Re-Drafting for Millen

The NFL Combine is going on right now, and when it's done I'll start looking at who the Lions might/should target. But first I'd like to do a bit of revisionist history. Most Detroit sports fans know, Matt Millen was the worst GM ever to happen to an NFL franchise in the history of football. No exaggeration. The architect of the 0-16 2008 season deserves that designation. Well, what would the Lions look like if Millen was the BEST GM in NFL history (or at least, somewhat respectable)?

2001 NFL Draft
This was probably Millen's best draft, which is actually kinda sad. He took LT Jeff Backus in round 1, and then Dom Raiola and Shaun Rodgers in round 2, none of whom could be considered a bust. Sorry, that last sentence should end with a '!!!' as this is a rare occurrence in the Millen Era. Actually, this brings up a point - one of the worst aspects of Millen's draft process was he often would trade away a lot of picks to move up in the draft. This is almost always DUMB, unless you're Matt Millen, in which case it is ALWAYS DUMB.
1st round, pick 18 - LT Jeff Backus. Could've had WR Reggie Wayne (6 Pro Bowls, 1 1st-team All Pro), TE Todd Heap (2 Pro Bowls), QB Drew Brees (9 Pro Bowls, 1 1st-team All Pro), or DE Kyle Vanden Bosch (3 Pro Bowls). Obviously the best-case scenario is Brees.
2nd rd, pick 50 - C Dominic Raiola. Could've had WR Chris Chambers (1 Pro Bowl). Of course their original pick was #48, which the Patriots used to draft... LT Matt Light (3 Pro Bowls, 1 1st-team All Pro), anchor of the Pats' O-line from 2001-2011.
2nd rd, pick 61 - DT Shaun Rogers. Ok, this was a good pick, but it cost Millen his 3rd & 4th rounders. Rogers would go on to make 3 Pro Bowls (2 with Detroit) before his legal troubles & various other troubles caught up with him. Probably better production than the Lions could've gotten out of the other 2 picks.

2002 NFL Draft
The 2002 draft was a bad one in general, so I'm going to argue (against my better judgment) that we should cut Millen a LITTLE slack for this one.
1st rd, pick 3 - QB Joey Harrington. Could've had DE Dwight Freeney (7 Pro Bowls, 3 1st-team All Pro), S Ed Reed (9 Pro Bowls, 5 1st-team All Pro), or DT Albert Haynesworth (2 Pro Bowls, 2 1st-team All Pro). Reed is the best of that group but would've been a stretch to take 3rd overall at the time. If Millen had Brees in 2001, maybe he would've taken Freeney. Haynesworth & Shaun Roger on the same team would've been an unmitigated disaster.
2nd rd, pick 35 - DE Kalimba Edwards. Could've had OG Andre Gurode (5 Pro Bowls), RB Clinton Portis (2 Pro Bowls), or WR Deion Branch (no Pro Bowls but did win 2004 Super Bowl MVP, so...). Gurode would've been the best option, especially if Millen had taken Freeney in round 1.
3rd rd, pick 68 - CB Andre' Goodman. Could've had RB Brian Westbrook (2 Pro Bowls, 1 1st-team All Pro), LB Will Witherspoon, or LB Larry Foote. Goodman had a couple of good years at the end of his career & not with the Lions. Westbrook was a solid 2-way back and would've avoided the Kevin Jones debacle a couple years later.

2003 NFL Draft
This draft began Millen's ill-fated love affair with the wide receiver position. Oh boy.
1st rd, pick 2 - WR Charles Rodgers. Maybe Millen's worst pick ever, getting absolutely ZERO from the #2 pick. Could've had WR Andre Johnson (OH MY GOD, 7 Pro Bowls, 2 1st-team All Pro, arguably best WR in the league before Calvin owned that), DE Terrell Suggs (6 Pro Bowls, 1 1st-team All Pro), or S Troy Polamalu (8 Pro Bowls, 4 1st-team All Pro, 1 DPOY). Polamalu was the best player but had a late-1st round grade at the time. Drafting Johnson at 2 would've been no stretch at all, since he actually went 3rd.
2nd rd, pick 34 - LB Boss Bailey. Could've had CB Charles Tillman (2 Pro Bowls, 1 1st-team All Pro), CB Rashean Mathis (1 Pro Bowl, 1 1st-team All Pro), or CB Drayton Florence. The Lions' pass D would've been MUCH better had they taken Tillman. Interestingly, Mathis & Florence both played for the Lions last year.
3rd rd, pick 66 - DE Corey Redding. Could've had LB Lance Briggs (7 Pro Bowls, 1 1st-team All Pro), or TE Jason Witten (10 Pro Bowls, 2 1st-team All Pro). Great draft for the Bears, by the way. Witten would have been the better pick, but if the greater need was at LB, should have taken Briggs. Ugh.

2004 NFL Draft
This should've been the indication that Millen wasn't all there, taking WRs in the 1st round of consecutive drafts.
1st rd, pick 7 - WR Roy Williams (1 Pro Bowl). Could've had CB DeAngelo Hall (3 Pro Bowls), QB Ben Roethlisberger (3 Pro Bowls), LB Jonathan Vilma (3 Pro Bowls), NT/DT Vince Wilfork (7 Pro Bowls, 2 1st-team All Pro), or RB Stephen Jackson (3 Pro Bowls). Wilfork is the best of that group, but NT wasn't a need with Shaun Rogers already on the team. If Millen had taken Brees back in 2001, then no need to take Roethlisberger (but he took Roy Williams 1 year after taking Charles Rodgers, SERIOUSLY!!!) so QB wouldn't have been a need. That leaves Vilma, Jackson, or Hall, and I'd say Hall just because Hall went with the 8th pick and it's believable that Detroit would've drafted him 7th.
1st rd, pick 30 - RB Kevin Jones. Could've had OG Chris Snee (4 Pro Bowls, 1 1st-team All Pro). Snee would've been great to have, but Millen traded back into the 1st round to take Jones. Well, Jones initially showed promise but never capitalized. Injuries kept him off the field a lot, and he wasn't THAT good when healthy. Trading up in the draft & that not working out will be an on-going theme here.
2nd rd, pick 37 - LB Teddy Lehman. Could've had LB Daryl Smith or DT Darnell Dockett (3 Pro Bowls). You want at least a solid starter out of your 2nd round pick. Lehman was barely a backup, Daryl Smith would've been nice, Darnell Docket would've been SWEET.
3rd rd, pick 73 - CB Keith Smith. Could've had WR Bernard Berrian (Berrian out-played Roy Williams from 2007-2009, at which point they were both done anyway), TE Chris Cooley (2 Pro Bowls), or DE Shaun Phillips (1 Pro Bowl). The other 2 were better players but go with Berrian for need here.

That's halfway through Millen's tenure. It's worth pointing out that Millen rarely drafted a player who panned out deeper than round 3. Anyway, what would the Lions' roster look like after these 4 phenomenal drafts?

QB - Drew Brees.
RB - Brian Westbrook
FB - Cory Schlesinger
WR1 - Andre Johnson
WR2 - Bernard Berrian
LT - Matt Light
LG - Andre Gurode
C -
RG - Chris Snee
RT - Stockar McDougle
TE - Stephen Alexander

DE - Dwight Freeney
DT - Shaun Rogers
DT - Darnell Dockett
DE - James Hall
OLB - James Davis
MLB - Lance Briggs
OLB - Earl Holmes
CB - Charles Tillman
CB - DeAngelo Hall
FS - Bracy Walker
SS - Brock Marion
Obviously there's a hole in the line when I took Matt Light instead of Raiola, and TE, LB and safety are weak spots, but that's a playoff team if I've ever seen one. the 2nd half of Millen's drafts to come tomorrow-ish.