Pending what happens in Thursday night’s preseason opener against the New York Giants, the Detroit Lions have a problem. As Hendon Hooker and Nate Sudfeld battle for the backup quarterback spot, Hooker has not been able to set himself apart from Sudfeld.
Sudfeld is barely roster-worthy, with his greatest asset being intangible experience in multiple offenses. If he was one snap from having to play, or start….
Jared Goff has been healthy over the last two seasons, but if something happened to him a Lions’ season with legit Super Bowl aspirations would go down with him as rest of the depth chart sits right now. The emphasis on the No. 2 quarterback spot professed by general manager Brad Holmes 18-19 months ago has never really come.
However, there are potential backup quarterback options out there, and the Lions have made late turns of the depth chart behind Goff before. One option in particular keeps coming up, as he naturally faces an uncertain future with his current team.
ESPN analytics guy Seth Walder (subscription required) has offered up five preseason trades he feels make sense for both teams. His proposed deal involving the Lions makes a ton of sense.
Grade the trade proposal: Lions acquire a capable backup quarterback
Walder proposed a deal between the Lions and the Atlanta Falcons. The Lions get quarterback Taylor Heinicke for a 2025 seventh-round pick.
“While Heinicke is not an amazing quarterback, he’s a palatable backup. He has a 46 QBR over 38 career games (29 starts) and had a 51 QBR in five games with Atlanta last season — though he also posted a minus-9% completion percentage over expectation in that span, per NFL Next Gen Stats.”
“He’s an appealing option for Detroit, considering that the Lions are currently relying on 2023 third-round pick Hendon Hooker to be their backup….if Hooker isn’t ready and Jared Goff misses a few games, the Lions would need someone like Heinicke who can navigate them to a win or two and keep them in the running. That type of QB insurance is important, especially considering the Lions’ status as a Super Bowl contender.”
Heinicke started four games for the Falcons last year when they benched Desmond Ridder. He started 24 games over the previous two seasons when he was with Washington, most notably starting 15 games and leading four game-winning drives in 2021. He threw for 306 yards in a playoff loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion Buccaneers to end the 2020 season.
Heinicke is not someone you’d want starting a full season of games if you could help it. He defines the term “capable backup”, or “palatable backup” as Walder put it. The Lions can’t say they have one of those right now, and if Heinicke is not at least tentatively on their radar something is wrong.
