Draft Notes from the Ambassador Bridge

● As far as the rest of the Lions' draft goes, I don't want to make the mistake of thinking that Matt Millen picked bad players just because I've never heard of any of them, let alone seen them play. (Just because I went to Hawaii last fall doesn't mean I saw Ikaika Alama-Francis play. And hell yes, I copied-and-pasted that name.) At least five of those six selections were defensive players (and three of them were defensive backs, which I heartily endorse). But at that point in the draft, are you getting starter-quality talent? Very likely not.

An afternoon and evening of exchanging phone calls about the draft with Mr. BTH ended with him making a point repeatedly (and this time, I'm not misquoting him for creative reasons): To those who said Millen had to trade down so he could get extra picks and fill more spots, how are you feeling with what he did when he had those opportunities? Did he really show he knows what he's doing? I suppose we'll have to wait and see. For now, however, it doesn't look so good.

● Now we know just how bad a draft pick Mike Williams was in 2005. Millen was able to get half of a fourth-round pick for him. Not even a whole pick. I'm not entirely knocking the deal because I'm glad the Lions got rid of Williams. And though I would've liked to see Josh McCown get a chance, this confirms that signing him was really a dumb move in the first place if you were giving Jon Kitna a longer contract. It only made sense if you were bringing him in to compete with Joey Harrington for the starting job, not the back-up position.

Never mind trying to figure out why the Lions drafted Drew Stanton if they think Dan Orlovsky can step in for Kitna, if necessary. Or do they just think he can hold down the back-up spot for two years while Stanton (hopefully) learns Martz's system and eventually becomes the starter? But if they don't think Orlovsky can take over that job, why trade McCown? Even if he didn't like it, he only had one more season to deal with being the back-up. Was he capable of becoming a disruption in the locker room? Does this move give the Lions a salary cap break? Am I about to smash my head against a wall?

● For that matter, if the Raiders were willing to give up Randy Moss for a fourth-round pick, would it just have been better to get him in return for Williams and McCown? I'm not saying I would've wanted Moss, and I know it's not that simple - not just because of his salary figure, but also the small question of "Where the hell would he play?" I just found it interesting that the Lions received a draft pick that was only four slots higher than the selection Oakland got back for Moss.

● Even though I began to feel bad for Brady Quinn once the commissioner took him out of the green room to avoid the embarrassment of another dozen teams passing him over, the only thing that would've been more sadistically enjoyable (and I feel that way largely because I don't enjoy having a player shoved in my face and being told I should think he's great) was if Drew Rosenhaus was his agent and had to sit next to him the whole time.

● Actually, I take that back. The funniest thing about Saturday was Cam Cameron stepping to the podium in front of Dolphins fans to announce (or explain?) their selection of Ted Ginn, Jr. I actually like Cameron, but the look on his face, quickly sliding from proud and triumphant to perplexed and irritated, as he was showered with boos and chants of "Bra-dy!" while trying to explain that Ginn was a great kick returner, was great video. And so was his lame attempt to turn the mood in his favor by saying they needed to turn those thumbs downs to thumbs up. I'm sure he got a different finger after that.

Oh, if only Lions fans had the opportunity to do the same to Millen...

● And at least one blogger is excited about the Lions getting to select "Mr. Irrelevant" at pick #255. Congratulations, Ramzee Robinson. I hope you can play defensive back in the NFL, because the Lions need someone to do it. (Does the Tampa Two require cornerbacks? I'm just checking, because Detroit's off-season plans seem to imply it doesn't.) It's kind of amazing that Millen hasn't had that pick before, since so many of his other draft picks have literally become irrelevant.