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The Detroit Lions Could Mix Up The Starting Quarterback Come Sunday.

Choo Choo! Here comes the train full steam ahead. Jake Rudock has a real shot of starting for the Detroit Lions come on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. Starting quarterback and $135 million dollar man Matt Stafford is banged up. Not like it was in 2016 where he was able to play through it (and it affected his game). Stafford hasn’t taken a snap off, but you can tell he needs it badly.

I’m a big believer in Stafford. I know he is our franchise quarterback. I use to dog him his first two seasons as he was out for multiple weeks with two big injuries. Since then, he has proven himself and become something that Detroit has needed for years, a quarterback who knows what he is doing.

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Starting Stafford Could Be Risky

So Detroit finally has their guy, and they are paying him to be that guy. Wouldn’t you want to protect him? Matt Stafford got banged up and bruised his forearm and has played through it, nothing major. He’s been poked in the eye, and had a bloody hand, both again nothing serious. Then he starts limping. Now players might sprain something or pull something lightly, have a charlie horse, this is different. Stafford had his thigh and ankle wrapped up and he was limping against Carolina. I don’t like my starting quarterback limping.

THIGH muscle strain & mild high ankle sprain.

Both on right side for @MattStaffordQB https://t.co/YOU9omXgVT — David J. Chao – ProFootballDoc (@ProFootballDoc) October 9, 2017

This is the time to do it. Detroit has the perfect opportunity to do rest their starting quarterback and still win the game. They are facing one of the worst defenses in the NFL and while the Lions defense struggled for the first time last week against Carolina, New Orleans can be a team they could contain. I get Stafford is a fighter and I love that about him, but when does his health come before the team? This week.

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Jake Rudock Could Handle It

Jake Rudock has evolved over the past year. He was cut after the 2016 preseason to be brought back onto the practice squad. With his impressive performance and injuries piling up for teams around the league late in the season, he was getting targeted by multiple teams and Bob Quinn didn’t want that to happen, so he moved him up to the 53 man roster.

Since then, he’s moved up from the third-string quarterback to the backup. Dan Orlovsky was told by the Lions that they would not try and bring him back for the 2017 season. Enter Jake Rudock. With him filling in, fans were split on the decision. Some were happy to see their hometown guy stay and get promoted, others didn’t think he was good enough for it.

During the draft, the Lions made Rudock have to earn his spot as a backup by drafting Brad Kaaya in the sixth round. Throughout the preseason it was a battle to see who will win the backup job. In the end, Jake Rudock won, and Brad Kaaya was sent to the practice squad. Kaaya would later get claimed by the Carolina Panthers.

Rudock has shown through the two preseasons that he can be a backup quarterback in the NFL and the team should be comfortable with him if Stafford goes down.

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.