or send me a note on Instagram or Facebook.

          Now, on to your questions.

          Chris, this is a good question, as three drafts in it at least gives a base of how Bob Quinn selects players and what he looks for. The first thing is pretty clear -- Quinn picks a need area or need position and attacks it heavily during a draft. Saw this in 2016 with offensive and defensive linemen (Taylor Decker, A'Shawn Robinson, Graham Glasgow, Joe Dahl, Anthony Zettel) and again this year with the emphasis on the run game (linemen Frank Ragnow and Tyrell Crosby, running back Kerryon Johnson and fullback Nick Bawden). The run game, Quinn said, was a point of emphasis to fix, starting with the day he fired Jim Caldwell.

          As far as his move-ups, I don’t have a problem with either one. If Johnson was the best back on his board and there was a huge drop-off and the run game is your focus, you have to make that move. And Da'Shawn Hand, the fourth-round pick, likely wasn’t lasting until Detroit’s fifth-round selection. The Tracy Walker selection is still a bit odd. So, I wouldn’t call it wasting picks, particularly because the Lions can acquire more picks between now and next year’s draft, if they are able to grab players they believe will help. Only time will bear out whether those were the right moves or if they end up as the wrong ones like often happened during Martin Mayhew’s trade-up tenure.

          Based on his two drafts that have played downs, he has taken four starters (Decker, Robinson, Glasgow and Jarrad Davis), five contributors and an All-Pro punt returner (Jamal Agnew), plus other players for depth. Of 19 players, that’s a pretty good hit rate on prospects.

          Not that likely. Crosby could come in and surprise early on -- he’s got the frame for it and played well at Oregon -- but it’s more likely that Crosby is the No. 3 tackle/backup guard as a rookie and perhaps fights for a starting role in 2019 or 2020. Glasgow was Detroit’s most reliable lineman last year (only one to play all 16 games) and seems ticketed for either the starting guard or center spot in 2018.

          He should be a Week 1 starter, yes, and it wouldn’t shock me to see him working with the first unit pretty close to immediately. The Lions have done that every year in Quinn’s GM tenure with first-round picks. Now this year is a bit different because both Ragnow and Glasgow are centers and the Lions signed two free agents (Wesley Johnson, Kenny Wiggins) and still have Dahl to compete for a gig as well. But Ragnow is going to get every opportunity to win a starting job.

          It doesn’t mean good things, Fayez. Taking Kerryon Johnson and signing LeGarrette Blount has made the running back room crowded for Zach Zenner, Dwayne Washington, Tion Green and Ameer Abdullah. Theo Riddick has a defined role as a pass-catching back (although if the Lions believe Abdullah could handle it without much drop-off, that could be something to watch), but putting Riddick on the side, that’s six running backs for anywhere between three and four slots. Johnson is going to be on the roster. So is Blount. That leaves one or two spots for another back. Abdullah has the most talent of the bunch and Zenner is the type of back Patricia likes as a bigger guy. There’s also Nick Bawden, who is going to compete for a roster spot.

          In other words, unless Washington and Green improve dramatically, it could be a difficult road to the 53-man roster for either one of them. That could change if the Lions are able to trade Abdullah or Riddick. Quinn said he fielded no offers for any players on Detroit’s roster during the draft, but as injuries happen and teams dissect what they have, that can always change. But if I’m a running back other than Johnson or Blount, I’m definitely trying to figure out what my role is on the Lions this year and in the future.

          If you believe Quinn, it was a supply and demand issue. A lot of the premier pass-rushers were gone by the time the Lions picked (I buy that in the second round but not as much in the first with Taven Bryan and Harold Landry on the board), but if Detroit was determined to upgrade its run game and felt Ragnow was the better value, then I get it there. This seemed to be Detroit’s plan all along, and Quinn, based on the way he talked after the draft, seemed to think there was large drop-off in pass-rush talent after a certain point. To me, that’s concerning the Lions didn’t address much of their defensive line needs, but they weren’t going to fix everything in one draft.

          I’ll go with E, none of the above, although Kenny Golladay should have a bigger role this year and could develop into a big-time playmaker for Detroit if he’s healthy. If Detroit can line up Golladay and Marvin Jones on the outside and Golden Tate in the slot with TJ Jones as a No. 4 option, that’s a dangerous receiving corps with two strong high-point deep receivers on the outside and Tate as a wizard of making people miss on short/intermediate routes.