Lions' grades for 2003

Did you ever have a class in high school or college where you really needed to ace the final exam to pass?

That is just what happened to the Detroit Lions this year.

They started off so well with a big 42-24 win over Arizona and looked like a totally different team than last year.

Fans were asking -- did the Lions finally get a coach who could turn this team around in Steve Mariucci?

The answer came in the next six weeks when the Lions promptly lost six in a row.

Two straight wins at home against Chicago and Oakland seemed to turn them around again, but as usual, the Lions lost five out of the last six and it looked like it would be a 4-12 season.

Then, with the St. Louis Rams coming to town and playing to gain home field advantage in the playoffs, everyone figured the last game would be a loss.

Wrong. They surprised everyone and upset the Rams to finish the season on a very high note.

With a failing grade for the team as a whole on the line, the Lions got a straight A on their final "exam" to raise the grades of everyone who was going to be evaluated.

Therefore, as I look to pass out grades to the team, all of them jumped up a point or two just because of that last game.

However, I am still not convinced that last game can turn this team around for next year.

Only time will tell.

So, without further ado, here are the grades.

William Clay Ford, Sr (Grade: C-): I have to start at the top.

He definitely would have been in the D range if the Lions would have gone 4-12.

As it is, the only reason he is in the average range is that he opened up his pocketbook and got a proven winning coach in Mariucci.

However, hiring Matt Millen was a bad move. His inexperience has shown with his performance.

When he said Millen has done a good job compiling a 10-38 record over three years, I just about choked.

He has top facilities for the Lions in Ford Field, now he just needs the right people in the right places.

Matt Millen (Grade: D+): As I just mentioned, his record speaks for itself, 10-38.

He called Johnnie Morton a "homosexual" or something of the sort, and being the President of the Lions, this is just unacceptable.

His free agent signings have not been great either... I mean, Bill Schroeder, come on.

But this year, Millen did sign Dre' Bly, which gave him a passing grade instead of an "F" like he would have gotten without Bly.

He used to be shown on television all the time embarrassing himself in the booth with his "deer in the headlights" look, but he has stayed out of sight this year.

Oh, I forgot, he can't even hire a coach the right way.

With the NFL rules on interviewing a minority for coach in place, Millen must have forgotten.

After he gushed all over Mariucci, he realized he had to interview a minority, but no one was stupid enough to take him up on the offer.

So, the Lions got fined.

Nice job, Matt.

Steve Mariucci (Grade: C-): Again, a victory over St. Louis got him on the C range.

Of course, anyone who followed the joke of a coach Marty Mornhinweg, could have done better.

In fact, Mooch got big money to turn this team around, so expectations were very high.

Quite frankly, it was a little disappointing.

The Lions still didn't win on the road for third straight year.

Mariucci was big on blaming injuries for the losses, but they beat the Rams with a depleted team.

Why couldn't they beat other teams who weren't as good like the San Diego Chargers at Ford Field?

Mariucci showed little or no emotion when the Lions lost.

His offense was difficult to watch most of the year.

However, since he was a freshman this year, I will give him a couple more years to prove himself.

Quarterbacks (Grade: D): Mike McMahon needs to go. He is fun to watch when he gets in there, but is not accurate and does not really help Joey Harrington become a better quarterback.

Speaking of Harrington, he had a quarterback rating of 63.9.

Throwing 17 touchdowns with 22 interceptions is not acceptable.

Sure, his receivers dropped a lot of balls, but his touch and accuracy were very poor throughout the year.

The Lions need to upgrade at second string QB, maybe getting a veteran to help Harrington and fill in if he gets hurt.

Harrington has not progressed like he should have, but he is young and if Mariucci thinks he can play, then give him another chance.

Still, he was below average this year.

Running Backs (Grade: D--): I would like to give them an "F", but I guess they were not a total failure.

After all, they did get a whopping five whole rushing touchdowns.

Cory Schlesinger had two receiving touchdowns and never got hurt while blocking like a mad man game after game.

Artose Pinner finally was healthy enough to play and looked good on occasion.

Shawn Bryson played OK, gaining 606 total yards for the season with a 3.8 yard average.

Overall, Mariucci had no clue who to play since they were all so below average.

With a decent running game, Harrington could have maybe had a better grade.

Offensive Line (Grade: C): These guys only gave up 11 sacks the whole year, which is incredible.

However, the running backs would have had a better grade if they knew how to run block.

As a matter of fact, it looked like the O-Line was pass blocking on every running play.

The running backs seemingly had no place to go play after play, unless they had a chance to jump to the outside.

Hopefully, by not renewing the contract of their line coach, Carl Mauck, this will improve.

Wide Receivers (Grade: D): This might be one of the worst wide receiving corps in the NFL.

They had serious trouble hanging on to the ball and getting open.

Bill Schroeder needs to be let go.

Az-Zahir Hakim is a good third receiver, but not even an average number one receiver.

Tight end Mikhael Ricks, whom I will include in this category, dropped so many balls that I thought he was wearing Vaseline on his hands.

Then I come to Charles Rogers.

I didn't think he was worthy of the second pick in the draft just because good wide receivers can be picked at a lower round.

I know I am in the minority on this one, but he is not as big as I thought he was.

I don't know if he can handle a 16 game schedule getting drilled game in and game out.

He lasted all of five games this year catching 22 balls for 243 yards and three touchdowns.

I hope I am wrong about him and he will come back healthy and ready to play 16 games, but I doubt it.

However, with the firing of Bobby Williams who should have never been here in the first place, the wide receivers will be in better hands no matter who is hired.

Defense (Grade: C): Boss Bailey played great and got better every game of the year at linebacker.

Dre' Bly is an all pro cornerback and made big plays throughout the year.

He was very impressive, brought enthusiasm to the defense, and deserves the money he received from Matt Millen.

Shaun Rogers played like he did when he was a rookie having 58 tackles and four sacks.

James Hall came through with 62 tackles and five sacks.

I believe Robert Porcher should just hang it up. Although he had five sacks, Porcher did not play in the final game and was not missed at all.

Dan Wilkinson played OK, but only if he felt like it.

The defense, in general, had many breakdowns throughout the year, but seemed to overcome and play very well as the year went by.

The defensive backs were lit up for the most part when the defensive line did not put pressure on the QB.

Bailey needs to persuade his brother, Champ, to come to the Lions and team up with Bly to make the secondary a formidable one.

The defensive line coach, George Dyer, was fired so this can help both the defensive line and the secondary with the right coach being hired.

Special Teams (Grade: A-): This is all about Jason Hanson, who made 22 of 23 field goals, which included four from 50+ yards and five from 40-49 yards.

Hanson made big tackles when he had to on kickoffs and even punted seven times for a 37.7 yard average.

He came to play week after week and succeeded 95.7 percent of the time.

Nick Harris did a decent job punting for John Jett who was injured earlier in the year.

Reggie Swinton also did a great job returning punts and kickoffs after being picked off the waiver wire when Eddie Drummond got hurt.

Again, the special teams had some breakdowns, but played pretty well for the most part.

I could have mentioned many more players and graded their performances, but I just tried to highlight the main Lions.

All in all, I thought the Detroit Lions played below expectations, but helped their cause with a final win to get to five wins on the year.

The disappointments far outweighed the positives though.

Mariucci should have had this team at 7-9 with at least one road win.

I think they should have beat Chicago or Minnesota away and the Chargers at home, but that is just my opinion.

Rogers should have been a huge impact player at the number two pick in the draft, but he got injured.

Harrington should have looked better than last year, but only showed it in the first and last games of the year.

The bottom line is that the Lion fans had to go through another losing and disappointing year.

Detroit, again, has a high pick in the draft, number six.

The fans are counting on Millen and Mariucci to do their homework and get the best possible player for the Lions.

These grades need to go up next year.

It will not take much to get a "C" average, but they should shoot for the moon and get in the B's.

In this time of parity in the NFL, you can go from worst to first in one year.

Can the Lions do it?

Prove me wrong Matt Millen and Steve Mariucci. I dare you.