TheFallenOne

Gimme a break. I can name 10 teams that draft worse than the Lions.

How about Miami or the Bengals for instance? The Saints, the Falcons, the Browns....

The Lions did very well drafting in '07. Alama-Francis will be DE/DT depth guy for years. Gerald Alexander was a smash hit as a starter and Calvin Johnson, despite some bad injury luck, made an immediate impact. Drew Stanton has very good potential.

The Lions started strong because Calvin scared the crap out of DCs. After he trashed his back, he lost 30% of his speed and never recovered. That's when the Lions started losing games. Eventually, their chronic losing culture re-emerged and they regressed. Ya, that sucked.

They will be better next year. Bank on it.

JCD

In the last 5-or-so years, you would be hard pressed to find a team worse than the Lions.

Lions:
NFL Draft History: Full Draft - by Team
Rd Sel # Player Position School
2007-
1 2 Calvin Johnson WR Georgia Tech
2 43 Drew Stanton QB Michigan State
2 58 Ikaika Alama-Francis DE Hawaii
2 61 Gerald Alexander FS Boise State
4 105 A.J. Davis CB North Carolina State
4 117 Manny Ramirez G Texas Tech
5 158 Johnny Baldwin LB Alabama A&M
7 255 Ramzee Robinson CB Alabama

Too early to say anything about this draft. Before getting too excited, Lions fans pimped there other drafts too. See how those turned out...

2006 -
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 9 Ernie Sims OLB Florida State
2 40 Daniel Bullocks SS Nebraska
3 74 Brian Calhoun RB Wisconsin
5 141 Jonathan Scott T Texas
6 179 Dee McCann CB West Virginia
7 217 Fred Matua G USC
7 247 Anthony Cannon LB Tulane

I think every 2nd day pick is off the roster already, just 1 year later. Sims is a quality player, but that is the only starter-caliber here.

2005 -
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 10 Mike Williams WR USC
2 37 Shaun Cody DE USC
3 72 Stanley Wilson DB Stanford
5 145 Dan Orlovsky QB Connecticut
6 184 Bill Swancutt DE Oregon State
6 206 Johnathan Goddard LB Marshall

Might as well flush this entire class down the toilet.

2004 -
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 7 Roy Williams WR Texas
1 30 Kevin Jones RB Virginia Tech
2 37 Teddy Lehman OLB Oklahoma
3 73 Keith Smith CB McNeese State
5 140 Alex Lewis LB Wisconsin
6 172 Kelly Butler T Purdue

That most of them are still on the roster makes this, easily, their best class.

2003 -
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 2 Charles Rogers WR Michigan State
2 34 Boss Bailey OLB Georgia
3 66 Cory Redding DE Texas
4 99 Artose Pinner RB Kentucky
5 137 Terrence Holt DB North Carolina State
5 144 James Davis LB West Virginia
6 175 David Kircus WR Grand Valley State
7 216 Ben Johnson T Wisconsin
7 220 Blue Adams CB Cincinnati
7 236 Brandon Drumm -- Colorado
7 260 Travis Anglin -- Memphis

El stinko. Redding is the only one left on the roster, and he is a grossly overpaid average player.

2002 -
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 3 Joey Harrington QB Oregon
2 35 Kalimba Edwards DE South Carolina
3 68 Andre' Goodman DB South Carolina
4 134 John Taylor DE Montana State
5 138 John Owens TE Notre Dame
6 175 Chris Cash CB USC
7 214 Luke Staley RB Brigham Young
7 252 Matt Murphy TE Maryland
7 259 Victor Rogers G Colorado

Another draft not worth mentioning.

That is positively brutal drafting.


Compare that to the Bengals you mention:
Bengals:
2007 -
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 18 Leon Hall CB Michigan
2 49 Kenny Irons RB Auburn
4 114 Marvin White SAF Texas Christian
5 151 Jeff Rowe QB Nevada-Reno
6 187 Matt Toeaina DT Oregon
7 230 Dan Santucci G Notre Dame
7 253 Nedu Ndukwe DB Notre Dame

Too early to tell.

2006 -
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 24 Johnathan Joseph CB South Carolina
2 55 Andrew Whitworth T Louisiana State
3 91 Frostee Rucker DE USC
4 123 Domata Peko DT Michigan State
5 157 A.J. Nicholson LB Florida State
6 193 Reggie McNeal WR Texas A&M
7 209 Ethan Kilmer DB Penn State
7 231 Bennie Brazell WR Louisiana State
Ahmad Brooks LB Virginia

5 are still with the team, 4 of them starting or seeing extensive time.

2005 -
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 17 David Pollack LB Georgia
2 48 Odell Thurman MLB Georgia
3 83 Chris Henry WR West Virginia
4 119 Eric Ghiaciuc C Central Michigan
5 153 Adam Kieft T Central Michigan
6 190 Tab Perry WR UCLA
7 233 Jonathan Fanene DE Utah

1st two draft picks were ruined due to injuries and thug-dom (though Thurman was an excellent player). 1st 6 picks are still with the team, 3 of them starters or former starters.

2004 -
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 26 Chris Perry RB Michigan
2 49 Keiwan Ratliff CB Florida
2 56 Madieu Williams FS Maryland
3 80 Caleb Miller LB Arkansas
3 96 Landon Johnson MLB Purdue
4 114 Matthias Askew DT Michigan State
4 117 Robert Geathers DE Georgia
4 123 Stacy Andrews T Mississippi
5 149 Maurice Mann WR Nevada-Reno
6 183 Greg Brooks CB Southern Mississippi
7 218 Casey Bramlet QB Wyoming

Easily their worst class. Still managed to find 3 starters (or heavy rotational players) in Williams, Johnson and Geathers.

2003 -
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 1 Carson Palmer QB USC
2 33 Eric Steinbach G Iowa
3 65 Kelley Washington WR Tennessee
4 98 Dennis Weathersby CB Oregon State
4 118 Jeremi Johnson FB Western Kentucky
5 136 Khalid Abdullah LB Mars Hill
6 174 Langston Moore DT South Carolina
7 215 Scott Kooistra T North Carolina State
7 259 Elton Patterson DE Central Florida

Palmer, Johnson and Steinbach are some of the best in the league at their position. That alone makes this a fantastic class.

2002 -
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 10 Levi Jones T Arizona State
2 41 Lamont Thompson DB Washington State
3 67 Matt Schobel TE Texas Christian
4 109 Travis Dorsch K Purdue
6 181 Marquand Manuel SS Florida
7 219 Joey Evans -- North Carolina

4 of them are still in the league. Jones is one of the better LTs around.

About the only team that has been as consistently bad on Draft Day as the Lions has been the Dolphins. Which is why they are 1-15. Thing is, The Dolphins cleaned house and brought in Tuna to build the team anew.

Lions are sticking with Millen. Easily the worst GM in the league.

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NFL_WIZARD

I hope your right. However, all i have in my lifetime is 3 dozen "Just wait until next year".

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Sincerely,
The Wiz

LooseChange25

Being a Vikings fan, I can't say much more...maybe we make the playoffs, but we don't go anywhere.

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All Day