Detroit Lions Weblog

A Tale of Two Drews

The Lions added ex-Michigan QB Drew Henson to replace an ex-Michigan State QB Drew Stanton, who has a thumb injury which will make him unavailable for 4 weeks.  Both Drew’s were among the most highly regarded multi-sport standouts in Michigan high school sports history.

Stanton, who never seems capable of remaining healthy, will be seriously affected by the loss of reps in both practice and the remaining pre-season games.  There has been a growing excitement around the spunky Stanton’s (He reminds me of Mike McMahon, who aroused the same kind of excitement among Lions fans) performance, in spite of the fact that he still appears a long way from legitimately competing with Jon Kitna for a starting job.

Henson, who has become a bit of a NFL itinerant, has proven unable to establish his worth as a NFL backup at his various stops around the league.   The presence of QB coach Scott Loeffler (a former U-M assistant) definitely figures into the equation of the Lions choosing to give Henson, at least what appears to be, a brief look.

For Henson it’s a winning situation.  His NFL career is still extant, even if the death rattle is perceptible, for the time being.  He will be on tape, and any franchise who needs to replace an injured QB, like the Lions, will find someone willing to assimilate quickly.

Now if the Lions could convince Drew Neitzel to reconsider his career as professional basketball player in Europe, maybe he could….