The great quarterback debate

So, Daunte Culpepper should be the starter over Matthew Stafford, at least for the beginning of the season. That’s what most believe.  I’d say it’s 50/50 after reading this article on Scout.com.

“We’re not going to spoon-feed him, now,” offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said. “He’s got to take it in and digest everything we give him and go out and perform.”

As Linehan said, the Lions don’t want to play Stafford before he’s ready, but they don’t know when that will be. They don’t want to rush him. But they don’t want to hold him back, either.

“At this point,” Linehan said, “we’re just going to throw everything at him, put him in as many situations as we can and see how fast he progresses and not really put a timetable on it.”

They don’t want to rush him but he could be ready to go from day one.  The only thing that has me concerned is his progress when he was in college.  He got better each of the three season he played but his first season was nothing spectacular at all.  I have a feeling that it will be the same thing for him to adjust to the speed and intensity of the NFL game.

I’ve called for Stafford and Culpepper to have an open competition but, the more I think about it, I’d rather he sit the entire season and learn the game.  Give him some more reps in practice but keep him on the sidelines for the year.  If Culpepper really stinks it up, I could see him making his debut on national TV Thanksgiving Day.  That might be the time to let the kid show what he can do.

I was on the Curry bandwagon since the end of last season.  I’ve had some lively debates with some other respected posters on the merits of Stafford.  Since he was drafted, he’s my guy.  I’m behind him 100% and want him to succeed.  No, what I really want is for him to excel.  The Lions have not had a a player really do that since Barry Sanders.  It’s been a heck of a lot longer since they had a quarterback worth playing more than a couple-three seasons.

I’m starting to believe that he might actually be the the right man for the job.  Mayhew and Lewand, as well as Schwartz and co, have made some good decisions since they took over the team and it looks like they’re trying to build for a winner sooner than later.  Stafford needs to be the one to lead that change.  Time for a winner.