Matt Millen Controls This Draft....Yes You Should Be Scared

Don't stare directly into his eyes.....

Today as I was sitting in my basement playing Halo 2 and trying to decide what to write about (it's a fact, all bloggers live in their parents' basement playing video games and writing in our underwear....just ask the mainstream media) I decided to take a look at some of the crazy pre-draft rumors flying around these here internets. What did I find? Most of them involved the Detroit Lions and the number two overall pick in the draft. That's when I developed a cold sweat after I realized, Matt Millen will dictate where a lot of players are going to be headed in this draft.

That simple fact should scare every fan of the NFL, until you realize that Matt Millen generally has been great for other NFL teams. Let's take a look at some recent Lions drafts and see what players Millen past on that helped other NFL franchises become good, while the Lions continued to suck....

2001

Lions Draft - Jeff Backus (18th Overall)

Players Millen Passed On....

Nate Clements (21)
Deuce McAllister (23)
Reggie Wayne (30)
Todd Heap (31)

While Backus hasn't been a bust by any means, but the Lions passed on some pretty good players that would filled needs the team had at the time. Yes I know they had James Stewart at running back, but are you telling me they couldn't have used Deuce instead?

2002

Lions Draft - Joey Harrington (3rd Overall)

Players Millen Passed On....

Roy Williams (8)
Dwight Freeney (11)
Ed Reed (24)

First off...can you believe Roy Williams went that many picks ahead of Ed Reed?!?! CRAZY?!?! I mean Roy is a great safety, but he's no Ed Reed. Anyway, Millen made the great Joey Harrington pick that was pretty much doomed from the start. The fact that he liked to be called Joey instead of "Joe" should have tipped us off. Oh and the fact that he was coached by Jeff Tedford. BIG RED FLAG!

2003

Lions Draft - Charles Rogers (2nd Overall)

Players Millen Passed On....

Andre Johnson (3)
Terence Newman (5)
Terrell Suggs (10)
Marcus Trufant (11)
Troy Polamalu (16)
Larry Johnson (27)

Another bit of draft craziness before I discuss Millen's idiocy, an injured Willis McGahee (23) went four picks AHEAD of a healthy Larry Johnson. Just nuts. Millen decided to waste this draft pick on Charles Rogers who was as fragile as crystal and liked to do the drugs. I suppose the fact that he tested positive for a masking agent at the combine didn't raise enough alarms for Millen. Don't know if I'd be wasting that high of a pick on a guy who can't keep off the drugs for the freaking combine.

I'm going to skip over 2004 because the Lions actually had a pretty good draft with Roy Williams and Kevin Jones. Can't really fault any of those picks.

2005

Lions Draft - Mike Williams (9th Overall)

Players Millen Passed On....

DeMarcus Ware (10)
Shawne Merriman (11)

Hmmm....do you think the Lions could have used either one of those guys on defense? They could you say? Amazing!

So in the end I think no matter what Millen does in this draft (and I'm going to assume he's trading down with one of the MANY teams that are looking to trade up), in the end whatever he does will probably end horribly for the Lions and wonderfully for some teams drafting behind him. Go figure.

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Matt Millen Controls This Draft....Yes You Should Be Scared

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