Detroit Lions nearly drafted DeMarcus Ware over Mike Williams
Former Detroit Lions executive Matt Millen admits he had pass rusher DeMarcus Ware on the phone when he was talked into drafting receiver Mike Williams in 2005.
Between 2003 through 2005, the Detroit Lions used three-straight first round picks on wide receivers. It should have given the Motor City one of the best wide receiver corps in the NFL. Instead, Detroit never had a season record better than 6-10 during that three-year span, and went a lowly 3-13 in 2006.
In 2003, the Lions used the second overall pick in that year’s draft to select Michigan State’s Charles Rogers. In three seasons, Rogers would end up only playing a total of 15 games for Detroit as the draft bust recently blamed injuries and Vicodin for ending his career prematurely.
The following year, Detroit drafted wide receiver Roy Williams out of Texas seventh overall in the 2004 NFL Draft. Williams ended up playing nearly four and a half seasons in the Motor City. His best year was 2006, when the former Longhorn posted 82 receptions for 1,310 yards, seven touchdowns and was voted to his only Pro Bowl appearance.
Midway through the 2008 NFL regular season, an unhappy Williams (along with a seventh round pick) was traded to the Dallas Cowboys for three draft selections. Those picks resulted in tight end Brandon Pettigrew, wide receiver Derrick Williams and running back Aaron Brown.
Finally, the Lions drafted USC receiver Mike Williams with the 10th overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft. Williams played only two seasons in Detroit, starting in a total of six games and recording a total of 37 catches for 449 yards and two scores.
It was a pretty terrible run for the Motor City. But according to the key front office player in those drafts, things could have been very different in 2005.
"“I listened to the group. They thought if they got Mike Williams and paired him with Roy Williams, that in the red zone we could do all these things. And I was like, okay,” former Detroit Lions general manager Matt Millen told Peter King of the MMQB.com. “Do you realize at that time, when we were just about ready to pick, I had DeMarcus Ware on the phone? And I said, ‘All right, take Mike Williams.’ … What a dope I was.”"
Ware famously went on to have a stellar career with the Cowboys. He is their franchises’ current all-time sack leader with with 117 sacks recorded in his nine seasons with Dallas. Ware would spend the final three years of his career with the Denver Broncos, winning a Super Bowl in 2015 and likely cementing his place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The addition of Ware would have likely changed the trajectory of this Lions club, but probably would have still resulted in the firing of Millen by 2008. Regardless, the one time CEO, team president and general manager in Detroit wonders what might have been.
"“How football history could have changed if you picked Ware instead of Mike Williams,” Millen lamented."
Next: Detroit Lions: 15 best first-round draft picks of all-time
Several poor decisions made by Matt Millen during his tenure at the helm of the Detroit Lions from 2001 through 2008 crippled the franchise for several years. But not really hitting on those three critical drafts might be his greatest misstep, and ultimately, his biggest regret.