Lions just might have the consummate QB

ALLEN PARK -- You might not get anyone with the Detroit Lions to acknowledge this right now, but the wide-ranging feeling in the organization is that quarterback Matthew Stafford might be much better than anyone had dared to hope. With the organized team activities finishing up this week, Stafford has left an indelible impression on members of the franchise. He's still a rookie and he's still making mistakes, but the optimism continues to grow about the team's first overall draft choice. On the field, Stafford shows flashes of brilliance with his quick decision-making, rapid release and arm strength. During Monday's workout, Stafford threw several impressive passes, including a downfield strike to rookie tight end Brandon Pettigrew. Stafford made the toss as he faked a handoff and spun and threw deep in one motion. Lions coach Jim Schwartz is playing it coy about Stafford's progress and the early expectations. "When he's the best quarterback and he's ready, he's going to start. He needs to pass both of those," Schwartz said Monday. "It doesn't matter if he's ready if he's not the best. And if he's the best, but he's not ready, (he won't start)." Schwartz said the Lions want their young players to get used to their surroundings before the coaches start making any decisions. "We wanted to go in saying, 'Let's not judge too quickly,' but at some point, we're really going to have to turn the microscope on and start evaluating every little thing," Schwartz said. "Just being the best physically doesn't mean you're ready to go out on an NFL field. I think we've all seen examples of that, players who were rushed too quickly. They weren't ready mentally, and they weren't ready to be on the field, even though the talent was there." That's the public stance. That's the same answer you'll get from everybody else in the organization. Internally, though, the Lions couldn't be more pleased with Stafford. The truth is that the kid is wowing everybody. While the Lions knew that Stafford had all the physical abilities, the one thing they couldn't measure was how he would adapt to his surroundings. Not only in terms of how he would bond with his teammates, but how he would carry himself in meetings and in the locker room. That's an area where Stafford has cleared all the hurdles and passed all the tests. As a leader, one of the toughest lines to walk is the ability to mesh as just "one of the guys" while, at the time, elevating yourself above everyone else because that's what they expect and demand out of their quarterbacks. Before the draft, I wrote that the Lions had to be careful in selecting Stafford because it could lead to some real problems in the short term. Detroit already had a veteran quarterback in Daunte Culpepper -- who was looking good in minicamp -- and Culpepper has a faithful following in the locker room. If the Lions brought Stafford in and he couldn't prove that he was going to be a better option than Culpepper, the result would have been a divided locker room. Veterans don't care about draft status, contracts or potential -- they want to see it done on the field. They don't want to hear about leadership, they want to see it. After just two weeks of offseason workouts with the veterans, that issue with Stafford is no longer relevant. The Lions know their fans have endured false promises before, so they aren't going to trumpet their belief that Stafford has what it takes to be a special quarterback in the NFL. They're hoping the fans will see that for themselves when Stafford finally takes the field as the Lions' starting quarterback. That day might be closer than you think.