Martin Mayhew’s Five Best Decisions
By Jeff Risdon
The 2013 NFL Draft
In one of the weakest draft classes in recent times, Mayhew somehow managed to have far and away his best draft haul.
Pockmarked with colossal busts all over the first round, the Lions struck gold with Ziggy Ansah at the No. 5 overall pick. No other top 10 classmate is even close to Ansah’s high level of play, even if Pro Football Focus snubbed him from the top 101 players.
In the second round, as other teams selected players no longer rostered, Mayhew zeroed in on Darius Slay.
Every GM has a blind luck pick or two; even Matt Millen got a couple right. Where Mayhew really made his hay in 2013 was in getting Larry Warford in the third round. The right guard is the icing on a very tasty draft cake. Landing three above-average starters in one of the most notoriously awful drafts is a real testament to Martin Mayhew…
…and he wasn’t even done. Devin Taylor is an emerging force as a starter opposite Ansah. He came in the fourth round. In the fifth, Mayhew selected punter Sam Martin. While controversial at the time, Martin has proven to be one of the league’s better punters. Next came Theo Riddick, who led all NFL running backs in receptions in 2015 and is one of the NFL’s most versatile weapons. Heck, even Corey Fuller has lasted three seasons with the team as a sixth-round pick.
Say what you want about Martin Mayhew and his Detroit Lions tenure, but he did get several things right.