Thank You Drew Stanton

Well I've been tackling this topic for about three straight weeks now and does anybody still feel the need to defend Daunte Culpepper being the number two quarterback?

I don't wish injury on any player and I hate that Culpepper had to leave the game that way. I'd rather him have been benched but I'd be lying if I wasn't happy to finally see Drew Stanton in the game.


We saw what Daunte Culpepper could do today against the Packer defense and it wasn't much. How does 14 passes with 6 completions for 48 yards with a 3.4 yard average (Uh Captain Checkdown?) and 1 critical interception that helped the Packers jump out to a 14 to 0 lead sound? Not good for a veteran quarterback who is supposed to have a grasp, no, strangle hold on the offensive system he's playing in. Yet for the second straight week Daunte Culpepper continued to prove that he is prone to rookie mistakes and has no idea how to handle deep passes.

Now against the same defense our third string quarterback comes in and actually looked a whole hell of a lot better than our "veteran" second stringer just as he did in preseason. Thats considering the circumstances and the supposed experience gap of course. Even Packer fans over on NFL.com thought Stanton had poise in the pocket and didn't resemble a third string quarterback. Drew Stanton completed 5 of 11 passes for 57 yards with a 5.2 yard average (Because he actually can throw a deep ball) and 2 interceptions.

The stats are a little misleading since Stanton's first interception should have actually been a great play but Pettigrew dropped it right into Al Harris' hands. Stanton kept that play alive by being mobile which Culpepper just isn't these days. Don't give me that argument about his scramble against the Steelers either, look at Stanton in the pocket compared to Culpepper and then tell me who is a mobile quarterback.

The offense never even sniffed the endzone with Culpepper on the field however was in prime position to put points on the board with Stanton in the game. I know, that was until Stanton threw an interception in the endzone. Yes Stanton made a bad call but I can understand that because including today he's thrown a grand total of 28 career passes. Its not like hes making these mistakes after throwing 3,104 career passes (Culpepper).

This is exactly why I wanted him on the field instead of Culpepper because hes had a rocky start to his career and still needs some development. Last week I was told you don't need upside from a number two quarterback, really? If Stanton can play as well as Culpepper now, imagine what he can do after he's thrown more than 28 passes in a real game and has had a whole week to practice with the first team. How is that for upside?

Also have I mentioned Culpepper will be gone (thank god) after this season anyway while we have Stanton at least two more years? I'm pretty sure I have but just throwing that one out there one more time.

Lastly, there are rumors going around that Stafford may need surgery and while I'm praying that he doesn't, if he does Stanton should play. Thats it, end of discussion, there are no arguments that can be made anymore. The smart play for the future of the team and evaluation purposes is Drew Stanton. People have been able to argue that Culpepper gives us the best chance to win with Stafford out but does anybody really want to make that argument now?