Once former Duke quarterback Anthony Boone realized he wasn’t going to be drafted, one of the first people to contact him was Detroit Lions quarterbacks coach Jim Bob Cooter. After that conversation Boone didn’t really care who else was interested because he felt that Detroit was the right place for him to go.
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Boone’s former college coach David Cutcliffe gave him some interesting advice on where to sign as an undrafted free agent. Cutcliffe told Boone to go to a team with an established starter, as opposed to a team that was going to be having an open competition. Typically you hear quarterbacks being advised to do the opposite, but Boone is thinking long term and realizes his chances of coming in and starting right away are slim to none.
Cutcliffe was a major factor in Boone choosing Detroit, basically telling him to not even take other calls. Cutcliffe has close ties to Lions head coach Jim Caldwell due to their work with Peyton Manning. Caldwell has said that bringing in Boone wasn’t a favor and it wasn’t to make their first round pick, former Duke offensive lineman Laken Tomlinson, comfortable. Caldwell said Boone is a good player who played for a good program and he wants to see what he can do.
Boone’s chances of coming in and making a roster were never going to be great because of his status as an undrafted free agent. Detroit has Matthew Stafford as their starter and he is locked in there. They also seem to be pretty comfortable with Kellen Moore and Dan Orlovsky as their backups making Boone’s chances even smaller than before.
Boone is very confident in his ability as a quarterback so clearly the current quarterback situation in Detroit wasn’t enough to scare him away. He was advised to go to a place with an established quarterback, and even though they also have two solid backups, Boone still has an outside chance of making some noise in training camp with the Lions.
In his four year career at Duke Boone graduated as the winningest quarterback in program history with 19 wins. He is only 6′ tall but he is mobile and coach Cutcliffe says he has a high football IQ and expects a long NFL career for Boone whether it be with the Lions or some other team.
Although being a backup quarterback may be his ceiling, Boone is ready for the challenge and he seems to be very comfortable with his situation in Detroit. Boone was a very important player for Duke’s football program, and we wish him all the best in his journey at the NFL level.