The NFL draft has become a ratings draw for the TV networks, with every pick a one-act drama in its own right.

In the Lions' case, the personal drama builds throughout the first seven picks to a 10-minute starring role that begins when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announces, "The Detroit Lions are on the clock," and ends with Goodell announcing the pick.

For the Lions, the end result of what happens in that 10-minute window of opportunity is the product of a 13-month period of scouting, analysis and evaluations.

It begins with the college spring practices the previous year and includes such minute but important details as setting up a bank of specialized phones to use during the three-day draft. None of that is part of the show.

For Quinn and other executives, the drama on Thursday night's first round will be hoping their carefully plotted draft plan isn't derailed by an unexpected move by a team drafting ahead of them – and adjusting when it happens, as is often the case.

"Really, the most intense moment is, you know who you want, and you're waiting for the team before you not to pick him," Quinn said in a sit-down interview last week.

"It's that moment, then you feel, 'OK, I'm good.' You kind of sit back in your seat, and you kind of take it in. You know you want that guy."

And if he's gone?