Here’s a fun fact – under former GM Martin Mayhew the Lions drafted 53 players and only one – Ndamukong Suh – became a first-team All-Pro. Furthermore, of that group, Suh and Matthew Stafford are the only players to have made Pro Bowls so far.
Here’s more out of Detroit:
- It could be hard for the Lions to find a trade partner for Stafford, but given the lack of quality quarterbacks out there, there could be a market, Mike Florio of PFT writes. On Thursday, it was reported that Stafford’s future in Detroit beyond 2015 is in doubt. Stafford, 27, is completing passes at a career-high 64.5% rate, but he has already nearly matched last year’s interception total in just a half-season, and his yards per completion average is the lowest it has been since 2010. While Stafford is under contract through the 2017 season, his deal doesn’t feature any more guaranteed money after this year.
- With Mayhew out of the picture, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press ran down ten Lions GM candidates to watch. Birkett’s list starts with Packers director of pro personnel Eliot Wolf, who figures to be a hot candidate this offseason. Wolf, 33, is the son of Hall-of-Fame general manager Ron Wolf and knows the NFC North well. Birkett also mentions Ravens assistant GM Eric DeCosta, who is the heir apparent to the GM job in Baltimore and therefore will be hard to pluck away.
- Walter Cherepinsky of WalterFootball.com gave the Lions an “A” grade for the firing of Mayhew. While his tenure was promising to start, Mayhew made multiple poor draft picks as GM, including Brandon Pettigrew, Jahvid Best, Titus Young, Riley Reiff, Ryan Broyles, and Kyle Van Noy. The Lions were also fleeced in a deal this spring when they acquire Haloti Ngata from Baltimore.