Detroit Lions: Not much of a backup plan at quarterback this year

This year more than ever, the Detroit Lions find themselves in a tough spot if franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford is forced out of action at any point.

One of the easiest job descriptions over the past eight years has to be ‘Detroit Lions backup quarterback’.  With iron man Matthew Stafford fighting through multiple injuries to put together an impressive streak of 131 consecutive games, finding a capable backup at the position hasn’t been a major organizational priority. Even so, as far as a backup QB is concerned, Bob Quinn and company seem to rolling the dice quite a bit moving into the new season.

Connor Cook or Tom Savage? Who are you feeling for Lions QB2? Training camp is still quite a ways off, but my early perception is that it doesn’t really matter. The 2019 Detroit Lions will once again live and die with Matthew Stafford; if they’re without Stafford, that first option doesn’t look very plausible.

The 4 types of backup quarterback

NFL backup quarterbacks can generally be placed in to one of four categories:

• ‘The Young Gun’, a highly-drafted player essentially waiting their turn, with the expectation that they are being groomed to eventually take over as the team’s starter.
  • Examples from around the league: Aaron Rodgers and Steve Young are classic success stories in this category.
  • Lions examples: Andre Ware is the only Lion of my lifetime who really fits the bill here, maybe Charlie Batch at the start of 1998.

• ‘The Mentor’, a veteran player who’s either past their prime or just isn’t starting QB material. They usually backup a young QB who becomes a starter immediately, and can serve as a mentor but also a comfortable enough plan B.
  • Examples from around the league: The McCown family is sort of NFL royalty in this role.
  • Lions examples: Daunte Culpepper and Shaun Hill early in Stafford’s career. Matt Cassel last year, whether he needed a mentor or not.

• ‘Lightning in a bottle hopeful’, late round or undrafted players, unknown quantities who emerge out of nowhere once they finally have an opportunity. I’m not sure if this is a good or a bad thing, but the Lions have quite a history in this category. On a Fox Sports ranking of the Top 10 Undrafted Quarterbacks in NFL History, three players on the list are former Lions. Detroit’s last playoff win was engineered by one of these guys (Erik Kramer).  In 2015, Jake Rudock/Matthew Stafford raised enough Tom Brady/Drew Bledsoe parallels to feed the fairy tale a little bit, but Rudock never saw significant game action as a Lion.
  • Examples from around the league: Brady, Kurt Warner, Tony Romo, Jamie Foxx’s character in Any Given Sunday
  • Lions examples: Kramer, Dave Krieg, Rodney Peete, (Jake Rudock)

• ‘A guy holding a clipboard’, taking up a spot on the roster, and everybody (themselves included) is crossing their fingers and hoping that their services on the field aren’t ever required. Dan Orlovsky had two separate stints in this phase during his time in Detroit, one of which required his services for a forgettable seven game stretch.
  • Examples from around the league: Nathan Peterman, Matt Flynn other than that one time against the Lions.
  • Lions examples: Too many to even name, but the two most relevant ones are the guys vying for the #2 role this year: Tom Savage and Connor Cook.

Contingency Plan?

In Tom Savage and Connor Cook, the Lions do have two veteran quarterbacks who will compete to be the backup under center this year. It’s a pretty safe bet that neither Savage or Cook are currently being thought of as Stafford’s heir apparent. No mentors in this bunch either.

As for lightning in a bottle? Savage went 1-6 when thrust into a starting role with the Texans in 2017. Cook’s only NFL start to date ended in a disastrous playoff loss with the Raiders at the end of his rookie year. Although Cook is an MSU legend and quite a few fans in the state will point to the Rose Bowl or Big Ten Championship games as reason to believe in him, this looks quite a bit like a ‘guy holding a clipboard’ scenario.

Hopefully for the 9th year in a row, second and third string quarterback will remain the two least important slots on the Lions’ roster. As it stands, I would immediately assume that the season is over if either Cook or Savage needs to step in for any longer than a few series of garbage time. Either that, or we’re going to see Darrell Bevell’s run-heavy offense implemented to its logical extreme.

Just for fun…

Here are my rankings of every Matthew Stafford backup since the start of his career in 2009, based on how comfortable I would be with them forced into action at a crucial time:

1. Shaun Hill (2010-13*)
2. Drew Stanton (2009-10)
3. Matt Cassel (2018)
4. Jake Rudock (2016-17)
5. Kellen Moore (2012, 2014)
6. Daunte Culpepper’s skeleton (2009)
7. Dan Orlovsky (2014-15)

*Only seasons as a backup for Stafford are listed for each player

Did you know?…

Kicker Matt Prater has as many touchdown passes (1) as every Lions backup quarterback combined since 2013.