The Lonely Lion: The Drew Stanton Story

Each day, news comes out of Denver about the status of Jay Cutler. And each day, the Lions are mentioned as the top team hoping to gain Cutler's services. But many are forgetting, after trading away Kitna and Orlovsky the Lions still hold two quarterbacks, the aging Daunte Culpepper and the young Drew Stanton.

Stanton, a three year starter at Michigan State, was drafted by the Lions in 2007, before the season he had knee surgery and sat out the entirety of the season. He has seen how the Lions work and he still wants to play for them, weird.

While at Michigan State he totaled 6,485 passing yards with 42 touchdowns and 1,470 rushing yards with 14 rushing touchdowns. As a Spartan he gave the offense an added dimension, he was a mobile quarterback who had a power arm. During the Senior Bowl Challenges, Stanton won the Quarterback Challenge in which he had to move in the pocket and throw at targets down field.

Stanton was an intense player while at Michigan State, he was the leader of the clubhouse, on several occasions rallying the team during halftime to comeback and win in the second half.

His most notable comeback victory was at Northwestern, at half the Spartans were down big and Stanton stood in the center of the locker room and told his teammates that he did not want Coach Smith to go out like that. The Spartans responded and came out to beat the Wildcats in a record breaking comeback victory.

During his tenure at Michigan State, Stanton not only gave the Spartans a quality quarterback, but he could take the pressure off of Lightning and Thunder, Javon Ringer and Jehuu Caulcrick respectively.

Following his Michigan State career Stanton was drafted by the Detroit Lions and took the third quaterback roster spot behind Dan Orlovsky. But now that both Jon Kitna and Orlovsky are no longer in Detroit, the competition boils down to Culpepper and Stanton.

Culpepper started for the Lions several times late in the season last year, and was ordinary, if that. The Lions did not want to start Stanton because he was too young and not ready for the big leagues. When they did put him in his green did show, he had a 52.9 completion percentage with 91 yards and a touchdown.

But if one looks at the needs of this team one can tell that more players are needed on the lines then behind center. With the offensive line the Lions have now, Tom Brady would look like Joey Harrington. The O-line is a siv and allows pass rushers in on the quarterback untouched, players are playing out of their positions and it shows.

The Lions do not need to draft another quarterback, if Matthew Stafford was brought into the organization, he would not have any success. There would still be no offensive line in front of him, there is a reason that quarterbacks always thank their O-lines in press conferences. Stafford would be a rookie quarterback, already a little shaky because of his youth who was being chased around the backfield by 300 lb. linebackers who are trying to rip his head off.

If the Lions would focus the draft on the offensive and defensive lines, the overall performance of the team would dramatically increase. Putting Stanton behind center is the best option, even though the line would be improved, if a defender broke through, Stanton would be able to scramble out of the way while throwing accurate shots down the field.

Any Lions quarterback has to be mobile, those who aren't fail. Take Joey Harrington, he was not a mobile quarterback and he was forced to become mobile or lay on the turf. Jon Kitna, slightly more mobile than Harrington and had slightly better stats, he did throw some stupid passes but he was able to avoid some sacks.

If Stanton was anointed starter, he would be able to bob and weave around some of the defenders as he looked for an open receiver down field. Culpepper would be a good starter for part of the season though, as a mentor to Stanton, and when Stanton is ready he could take the reigns to the team.

So please, Jim Schwartz, pass on Matthew Stafford, take someone like Jason Smith or Aaron Curry. Use some common sense and let things play out before you start trying to fix this franchise with one draft. I ask you also to let Stanton start next season, its the next best thing for this franchise other than Ford selling to someone with a brain.  

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