After some back and forth battling in camp between Daunte Culpepper and Matthew Stafford, the Lions have finally come to a decision. The decision they made was to go with rookie quarterback, Matthew Stafford. Some people like the decision because he was their number one draft pick, and they feel that he needs to start playing to get better. I, on the other hand, do not agree.

The Lions are throwing Stafford into a situation where he is bound to struggle. That, I feel, is the worst thing you can do for a young player, especially a quarterback. Look at David Carr for instance. He was thrown right into a mediocre situation, and the rest of his career has been affected by that. He plays scared, and he has a lack of confidence in his offensive lines, which is a direct result of being sacked a million times on an inexperienced offensive line in Houston. Once your mind becomes affected, your game will undoubtedly follow. I feel that it would be much smarter for teams to let young quarterbacks develop on the sidelines and in practice.

Sometimes, though, I do think that playing a rookie quarterback right away makes sense. The times that it makes sense are when they are coming to a good team, and there is a real chance that they can have success. They do not need to feel the burden of carrying the team by themselves, and they can let the game come to them. Playing with this approach can get the young quarterback some victories, and thus they can build their confidence.

That, of course, is not the case with Stafford. He is coming onto a team that was 0-16 last season, and I feel that this could seriously hurt him in the long run. Not only that, but I feel that the Lions have a viable starter in Culpepper. He still has a strong arm, and the type of player, in Calvin Johnson, that can help him be successful. Stafford could really learn a lot from watching a guy like Culpepper who has been around for a while and has been successful in this league.

Well, I guess you don't go 0-16 unless you have some terrible decision-making along the way, and the Lions still clearly have that.