The Washington Football Team will have a general manager this season for the first time since Scott McCloughan was forced out in 2016. Martin Mayhew comes to the DC with a wealth of experience. Mayhew played DB for the Redskins from ’89-92 and was a part of the team who won Super Bowl XXVI. He began his front office career with the Redskins as well in 1999 as a personnel intern. After a few years, he was hired as the senior director of football administration for the Detroit Lions in 2001 before being promoted to assistant GM in 2004. He was promoted to General Manager in 2008 and held the position until 2015 where he was fired early in halfway into the season when the Lions started 1-7. He resurrected his career in San Francisco, moving from a senior personnel executive in ’17-18 to VP of player personnel for the last two years. Again, Mayhew clearly has the experience to handle our GM position. One of the most important duties of a General manager is scouting and drafting young talent through the draft. After doing a little digging, here is a short breakdown of Mayhew’s draft classes (1^st three rounds) during his tenure as General Manager for the Detroit Lions.

2009: Martin Mayhew was promoted to General Manager during the 2008 season and he had his work cut out for him. The Lions would finish the ’08 season 0-16 and were, obviously, granted the 1^st overall pick. He used the 1^st overall pick to select Matt Stafford, QB Georgia, who was a home run. He solidified the Lions QB position for over a decade and Stafford proved to be the best player in 2009 draft class. Outside of the 1^st overall pick, this draft class was mediocre, however. Tight end Brandon Pettigrew, OK State, was taken with their second 1^st round pick (#20 overall). He started for the Lions for years, but injuries derailed him from every being great. Louis Delmas, Safety Western Michigan, was taken with their 2^nd round pick. Delmas had a decent career where he was named to the NFL All-Rookie team was named as a Pro Bowl alternate in 2011. He was released after the 2013 season after having a strange taunting incident with the UW-Marching Band at a Wisconsin game. Deandre Levy, LB Wisconsin, was the 1^st of the Lions 3^rd round picks. He started for the Lions ’10-14 and battled injuries for his whole tenure. He was signed to a 4-year extension in 2015 only to be injured his first game in 2015 and never play again. Derrick Williams, WR Penn State, was the team’s second 3^rd round pick and after barley seeing the field his rookie season, he was released before the start of the 2011 season.

Summary: All in all, solidifying the QB position is all you can reasonably ask your General Manager to do. Not selecting an offensive lineman to protect Stafford with that second 1^st round pick (or any of those other picks) may have haunted him, though.

GRADE: A-

2010: The Lions were granted the 2^nd overall pick in 2010 after going improving to 2-14. They used their 2^nd overall pick to draft the meanest, nastiest defensive tackle to ever come out of Big 12 by the name of Ndamukong Suh (Nebraska). Suh was somewhat of a no brainer. Suh made multiple Pro Bowls and is still playing today (won a Super Bowl this year with the Tampa Bay Bucs). Jahvid Best, RB California, was Lions second 1^st round pick and Mayhew traded up to select him. Best was a track star in college, running a 10.62 100m dash, and made headlines when he scored 6 TDs in a single game. Best came into the league with a ton of promise but could never stay healthy. He was cut after two seasons. Amari Spievey, CB Iowa, was the Lions 3^rd round pick. He was quickly moved to Safety upon arriving at Lions camp but was out of the league by 2012.

Summary: Like the 2010 class, I’m sure Mayhew may be kicking himself for not drafting an offensive lineman to help protect Stafford instead of selecting Best. Suh proved to be a fine pick, however. You could argue that Mayhew drafted the best player in the draft for the 2^nd year in row.

GRADE: B

2011: The Lions progressed to 6-10 in 2010 and were granted the 13^th in the 2011 draft. There, Mayhew selected Nick Fairley, DT Auburn, 13^th overall.  At the time, it made perfect sense. They were hoping to pair Suh with another stud defensive tackle and dominate the line of scrimmage. Sadly, Fairley never panned out. He was stout at times but inconsistent at best and struggled with injuries. Fairley would peak in 2012 as he was selected as a 2^nd team All-Pro, but the injury bug would get the best of him. Fairley ended up on the IR in ’13 and ’14. He would bounce around the league after 2015 but could never start all 16 games before he retired in 2018. Titus Young, WR Boise State, was the Lions 2^nd round pick and who slid to the second round due to ‘behavior issues’. Young’s behavior issues would rear their ugly head in 2012 where he was sent home for sucker punching a teammate in practice. He would later tweet about not wanting to play anymore if he did not get the ball. Young was cut the following February after just two years. Mikel Leshoure, RB Illinois, was the Lions second 2^nd round pick for whom they traded their 3^rd and 4^th round picks away to secure.  Sadly, Mikel tore his Achilles his rookie year before ever taking a live game snap. He stayed on the team through the 2013 season but did not make the 53-man roster cuts in 2014.

Summary: This draft was a real head scratcher. In hindsight, maybe Mayhew should’ve looked harder at taking one of the many great edge rushers that were available instead of Fairley such as Ryan Kerrigan, Cameron Jordan, Muhammad Wilkerson and Cameron Heyward. Add that to the fact he caught a falling sword in Titus Young and traded up for the bust Mikel Leshoure, this draft surely set the Lions back.

GRADE: F

2012: The Lions made the playoffs in 2011 despite their ugly rookie class, going 10-6. The Lions secured the 23^rd pick in the 2012 draft and used their 1^st round pick on tackle Riley Reiff from Iowa. Reiff would never make a pro bowl, but he proved to be a valuable bookend left tackle for Detriot. Reiff played with the Lions until the 2017 season where he entered free agency and chose to sign a big $58.5 million five-year deal with the rival Vikings. Mayhew followed this up by selecting another 2^nd round WR who wouldn’t pan out in Ryan Broyles from Oklahoma. Broyles only lasted two years and was cut upon request in the 2015 preseason. Bill Bentley, CB LA-Lafayette, would be the Lions 3^rd round pick. Bentley would hardly make a name for himself and was cut in 2015 due to injury concerns.

Summary: Three years after Stafford was draft, Mayhew finally selected a tackle to protect him. However, missing on yet another 2^nd round skill position player is beginning to look like a trend.

GRADE: C+

2013: The Lions would come back to down to Earth in a big way in 2012, going 4-12 and losing eight straight to end the season. They were granted the 5^th overall pick. Mayhew was ready this year and selected future Pro Bowler Ziggy Ansah, DE BYU. Ansah led all NFL rookies in sacks (8) his first year and would go on to be a force for Lions. He would make a Pro Bowl in 2015 where he amassed 14.5 sacks would be ranked 43^rd in the NFL’s top 100 players in 2015’s off season. Mayhew would select another future Pro Bowler in Darius Slay, CB Miss St, with the 2^nd round pick. Slay would prove to be a valuable pick, starting for the Lions from week 1 of this rookie season all the way through 2019. Slay became a staple of the Lions defense, finally being named a Pro Bowler in 2017 (where he was also ranked 49^th in the NFL top 100 players). Larry Warford, G Kentucky, was the Lion’s 3^rd round pick and what a career he had. Warford started for the from week 1 and was named as the Rookie of the Year by Pro Football Focus as he did not give up a sack the entire season. Warford would play out his rookie contract but sadly signed with New Orleans Saints in 2017 where he would be named to three straight Pro Bowls.

Summary: You can’t do much better then drafting three Pro Bowlers with your first three picks! It’s a shame Warford didn’t win any Pro Bowls while he was with the Lions, though.

GRADE: A+

2014: The Lions would improve to 7-9 in 2013, just missing the playoffs by losing their final two games of the year. They were granted the 10^th overall pick in 2010 where Mayhew selected Eric Ebron, TE UNC. Ebron’s career started slow, being listed as 3^rd on the depth chart his rookie year. Yet, he was still able to finish the year with 248 yards and a TD. He would slowly get more opportunities over the years, finally starting in year three and proving to be a solid receiving TE for the Lions. However, he would be released by the Lions in 2018 clearly wanting to get out from under the 5^th year option the executed the year before. Ebron would eventually sign with the Colts in 2018 which is where he would breakout to the tune of 750 yards and 13 TDs. Kyle Van Noy, LB BYU, would be the Lions 2^nd round pick. Van Noy would prove to be a late bloomer. He injured himself in his rookie training camp and would not make his debut until week 10. Van Noy would become an off and on starter for the Lions for the next few years before being traded to the Patriots for a 7^th round pick. From there, he would win a Super Bowl with the Patriots and became a difference maker for them. Travis Swanson, C Arkansas, would be the Lions 3^rd round pick. Swanson battled injuries his entire career, bouncing from the Lions to the Jets in 2018 and finally retired in 2019.

Summary: The class of late bloomers must be tough for Mayhew to look back upon. In hindsight, taking a Ebron instead of a bolstering that offensive line with one of the many Pro Bowlers selected a few picks later (Taylor Lewan, Zach Martin, Joel Bitonio) was a mistake. However, had Ebron had the 13 TD production for the Lions, things certainly could’ve been different. Van Noy and Swanson both were busts during their time in Detroit. It’s a shame they couldn’t keep Van Noy around long enough to see him blossom.

GRADE: D

2015: The Lions would finish 11-5 in 2014, heading to the playoffs for first time since 2011. They would lose in the Wild Card game however, making it their 8^th straight playoff loss (tying Kansas City for the longest postseason losing streak in NFL history).  The Lions were granted the 23^rd pick in the 2015 NFL draft.  They would trade that pick with the Broncos for guard Manny Ramirez, an extra 5^th round pick in 2016, and the 28^th overall pick. At #28, they selected Laken Tomlinson, G Duke. Tomlinson clearly didn’t work out. He would be traded to the 49ers a year later and be out of the league by 2018. Ameer Abdullah, RB Nebraska, was Mayhew’s 2^nd round selection. Abdullah would flash from time to time but never became the bell cow they wanted him to be. He was waived in 2018 after losing his role to rookie Kerron Johnson playing mostly special teams.  Alex Carter, CB Stanford, was the Mayhew’s 3^rd round pick in which they traded up to acquire. Carter became a practice squad journeyman who would never debut in an NFL game.

Summary: This would be Mayhew’s final draft class in Detroit and, unfortunately, it was a big dud. To be fair, the 2014 rookie class was one of the worst rookie classes in years. Yet, it still makes you wonder just how good this Lions team would have been if they had taken Frank Clark instead of Abdullah or Stephon Diggs instead of Carter.

GRADE: F

In conclusion, Mayhew certainly made the most out of his 1^st round selections, especially the early ones. Stafford, Suh, Ansah, Reiff, Ebron and even Fairley (for a year) were great selections. It is also apparent that he is not afraid to trade up in the middle rounds to select the player he believes in. Let’s hope that if he does, those 2nd and 3rd round selections (especially at the skill positions) are much more successful here in DC then they were in Detroit.

FINAL GRADE: C