"Well, I would consider Joique Bell to be an offensive playmaker," he said of the Wayne State product he signed off the New Orleans Saints' practice squad. "He's a pretty good player. I think (2013 sixth-round pick) Theo Riddick's also a pretty good player for us as well. The first part of your statement, I disagree with that."Joique wasn't drafted and Riddick hasn't done a damn thing. If we are being honest, has he drafted anyone on the offensive side that has turned into a play maker? Petigrew had a couple good seasons but beyond that? Nothing.
Finally someone in the media is ready to ask real questions of this front office instead of throwing them softballs all day long.
I, honestly am trying to be less biased against this FO for the purposes of this blog. It just isn't easy.
ReplyDeleteNo this current FO has not found a playmaker. Martin has had a lot of swing and misses trying to do so. And since he said that he is primary the guy that is really responsible for the first several rounds of the draft after that he relies on the scouts and others for the later rounds, he has done a horrible job of drafting playmakers.
Deletec'mon Best was one of the best playmakers in the draft that year.
ReplyDeleteMayhew found him and he proved to be a successful playmaker but just couldn't stay healthy. If he'd entered a few seasons earlier, he'd still be playing and probably end up paying a huge price for it at the end of his career.
Broyles was the leading WR in NCAA history, and made plays with "kelley moore" throwing him the ball… it's not Mayhew's fault the coaches didn't use him. And don't get me started on Theo, who made plays just also was buried behind Reggie on the depth chart for no real reason, and there's Corey Fuller who caught the game winner against NO.
.. how'd I sound?
Like a few people I care not to mention.
DeleteThe more I read some of Mayhew's comments the more I am sure he is just Chuck Schmidt 2.0.
ReplyDeleteFirst he breaks down how he and his scouting team goes about the draft, where Mayhew is the guy doing the scouting on the prospects that will be taken in the first couple of rounds. The scouts are the ones that are finding the later round guys.
"Mayhew said about 50% of his personal draft prep goes into the first 2 rounds. Later rounds, relies heavily on scouts"
So the guys that he thinks are the "playmakers" were most likely guys that the scouts found cus was not familiar with them.
i found these most recent quotes to be very interesting and a little more revealing than I notice in the past that offered insight/guesses into the inner workings of the Lions.
DeleteIn his quote you mention, I can't help but wonder how this compares to other teams and even how much Mayhew would know how it compares with other teams since he's really just been in this capacity with the Lions and then under M*****.
I wonder how much Mayhew sees he is changing,m if at all, and if he thinks he's cost the Lions… how critical he is of his performance and if he feels , while he can't say so publicly or step down, he might also feel like some of this he would have known had he been exposed to better experience.
Cruize, I think you are insulting Schmidt here. The Lions won a playoff game and made the playoffs 50% of the time he was GM. He was bad, Mayillen is worse.
DeleteBilly, that is just it. He didn't and still doesn't know because he has never been part of any winning program. He learned from the worst GM in NFL history (I say that a lot but it is patently true). Sure, he is learning on the job but he starting point was so low, he could really only improve so far.
I'm ready for him to prove his methods- give Lions back to back winning seasons another playoff push, the offense step to where we expect it… or to feel like it's treading water or sinking if they stick by.
Deletethe thing is, I see enough built in change, no matter the record, that a case could be made to have Mayhew stay.. so that;'s two more years at least.
I can understand that. I don't agree with it but I can understand that. I don't believe this coming season is even going to be treading water. We have been going backwards all off season on defense in particular the D line.
DeleteThat defense was the reason last year. That defense is gone.
Defense: I think most people think you can just plug 'n play players in the line up and everything should be fine. Ngata is a totally different type of player than Suh is/was. Not seeing a lot of players on this roster that can get after the QB. If pressure on the QB is less how will the back 4 play? How will Mathis do this season? You always hope that you can get a repeat performance out of the 35 year old but you really cannot count on it.
ReplyDelete