The people of Detroit are crying out with chorus’ of ‘ding dong the witch is dead’ as hated GM and team President Matt Millen has finally ended his reign over the Lions. Whether he “quit” doesn’t really matter, as he was on his way out of Ford Jr. admitted that he wasn’t exactly a fan.
Good people of Detroit, that is the good news. Now here comes the bad news: Your team is now officially rebuilding.
That is the truth behind the Millen firing. The Detroit Lions can finally start the long and arduous process of rebuilding a football team to contention. I know what you’re thinking: “But DLamp, haven’t we already been doing that?” No. Matt Millen never took the time to properly rebuild the team, he just looked for quick fixes. Pieces of gum to plug up the leaking damn, if you will. Let’s take a look at the first two rounds of the drafts in The Millen Era:
2001 – R1: Jeff Backus, T R2: Shaun Rodgers, DT Dominic Raiola, C
2002 – R1: Joe Joe Harrington, QB R2: Kalimba Edwards, DE
2003 – R1: Charles Rodgers, WR R2: Boss Bailey, LB
2004 – R1: Roy Williams, WR Kevin Jones, RB R2: Teddy Lehman, LB
2005 – R1: Mike Williams, WR R2: Shaun Cody, DT
2006 – R1: Ernie Sims, LB R2: Daniel Bullocks, DB
2007 – R1: Calvin Johnson, WR R2: Drew Stanton, QB Ikaika Alama-Francis, DE Gerald Alexander, DB
2008 – R1: Gosder Cherilus, T R2: Jordan Dizon, LB
Just to recap, there is a streak of taking a WR in the first round for three years (and a total of 4 out of 5). That’s double the number of O-linemen they took in the first round, and quadruple the number of defensive players taken in the first round. This is not the way to build a franchise. To look at the other end of the spectrum, the New England Patriots (arguably the best franchise of the decade no matter how much I hate them) haven’t drafted a single WR in the first round in that time span. They have, however, drafted a total of 6 linemen (double the number the Lions have drafted in the first round).
I don’t blame Millen for the busts. Those happen to everyone. All I blame him for is getting blinded by the bright, shiny players year after year and never understanding that you gotta build from the lines outward. You don’t think Kitna (or Stanton or Harrington or whoever) would appreciate a little more time back there? You don’t think Rudi Johnson (or Kevin Jones or Tatum Bell or Kevin Smith) would appreciate a little more running room? Heck, I can’t remember the last times the Lions were protecting a lead because their defense is atrocious. I bet if you asked Millen today, he still would take Calvin Johnson over Pro-Bowler Joe Thomas. He might concede that he should have taken DeMarcus Ware or Shawn Merriman over Mike Williams, but only because Williams was a bust. Charles Rodgers over Kevin Williams. Kevin Jones over Bob Sanders. The list goes on and on. This was Millen’s priority: sign the flashiest draft pick he could, and then wonder why his team never got any better.
I have no idea who is set to take over in Detroit. It’s too soon for all that talk to be anything other than pure speculation. Although whomever the Fords pick to run this franchise needs to learn from the mistakes of the past, so they aren’t doomed to repeat them. The good fans of Detroit have put up with this crap for long enough, and deserve to have their franchise trot a respectable product onto that field everyday. But it’s not going to happen overnight. There are no quick fixes. All they can really hope for, is that this time around, it gets done right.
