Armchair GMs...check this out.

[Mebert]

I think Stafford IS the 18th ranked qb......

 

[lionstop1]

Ok, so list some of the accomplishments and compare.

 

[broncosmitty]

I think Stafford IS the 18th ranked qb......

I think that's fair.

Id say 13-14, but 18 is fair.

 

[gandydancer]

Ranking him 18 is pretty damn fair if you ask me. There's so many factors to consider as to why a GM is a good one or not. All of these guys walk into different situations. For Mayhew, inheriting this team had to be really bad in the beginning. Theres no way around it and to say otherwise would be completely unrealistic. Trial and error should be expected from a guy that has never been in the position.

I do agree the middle of the pack is a decent area for him.

Now Mayhew is starting to get out of cap hell and has gotten talent on the roster finally. So how many more years do you give him? Two, three? Before you realize that Mebert may have been right in saying" Mayhew got the Lions to the middle of the road and may only be a middle of the road GM" not verbatim, but still quoted Mebert without going bakkerds.

Lions winning and losing do not control my BP. I hope to have another 30 or so years on earth if the good Lord is willing. I just don't want to wait that long on Mayhew to build a SB contender and not a playoff contender. That is what gets you ranked top ten and not middle of the road.

 

[lionstop1]

I do agree the middle of the pack is a decent area for him.

Now Mayhew is starting to get out of cap hell and has gotten talent on the roster finally. So how many more years do you give him? Two, three? Before you realize that Mebert may have been right in saying" Mayhew got the Lions to the middle of the road and may only be a middle of the road GM" not verbatim, but still quoted Mebert without going bakkerds.

Lions winning and losing do not control my BP. I hope to have another 30 or so years on earth if the good Lord is willing. I just don't want to wait that long on Mayhew to build a SB contender and not a playoff contender. That is what gets you ranked top ten and not middle of the road.

I wouldn't give him much longer but I think right now is where fans can get a real good idea about what kind of GM he is and what his planning will be like moving forward. He will have a good amount of decisions to make coming up so lets see how that goes. I'd say last years draft is still up in the air but we will see how good it was this year, imo.

I dont put all the losses directly on him as I see the coaches and players as being held accountable for some of that too.

 

[Thruthefog]

I wouldn't give him much longer but I think right now is where fans can get a real good idea about what kind of GM he is and what his planning will be like moving forward. He will have a good amount of decisions to make coming up so lets see how that goes. I'd say last years draft is still up in the air but we will see how good it was this year, imo.

I dont put all the losses directly on him as I see the coaches and players as being held accountable for some of that too.

I'm still feeling ashamed because Meow saw it a full year before I did. I can't imagine how you're going to feel.

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

I'd say last years draft is still up in the air but we will see how good it was this year

as it should be. I realize many want to grade out players only having 1 year but new HC, new DC, new OC, new schemes, new players taking over starter positions by former players or ones that got injured.

please wait until after season 2016 until you address any players capabilities or lack thereof for the 2014 draftees.

I would have loved to been on your CBS board and to have read comments regarding Levy from seasons 2009 thru 2012. That would have been 4 yrs. time. I would bet many were questioning his capabilities before end of 2010, if not before. Hell, maybe even pre-season snaps in 2009.

 

[jdwills126]

First when the Lions fired Millen they should have broomed the entire organization. The stench of 0-16 should have been flushed and nobody in management that helped that debacle should have been retained. I have always thought that.

The fact we still talk about Millen is a prime example of why everyone should have gotten whacked with him. It offends my sense of fan participation with what he did to the Lions! And every time his name is mention it sounds like a flare up of Lions herpes.

Mayhew is a doing a bad job not because of Millen though. He is doing it all on his own, with some help from Lewand. A list of GMs is about as definitive as a list of best dogs or pizza places. What I do know is the Lions have not won a playoff game since 91? Their cap is a fucking mess! And they still can't beat Green Bay on the road.

Mayhew has done some solid moves....trading Roy Williams....but the picks he got never really helped get Detroit over the top. Trading for Houston great move only offset by giving him a big contract and cutting him the next year.

I want to see a competitive team that plays a home playoff game, wins a playoff game, and yes gets to the Superbowl. I do not see a middle of the road GM getting the Lions to those places. If your drafted QB does not perform you part ways....Joey Harrington. If your GM does not deliver you part ways. And I am sorry in my opinion an 11 win season where you beat one team with a winning record and lost in the first round is not a great season.

I want great damn it.

 

[gandydancer]

I was one questioning. I am guilty as charged.

 

[Thruthefog]

If they were to fire Mayhew and not show Lewand the door as well, they accomplish nothing.

Mayhew may have been able to do a better job if he had someone that knew how to manage the cap. Of course, I don't know in reality, how blurred their two jobs have become. Or, put another way, how much input Mayhew has on the cap, and whether Lewand considers talent when 'doing his job'.

However it goes down, no one was there to prevent the cap mess they got themselves into, that could have been avoided without losing the talent that they did.

 

[TwoCents22]

I don't get why someone would hold Mayhew accountable alongside Millen, and at the same time praise Xanders and bash Mayhew.

 

[Thruthefog]

Last year, I couldn't understand why people (not all) could be so pessimistic about the Lions.

This year, I can't understand why people (not all) can be so optimistic about the Lions.

Then I saw it. The homers are still the homers. The haters are still the haters. The fence sitters are still the fence sitters. And me and laker are the only two expressing an opinion based on which direction the franchise is heading.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

I don't get why someone would hold Mayhew accountable alongside Millen, and at the same time praise Xanders and bash Mayhew.

I can make an educated guess on why. Xander has been with the Lions for two of their six drafts. His first year with Detroit -- The Lions had the best draft during Mayhew's tenure. 2014's class, it remains to be seen.
Mayhew's 1st 4 draft classes -- two of them have no draft picks left on the roster. Xanders was with Denver during this time, where Denver excelled in the draft. From 2009-2012 -- Denver drafted Demaryius Thomas, Julius Thomas, Von Miller, Eric Decker, Ryan Clady, Orlando Franklin, Robert Ayers, Derek Wolf, Rahim Moore to name a few.

So my guess is -- people are assuming Xanders has a hand in the last two draft classes, along with Mayhew. But many of the past mistakes in restructuring contracts to the point where we lose the best player on our team -- it was done before Xanders was in Detroit.

In reality -- none of us know how much input anyone has on the draft. All we know is Xanders was brought in to stream line the draft process and make information more accessible in the draft room.

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

However it goes down, no one was there to prevent the cap mess they got themselves into, that could have been avoided without losing the talent that they did.

JMO, owners should grow a sack of balls and step in at that point regardless of whatever Lewand/Mayhew had sold him into believing. In what American run business does an owner allow this type of B.S. to go on for years and years. Most owners of any business, with practical/logical sense, will or should evaluate said business at the end of every fiscal/calendar year from a financial perspective. I'm specifically talking about 1 owner, WCF Sr., who had an extremely vast knowledge of running 1 of the oldest and profitable companies. IMO, he is deserving of quite bit of the blame also. He allowed this team to be put into fiscal captivity.

 

[broncosmitty]

I don't get why someone would hold Mayhew accountable alongside Millen, and at the same time praise Xanders and bash Mayhew.

I dont' understand the Xanders love at all. Never have.

Cuz hes not Mayhew?

But most of the same people that prop up Xanders, also defend Mayhew.

Like Caldwell bringing discipline, but the Lions having more penalties with him as HC than with Schwartz.

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

All we know is Xanders was brought in to stream line the draft process and make information more accessible in the draft room.

according to a local media report, I don't currently have it stored to put up a link, Xanders was brought in to the organization to clean up the shit fest of a scouting dept. that existed and also add his knowledge to the draft process.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

according to a local media report, I don't currently have it stored to put up a link, Xanders was brought in to the organization to clean up the shit fest of a scouting dept. that existed and also add his knowledge to the draft process.

I thought I had read he was brought in to implement some interface for the draft process, so the front office would be able to get info much quicker on prospective draft picks in the draft room.

It was a while ago I read that about him, so I could be way off base.

 

[lionstop1]

I can make an educated guess on why. Xander has been with the Lions for two of their six drafts. His first year with Detroit -- The Lions had the best draft during Mayhew's tenure. 2014's class, it remains to be seen.
Mayhew's 1st 4 draft classes -- two of them have no draft picks left on the roster. Xanders was with Denver during this time, where Denver excelled in the draft. From 2009-2012 -- Denver drafted Demaryius Thomas, Julius Thomas, Von Miller, Eric Decker, Ryan Clady, Orlando Franklin, Robert Ayers, Derek Wolf, Rahim Moore to name a few.

So my guess is -- people are assuming Xanders has a hand in the last two draft classes, along with Mayhew. But many of the past mistakes in restructuring contracts to the point where we lose the best player on our team -- it was done before Xanders was in Detroit.

In reality -- none of us know how much input anyone has on the draft. All we know is Xanders was brought in to stream line the draft process and make information more accessible in the draft room.

So what you're saying is...is that Xanders had something to do with the Ebron pick or is that somehow removed from the equation?

 

[Thruthefog]

JMO, owners should grow a sack of balls and step in at that point regardless of whatever Lewand/Mayhew had sold him into believing. In what American run business does an owner allow this type of B.S. to go on for years and years. Most owners of any business, with practical/logical sense, will or should evaluate said business at the end of every fiscal/calendar year from a financial perspective. I'm specifically talking about 1 owner, WCF Sr., who had an extremely vast knowledge of running 1 of the oldest and profitable companies. IMO, he is deserving of quite bit of the blame also. He allowed this team to be put into fiscal captivity.

Absolutely. It was a clusterfuck from top to bottom. No way the owners escape responsibility for this.

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

I thought I had read he was brought in to implement some interface for the draft process, so the front office would be able to get info much quicker on prospective draft picks in the draft room.

It was a while ago I read that about him, so I could be way off base.

yeah your right in a lot of regards. here's the link I remember reading
Martin Mayhew, Detroit Lions hire Brian Xanders as Senior Personnel Executive

BB_72: I strictly was going off of memory and shouldn't have without checking but some points in this are what "I was attempting to make"
the following is from that article above
"Brian is a guy I've known for a while as a GM in Denver," Mayhew said. "He has a broad array of experience in a lot of different area and he's another set of eyes on the pro and college scouting.

"He's also a guy who's well-versed in football technology and I think he brings something to the table in that area as well."

One of Xanders' first responsibilities with the Detroit Lions is setting up an in-house scouting system.

"One big thing he's going to be working on right now is building a new scouting system," Mayhew said. "We've contracted that out in the past and bought product from other people and we're actually going to build our own system internally designed strictly for us that we can design and set up."

Xanders has experience building such a system in Atlanta in the 90s, which was one of the first systems built internally like that.