USC quarterback Mark Sanchez visited the Lions last week, but he doesn't have any illusions of going No. 1 overall.

Asked on a teleconference Wednesday how high he thinks he'll be drafted, Sanchez said, “Some people are saying Detroit, but I don't know. I think Stafford locked that one down.”

Sanchez and Georgia's Matt Stafford got to know each other as counselors at the Elite 11 quarterback camp last summer. The two remained close during the season and throughout the draft process, and Sanchez joked Wednesday that “he needs to call me back. I called him at the beginning of the week, that punk.”

Inevitably, the two will be compared to each other for the duration of their NFL careers, something that's OK by Sanchez.

“It'll be like that forever,” he said. “That's great. It'll keep the competition going and it'll be fun for us and I know for a fact we'll have a lot of fun with it. Win or lose, it's going to be a great time for us.”

As for Stafford, Sanchez, who's visited the 49ers, Rams and Redskins recently and is expected to be a top-10 pick, sounds convinced he'll be a Lion.

“I wouldn't be surprised,” he said. “I think they're really in love with him. That's good. I'm happy for him.”