The "Mill"dew Continues To Spread , Lions Pre-Draft Coverage Continues, Part 2

Let the madness continue….Now that everyone is done with their tasty Millen draft years appetizer. Let’s try making room for the main course, and that being, the special Millen draft years of 2005-2008…..

2005: The Year Detroit Drove Imports (aka BMW)
First Round: Mike Williams, WR, USC
Second Round: Shaun Cody, DT, USC
Third Round: Stanley Wilson, CB, Stanford
Fifth Round: Dan Orlovsky, QB, Connecticut
Sixth Round: Bill Swancutt, DE, Oregon State
Seventh Round: Johnathan Goddard, LB, Marshall



Analysis: Clearly, Matthew George Millen had the Pac-10 scouted out. With only six total picks, the Lions brain trust obliviously figured out the best way to inject talent into the current roster, use four of the six picks on Pac-10 players. Not only was this a brilliant fool proof plan, Millen went even further and decided to roll the dice on a polish QB from UConn and two lazy, overweight bitches from Southern Cal. Just a fucking stellar class for Millen here. Notice how every player from this draft is no longer on the current Lions roster………which is actually not a surprise to all Lions diehards. Just in case you forgot, here are BMW career stats with the Lions: 37 catches, 449 yards receiving, 2 TDs.

Mmase Perspective - This draft infuriated me. Going in I just knew Millen had some wild card up his ass and was gonna do something fuckin stupid. For weeks leading up to this draft, that dickweed Mel Kiper kept telling the whole world that Big Mike Williams, who had just sat out an entire year, was the number 1 player on his big board. I held out though cause I thought there was zero chance Millen took another WR in the first round. I basically convinced myself we were coming outta this one with either Shaun Merriman, DE Maryland or Derrick Johnson, LB Texas. Both of which woulda pleased me greatly. Instead we take a fuckin wideout too fat to run but too lazy to block as a tightend. Kiper and Millen should go into an NFL consulting business together. And if I can remember correctly I believe we had so few picks in this draft cause we traded up in the second to take Shaun Cody while Lofa Tatupu, ILB USC was still just sitting there.

2006: The Who Gives a Fuck Draft
First Round: Ernie Sims, LB, Florida State
Second Round: Daniel Bullocks, S, Nebraska
Third Round: Brian Calhoun, RB, Wisconsin
Fifth Round: Jonathan Scott, T, Texas
Sixth Round: Alton McCann, CB, West Virginia
Seventh Round: Fred Matua, G, USC
Seventh Round: Anthony Cannon, LB, Tulane


Analysis: This particular draft means absolutely nothing to me. I am still indifferent on Ernie Sims. After averaging 130 over his first two NFL seasons, Ernie Sims has fallen off. Granted he has battled some injuries and shit coaching…..he hasn’t exactly progressed as expected. As for the rest of the draft, there really isn’t anything too discuss. Another successful Millen draft…..Please note: I am pretty confident that Ernie Sims is a crack head…That guy has no fucking brain cells left in his shit thick skull of his.

Mmase Pespective - Yeah, Mallard pretty much nailed this one on the head. I only got a few things. I remember not hating the Ernie Sims pick cause this entire draft class was pretty lame and I always like help on defense. Ernie showed a lot of promise in college but his lack of fundamentals and undersized body basically reminded me of that lion in the pride that jumps on the back of a running zebra and then just gets tossed the second it makes a cut left or right. Only other notable mentions in this draft were that I knew Lawerence Maroney was a stud after watching him dominate the big ten alongside Barber and I thought the Lions should've traded down and tried to get him as a 1-2 punch to go with the smaller Kevin Jones. Also, there was no way to predict it but Maurice Jones-Drew went 60th overall. God damn it would be nice to hit on someone like that late in a draft some year.

Ernie in action, except he woulda definitely missed this tackle.



2007: The Millen Draft Moneyshot
First Round: Calvin Johnson, WR, Georgia Tech
Second Round: Drew Stanton, QB, Michigan State
Second Round: Ikaika Alama-Francis, DE, Hawaii
Second Round: Gerald Alexander, S, Boise State
Fourth Round: A.J. Davis, CB, North Carolina State
Fourth Round: Manuel Ramírez, OL, Texas Tech
Fifth Round: Johnny Baldwin, LB, Alabama A&M
Seventh Round: Ramzee Robinson, CB, Alabama


Analysis: Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yes, the motherland! The Millen Draft Moneyshot wouldn’t be memorable without drafting another WR in the first round. But what is most impressive about this draft, is how Millen had 3 second round picks and seemed to blow these picks just like he used to blow little boys in eastern PA middle schools………..I mean who the fuck is Ikaika Alama-Francis? I bet every GM in the league laughed their asses off when Millen decided to draft Alama-Francis at the spot they did. Thank god I kept my receipt from Foot Locker as I promptly returned my Alama-Francis NFC Pro Bowl jersey. Overall this draft was just like the previous ones, straight garbage. Sure Calvin Johnson is rock solid…..but he doesn’t cancel out for the rest of the bums in this draft. Drew Stanton in the second round? Lions likely could have had him in the fourth or fifth round….But what do I know, maybe the former slave general himself (aka William Clay Ford) phoned in that pick…

Mmase Pespective - Should've traded down in this one 100%. This draft class was bursting with talent on both sides of the ball and people wanted Calvin and woulda paid heavily to get him. But Millen had already been talked into taking him by Kiper and company cause he was a once in a lifetime player. F-that noise. I still can't believe he took a top 10 wideout, 4 out of 5 years. Had to be a "Millen to one shot" that this happened when he took over, but sure as shit it happened and has left us in this mess. Ideally, Millen trades down to 12ish, takes Patrick Willis and gets an additional 2nd rounder. Could've even traded down a few more spots and got Darelle Revis or even a few more and got Jon Beason. I would trade everyone of these guys straight up for Calvin right now in a heartbeat, I honestly would.

I haven't even mentioned all the maneuvering Millen did later in this draft. In fact Millen was always pretty good at moving around on draft day, he just never knew what to do with the picks once he got them. Dude ended up with three 2nd round picks that he totally fuckin shat away. David Harris, Lamar Woodley and Sidney Rice were all taken quickly after the Lions moved up to get Stanton. This is truely the crowning fuckup of the Millen era in my mind. Dude might still have a job here and we would have a team if he didn't blow this part of the draft.

Lets look at it this way, if Millen made the exact same moves the Lions could've ended up with Patrick Willis , Sidney Rice, Lamar Woodley and Marinelli's pet project Ikaika Alama-Francis. Somebody give me the keys to Ford Field.

2008: The Millen Farwell Tour Draft
Round One 17th overall Gosder Cherilus T Boston College
Round Two 45th overall Jordon Dizon OLB Colorado
Round Three 64th Kevin Smith RB Central Florida
Round Three 87th Andre Fluellen DT FSU
Round Three 92nd overall Cliff Avril DE Purdue
Round Five 136th overall Kenny Moore WR Wake Forrest
Round Five 146th overall Jerome Felton FB Furman
Round Seven 216th overall Landon Cohen DE Ohio
Round Seven 218th Caleb Campbell DB Army


Mmase's Perspective - This draft was basically Millen giving one final fuck you to all the lions fans still hanging around out there. There was very little talk about the Lions in this draft, unlike previous years. All Millen had to do was take the best O-lineman available and call it a day. At the time the consensus was to take Branden Albert from UVA, but instead Millen did a little rearranging and ended up with my favorite player of his tenure, Gosder Cherilius. Dude has a knack for running his mouth, cheapshotting Jared Allen, and getting into bar room brawls. My type of player. Not to mention the work he can do on a medicine ball.



I dont actually completely hate the rest of this draft either. I mean we know Jordon Dizon is a fuckin joke but lets at least let him play if we took him in the 2nd round and I dont doubt that if Cliff Avril was drafted by the Jets or some other aggressive team he would be an 8 sacks/year guy. And without a doubt the best pick Millen ever made came in the 7th round when he took Caleb Campbell a safety from Army
who was already on his way to Iraq to fight a war. Shit is Chess bitches, not checkers.

Mallard's Closing thoughts:
It sure was a wild ride with Millen at the helm….Don’t get me wrong, I loved the Mornhinweg hire and him questioning Johnnie Morton's sexuality. But when it comes down to it, Millen was an absolute fucking failure. The laws of probability did not abide to Millen….Lastly, I will miss those days, as they will never be again…..but fortunately my memory is still sharp and Ford still owns the team……

And remember one final thing Lions fans:

Forward down the field,
A charging team that will not yield.
And when the Blue and Silver wave,
Stand and cheer the brave.
Rah, rah, rah.
Go hard, win the game.
With honor you will keep your fame.
Down the field and gain,
A Lions victory!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOO LIONS

Mallard










PS- This whole drafting WR in the first round thing hasn't ever worked. If you needed more proof here is Roary who we took #2 overall during the Scott Mitchell years.