Sometimes we like to shine our 2 candlepower spotlight on former Boilermakers who are making a name for themselves in the NFL. Well, one of my personal favorites, John Standeford, is kind of doing that as he's finally seeing some regular action for the Detroit Lions after spending four seasons on the Colts practice squad.I'm actually not sure being on the Colts practice squad isn't better than being on the Lions active roster, but that's neither here nor there.
John has gone from catching passes from Peyton Manning in the practice bubble to being targeted by the legend that is Dan Orlovsky.
Truth is, though, we're happy that John is getting the chance to play regularly in the NFL because this is a hard-working guy who deserves it. I still wear his #82 to games in the fall.
Also interesting is the John Standeford isn't the only former Boilermaker to be "starring" for the Lions. Ole Stu Schweigert was signed by the league's most inept team in November.
Back to John, though... I thought this quote was a little puzzling, like maybe there's a problem within the coaching ranks in Detroit as far as communicating roles to players (imagine that):
"I thought Detroit was a good fit. I just try to go out there and make plays. I don't know what I am in their scheme. I try to run routes as best I can. I don't know what you call that. I try to get open."
This must be taken out of context because of all the "I don't know" comments -- maybe he was asked what kind of receiver he is or something. But it just seems to fit well with the dazed and confused look the Lions have had all season to match their 0-14 record.
But hey, that's not all on the former Boilermaker thread. You may already know this, but the offensive coordinator, such as it is, for the Lions is none other than (awful) former Purdue coach Jim Colletto. And here's Jim's quote about Standeford:
"He is really a dependable guy," Colletto said. "It's nice to have a couple of guys you can talk to out there. He does exactly what you ask him. He gives all kinds of effort. He is nice to have around."
Is it me, or does that sound really lonely? What are the other players doing? Pushing him down and kicking sand in his face? I guess if you're the O-coordinator of an 0-14 team, you really would be lonely.
Anyway, all the best to John, Stu, and, yes, even Jim.
Offsetting flags were thrown for these blatant purple nurples.
9 comments:
dont forget cliff avril
Our boy Avril is a Lion too; starting as well...let's not limit Boiler talk to just the guys picked up off of the scrap heap.
You're a scrap heap.
That's hurtful nonsense.
Hehehe, I was actually at the Colts-Lions game on Sunday. John had a pretty good game and spent most of it as the #2 receiver to Calvin Johnson
Johnson, however, is a freak of nature. He caught everything except a dose of the Clap from a cheerleader.
and J Money, I would be disappointed if you didn't take the freak of nature Johnson catching the clap and running with it.
According to the box score, John returned a punt for 1 yard. What is that all about?
Anon- he stupidly picked up a loose punt...can't figure out why he did it. It was deep in Lions territory and heading out of bounds.
Is it nurple or murple?
Avril has been a solid contributor all season. While his time has also come partly due to injuries to the Week 1 starters, he's made the most of it - good pressure up front and decent coverage when he drops back in a zone blitz. He's a good fit for the way this defense should be run, and would probably get good time on a team that runs it well. (The Lions aren't just a bad defense, they're a terrible Cover/Tampa-2 defense.)
Standeford probably doesn't know what his role is because it changes every week. After the Williams steal-I mean trade, the Lions lost Furrey and now McDonald to season-ending injuries, so Standeford's been rising on the depth chart almost by default - the change in role has been a necessity.
Schweigert kind of falls into the same category: the Lions secondary is a) awful and b) beat-up. I haven't seen enough of his work yet to compare him to the other safeties (I do volunteer charting for Football Outsiders), but it doesn't matter, the rest of the DBs have played badly enough that he should get playing time anyway. You'd think the Lions found the only players in the NFL not capable of playing zone defense ... which makes you wonder about the coaching staff.
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