Lions Won't Rush Matthew Stafford Into Starting Job

There used to be a time when teams would use a first-round pick on a quarterback with the understanding that he would sit on the bench for two or three years, learn the offense, and then assume the full-time gig. Recently, with the proliferation of the pro-style offense in college, and the out-of-control salaries top-of-the-draft quarterbacks now command, more is expected sooner.

Since 2002, 20 QBs have been drafted in Round 1, and 10, for different reasons, played in at least nine games as a rookie. Results were mixed (Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, Byron Leftwich and Ben Roethlisberger were all stellar; David Carr and Joey Harrington were not), but much of that had to do with the situation these young signal callers were thrust into.

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Last season, the Ravens' suffocating defense made Flacco's transition to the NFL an easier one, and Big Ben also had that luxury in 2004. Carr, on the other hand, was the victim of a confluence of events: a new franchise, a new system, a suspect offensive line, and questionable decision-making skills. Sixteen games and 70 sacks later, Carr, for all intents and purposes, was a vegetable.

So even though some subset of fans -- particularly those in Detroit who want to see an immediate return on the team's $70-plus million investment -- think Matthew Stafford should be the starter in Week 1, new head coach Jim Scwhartz admitted yesterday that he's not going to force Stafford on the field before he's ready.

Schwartz said just as the team kept an open mind about which player to draft, an open mind will be kept about which quarterback will start.

"We go into this process the same way," Schwartz said at team headquarters in Allen Park. "Not with, 'Hey, we're going to sit him for a year regardless.' Or, 'Hey, he's going to start right away.' I think we go in and say, 'If he's ready -- in our eyes if he's ready -- and if he's our best quarterback, then he plays.' "

Schwartz also pointed to Daunte Culpepper's reemergence as another reason to keep some perspective on Stafford.

And for his part, Stafford said what you would hope to hear from the first-overall selection: "I'm a competitive guy, and I'm going to get ready as quick as I possibly can ... And if that's Game 1, then that's Game 1. If it's Game 8 or not even in the first year, it's up to the coaches. I'm there for them and I'm just going to be out there working hard, trying to help the team win any way I can."

The Lions focused on offense with their two first-round picks, and landed safety Louis Delmas in the second round. Unless Detroit makes a run on defenders on Day 2, and finds three or four starters in the process, whoever is under center in 2009 won't have the luxury of a top-flight defense to fall back on. So barring unforeseen circumstances, this will probably be Culpepper's gig to lose. Or at least it should be.