Mayhew Tries To Convnce Us Millen Was Responsible For it All

In an article (that I can't find now because it gave me a 401 error)at NBC sports earlier today, Martin Mayhew talks candidly about the roster he inherited, and what he basically gave Millen backhanded credit for when he took over the Detroit Lions GM job this past year. I'll throw a few quotes from it here, but obviously this link is useless.

Here is most f the story:

Lions General Manager Martin Mayhew says the problem in Detroit last year was a simple matter of not having enough talent.

Specifically, Mayhew says, when he took over control of a teams that had been built by previous team President Matt Millen, he inherited a roster on which backup-quality players were forced into starting roles.

"We had a number of spots where a player would have been perfect as, say, a third defensive end or a nickel, or as a backup special teams player," Mayhew told the Detroit News. "But they were forced onto the field and were a little overmatched, overwhelmed at times."

Mayhew said he hopes players like recent acquisitions Kyle Vanden Bosch, Corey Williams, and Nate Burleson will move into starting roles, allowing some players who were starters last year to move down the depth chart where they belong.

"That's definitely something that we took a long look at after the season," Mayhew said. "We feel like a lot of guys on our team are quality players and they belong in the league, but they need somebody ahead of them and they need to be in a rotation or in the right role."

While everyone can agree that the roster is lousy, and was when he took over, I find it funny how he has actually convinced some fans that Millen was 100% responsible for it all. Mayhew was his right hand man, and we know for sure that Millen spent an awful lot of time away from Ford Field while he was GM. This tells you right there, that Mayhew probably had a lot bigger hand in things than he is willing to admit, and I don't really blame him.

Of course I'm not going to give him credit for doing a good job just because he has been around one year and nobody considers any of his moves to be extreme busts yet. Well...there are probably a few. Taking a TE in the first round for an 0-16 team in Pettigrew was as bad a decision as I think you can make regardless of how high you rated him. He's a TE.

Stafford was literally a no-brainer, and any moron could take a QB at #1 overall. Delmas was rated, and taken about where he was selected in the 2nd so at best here you can jsut say they didn't screw this up. In the 3rd round they took Derrick Williams from Penn State to be a kick returner, and likely a #3 WR. He proved he could do neither last year, and that was a 3rd round pick on a team that should be starting almost every draft pick they make. The 4th rounder Sammie LEe Hill wouldn't start for 30/32 teams in the league, and the book is still out on him being anything worth not, yet because we got maybe a couple legit starters int hedraft he is praised by everyone. Why?

He hasn't signed any playmakers to the team yet. He overpaid Burleson mightily this year, and got Vandenboch at age 32 at DE. Both of these players have ties to coaches currently with the team so it isn't like he convince high level guys to come here. Schwartz got Vandenboch himself, which I guess is nice, but Millen let Marinelli sign the entire Tampa Bay roster one year.

Let's just tone it down on the praise of this guy, and the group assembled for now. He has done nothing any idiot couldn't do unless you want to give him credit for hiring Schwartz already even though we aren't going to see what he is truly capable of for another 2 years most likely. I guess if you want to be told how to think just go here because I told you to.

Step back, and realize this is still the Lions, and stop giving people extra praise for not being completely ignorant. Also, don't let him get away with trying to pretend he had nothing to do with anything that happened before he became GM.