Almost everyone loves Calvin Johnson: he's the rare player whose off-the-charts athleticism is matched in the character and work ethic departments. He's also off to a very good start to his career, matching his big draft hype with great production. The Lions drafted Matthew Stafford last year, and it looks like Detroit now has their quarterback and wide receiver of the future.

The Lions have played this game before, though, and so have some other teams. Stafford and Johnson are the 15th QB/WR combination drafted inside the top ten by the same team within two years of each other. Detroit's done this with Joey Harrington and Roy Williams, Joey Harrington and Charles Rogers, and Andre Ware and Herman Moore. The Raiders also matched this feat in the 2007 and 2009 drafts, going with JaMarcus Russell and Darrius Heyward-Bey. It won't take much for Johnson and Stafford to become the most prolific duo of the bunch.

It's too early to grade Stafford and Johnson, or even Leinart and Fitzgerald (we might be able to grade Russell and Heyward-Bey, now that Russell has been released). But we can safely analyze the first 12 combinations drafted since the merger; only two of the 12 pairs of selections turned out to be even modestly successful. Both came via the 1970 and 1971 drafts, but neither saw both pairs reward the teams that drafted them. The Steelers took Terry Bradshaw and Frank Lewis in consecutive drafts. We all know about Bradshaw; Lewis wasn't a productive pass catcher in Pittsburgh, but his career blossomed after he moved to Buffalo, thanks in part to the 1978 rule changes which made the passing game more successful. Likewise, the other combination featured Archie Manning and Ken Burrough. Burrough played just one season in New Orleans before becoming a star with the Houston Oilers.

Since the merger, no team has selected a QB and a WR in the Top 10 in a three-year span and enjoyed the fruits of their drafting. Will Johnson and Stafford be the first? Johnson is well on his way to becoming a star. All signs point to Stafford becoming, at a minimum, a serviceable NFL QB. Although if he doesn't, don't expect Detroit fans to be surprised.

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