As Training Camp Approaches, Is There a Matt Stafford / Dante Culpepper QB Controversy In Detroit?

Home » Lions » As Training Camp Approaches, Is There a Matt Stafford / Dante Culpepper QB Controversy In Detroit?

It’s pretty natural when you have to legitimate contenders on the roster that fans will speculate and chirp about which Detroit Lions QB should be taking the snaps.

There are 2 philosophies involved: Go with the Veteran and let the kid learn on the sidelines (like Kitna/Palmer of a few years ago) or throw the kid in and see what happens (you never know with that… Could end up with a Flacco or a Harrington).

I feel that Culpepper is the natural starter for now. He’s a salty dog of the league now, he knows the in’s and out’s and I think the only huge question mark on him is ‘how long can he stay healthy’?
That is a uber-legitimate concern, as when was the last time he finished a season? We’re hoping his legs are fixed and for being thrown into the shark tank like he was last year, he looked alright.

Stafford has a lot to learn and I don’t like the idea of just throwing a rookie into the deep end. Teams with depth like the Ravens and the Falcons (wow, never thought I would be saying that) can slot a kid in and make it work. The Lions are not in such a position. We stunk something god awful last year and the only thing that can fix is time and drafting well.

We’ll see it on the field.

Topics: Dante Culpepper, Detroit Lions, Matt Stafford, NFL, Training Camp

http://sideLionreport Don

I’m not sure when we should Start Stafford? And yes I know that Dante is ready to go and knows the System after being with linehan in the past and now working with him all off season.
However Stafford is the TYPE of QB that has started every where that he has been and when it comes to QBs it is very important to keep their EGO level up.
I realy don’t know how Stafford would be about sitting the bench and letting someone take the job before him? He has allways been the STARTER. so there is that to consider.
But,the other Question is WHEN DO YOU START HIM?
Even if he did sit all year which I dought that would happen. Whenever he starts the OL is going to be lacking to some degree.
If we wait til next year and take a rookie LT then there will still be that time for the rookie LT to become ready for the NFL.
SO then that would mean that next year we wouldn’t draft a rookie we would have to find a seasoned vet to take the duties that is better than Backus.
It will never be perfect for Stafford to start.
Whenever he starts it is not going to matter who is watching his back he will still have to perform and make it work.
After watching him in College I believe that once he gets used to the speed of the game He will do OK and catch on Quick.
It’s the old saying “welcome to the NFL” and some do OK and others don’t?
Somehow I believe that Stafford is going to make it!
kevinferguson

Ya Gotta Believe Don!

It’s a roll of the dice. Sometimes they do, many times they don’t.

When you’re in that draft mode and you see the physical stuff all there, the height, the size, the arm (Stafford has a laser guiding rocket cannon for an arm), sometimes its an issue of not wanting to be the team that *didn’t* draft the guy. Barry Sanders Syndrome so to speak. When national media talks about Barry, they first mention how talented he was and they then mention how Green Bay passed him up for Tony Mandarich.

The meat of the issue is that he *has* to. We can’t afford another Harrington bust. Seriously, I’m not doing another Ten years of never even hitting .500

I actually believe in Schwartz and although I didn’t like the draft much, I think there may be a method to the madness with Mayhew as my faith has been bolstered by all his post draft moves for DE’s and OT’s.

My inkling is that the writing on the wall that this will be a tough season, so for the draft he just took the best player per position. And we did get the best QB in this draft, the best TE and the best Safety in Delmas.

I think this year they can make an upset too, Schwartz is a REAL coach, not a phony one like our last one. We could take one or two that we are flat out not supposed to win.

I’ve done a million posts about my feelings on it, so I don’t want to beat a dead horse. It’s done and let’s move forward and build a winner.
http://www.realfakesports.blogspot.com Real Fake Sports

There shouldn’t be a controversy. The Lions aren’t going to win 10 or 12 games this year so why not let Stafford play?