Should the Lions move on from Jake Rudock? 3 ways Detroit's backup quarterback situation could play itself out

Things got a little crazy and unexpected on Sunday. After performing pretty well against the Patriots on Friday night, Jake Rudock has apparently garnered himself some attention from other teams. Apparently this even goes back to the 2016 season.

This is somewhat unexpected, especially when you consider that Rudock has never played a regular season snap in his career. And while he did look great against the Patriots, he didn’t look so great against the Jets, and was so-so against the Colts.

But what does this mean for the Lions? Are they interested? Are they even willing to entertain the idea of trading away Jake Rudock? And if so, where does that leave the Lions quarterback depth chart? Today I want to dive into this and look at three scenarios the Lions can go on this. Let’s start with the obvious.

Trade Rudock

Let’s say the Lions decide to move Rudock. Where are the most likely destinations? The New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers and the Jacksonville Jaguars have all found themselves surrounded with quarterback woes this month. They Lions could have the medicine to fix that affliction.

The team that stands out the most at the moment, is the Buffalo Bills. It’s been a downright rough preseason for them. Sunday, things got a lot worse.

It’s possible that both Tyrod Taylor and T.J. Yates will be healed of their concussions come Week 1, but there’s always the chance that one concussion could lead to long-term outage. Well, the Lions have something the Bills want in Rudock.

Luckily the Bills have something the Lions want, too: A pass rushing defensive end. Is it possible that the Bills would be willing to part with Shaq Lawson, Ryan Davis or Jerry Hughes? I can’t answer that, but I can tell you it’s worth making a phone call.

The Jets are another story. They are about to start Christian Hackenberg or Josh McCown in 2017, and Jets defensive end Sheldon Richardson has been a name that fans have linked to the Lions for years and years now. Could the Lions finally make that a reality? We’ll see.

He’s traded. Now what?

Let’s say the Lions go through with one of those trades above there. The Lions then find themselves with only Brad Kaaya left to back up Matthew Stafford. Kaaya has barely seen any snaps during the preseason, and he hasn’t looked good in the snaps he’s had. So it’s time to look at the market for a true backup quarterback.

Should the Lions become the next home for Robert Griffin III? No, I think they should pass. What about Christian Ponder? I’m confident that the Lions would rather have Sam. What about the return of Shaun Hill? Shaun is 37 years old. This would not be a wise investment.

The way I see it, there’s only one way to go here.

Yup. Think about it like this: If Matthew Stafford were to go down, would you rather start Kaaya or a quarterback that has plenty of playoff experience, is a good quarterback, and is not Brad Kaaya? This should be an easy answer. You have to go with Kaep.

Stay put

This is the most likely of all scenarios. As a Spartan man, I’ve been quite critical of Rudock since Khaki Man made him a starter at that other prominent college in the state of Michigan.

But I can see how good Rudock is becoming. He has a long road, and I still think his peak is as a really good backup. But he’s a guy I trust. Sorry, I just threw up in mouth a little.

When I look at the recent crop of quarterbacks to come out of college, I’m not overwhelmed with confidence when I think of the Lions having to draft another quarterback, if they lose Matthew Stafford to free agency, that is.

Believe me, I can’t believe I’m saying this either. But if the Lions somehow screw up with Stafford, Rudock could move into that starting spot and the Lions wouldn’t crash into the mountains and have to eat the flesh of the dead passengers on the plane to stay alive. They wouldn’t be great—or even good—but they would have a nice base.

I think the Lions feel the same way. For that reason, I think the Lions are just going to stay put and look for other ways of bulking up their pass rush. And... I... would... be... happy... (gag)... to... have him here.