Stanton missing the season has more to do with the Lions thought process than with Stanton’s health

There was a collective angst when the Lions put the Spartan Nation’s and new Lions QB Drew Stanton on the IR for the year. Many people thought that Drew

There was a collective angst when the Lions put the Spartan Nation’s and new Lions QB Drew Stanton on the IR for the year. Many people thought that Drew would only be out a month and get back.

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Here is the issue. The Lions ideally wanted to give Stanton two years to fully master the system before they handed him the keys to their (hopefully after two years) well-oiled machine under Mike Martz.Â

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Martz likes his spot in Detroit, but no matter what you hear he wants to be a head coach badly and when that opportunity comes (with the power to run the entire organization) he will take it. The Lions however will almost certainly retain an OC that will stick to his system and philosophy if Martz goes. The Lions have assembled such an impressive unit on offense that even though the chances that an NFL team would give Martz the power he would want, you have to plan with that in mind. Why put your future QB in a spot where he isn’t practicing with the genius and now has to learn from an apprentice?

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Because Stanton was not going to play this season, the Lions saw putting him on the IR as a viable option because of the play of Dan Orlovsky and J.T. O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan has played well and has given Orlovsky a run for his money for that number two slot, but Stanton’s not playing was predicated on the health of Kitna and the rigors of an NFL schedule on a QB that isn’t 22.

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The Lions saw the IR as a place to put Stanton while not having to lose either Orlovsky or O’Sullivan. The bad point, however, is that in five or six weeks Stanton can still sit in meetings and work out at the Allen Park training facility but he can’t practice.

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The problem, however, is that if Kitna gets injured (something that didn’t happen last season) Stanton will get no game reps. The Lions are in a tough spot here. It is my opinion that the Lions are taking a huge risk. If Stanton is your QB of the future then why would you throw away a season of practice and even potential play by making this move? If Kitna were to get injured, by placing Stanton on the IR the Lions have made a terrible decision. Stanton better be the franchises future QB when picked so high in the second round. If you don’t feel that way (and I am not saying that they do) then picking him that high was a waste of a pick.

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The point is that they picked Stanton in the second round while having Orlovsky, because it was their opinion (and that is an educated assumption) that Orlovsky wasn’t their guy of the future. So why keep Stanton isolated where he can’t get the reps.

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Some of my critics will try to say that my reasoning here is because Drew is a Spartan. That is ignorant. Why pick a guy high and eliminate him from being able to contribute if needed? I understand that you like Orlovsky and O’Sullivan but why pick Stanton if you’re in love with Orlovsky and O’Sullivan is a journeyman that you’re protecting over your first second round pick?

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Let’s all hope and pray that Kitna plays the entire year and the issue is mute. If not, we will have to rethink this decision. If Kitna is gone for any length of time, the season will tank and trust me this issue will have to be revisited when we are watching a guy that they see as the franchise QB of the future carrying a clipboard on the sidelines perfectly healthy.