INDIANAPOLIS -- NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock held a press conference to talk about the top college prospects at the NFL Scouting Combine.

Here is what Mayock had to say about potential Detroit Lions prospects at the combine:

On what makes Alabama cornerback Dee Milliner a good football player:

"It's a combination of things. I don't know quite how fast he is yet, and that's one of the last questions he has to answer on his way to wherever he is going to end up in the first round. What I see on tape is a tough instinctive guy who tackles, which I love; I love a corner that will tackle. When you come out of Nick Saban's Alabama program, especially when you're a defensive back which Nick takes a big interest in as a former defensive back coach, you are well coached. He understands zone concepts, he plays man-to-man, he presses, he tackles. The only thing I'm not sure of is his long speed, and that's what we're going to get an answer on Tuesday afternoon."

On what running a 4.37 40-yard dash does for West Virginia wide receiver Tavon Austin:

"You've heard me say a thousand times probably: fast guys run fast, and it's not a story. So I expected him to run fast. But what it does for him is that worst-case to me, he's a second-round pick. Worst case. If you buy into him as a route runner and toughness, and if you can get him enough touches every game for him, he might be a first-round pick. The NFL has evolved into more and more of a college look; spread the field, get the football in the playmakers hands, and that's what he is. He's a playmaker, he's a mismatch. I can only imagine being a nickel [back] or a safety and having to line up across from him in a slot knowing he runs a 4.35, knowing how quick he is. He's really a difficult matchup and that's what this league is. So I think all that time does is just endorses exactly what we thought of him on tape."

On if Georgia linebacker Jarvis Jones is better suited for a 3-4 or 4-3 defense:

"There is potential stenosis. I'm not a doctor and the medical reports are what's more important. Teams evaluate them differently. Marcus McNeil had potential stenosis coming out of Auburn - his career didn't last as long as he would of liked. So I don't know about his medical. If you take that off the board - and a month from now we'll have a better idea of what teams think about that but right now I don't know - he's a top 10 pick. He's explosive, he's quick. I love him in a 4-3, but the 3-4 teams like Pittsburgh for instance, Pittsburgh doesn't care if you're not that tall; if you look at [LaMarr] Woodley, if you look at [James] Harrison they're not 6-5. So different 3-4 teams look at that outside linebacker position differently. If you're not tall, if you're not long, you better be explosive, and that's what he is. He's a top 10 pick if you take the medical off the board."

On Tennessee wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson:

"Again, fast guys run fast and I knew he was going to run fast. He's a height/weight/speed freak. The question is for guys that were one-year college [players] coming from two years at a [junior college] is what is the history on the kid, and you better get to know the kid. That's his deal. Nobody doubts how good he is with a ball in his hands and his developmental upside as a number one receiver. What they have to figure out is what's his work ethic? Does he love the game? Can we trust the kid? Can we trust him to develop if we draft him high? He's a top 10 guy naturally. I don't expect him to go in the top 10 though."

On the depth of this year's NFL Draft:

"I've said several times if you're a playoff team this year, you're laughing because there is so much depth to this [draft] that if you're drafting 20-30, it's not a whole lot different than the fifth or sixth pick. So for me, if you're a playoff team, you're sitting back and going, 'This is pretty good.' If you're a top ten team, look at the difference. It's just so stark, the difference between Ryan Grigson and [the Indianapolis Colts] a year ago as a first-time GM with a head coach, and he has Robert Griffin III and Andrew Luck to choose from. Now, in Kansas City Andy Reid and John Dorsey - new coach, new GM - there is not a quarterback in sight, probably, at that point. So it's a whole different level at the top end and the bottom end this year."

On if the upcoming surgeries for Oregon defensive Dion Jordan and Alabama cornerback Dee Milliner will affect their draft stocks:

"I don't think so as long as - and again, 32 teams view medical results in 32 different ways. Dion Jordan and Dee Milliner held off just so that they could compete at the Combine; they're going to do everything but the bench [press] I think. I respect them for that and as long as it's the minor surgery that apparently it is, I don't think it's going to affect them at all. Dion Jordan is a guy to me that's had trouble in keeping weight on and part of the problem has been that shoulder. So if you want to like Dion Jordan, and I do, Dion Jordan could be an Aldon Smith type of defensive player but he has to put 20 pounds. To do that, he has to get the shoulder right."



On if Central Michigan offensive tackle Eric Fisher is doing anything to close the gap between him and Texas A&M's Luke Joeckel:

"I already thought the gap was closed, to be honest with you. I thought Eric Fisher closed the gap at the Senior Bowl. I loved him on the Michigan State before the Senior Bowl, and for me I don't see a whole lot of difference between Joeckel and Fisher."

On if Eric Fisher can be a number one overall pick:

"I just said I don't see a whole lot of difference, so if [Luke] Joeckel is a number one pick, he could be too. The two guards [Chance Warmack and Jonathan Cooper] are really special. There are really two or three defensive tackles. To me, if I project the top 10 - and not for draft purposes, just the seven best players I've seen - four of them are offensive linemen and three of them are defensive linemen. I know it pisses all of you off because it's not very sexy but that's the way it is."

On players whose stocks are starting to rise:

"Lane Johnson just kind of jumps off. We said on the air today that his 40-yard dash time was faster than Anquan Boldin. His vertical at 34 inches was the same as A.J. Green - think about this, this is an offensive tackle at 300-plus pounds. He ran faster than Anquan Boldin, he jumped the same as A.J. Green and his broad jump at nine feet, 10 inches was the same as Steven Ridley. Think about those three things for a 300-pound offensive tackle and put that in perspective of what he can be. What was most important was at the Senior Bowl, he had a good solid week. So if you look at Lane Johnson's tape Week One at Oklahoma versus the end of the year, it's very different. This is a guy where the sky is the limit. Again we're talking offensive tackles and depth, and to me that's where this class is: offensive line and defensive line."

On safety Tyrann Mathieu:

"I like him. He's a better football player than he is an athlete. He's short and he's probably speed-deficient, which is not a good combination. But what I think he is is a hell of a football player. He's a slot defender, a nickel-type guy with return skills. How he handles not the public meetings because I would expect him to say all of the right things, but how he handles things privately with all of the teams and whether they buy into him or not are the most important issues."

On BYU defensive end Ziggy Ansah:

"This is an interesting defensive end/outside linebacker class because a lot of them you are betting on the upside, and Ansah is certainly one of them. Minimal amount of football, average practice week at the Senior Bowl which is important to me; he was only average and then he dominated the game. There are a lot of questions about the guy, but you can't question his movement skills, his size and his motor. When people try to compare him to [Jason Pierre-Paul], I would take a step back. Even though he was raw, he was further along. Ziggy Ansah has that kind of ability but he's even more raw than [Pierre-Paul]. So at what point do you pull the trigger? A lot of times, good teams and playoff teams get better because guys get pushed down and then somebody picking in the late 20s says, 'We're pretty good.' How about San Francisco? A team like that is pretty good, maybe we can take the time to develop this kid. I don't know where he's going to go; I think he's going to go in the first round and he has phenomenal upside. It's just going to take a little time."

On the safety class:

"It's a great safety class - best safety class I'd seen in years. Maybe not with a bunch of first-round guys that you're going to run around and say, 'That's my guy,' but depth of the class, again, offensive line, defensive line, inside linebacker, safety - all of the non-sexy positions - are pretty deep this year. [Kenny] Vaccaro to me is a really good football player on tape. I'll be surprised if he gets past the top 15 or so, which is pretty high for a safety. Matt Elam from Florida, another really good football player; I have him in the second round. And then after that, I have at least 10 or 12 safeties jumbled together; some are only strong [safeties], some are free [safeties] but some could play both that you can get in the second and third rounds. But they're all kind of jumbled together right now. I'm looking forward to watching them run."

On Texas safety Kenny Vaccaro:

"My only issue with Vaccaro is the way they played him this year, close to the line of scrimmage. I can see his quickness, his change of direction and his tackling ability, all of which I love. The hard part is to find him covering a deep half or a third because he didn't do much of that this year. I've had a couple of teams tell me I need to go back and watch some of the tape from last year when he played further away from the line of scrimmage to see that, but from what I've heard that checks out as well. I anticipate it will all check out and if he's as smart as I've heard he is, then yes he's a top 15 pick."

On Alabama center Barrett Jones:

"I don't think there are too many concerns. He has an injury, wasn't able to work out. He has great versatility, he's an intelligent kid. I have him as my number three center, and to be honest he's very similar to my number one center, Travis Frederick. I love his versatility. He's a starting center in this league that can be a backup at other positions in the offensive line. I don't think people are off of him; I think what you're seeing though is that he's not as athletic as perhaps some people thought [because] he was a left tackle. He was a left tackle because he's smart and tough, not because he's gifted and long. He's a starting center in the league and he's probably going in the second round; if not the second, then he'll be a third round pick, and to me there is nothing wrong with that."