Hey Drew... Ya wanna 2nd Contract?

When we spent a number 2 on Stanton I was really excited. I liked his toughness in Spartan Land and though we had done really well. Unlike a Disney story, his career hasn’t worked out that way.

I would definetly take Stanton over JT or Mccown, both of whom I’ve seen play before. I would hold on our QB’s and not pick one up. We already picked up a young guy, Let’s play what we have.

I personally belive that Stanton has as good an arm as Hill. He is a good athalete and I would expect him to play as a runner just as often as a thrower. I would even like to see the wildcat (single wing) with him at QB. With our top two running backs injured Stanton has to rank as one of the best runners on the team. He may not run as well as Ronnie Brown (I said may) but he can sure throw better.

I am happy to see Drew play. I am hoping he plays well. If Detroit wins, I’m lovin’ it.

This game will tell the tale of Drew’s future.
Too bad it comes against the Bear’s D. It would be wonderful
if he performed well but, It ain’t the 4th quarter of a pre-season game.
I have to reconsider keeping Calvin on my fantasy team this week.
Thoughts?

He looked up and his asked, “Who?”.

Then they pulled out the film on Stanton for him, and afterwords Marinelli started preaching about keeping a low pad level to get under the clipboard, because Stanton likes to hold the board low.

I had hopes for him too – as with many Millen’s picks, his bio was good and rated pretty fairly by the experts..
but
why he really hasn’t seen the field with any of these dreadful teams, just makes me doubtful he’ll be the answer. I’d rather have a crafty vet come in and manage a few games missed by injuries, and the third guy be developmental (by that I mean young in 1st or 2nd yr.. not 4th yr)

He is mobile which will be a plus since we saw what Peppers did to Matt, and the Giants did to Hill.

He does throw it up and can run- so we’ll see.

my 2 cents

This game against the Bears will likely show all Drew Stanton supporters what we’ve been saying all along. He isn’t the hidden gem they think he is. Shaun Hill isn’t the guy they were calling out.

I believe this guy can do a lot more than other people believe. Traditionally athletic, or scrambling based quarterbacks take a lot longer to develop than pocket passers. Mainly it is because they have more tools to work with and therefore have more to process and digest mentally on any given play.

This also leads to a tendency for them to get sacked more if they lack the ability to make plays down field. Perfect examples of this are guys like Michael Vick. He has all of the talent in the world but he also tends to rely on that, which means he will hold the ball longer and try to buy time with his feet, which means he will run into some sacks that other quarterbacks would throw the ball away on, or scramble for a 2 yard gain.

Aaron Rogers is an example of a guy in transition on this. He held the ball too long last year, but this year is tending to get rid of it more or find a way to make the plays down field.

Either way though there are examples of guys like this in the past, that were more athletic than talented passers. They always take a bit longer to develop. From our own Shaun Hill to Steve Young, to Vince Young the examples are there to support the idea.

The real key in their development is coaching which would seem obvious, but let me digress a little here. With a guy that has legs like this you do not build an offensive scheme that relies on him making 3-4 reads per play. In my opinion this is where Lions coaching has failed him in the past. You cannot expect Drew Hill to step in and do what Matt Stafford, or even Shaun Hill at this point in his career can do.

No instead you build him up slowly and let him rely on his legs. You give him very little to think about and let him focus on simple decisions. Pre snap he has a pass or run option, that should be basic for every quarterback. Post snap you give him 2 reads then run. Most coaches will limit an early guy to only reading half or the field as well. So you may give him a sideline read, then an underneath in the middle read, if neither is there he runs.

I know it will limit the offense, and many of you may feel that Drew has the mental ability at this point in his career to do more. On game film, on the sidelines, and in practice I would agree. However he simply does not have the actual in game live reps to put him there. Therefore I feel the Lions, and Drews best chance of success is to limit him and focus on getting positive yardage plays.

A lot is riding on this for Drew, I hope he does well.