Quarterback Matthew Stafford, the Detroit Lions No. 1 overall pick at the NFL Draft

By: Dave Sim

While many people will remember the 2008 football season ending with a Super Bowl victory for the Pittsburgh Steelers, even more will remember it as the season in which the Detroit Lions ran the table in reverse, with an incredible record of 0-16.
With 2009 around the corner, the Lions have begin the season by wiping the board clean. A new GM, a new head coach, a new freshman starting QB in Matthew Stafford, and even a new updated logo.  It’s a fresh start for an organization that can’t take any more steps backwards.

On Monday, Lions’ head coach Jim Schwartz tapped Stafford for the starting role over the more veteran Daune Culpepper. Despite his troubles in 2008, it’s an interesting choice for the Lions to choose Stafford. It’s a question that teams of all sports seems to mull over; it is better for a team to build on the shoulders of a rookie, or to let him learn from a veteran before he takes the reins.

For a team that suffered from a horrendous offensive line the previous season, it will be no easy task for the young Stafford to buy time in the pocket. Growing pains will be obvious and Lions fans are going to be asked to be patient for another year or two while the new pocket passer dips into the rocky NFL waters.

Questions have been asked why the Lions decided to pass on the more veteran Culpepper. Could Stafford have learned from Culpepper the way Aaron Rodgers  slid into the starting role for the Green Bay Packers? Possibly, but the Lions made it clear that they were cleaning house after last year and stuck to their commitment for the future.

The Lions claimed from the moment they drafted Stafford, that the 2008 number one overall pick would lead the Lions in 09. During preseason a battle for the starting position began and a decision had to be made. I would venture a guess the Lions looked at it this way: Even if Culpepper would get the nod to start the 09 season, it would be nothing short of a miracle for the Lions to even survive to be in playoff contention.

With that in mind, the Lions staff figured that they would give Stafford a chance to take as many snaps as possible against the best in the game as well as get advice from a solid veteran waiting in the wings. The fan base has been more than patient for a team that hasn’t has a winning season since 2000. Management was forced to pump some excitement into a city with a lifeless organization and brutal economy.  Going with Stafford is a chance the team is forced to take despite the potential implications (IE. Tim Couch) associated with building a team from scratch.

A Former ROY Gets Another Chance

The final pre-season games are over, and it’s hard to believe that the regular season will begin in just two days. As rosters were solidified and depth charts were set, a few interesting decisions were made leading up to the start of the season. Let’s do a quick recap, shall we?

Bucs name Cadillac Williams as their starting running back

Wow! Did not see that one coming. Even though the Buccaneers’ first major free agency splash of the off-season was to acquire Derrick Ward, Cadillac will be the starter.  The former fifth overall pick looked like a future star in his first season. However, injuries have prevented Williams from seeing the field. The former Rookie of the Year will most likely rotate series with Ward, but it will be nice to see what Williams can do with another opportunity.

Matthew Stafford wins Lions quarterback battle

In my Pre-Season QB Update post, I suggested that Daunte Culpepper should start the season as the Lions quarterback. Unfortunately, I was wrong and the Lions will be starting the number 1 overall draft pick this Sunday. There might not be a more important decision in the NFL than deciding when a rookie quarterback should see his first regular season action. If Stafford can handle the pressures and struggles of starting in his rookie season, than the move is beneficial. Otherwise, we could have another Tim Couch on our hands. Jim Schwartz is a smart guy, so let’s hope he’s got this one right.

The Browns quarterback is….who?

Only The Mangenius Knows Who Will Start For The Browns

Damn you Eric Mangini, why must you torment us like this? The Mangenius knows which quarterback will start for the Browns on Sunday, but he’s not telling. Mangini believes that not naming a starter will make it more difficult for the Vikings to game plan for the Browns. In theory, this makes sense. However, you are dealing with Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn here. Neither has really proven themselves to be an above average NFL starter quite yet. Quinn is the popular bet to get the nod, but Mangini isn’t tied to him in any way. A new coach means that each player has a fresh start as well. While Quinn was a top pick and expected to be the future of the Browns, he was also drafted by the old regime. Mangini could still go with Anderson. Then again, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Mangenius had a quarterback carousel. Who knows what he is thinking?

Richard Seymour gets traded to the Raiders

Seymour has been Richard Seen-a-lot-less since being dealt to Oakland (see what I did there?). The Pats received a 2011 1st round draft pick for Seymour. Knowing the Raiders, this will likely result in the Pats dynasty getting another top 10 pick in the draft. Seymour, however, was reportedly not very happy about the trade and still has not reported to the Raiders. According to Peter King’s latest article, a source close to the situation predicted that Seymour might not report. The Raiders are claiming that Seymour wants to be part of the team, but needs to figure out a few things in New England first. Bill Belichick, as usual, won’t talk about the situation. So that’s where Mangini learned it…

The Raiders cut Jeff Garcia

Russell Must Prove He Has What It Takes To Succeed This Season

What has JaMarcus Russell shown at this level that leads the Raiders to think he will be a successful NFL quarterback? A lengthy holdout prevented Russell from getting into the lineup as a rookie, and last season was just very average for Russell.  Remember, Russell wasn’t even an NFL draft prospect until his spectacular Junior season. That’s a huge jump to make in one season, and it could speak to Russell inability to succeed thus far in the NFL. I am confident that Jeff Garcia is the better quarterback and that he would have led the Raiders to a better record this season. On the other hand, even with Garcia, the Raiders weren’t going to win a lot of games this season. If they let Russell play out the season, at least the Raiders know what they have.

There is your NFL News and Notes for the upcoming season. Enjoy the games this week.

Sanchez Will Have his Chance Tonight

The NFL pre-season has reached the halfway point. After tonight, every team in the NFL will have played two pre-season games. Tonight’s game, however, is an important one for rookie QB Mark Sanchez. Sanchez will get his first start of the pre-season against one of the toughest defenses in the NFL. A good showing by Sanchez could mean that he’s the guy for the New York Jets this season. A poor start, and the QB competition continues. With tonight being an important night for the young signal caller, let’s take a look at some of the other QB battles in the NFL.

Cleveland Browns – Derek Anderson had a pretty average start against Detroit this weekend. While he did go 8/13 for 130 yards, he also threw an interception in the game. Brady Quinn, however, only threw five passes. This competition is pretty tough to judge. On one hand, you have a three game wonder with a recent contract extension (seriously, look at Anderson’s 2007 season stats). On the other, you have a former first round pick that hasn’t proven himself at the NFL level yet. This is one battle that will most likely be decided only days before the first game of the season.

Who is it going to be for the Browns?

Verdict – As of right now, Derek Anderson is probably ahead by inches. It would be smarter to start Quinn and see if he has what it takes to succeed at this level. There are some people (read: me) who believed that Quinn would be better than JaMarcus Russell when they were drafted. Russell hasn’t set that bar too high, but the upside is there for Quinn. Then again, it’s a new coaching regime so it’s any one’s game here.

Detroit Lions – Top overall pick, Matthew Stafford, did little in his start against the Browns to claim the starting job. Daunte Culpepper outperformed him in every way, albeit against the second stringers. Stafford did look a little better in the first pre-season game, however. It seems like everyone wants Stafford to win the job, but he does not appear to be distancing himself from Culpepper. Plus, Culpepper is reunited with Scott Linehan, his offensive coordinator when he was a Viking.

Verdict - Stafford-fever may be taking over Detroit, but Culpepper should start the season as the Lions QB. If Culpepper can recapture the magic of his old Viking days, then the Lions have some nice trade bait. If not, it’s time for the rookie to step in and show what he can do.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - This is another battle that could go down to the wire. Both Luke McCown and Byron Leftwich have shown that they deserve a shot. McCown is the more athletic option of the two, but Leftwich has had some success at the NFL level. Not the mention, Leftwich is a former first round draft choice. Neither player is the long-term answer in TB, but someone has to start while Josh Freeman learns the offense. With Antonio Bryant, Kellen Winslow, and Derrick Ward on the team, this offense might not be all that bad. They just need to someone to throw to those guys.

Verdict – Leftwich would appear to be ahead, but McCown isn’t going to make it an easy decision. It would be nice to see Leftwich get a shot with another NFL team. His numbers really aren’t all that bad as a starter (54-38 TD to INT ratio). If he struggles out of the gate, however, the athleticism that McCown brings to the table would be tempting. These are really two extremely different QBs. Leftwich is a statuesque passer with a long delivery, and McCown is the type of guy that can keep plays alive with his legs. It should be an interesting battle, but Leftwich should come out on top.

MIke Singletary has a tough choice to make

San Francisco 49ers – Is there really a winner in this battle? Both Shaun Hill and Alex Smith have done very little to justify winning the starting job. Alex Smith is the former top overall draft pick, but Hill won a few games for Mike Singletary last season.

Verdict – There are reports that Hill is going to be named to starter soon. It’s hard to agree or disagree with that decision. Hill is nothing special, but no one on the 49ers can seem to do any better. Alex Smith is looking like a huge NFL draft bust right now. This battle is not pretty to say the least. Can we move on now?

Other minor battles:

Oakland Raiders – JaMarcus Russell will most likely win the job even though Jeff Garcia is probably the better QB. Garcia missed some time due to a personal issue and that puts Russell ahead for now.

Denver Broncos – This was starting to become an interesting controversy. However, it appears that Chris Simms may have injured his ankle and taken himself out of the race. Orton was a strong favorite to win the job all along, but struggled in camp and in the first pre-season game. I have always been a fan of Simms, but he hasn’t been given a shot since he ruptured his spleen a few years back. Orton, however, was on his way to a very good season before injuring his ankle last season. This offense, led by Josh McDaniels, has a chance to make some noise. Orton could garner some interest as a backup QB and late sleeper candidate in fantasy drafts if he can get the offense down.

-There are only two active players remaining from the 1991 NFL Draft. One is Brett Favre. The other? Carolina Panthers kicker John Kasay.

-Favre has a tremendous chance to become only the 3rd player ever to lead the league in interceptions with 3 different teams. If he’s able to pull off the feat, he would join Vinny Testaverde and Norm Snead as the only players to do so.

-Favre has thrown at least 500 passes in 15 of his 18 NFL seasons. He could be the 5th Viking to do so, if he throws for at least 500 passes this season. The other 4 are Daunte Culpepper, Warren Moon, Fran Tarkenton and Tommy Kramer.

-Favre has thrown at least 600 passes in a season twice in his career, if he feels that ambitious this season, he would join Warren Moon as the only other Viking to do so.

-Brett Favre’s alma mater Southern Mississippi is also the former school of singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett.

-The last time Favre started and won a playoff game on the road was the NFC Championship Game after the 1997 season. To put that in perspective, the only other current starting quarterback who was in the league then is the Tennessee Titans‘ Kerry Collins, whose Panthers Favre and the Packers defeated in the previous year’s NFC Championship Game.

-The only other active player from the Packers in Super Bowl XXXI, Favre’s lone Super Bowl win, is Titans punter Craig Hentrich.

-Favre’s backup on that Super Bowl team, Jim McMahon, is right now the only quarterback to appear in games for both the Packers and Vikings. Favre would become the first quarterback to start a game for each franchise.

-Favre has thrown 54 regular season touchdowns against the Vikings, tied for his most against any one team. However, that number should be good for only third after this season, as he has victimized the Lions for 54 and Bears for 53 over his career.

I am of the belief that Brett Favre makes the Vikings a worse football team. Favre throws and throws and throws, Minnesota is an offense that runs and runs and runs. I know what your thinking, Favre he will throw when he needs to and be better at it than Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels, but still hand the ball off to Purple Jesus most of the time. If Favre has shown anything throughout his career consistently it’s that he loves throwing the football.

Favre has thrown at least 500 passes, all but one season since he took over the starting QB job. He was one of 10 QB who threw at least 500 passes last year, and guess what; he had the lowest QB rating of those throwers at 81.0. The Vikings are entering their 49^th season as a franchise and they have had only 9 seasons where at QB threw for at least 500 passes. Four Vikings attempted over 500 passes in a season, Daunte Culpepper, Warren Moon, Fran Tarkenton and Tommy Kramer, and Favre very well could be the fifth.

Ok, Brett Favre throws it a lot, so what, he’s a gunslinger, what’s wrong with that. Well nothing is wrong with that, if team that employs you has no problem with that. Favre has thrown 15+ Interceptions for 13 seasons in the NFL, including the last 12 straight seasons. The Vikings love running the football, and have been darn good at it since they drafted Adrian Peterson in 2007.

The Vikings have been a run heavy team since they drafted Adrian Peterson, thus a pass light team. But Brett Favre has thrown at least 500 passes in 16 of 17 years as a starter, including the last five seasons. So something has to give, I’m thinking Favre, since he is running the offense and the Vikings are paying a lot of money for Favre to be Favre, I’m inclined to think he will throw more and give off to AP less. If that is the case, the Vikings will be worse.