There is an art to the smokescreen, especially this time of year, and it’s something the Detroit Lions have worked hard to perfect under general manager Bob Quinn.

In Quinn’s first three seasons as GM, the Lions have never brought in the player they ended up selecting in the first round of the NFL draft for a top-30 visit. Last spring, they tried so hard to keep secret their infatuation with guard Frank Ragnow they didn’t even run him through a private workout.

And for a team that puts everyone through private workouts, even a player coming off a season-ending injury, maybe that should have been a sign.

Lions coach Matt Patricia said this week he and the Lions front office run through a number of “case studies” every spring where they imagine draft-day trades and try to mock what happens, taking into account the needs, desires (what they know and what’s been reported) and histories of other teams.

Last year, the Lions did not see any of the teams in front of them taking Ragnow, and they didn’t believe any of the teams picking behind them that were connected to Ragnow — the Cincinnati Bengals, New England Patriots and Minnesota Vikings to name three — would leapfrog them in the order.

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“To be real honest with you, and Bob can speak to this more, and obviously we can talk about it now, but that’s exactly what happened with Frank,” Patricia said. “We just kept going over and over and over the scenarios and we just kept looking at the board and I’m like, every scenario we came up with I’m like, ‘He’s still there. So are we good to go?’ And it happened exactly like that. Obviously, there’s curveballs that come in and out of nowhere and things like that, that change, but that’s the fun part. You’re trying to figure out what everybody else is doing.”

And trying to keep your own plans as under wraps as possible.

To that end, Quinn would not say at the NFL’s annual meeting this week whether he plans to visit with or work out any of the draft’s top-three quarterbacks, Kyler Murray, Dwayne Haskins and Drew Lock.

The Lions, who have the eighth pick in the first round, did meet with both Murray and Haskins at the NFL combine, and Lock told NFL Network he had a meeting with the Lions as well.

The cynic in me believes that information is out there as part of the smokescreen. The organization wants people to believe it could take a quarterback at No. 8, when the reality is its more much likely to roll with Matthew Stafford and take a backup in the later rounds.

Similarly, when I asked Patricia a question this week about his team’s biggest remaining needs after free agency, he wanted no part of providing a useful answer.

“Good question,” Patricia said. “Definitely have a couple target points on there that I’m sure if teams in the draft kind of knew exactly what we were thinking there, there’s going to be some shifting and — honestly it’s because of where our draft pick is. So there is generally, conversation, let’s say, around those areas where teams are trying to figure out. Because again, once you get out of the top five, then there’s the top 10 and as those names come off the board, other teams are always going to be curious like, ‘Who’s taking this guy?’ ”

Gobbledygook, all of it, but in the paranoid world of the NFL, it makes sense, too.

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The Lions are obviously a team that needs to win now — they spent more money in the tourist trap that is free agency than every team but the New York Jets — and at No. 8 overall, they might be able to land the first true difference maker of Quinn’s tenure.

Quinn has acknowledged the most basic of all truths: This year’s draft is rich in defensive talent. But he and Patricia have left behind few flakes of gold.

From their histories, we know Quinn has always tended to fill needs in the first round of the draft, and the Lions have trait preferences when it comes to certain positions. Patricia mentioned how much he likes big catch radiuses in his wide receivers and tight ends this week, and the three-cone drill has long been considered an important measure for cornerbacks.

“You always see great playmakers that are coming out of college and the idea is to try to figure out the transfer to the next level and what are those positions that those guys can really be impactful and help you,” Patricia said. “Certainly, the conflict always, as it is with the draft and team-building is, what are your needs? And then what are the best players available? And that’s something that, it’s hard to speak on until you're in that moment.”

In the moment, my educated guess is that two things above all else matter for Patricia (and Quinn) when it comes to separating players within a talent tier and finding fits for the Lions.

They want toughness and they want players who can’t live without football, and when they identify a Ragnow or a Jarrad Davis who embody those traits, they don’t need a top-30 visit or private workout to confirm their thoughts.

Football is like oxygen to Patricia, and he has tried to surround himself with players who feel the same way (Ragnow, Trey Flowers, Jesse James), while letting go of ones who the perception is don’t (Golden Tate).

[ To understand Trey Flowers' path to the Lions, start with his heart ]

When I asked Patricia this week what traits get him excited about prospects, he talked for a minute about fundamentals and vision and pad level and all the things football coaches should. But when I asked if those mattered more than toughness or appetite for the game, his eyes lit up.

“First and foremost, you want to feel the love, you want to feel the passion,” Patricia said. “When you're passionate about something like we all are, and we love this game and we're passionate about this game, you want to be surrounded by people that have that same energy, that same feeling because it means something. It's really critically important to them, it's critically important to you, then you can get something done.

“If somebody is a little bit lesser on the critical standpoint or it’s not as passionate as you are, then those wedges you'll find out what they are. It doesn't mean they don't work, it just means that you really always want to surround yourself by like-minded people that want to achieve the highest level.”

I have my guesses about what that means for the Lions and some players who could be on the board at No. 8. Rashan Gary and his sports agency don’t seem like a great fit, but Devin White, a two-time captain at LSU, and T.J. Hockenson, a guy who got emotional at the thought of leaving Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, do.

It’s a case of ask not what football can do for you, but what you can do for football.

And despite the Lions' history, I don't think it's part of the smokescreen.

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Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Read more on the Detroit Lions and sign up for our Lions newsletter.