Mike O'Hara: Lions Extra
Stanton will never be the same if Martz can help it



Drew Stanton is getting an extreme makeover in the Lions' three-day rookie camp.
It is the treatment Stanton expected to get from Mike Martz, the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
"He's changing everything," Stanton said. "It's a lot, and you can see the success rate when you do what he's telling you."
Stanton was the first of the Lions' three second-round draft picks. Martz was impressed by Stanton's natural ability when he worked him out before the draft. But that didn't mean Stanton would arrive as the finished product, or anything close to it. Stanton was asked to explain some of the things Martz is changing.
"I could probably stay here for an hour and write a book on it and tell you guys about it," Stanton said. "There's a lot of it, from your feet to your eyes to where I hold the ball -- all those things that he's taught all the quarterbacks who had success.
"Now I just need to hammer it home and get it through repetition."
One thing Martz has changed is how Stanton grips the ball. Martz wants him to grip it more with his fingertips, with less of his hand touching the ball.
Stanton's natural wrist action gives him a strong release. Throwing with his fingertips will make him more accurate.
Working with quarterbacks is a slow process, step by step.
"You take one little thing at a time until he gets comfortable with it," Martz said. "If you give them everything, they just fall apart."
Quarterback comparison
Stanton is the fourth quarterback drafted by the Lions in the last seven years. He ranks ahead of the other three -- Mike McMahon (2001), Joey Harrington ('02) and Dan Orlovsky ('05) in one of the most important categories: accuracy.
Stanton had a career completion rate of 64.2 percent, with a one-season high of 66.7 in 2005.
McMahon and Harrington never had high completion rates in college, and that weakness showed in the pro game. Both have had enough starts to be evaluated as pros. Here's the quarterback breakdown:
McMahon -- A fifth-round draft pick out of Rutgers. He was rated No. 2 athletically, based on workouts, among quarterbacks in the 2001 class. Michael Vick of Virginia Tech was rated No. 1 and was the first player drafted. There is more to playing quarterback than being a great athlete, which is why McMahon was still on the board in the fifth round.
Accuracy and decision-making were his biggest weaknesses.
McMahon completed 51.8 percent of his passes at Rutgers. He had a high of 51.8 percent in his second season. He played 29 NFL games, with 14 starts, in five seasons with the Lions and Eagles and had a career completion rate of 44.5 percent.
McMahon was released by the Vikings at the end of camp last year and has signed with Toronto of the CFL.
Harrington: He arrived in camp with the Lions in 2002 and had a nice, smooth delivery. And given the franchise's history of quarterback failures, he was projected as the savior.
One thing that was overlooked in his career at Oregon -- by myself, included -- was his low completion rate. Harrington had a career completion rate of 58.5 percent, with a one-season best of 58.1 in 2001.
Harrington has had a full test in the NFL -- 69 games and 66 starts for the Lions and Dolphins. His career completion rate is 55.2 percent. His improvement from year to year has been as gradual as a tortoise climbing Mt. Everest -- 55.8 percent in 2003, 56.0 in '03, 57.0 in '05 and 57.5 last year with the Dolphins.
He was released after his one season with the Dolphins and signed by Atlanta to be Vick's backup.
Orlovsky: His career completion rate at Connecticut was 58.5 percent, with a one-season high of 63.0 in 2004. Orlovsky has had minimal playing time with the Lions -- 17 attempts and seven completions, all in 2005.