The news just keeps getting worse for Drew Stanton. Late last week, Lions offensive coordinator Jim Colletto admitted that he wouldn't play the second-year quarterback because "he didn't want to embarrass him," and then the club went out and signed Daunte Culpepper, who was retired for about 15 minutes. And while bringing Culpepper is probably the second-best personnel move of the season for Detroit (after this, obviously), there's absolutely no way he'll be able to contribute in an actual game for at least two weeks while he learns the offense.
So it stands to reason that Stanton would remain the team's second-team quarterback behind Dan Orlovsky in the interim, right? Right?
Culpepper's arrival casts uncertainty over the future of second-year player Drew Stanton. Culpepper had previously turned down backup job offers with other teams saying that he wanted an opportunity to be a starter again.Look, I'm willing to accept that Stanton isn't very good. Some NFL types thought as much when he came out of Michigan St. But here's my question: if then-offensive coordinator Mike Martz didn't want him, and head coach Rod Marinelli doesn't want him, why was he taken in the second round? Oh, right.
Stanton currently is the No. 2 quarterback on the team and likely will drop to No. 3 when Culpepper arrives.
Ultimately, the order of the depth chart won't much affect how the 2008 season plays out, other than Culpepper might give the Lions the best chance to avoid 0-16. Gotta crawl before you walk or some such.
