Quarterback Changes Could Come In Detroit, But Not At The Starting Position

Welcome to my newest series called “Stay or Go” Where I look at each position on the team and see if the players should stay on the team in 2017, or we should move on from them and find replacements. At the end, I have a list with a possible replacements at the position that could end up joining the team. The first position that I’m looking into is the quarterback position.

Matt Stafford isn’t going to leave this team. So don’t go thinking this is an article bashing Stafford and how he needs to go. Since we have a solid starter, it is the backup and third string spot I will be looking at here.

Matt Stafford

Man this one is tough. The quarterback that has broken several franchise records, NFL records and has helped Detroit become contenders again. We could move on, but that’d be crazy talk. Stafford has became a solid quarterback through the years after having back to back injury ending seasons. He was a MVP candidate midway through the season, but the finger injury and lack of performance hurt his stock. His contract is coming up though, so an extension is a must going forward.

Decision: Stay

Dan Orlovsky

It is time to move on from Dan Orlovksy. He was outplayed by Jake Rudock in the preseason and many questioned if Orlovksy would make the roster. Caldwell prefers the older players, so Orlovsky stayed. Orlovksy isn’t a good backup for Stafford. He doesn’t have that strong of an arm and makes poor decisions constantly. There can be better backup quarterback options in free agency, and Detroit could promote Rudock to backup and even just look for a third string quarterback.

Decision: Go

Jake Rudock

After an impressive preseason debut, fans were calling for Jake Rudock to start in the 2016 season. While he did impress, having him over Stafford is crazy talk and will only happen if Stafford gets hurt. Jake Rudock proved he could last in the NFL during the preseason and while he spent majority of the year on the practice squad, the Lions called him up near the end of the year. While it wasn’t due to performance, but they called him up so the Chicago Bears wouldn’t snag him and if you are keeping a team, rival or not, from getting a player off your practice squad, you have faith in that player to improve and become a regular on the 53 man roster. With Dan Orlovksy going, Rudock would move up to the backup spot and unless the replacement is clearly better than Rudock, the replacement could end up being a third string.

Decision: Stay

Possible Replacements

• Brian Hoyer, though he could argue he could start for another team after a good showing replacing Jay Cutler.
• Shaun Hill
• Matt Schaub
• Matt Cassel
• Mark Sanchez
• Ryan Mallett
• Cooper Rush, Central Michigan QB
• Gunner Kiel, Cincinnati QB
• Seth Russell, Baylor QB

Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @BKnappBlogs, find me on Reddit at /u/sportsguy4life and share your thoughts on the Detroit Lions subreddit.