Grading Mayhew, How Has He Done?

Matt Millen was one of if not the worst General Managers in the history of the National Football League. Think about that for a second. Out of literally hundreds of GMs, Matt Millen could be the worst one. Astonishing really.So how could someone who worked for Millen be considered anything but a failure when he replaces him? When I heard Martin Mayhew was taking over for Millen, I was thinking we have another 5+ years of losing to go through. As a Lions fan, that is pretty much on par for our fandom. But surprisingly, Mayhew has been up to the task so far.

It all started in the middle of Millen's last season, after he was fired. Mayhew needed to make a move to show everyone that he was no Matt Millen. And he did in a big way. At the trade deadline he did the unthinkable, trade away one of our best players. Under most circumstances that would be a sign of woe. But Mayhew not only traded Roy Williams, he got much more than he was worth. At the time Williams was a good starting WR, worth of approximately a first round pick. Mayhew conned Jerry Jones out of an extra third and fifth. At the time it seemed like a solid move. Today it seems like such a steal. Williams would probably go for a third round pick at the highest right now, probably a 5th.

So Mayhew got one good trade in, that's the end right? He has to screw up somewhere right? Then the offseason came, and he fired coach Marinelli. I really thought Marinelli was a good coach, so it kind of shocked me, but 0-16 is 0-16.Then he hired Jim Schwartz. I was hoping for a more experienced head coach, or Rex Ryan. I wasn't terribly upset by the decision though, Schwartz was a great Defensive Coordinator. Then the next 2 decisions opened my eyes. Scott Linehan and Gunther Cunningham. Both experienced coordinators who were good with their systems. Definitely a huge plus.

Then he started signing journeyman free agents, like Phillip Buchanon, Larry Foote and Grady Jackson, along with trading Jon Kitna for Anthony Henry and Cory Redding for Julian Peterson. A lot of people complained about these moves, but I was quite impressed. You can't expect talented players to want to play for a perpetually losing team. The moves were solid, which is much better than under Millen.

The only thing left to worry about was the draft. I wanted to take either Aaron Curry or Michael Oher with the #1 overall pick. I did not like Matthew Stafford, or any of the other quarterbacks. Then we not only drafted Stafford, but signed him to the most guarenteed money of any player, topping Washington's mega deal they laid out for Albert Haynesworth, an elite veteran. I was highly sceptical. I wanted to wait for Sam Bradford this year. Then when Michael Oher was there at #20, I swore we were going to get him, and that would make me happy. Then we drafted Pettigrew. I was upset, but not totally down. Pettigrew was an amazing prospect at a talent devoid position, and he can block. So he's half Oher, half Maclin. So I called that a wash. Then we picked up Delmas over 2 MLB prospects I had rated mid-late firsts. But same with Pettigrew, I called it a wash. I mean we did have Foote to hold MLB for a little while.

The rest of the draft it was just pick after pick of what I thought were good picks. DeAndre Levy would be a solid backup, Derrick Williams would be a good returner. Samie Lee Hill would develop into a nice run stuffer as a backup. So on so forth. Out of all the picks, from he 3rd round on, I thought we would have some good depth in the future. Boy was I wrong.

Turns out, 5 of our picks are going to be starters in this league. Stafford didn't wow people with his numbers, but with his toughness. Pettigrew was having a season that compares well to the rookie seasons of Tony Gonzales and Antonio Gates. Delmas had a monster season, as he became the only player in NFL history to return an INT and fumble for a touchdown and get a safety. DeAndre Levy proved he can handle LBer duties, while Sammie Lee Hill proved he could stop the run. Aaron Brown and Zach Follett both showed some amazing flashes during the season as well. I can't remember the last time we had a draft class this promising.

Fast forward to this offseason, where Mayhew continued to make solid, if not flashy, moves. He didn't overpay for any high priced trades. He may have overpaid on salaries, but he needed something to get players here. He traded for recent high picks/former good players for low prices, and he avoided killer trades such as trading for Anquan Boldin or Brandon Marshall. He missed out on some things, but not every team can get every player.

Overall, I'm going to give Mayhew a B+. He has made a lot of progress, but I'm still not sold on Stafford. If this draft goes the way of last year's draft, he could be bumped up to A+.