Stafford Named Starter for Lions

[Tengo Juego]

I loved the Stafford pick...

Me too.

[Saluki]

... I knew this would happen and got laughed at when I said it would before the draft.

Stafford is going to get killed behind that O-Line. Backus cannot protect shit and Cherilus is a penalty waiting to happen. Plus, our interior line is unable to get even the slightest push to open up the running game.

Overall... I see Stafford in a David Carr situation. The Lions will have to rely a lot on him and as such, he'll either take a ton of sacks and never reach his potential or have to play like Dan Marino and fire the ball out there quickly. Personally, I think it will be another David Carr.

This, that line in front of him is gunna get him murdered. This could ruin his career before it even gets started David Carr style.

[Point Blank]

Damn. I just picked Culpepper as a backup last night in FF.

[Hasselbeck]

Might as well. You're paying him all this money for a reason. He needs to start and should start.. just like Sanchez in NY.

He's probably going to take his lumps but you might as well see what you have.

[Buzzman]

Stafford is in a lot better situation then Carr and Harrington. He'll have his struggles this year but I think he'll do just fine.

[Nukleopatra]

I agree with starting Sanchez.

I don't agree with starting Stafford.

I question Staffords confidence level, so when Detroit goes 0-6, I guess we'll get an early view on how he responds. If he busts, the blame will go on Detroit for rushing him out there, but a great leader will always bounce back. Kurt Warner did it, Peyton Manning did it. I don't see that in Stafford, the way I see it in Sanchez.

[Buzzman]

How so? I would think he's in a worse situation because both the Lions and Texans defense were better than the Lions defense this year.

He actually has people to throw to, he has a good RB to take some pressure off him, and the o-line is not nearly as bad as everyone is making it. Everyone rips Jeff Backus but I remember reaind a few articles where they said outside of Detroit most coaches like him as a T. Cherilus was a rookie last year and did really well, he'll def improve this year, and Loper has been a lot better at LG then last year when we rotated guys in. Then Pettigrew at TE is one hell of a blocker so he can help if one of the tackles is struggling against a certain pass rusher.

[krulmichael]

Well I picked up Stafford in late rounds yesterday because I knew he'd start eventually. Although I must say I am a little surprised that it would be right off the bat, thought for sure Culpepper would get the edge early in the season.

I really think it all came down to Culpepper tearing his toe up and not playing at all that last pre-season game (that and Stafford looked great connecting with CJ 3 times on that drive).

[Buzzman]

Yehh cus Carr and Harrington's team didn't go 0-16 the year before.

and they were a half decent QB away from winning 5-6 games.

[NAHSTE]

Falcons are trend setters. Staff is no Ryan though, so be prepared for some growing pains. I think Staff will be ok eventually, just a little rocky to start.

[Buzzman]

Hahahahaha, if candy and nuts were ifs and buts..............get the f outta here. You forgot the defense. They had/have no defense.

yea but the 5-6 games the defense showed up our offense smelled like shit because Dan O and Culpepper sucked ass.

[SHOGUN]

I hate the idea of starting rookie QBs from day one, especially underclassmen QBs.

[Kuzzy Powers]

Lol @ throwing this kid into the fire on a terrible team.

[Sven Draconian]

I don't understand the hesitation in starting rookie QBs other than it's a cute talking point for sports talk radio.

The reality is that you can only learn so much sitting on the bench. If you have the maturity and you know the playbook then the only thing left is getting reps. Quarterbacks are no different than any other position in that regard, and nobody ever wants to sit rookie linebackers or guards for a year.

Is QB different? Of course, it's more playbook to learn and the maturity and composure requirements are higher. Does every QB have those traits as a rookie? No. Does Stafford know the playbook? I don't know. Does Stafford have the confidence and maturity? I don't know.

But, it's stupid to think every QB needs to automatically sit a year.

[mgoblue2290]

Lol @ throwing this kid into the fire on a terrible team.

I wouldn't really say were throwing him into the fire. This team isn't expected to compete at all. Everyone knows that they will get 6 wins at the very most, probably more around 3 or 4. If we were expected to compete, then it'd be different because our hopes would rest on him. However, our hopes don't rest on him, at worst we have Pep come in and give him a break for a game if he's playing terribly. This will just be a season where his mistakes won't really hurt us, it'll just let him learn and get used to playing in the NFL.