INDIANAPOLIS -- Tight ends don’t usually go in the first 10 picks of the NFL draft. Only one has been taken that early in the last 12 years, and that was Eric Ebron.

Nobody needs to tell the Lions how well that worked out.

But that wouldn’t stop them from doing it again.

“I think we take every pick seriously,” Detroit general manager Bob Quinn said Wednesday after arriving at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. “If it’s a player that’s worthy of the eighth overall pick, and he happens to be a tight end, then I’m not against that.”

There just so happens to be such a player this year. Iowa’s T.J. Hockenson is a two-way tight end who busts coverages as a pass catcher and busts heads as a blocker. He’s as close to a Gronk-type tight end coming out in years, and he’s considered a candidate for a top-10 pick.

With the Lions sitting on the eighth overall pick, and their tight end depth in disarray, they have become something of a trendy landing spot for Hockenson in recent mock drafts. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr., CBS Sports’ R.J. White, The Draft Network’s Jon Ledyard and the NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah and Charley Casserly are among the notable analysts currently mocking Hockenson to Detroit.

Which, of course, has a lot of people thinking about Detroit’s failed experiments with first-round tight ends like Ebron and Brandon Pettigrew.

Detroit is one of just two teams to use multiple first-round picks on tight ends in the last decade, and while Ebron and Pettigrew both enjoyed productive seasons, neither fully realized his potential. Ebron was cut last offseason in a cost-saving measure, then went on to have a Pro Bowl season in Indianapolis.

The Lions, meantime, had one of the worst tight end rotations in the league despite investing so many resources in the position over the years. Luke Willson was signed to be the No. 1 pass catcher at the position, but finished with just 13 catches for 87 yards. That was the worst season of his career.

In fact, blocking tight end Levine Toiolo led the way with 21 catches for 263 yards. He was a good blocker, too. But now he’s a free agent and not expected to return. Willson is a free agent too. The only returner with any kind of experience is Michael Roberts, a fourth-round pick two years ago who disappointed wildly in 2018. He caught just nine passes all year and finished the season on injured reserve.

With that, tight end has become one of Detroit’s most urgent needs. And it could have a clear shot at drafting the best tight end prospect coming out in years. But doing so would require spending yet another top-10 pick at a position that typically isn’t valued that highly -- and one at which Detroit has struck out in years passed.

Still, that won’t stop Quinn from pulling the trigger.

“I don’t have any guidelines that I’ve ever developed over my years in scouting that say, ‘You can’t take a player at this position, at that number,’” Quinn said. "Like, I don’t think that way. Everything is an individual, kind of basis, individual scenario each year, depending on where you’re drafting and what your needs are.”

Given Detroit’s checkered past at drafting tight ends, taking another in the top 10 would draw blowback from some fans still smarting from the days of Ebron and Pettigrew. But Quinn says he’s not worried about that either.

“In all due respect for our fans -- and I have a great respect for them -- I can’t really listen to all that stuff," he said. "If I listen to everything that’s out there, I’d be driving myself crazy.”

Why don’t more teams draft tight ends early?

“In college football, a lot of the times the tight ends are flexed out in the slot,” Quinn said. "There’s only a certain amount of offenses in college football that I would say are pro-style. Most of them are spread, four-wide or three-wide with a tight end displaced. So, you get into evaluating guys like, ‘Wow, this guy’s a good receiving tight end, right? But can he block?’ You go through all his film and you’re like, ‘Well, there’s only 60 plays of him with his hand in the three-point stance, blocking a defensive end.’ So, the sample size of watching collegiate tight ends block, except for a couple schools, there’s not much there.’ So, maybe that’s part of it.

"That’s something that we obviously spend a lot of time at because the position is versatile. You’re going to have to go run routes, pass protect, which is crucial because sometimes you’re going to have a running back out in a route and you’re going to have to leave the tight end in to block. And then you’re going to have to block in the run game. We made a commitment to the run game last year with Kerryon (Johnson). I think the tight end position kind of marries up with that, to be able to secure the edge of the defense and get some of our skilled players, Kerryon, Theo (Riddick) and those guys out to the edge.”