Drew Stanton Impersonating Matthew Stafford?

I’d like to take this opportunity to explain something to everybody; Drew Stanton isn’t the savior of the Detroit Lions. If you thought he was going to get the start against San Francisco and torch their defense, you obviously had a little too much egg nog.

Now I didn’t expect him to be great when he finally got the start, I expected him to be able to play at the same level that Daunte Culpepper plays at. The reason I’ve been calling for Stanton to start is the fact that any bum can play just as well as Culpepper at this point in his career. The truth of the matter is that Daunte Culppepper should have been sent to third string after the first Green Bay game. However Jim Schwartz and Scott Linehan have absolutely mishandled the quarterback situation all season.

Now what we get is Drew Stanton finally getting some playing time with two weeks left in the season after only practicing with the starters for a week. Essentially any chemistry between Stanton and the receivers is non-existent because playing time and practice reps with the first team have been wasted since preseason. Wasted on a player who WILL NOT be a Detroit Lion next year and who HAS NEVER given us a “better chance to win”.

Drew Stanton has been in Detroit for three years and has suffered multiple injuries along with people changing his throwing mechanics. All things considered, this is his rookie season basically and I do see the potential in him to be able to backup Matthew Stafford. Stanton plays with heart and toughness just like Stafford does, he even has the same problems and makes the same mistakes Stafford does. If you looked at a couple of Staton’s interceptions against San Francisco you would have thought Stafford threw that ball. The one that really stood out the most was the one where if Stanton had put some touch on it to get it over the defender it would have been a great throw. The ball came out flat and powerful right into the hands of a defender, sounds familiar right?



The throws and mistakes I see Stanton make give me déjà vu of Matthew Stafford when he’s having a bad game. Stafford has had reps with the first team, he has had time to develop chemistry with his receivers, and most importantly he has had the opportunity to learn from his mistakes. Had Drew Stanton been elevated to the second string quarterback after the first Green Bay game, he would have had some of the same opportunities. Since Schwartz and company seem to be in love with watching Daunte Culppepper continue to fail miserably though, we are still left wondering what Drew Stanton could do if given a real opportunity. Well played Schwartz, well played.