BMW could hang 'em up
Not only is there no chance Mike Williams will ever suit up for the Lions, says Tom Kowalski on WDFN-AM Detroit. There's a chance he may be finished with football.

Audio links from WDFN here: http://www.mlive.com/lions/

There's just no point in making the Millen comment anymore.

This just keeps getting worse and worse. Millen drafted a guy that might not even want to play? Wow...not a good judge of a football player.

Jimmy Johnson can salvage this organization. GM or Coach or both.

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Show of hands, who actually liked the Mike Williams pick from the start?

I wanted Jammal Brown (OT for the Saints), most wanted Derrick Johnson.

I can't fault Millen for some of the drafts. The Roy and Kevin draft was good, I also though Chucky would be good, Joey I never liked (I wanted Brees the year we took Backus) but I understood that pick. The only pick I truly hated was the Mike Williams one because we had no OL and no LB's.

There is no point talking about Millen anymore though. He's terrible, bottom line. I think the 5-39 road record speaks for itself.

I was in the Derrick Johnson boat. I couldn't stand the pick when we made it, and I can't stand it now. That is the only time I have ever yelled at the TV during a professional sports draft.

I wonder if Mel Kiper still thinks BMW is the best player in that draft?

Maybe we should have drafted Mel Kiper.

i liked williams just because i remembered what he did to the wolverines, and thought he was a cant miss, way better than anyone on the board, type player.

however, i also said millen must have started early that day (drinking) to think that drafting another WR was a good idea--no matter how talented.

this is good timing though. get the fans a little momentum. i think theres about a 30% chance ford field burns down if joey beats us on thanksgiving. im not kidding about that. this could really pump up the fans.

I never though BMW would be a bust. I thought he'd be a very good WR (like Keyshaun basically). I just hated the pick because we already had two top 10 WR picks here. Even if Mike worked out, you still shorted your OL, LB and CB corps. It's better to build your OL and DL core thru the first couple rounds and take fliers on WR's in the later rounds were you might get a steal (ie Colston). If you don't get a steal (ie Kircus), then there are always journeymen WR's that you can use for a year and take a flier on a late WR again the next draft. Fliers on OL rarely work, at least that I know of.

I was in the group that wanted Derrick Johnson. He hasn't been quite as strong as I thought he might be, but 95 tackles from a rookie is pretty nice. He's on pace for a similar season this year, already has twice the sacks.

Imagine what this team would be like if we had drafted Jammer, Andre Johnson and Derrick Johnson instead of Harrington, Rogers and Williams. It would have set us up for Leinart this past year. I would have liked that a lot. (huge understatement)

I promise that any regular on this site could have drafted better than Millen every single year.

My drafts would have been (and this is what I wanted at the time):

2001: Brees over Backus.
2002: Roy Williams (safety) over Joey
2003: I would have taken Rogers unfortunately
2004: Roy Williams, but I didn't see the Jones deal coming (which i like)
2005: Jammal Brown

Basically you swap Brown for Backus, Brees for Joey...and instead of Mike Williams we have Roy Williams (the safety). I think we'd be a lot better, though I admit I didn't forsee the Kevin Jones deal.

good debate:

complete stranger off the street (might not even follow the nfl/ college football) armed with nothing more than a $5 sports illustrated (draft preview edition) vs matt millen and his endless scouting budget. who'd you want drafting your team?

I think the Lions should have an open tryout for reciever. We all could get a serious look.

Maybe Millen is part of the make-a-wish foundation - the wish being one day playing reciever for an NFL team. "I can't get you an NFL team, but I can get you the Lions."

M Williams 1 Catch 7 Yards

Kowalski: FTL

My drafts would have been (and this is what I wanted at the time):

2001: Brees over Backus.
2002: Roy Williams (safety) over Joey
2003: I would have taken Rogers unfortunately
2004: Roy Williams, but I didn't see the Jones deal coming (which i like)
2005: Jammal Brown

Basically you swap Brown for Backus, Brees for Joey...and instead of Mike Williams we have Roy Williams (the safety). I think we'd be a lot better, though I admit I didn't forsee the Kevin Jones deal.

'01 - I wanted Hutch(but he got picked), Archuleta, or Duece
'02 - Bryant McKinnie or Levi Jones
'03 - I probably would have taken Chuck
'04 - I wanted Taylor, Dunta and Big Ben were also high on my list, Taylor got picked, so I probably would have went Dunta
'05 - Definitely in the Derrick Johnson group, want to trade down a couple picks and get him, or just get him
'06 - I wanted Ngata, Sims seems fine though.

I actually appreciate, to some degree, the type of player that Marinelli wants. Hard work and grit. Mike Furrey has been 50 times better than I expected.

But, I would strongly prefer talent to go with the work ethic. I just hope we have a different GM working with Marinelli in April to make those picks. I'm sure there are guys with the talent AND the work ethic. We could use some of those badly. All in all, I have little to complain about so far with Marinelli. There is too much other blame to go around before I attack him in his first year.

Killer said this morning on WRIF that Mike hustled on special teams and scout teams the last couple weeks to earn his PT. He said Mike wouldn't have played if Drummond and Ellis were healthy, but that Rod was impressed with his worth ethic lately. If BMW keeps it up he might earn some PT regardless.

They have to get a good look at him IMO. You can't go into next year not knowing if you have a viable 2nd/3rd wr to pair with Roy and Furrey. They'll still need to take one in the middle rounds, but you have to know what you have in BMW before the end of the year.

A 180 from Kowalski


Lions, Mike Williams finally working together

There's still no word on whether Mike Williams will be activated for Sunday's game, but the team and the second-year receiver are finally working toward a common goal.

Williams is still overweight and not close to reaching his target weight of 220 but the Lions have told him they will reduce his fines if he continues to work on getting his weight down. By league rule, the Lions are allowed to double and triple the fines for repeated offenses and they've been doing that. But, as Williams continues to work hard during practice, the Lions have agreed to throttle back on those fines.

The Lions have also put Williams on a running program which he has accepted. Williams was very upbeat about the situation on Monday because it's an indication the team is working with him and not against him. He now feels the coaching staff is willing to forgive past indiscretions and give him a chance. Williams is well aware, though, that the coaches won't forget. The staff still doesn't trust Williams and they're a long way from knowing what to expect out of him day to day.

Williams said that was fine with him, he only wants a chance to prove himself over the final five weeks of the season to show that he can be a big contributor to the team going into next season.

I've had a couple of lengthy chats with Williams over the last week and I told him I didn't think he had the desire to play pro football beyond this year and that he was a master of telling people what they want to hear. I was surprised by the level of maturity in which he responded; he didn't get mad or blow off the comments, he basically said there was nothing he could say to change people's perceptions about him, he could only do it with hard work on the field.

Like the coaches, I'm skeptical of him because of his track record but, like the coaches, you can see some signs that maybe -- just maybe -- he's turned the corner.

:killer:

That article sounds upbeat as can be considering the circumstances, but how much can he help us if he gets into form? Kitna sucks, we get killed by injuries every year. (I wonder if that has something to do with the way we train, but whatever) Something drastic needs to happen, and bmw coming back would be a step in the right direction, but there are big issues on this team...


ps. this is my first post in a bajillion years, schools been kicking my ass, but i think i'll be around some more now

i saw more of Mccown out there than Mike yesterday. What is this organization doing?

Now he's demanding that Williams gets some playing time, lol.

He's right, of course, but what a reversal.

:killer:


Mike Williams.

Josh McCown has some value as the backup quarterback there, so leave him alone. Can McCown play receiver and get some things accomplished? Absolutely, but that's not the point.

It's high time that Martz quits trying to dodge the Mike Williams situation and just puts him on the field. Martz doesn't think he's fast enough for the outside receiver position and he might be right, but Marinelli has to put his foot down and tell Martz to play Williams anyway so the Lions can see what he's got.

If Williams is a bust and he's going to be cut in the off-season, Marinelli better make darn certain that Williams doesn't have the talent to resurface somewhere else and be productive -- while he's still spending $10 million of the Lions' money. Not to mention the fact the Lions aren't in the position to let anybody with a modicum of talent escape their weak roster.

Martz has spent too much time this season tinkering with the receivers and bringing in players like Az Hakim and Kevin Kasper and then sending them right out again. There's nobody else to pull off the street so now he's using McCown.

Get over it. Play Mike Williams.

[smilie=TD Lions]