Out-Drafting Bonanza Part 2 - Detroit Lions & Matt Millen

Welcome to part 2 of the Out-Drafting Bonanza. This one should be fun. Matt Millen and the Detroit Lions represent the standard which all shitty drafts (and drafting) should be measured by. The goal is to compare a few different "successful" (and in this case incredibly unsuccessful) NFL regimes and discover who's good, who's bad and where the hell we'll put Andy Reid.

In case you don't remember, here's a look at our Scoring System again.

And here's the regimes we'll be looking at:

• Philadelphia Eagles (Andy Reid)
• Detroit Lions (Steve Mariucci/Dick Jauron/Rod Marinelli...all under Matt Millen and we'll use this is the baseline/epitome of crap)
• Seattle Seahawks (Mike Holmgren)
• New England Patriots (Bill Belichick)
• Jacksonville Jaguars (Jack Del Rio)
• Dallas Cowboys (Jerry Jones err Wade Phillips, though we'll be counting the Parcells years because of how involved Jones was regardless)
• Denver Broncos (Mike Shanahan)
• Chicago Bears (Lovie Smith)
• San Diego Charges (Norv Turner...but all the A.J. Smith era)

Let's not tie up any more of your time. Let's get to the Millen Era Drafts:

Year	Round	Name	Score (1-5)	Bonus	Note
2002	1	Joey Harrington	2	-2	What can I say about Harrington that hasn't already been said. He was a bust of a top 3 pick and is essentially a career backup, though he's started quite a few games
	2	Kalimba Edwards	3	0	Edwards was a capable starter for five years and lead the lions in sacks twice. He was eventually released by the Lions, but wasn't a real bust
	3	Andre Goodman	3	0	Another decent player. Not quite a starter, not quite a backup. Goodman was respectable as a Lion though
	4	John Taylor	0	0	Taylor suited up but never played a down
	5	John Owens	2	0	A spot starter with multiple stints on the Lions
	6	Chris Cash	2	0	We'll give cash a 3 because he was actually a good starter until an injury.
	7	Luke Staley/ Matt Murphy/ Victor Rogers	0	0	None of these players appear to play a down for the Lions (actually Murphy had one reception...not good enough)

Clearly, this draft his headlined by the bust that is Joey Harrington. I had trouble calling him a 2 because he is/was/will be a career backup, but as a top 3 pick that couldn't start, I had to call him a "backup or role player, multiple years with team." Beyond that, this draft was highlighted by Kalimba Edwards, an above average starter and Andre Goodman, a decent spot starter.

2002 Score: 10 Points. First Round Hit Total: 0/1. Quality Players Selected (total): 0/9

Year	Round	Name	Score (1-5)	Bonus	Note
2003	1	Charles Rogers	2	-2	Rogers never made it on the field. He seemed to have the talent but between injuries and the Lions ineptitude, he never made it
	2	Boss Bailey	3	0	Bailey is a solid starter, but not Champ
	3	Cory Redding	4	0	Redding is a top DT (if a little fat?) but an excellent 3rd rounder
	4	Artose Pinner	2	0	Pinner never stuck with the Lions but was a solid backup
	5	Terrence Holt/ James Davis	2	0	Again, Holt is/was a respectable backup on the Lions while Davis was a career backup with a short career
	6	David Kircus	1	0	Kircus played a little as a rookie, but never recorded more than 9 receptions in 3 years
	7	Ben Johnson/Blue Adams/ Brandon Drumm/ Travis Anglin	0	0	None played significant time (or apparently any snaps) with the Lions

You'll note the first round picks were a bit of a trend. This time its Charles Rogers, who did seem to play pretty well at times, but could never stay on the field and has his own issues. Beyond that, they did find a decent number of starts and solid career backups, as well as Cory Redding, who's pretty good.

2003 Score: 12 Points. First Round Hit Total: 0/2. Quality Players Selected (total): 1/19

Year	Round	Name	Score (1-5)	Bonus	Note
2004	1	Roy Williams/ Kevin Jones	3	0	Roy Williams is a star WR and Kevin Jones actually rushed for 1,000 yards once, though he was never more than a decent starter at best
	2	Teddy Lehman	2	0	Lehman started all of 2004 and hasn't started since
	3	Keith Smith	2	0	A career backup
	4	Traded for Kevin Jones	1	0	Jones was definitely a bust for both a late 1st and 4th
	5	Alex Lewis	2	0	Another career backup
	6	Kelly Butler	0	0	Didn't appear to play a down
	7	MIA	0	0	I couldn't find anything about this pick.

Obviously Roy Williams is the bright spot here. Now Williams isn't a pro-bowler but he is a star, a solid star and was trade bait...hopefully using the Cowboys picks will net something under the Mayhew regime. Otherwise, Jones and Lehman were practically busts that played and, frankly, sucked.

2004 Score: 10 Points. First Round Hit Total: 1/3. Quality Players Selected (total): 2/25

Year	Round	Name	Score (1-5)	Bonus	Note
2005	1	Mike Williams	1	-2	Williams was an epic bust and the 3rd of a group of dumb WR drafts
	2	Shaun Cody	2	0	A career backup so far, but still with the Lions
	3	Stanley Wilson	1	0	A veritable who's who if shitty backups
	4	Traded for Teddy Lehman	1	0	Ouch...
	5	Dan Orlovsky	2	0	A career backup QB...who's kind of an idiot
	6	Bill Swancutt/ Jonathan Goddard	1	0	Swancutt played one year (and started 2 games) while Goddard never saw the field as a Lion (and actually got a tackle with the World Champion Colts)
	7	Another MIA	0	0	Maybe they just don't pick?

Now this draft was an epic fail. Mike Williams never translated to the NFL, Shaun Cody was the highlight of the draft and is really a fringe starter at best (though the position was loaded in front of him) and none of the other players were ever close to good.

2005 Score: 6 Points. First Round Hit Total: 1/4. Quality Players Selected (total): 2/31

Year	Round	Name	Score (1-5)	Bonus	Note
2006	1	Ernie Sims	3	0	A pretty good starter. Sims technically should get a -1, what its hard to call him a bust of any kind
	2	Daniel Bullocks	3	0	Another career fringe starter
	3	Brian Calhoun	1	0	Special teamer and role player/backup
	4	Traded for Shaun Cody	1	0	Not as bad as the Lehman trade, but it didn't help
	5	Jonathan Scott	0	0	Didn't appear to play a down
	6	Alton McCann	0	0	Didn't appear to play a down
	7	Fred Matua/ Anthony Cannon	1	0	Matua didn't appear to play a down, and Cannon only played a few.

Now, a draft's real measure is in the 2s 3s and 4s in my opinion. In 2003, the Lions were actually pretty good at seizing that portion. And that was the only time. 2006 yielded Ernie Sims, who's definitely a solid starter and really could be a pro-bowler. Beyond that, they acquired a fringe starter in Daniel Bullocks and not much else. They even traded 2006's pick and move up a little and acquire Shaun Cody, another career backup. Now I'm counting Sims as a hit on the first round pick, but not by much.

2006 Score: 9 Points. First Round Hit Total: 2/5. Quality Players Selected (total): 2/38

And there you go. As you can see, the Lions were epically bad at drafting, which explains their miserable on the field product. A final score of 47 really shows you the low point of draft quality. Next up is Seattle, a team with a similar crappy division success period (like the Eagles), a Super Bowl run (like the Eagles) and an egotistical, walrus-like, fat head coach (like the Eagles).

Scores:

• The Philadelphia Eagles and Andy Reid/Tom Heckert: 76
• The Detroit Lions and Steve Mariucci/Dick Jauron/Rod Marinelli: 47
  

Questions, concerns, comments, errors, Omissions? Please leave in the comments for send to Justin@badnewsbloggers.com