OT: Gee thanks Matt Millen - ineptness that is worse than you thought

Submitted by brose on

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Draft-Busts-of-th…-?urn=nfl,235522

OK - I know this article is using some anecdotal evidence, but basically they call out 23 first round "busts" from the 2000-2009 drafts. Well guess what? The Lions get a staggering 21.7% (5 out of 23) of the busts in an entire decade. Holy sh*t! I knew Millen was bad at drafting, and as stated above, this isn't very scientific, but this is a whole new level of drafting ineptness. This may be the worst decade of a single team drafting in NFL history.

Also David Terrell gets a nod on this list.

Anyways, this should make the new regime seem even better when they draft Suh tonight.

mmiicchhiiggaann

April 22nd, 2010 at 3:39 PM ^

I just read the article and yes it has a ton of lions but I by no means feel that those are even the biggest busts of the decade. Maybe they are the biggest names to be busts, but there are plenty of smaller names picked in the top ten that have been worse then some of those players...Reggie Bush may not be worthy of a #2 pick, but didn't he just play a descent role in a superbowl victory?

And how can roy williams be on the list over Vernon Gholston...Roy has more career probowls than gholston does sacks...

His Dudeness

April 22nd, 2010 at 3:43 PM ^

My friend (a Sparty) defends the Stanton pick to this day. He still says things like "Stanton will be good if given the chance." He also claims that Stanton was a better college QB than Chad Henne. It makes me want to jump out of a building and land directly on his spinal column.

Baldbill

April 22nd, 2010 at 3:42 PM ^

He was a decent linebacker in his day, and must have some crazy aptitude for talking like some used car salesman, cause there is no other way to explain how/why the Lions hired him or kept him for so long. He made new highs in being the worst of the worst as far as pro sports teams GM's go.

DetroitBlue

April 22nd, 2010 at 5:02 PM ^

My recollection is that he was better than decent as a player; IIRC, he made a pro bowl or two. As far as his ineptness as a GM, I completely agree. The only other GM who even comes close, albeit in a different sport, is Isiah Thomas. As much as I enjoyed watching Zeke play while growing up, his career as a coach/GM has been a train wreck.

SysMark

April 22nd, 2010 at 3:47 PM ^

Wide receivers have always been very difficult to justify as high picks. There are skills that have to go to the pro game that a top college receiver in a major program can get by without, with sheer athleticism, and great receivers consistently come out of lesser known programs.

Steve Lorenz

April 22nd, 2010 at 3:48 PM ^

Roy Williams is absolutely not a bust, and Mike Williams was at the top of almost every draft board that year, and I think he gets a semi-pass for that. It's the Rogers pick that is a complete bust.

Steve Lorenz

April 22nd, 2010 at 5:31 PM ^

Do you even know this? I mean, give Kiper as much crap as you want, but he was the #1 player on his board going into the day. Are you saying Kiper doesn't do any research? You just sound like a typical whiny Lions fan.

wishitwas97

April 22nd, 2010 at 6:07 PM ^

is lazy. No joke but he once consulted his 9 year old nephew on which player that he liked the best and he would draft that player based on his recommendation. Really, Millen?

Mayhew is far more savvier and smarter than Millen. The Lions scouts didn't get fired when he took over. It's clear that Millen is a moron when it comes to drafting players because the Lions had a huge success in last year draft with 4 and possibly 5 starters in one draft.

dahblue

April 22nd, 2010 at 4:11 PM ^

Mike Williams, whether on the top or bottom of every draft board, should never have been picked by the Lions. When you already spent 2 top picks on WRs, you do NOT draft another when your team needs everything else. Millen doesn't get a "semi-pass" for anything.

Foote Fetish

April 22nd, 2010 at 3:53 PM ^

I do feel bad for the players, though. It's not their fault Millen picked them, thereby dooming them.

Did Millen draft players who played poorly, or did the players play poorly because they were drafted by Millen?

OysterMonkey

April 22nd, 2010 at 3:53 PM ^

I feel some of the Lions fans' pain. Tim Couch. William Green. Gerard Warren. Drafting QB Spurgeon Wynn like four picks ahead of Tom Brady. Our last decade or so of drafting has not gone well for the most part.

steviebrownfor…

April 22nd, 2010 at 5:50 PM ^

While I agree the Browns don't draft well, they don't even compare to the Lions, man (yea i noticed you said you feel some of our pain). Braylon & Winslow didn't flop that terribly.
And you can't beat your GM up for not picking Brady, you might as well beat him up for not drafting Kurt Warner while you're at it.

Jim Harbaugh S…

April 22nd, 2010 at 3:59 PM ^

Just to address my points of contention with the Yahoo! article:

1. I would not consider Peter Warrick one of the biggest busts - a disappointment yes, but he had a few decent seasons and played a while so he is not a bust.

2. I don't think Koren Robison was a bust either. When he played he played well, it was personal issues not skill that doomed him.

3. Rex Grossman sucked. But, he got the Bears to the playoffs and the Super Bowl, so he avoids being a bust in my book.

4. Roy Williams is not a bust. He was very good on very bad Lions teams.

5. Pacman Jones was good when he played, so not a bust.

And I'm stopping there because I don't think the writer and I have the same definition of Bust.

To me big draft busts over the past few years are (just off the top of my head):

C. Rogers, Joey, Both Mike Williams, David Carr, JaWalrus Russell, Adam Carricker, Brady Quinn, and Alex Smith.

Steve Lorenz

April 22nd, 2010 at 4:12 PM ^

It's early, but Jason Smith the OT that St. Louis drafted last year played pretty badly last year. He might join that list. What about Robert Gallery out of Iowa too? Pretty disappointing player. Pretty much anyone the Raiders have drafted....Heyward-Bey (although kind of unfair to him because even he probably didn't think he'd be the seventh pick in the draft).

Jim Harbaugh S…

April 22nd, 2010 at 5:53 PM ^

I'm with you on Jason Smith as a bust, the Rams have been awful at drafting lately.

Gallery is another big time bust, can't miss prospect that turned into a guy who can't play any o-line position.

Heywerd-bay like you said, shouldn't have been picked as high as he would, so its not totally his fault that he's a bust.

PF 34

April 22nd, 2010 at 4:07 PM ^

I think might have been his worst draft... And then he went out and re-signed him to a long term contract when all the dude did was sit on the bench.

I hate Matt Millen. It hurts inside every time I see his stupid face on TV.

dahblue

April 22nd, 2010 at 4:08 PM ^

You know...For the first few years of Millen's reign of failure, the phrase, "he just needs to bring in his type of players" was often uttered.

Zone Left

April 22nd, 2010 at 4:23 PM ^

I don't like a lot of those picks either. Overdrafting is different than being an out and out bust. Reggie Bush was drafted too high, but he was a really valuable player for the Super Bowl champs last season.

aaamichfan

April 22nd, 2010 at 4:59 PM ^

It feels good to be in the position where I'm happy with whatever move the Lions make today. I would love to see Suh striking fear into opposing QB's for the next decade, but would also be happy with trading down and getting two quality players. Either way, it looks like the Lions are attempting to rapidly improve for the first time since I've been a fan.

Anunbiasedfan

April 22nd, 2010 at 5:00 PM ^

In all seriousness, I think that anyone one of us here on the MGOBLOG could have done a better job than Matt Millen. I think most, if not all of us would at least seek out and listen to people who know what they are talking about, even if we didn't. Many of Matt's picks just went against expert consensus. Most of us would have at least been smart enough to pick up Lamar Woodley in the second round instead of Drew Stanton.

I seriously think you'd have to try to do bad to do worse than him.

steviebrownfor…

April 22nd, 2010 at 5:55 PM ^

It's like Millen won the lottery of who wants to manage the Lions.

Also, I think Drew Stanton was a very good college player. Remember that UM probably would have lost the 2004 MSU game if Stanton hadn't been knocked out. Having said that, drafting Stanton would be comparable to someone drafting Mike Kafka in the 2nd round this year.

Noahdb

April 22nd, 2010 at 5:01 PM ^

There are two kinds of draft busts. There's the guy that everyone thinks is great that turns out to suck and there's the "What the hell are they doing??" pick.

I don't blame someone for taking Tim Couch. I *do* blame the Cardinals for taking Kelly Stouffer. I don't blame someone for taking Charles Rogers. Darrius Heyward-Bay? Definitely.