Although I write fairly often about Detroit sports teams here, I generally try to refrain from commenting too much on the Detroit Lions. I do, unfortunately, bleed Hawaiian blue, but I just don't see the point in talking about it too much publicly. Admitting to the world that I'm in an abusive sports relationship is definitely the kind of oversharing that I'd usually refrain from indulging in here. 

But the Lions are in the news again, or at least they will be soon. The NFL draft is coming up and the Lions, by virtue of their record-setting 0 and 16 record last season, own the #1 overall pick. Yippee. 

For Lions fans, the prospect of a #1 pick is more depressing than exciting. For starters, we had a stretch of six straight years of top ten picks between 2002 and 2007, so picking high in the draft is not new to us. Then there's the Lions' drafting record, which has been terrible.

Lions fans, of course, know the history of Detroit's recent top-10 picks: the Lions drafted Joey Harrington with the #3 overall pick in 2002; Charles Rogers with the #2 overall pick in 2003; Roy Williams with the #7 overall pick in 2004; Mike Williams with the #10 overall pick in 2005; Ernie Sims with the #9 overall pick in 2006; and Calvin Johnson with the #2 overall pick in 2007.


The Lions still miss Barry

The first thing that stands out from this record is the sheer number of high picks the Lions had during these years. The point of having bad teams draft high is to help them improve, but the Lions seem impervious to improvement. Despite having high picks year after year, they still end up among the worst teams in the NFL nearly every season. That they would go 0 and 16 so soon after a run of six straight years picking in the top ten every season is probably an accomplishment that is without parallel in professional sports history. 

But picking high doesn't help, of course, if you don't pick good players, and most of the Lions' picks have been either major or minor disappointment. Let's rate them from best to worst:

1. Calvin Johnson. This season, he really played great. He only had 78 receptions, but averaged over 17 yards per reception. He's big and strong and fights for extra yards. I'm really glad the Lions drafted him.

2. Roy Williams. Not nearly as good as Calvin Johnson, but nowhere near as bad as some of the other receivers the Lions have drafted (see below). The draft of Roy Williams has the possibility of being redeemed, however, thanks the favorable terms the Lions received when they traded Roy Williams to Dallas midway through the 2008 season. That trade has yielded, gasp, three more draft picks, so it could end up being either very good or very disappointing for the Lions.

3. Ernie Sims. Not a total bust, but not producing the sort of numbers you'd expect from a highly-touted linebacker. In three years he's had exactly 2.5 sacks and 1 interception.

4. Joey Harrington. Anytime Joey Harrington is the fourth-best pick out of six top ten draft choices, you know you're in trouble. But unlike the two picks that have turned out even worse than he has, Harrington is at least still receiving an NFL paycheck. He's currently on his fourth NFL team, most recently playing third-string on the non-playoff bound New Orleans Saints.

5. Mike Williams. Out of football.

6. Charles Rogers. Out of football, and in jail.  

So what is to be done with this kind of track record? The Lions own the #1 pick overall, and I just know they're going to blow it. Sure, Matt Millen is gone, but his replacements—Martin Mayhew and Tom Lewand—have both been in the Lions' organization for years. To me, this means that any pick that is not an absolute sure thing is in all probability going to be a disaster.

This year, people in Motown are once again talking about drafting a quarterback. Please. Haven't the Lions proven themselves incapable of assessing talent? When it comes to quarterbacks, the Lions have had a particularly brutal history. Andre Ware, Chuck Long, and Drew Stanton are just a few of the hapless quarterbacks on which the Lions have wasted draft picks.

So, what to do? My idea is that the Lions should trade down.  They can't be trusted with the #1 overall. Instead, they should get rid of that high pick, and try instead to transform it a larger number of picks. Get some solid linemen, and start filling up some of the many holes that exist all over that team. 

On the subject of quarterbacks, it's also worth noting how many top-flight college qbs have elected to stay in school this year rather than make themselves eligible for the draft. Fans of all of those colleges should write the Lions a thank-you note. Only the Lions could prompt a twenty year-old kid to turn down guaranteed millions and stay in college.

But the Lions will probably have the last laugh. Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy will go back to college for a year, but if their plan is to escape the Lions they're hardly going to be safe. Anyone who avoids the Lions this year by staying in school will just have to face them next year when the Lions inevitably pick again  in the top ten.