Getty David Blough fires a pass against the Bears.
The Detroit Lions witnessed third string quarterback David Blough step up and make plenty of big plays after being put in a tough situation on Thursday, and that could lead to a bright future for the player.
After the Lions had been defeated by the Chicago Bears 24-20 but watched Blough throw for 280 yards and 2 touchdowns in his first start, some takes began to filter out about where the young quarterback might be able to go in the future. As one analyst said, he could be heading for a decent career in football.
According to ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, Blough is going to be entrenched in the league for a while as a backup thanks to what he was able to accomplish in the game.
Blough is going to have a multi-year career as a backup because of that game, which is cool. And Mitch played great over the final few drives.
Indeed, the Lions had to like what they saw from the player they dealt a sixth round pick for a few months back, and it’s possible he could be on the short list to compete as Matthew Stafford’s backup into the future.
On his second pass of the game, Blough connected with Kenny Golladay on a deep touchdown strike. Nobody was near Golladay, and the wideout waltzed into the end zone for the 75 yard score to even the score at 7-7 and strike back after a Chicago drive.
.@david_blough10 with a SHOT to @kgxix ‼️
For Blough, hit was his first career touchdown in the NFL. For Golladay, it was his 9th touchdown of the season and a good start to the game for both the quarterback and one of his key pass catchers. It was the longest play from scrimmage against the Chicago defense this season. Additionally it was the longest touchdown for the team on Thanksgiving since 1992.
It’s just the type of play teams love to see their reserve quarterbacks making routinely, especially when they’re pressed into duty. Blough did open some eyes with this move.
David Blough Played at Purdue
Coming out of Carrollton, Texas, Blough was a three star recruit that selected Purdue over a host of offers from teams such as Memphis and New Mexico State. after paying his dues for a few seasons, Blough took over as the team’s starter and had some up and down years. As a whole, he finished his Purdue career with 9,550 passing yards and 69 touchdowns, which were some pretty impressive totals.
In his final season with the Boilermakers in 2018, Blough threw for a school record 572 passing yards in a game, which is notable considering Drew Brees also played at Purdue and threw plenty of passes with the team through the years.
David Blough in the NFL
Following college, Blough was brought into the league by the Cleveland Browns after the 2018 NFL Draft. He was an undrafted free agent signing of the team and competed during the preseason and training camp to be on the roster. Prior to final cuts, he was traded to the Lions in exchange for a seventh round draft pick. In Detroit, Blough was the third string quarterback behind Driskel and Stafford, and probably never dreamed he’d get his shot at the NFL this quickly.
Thus far in his career, Blough has not registered an NFL stat in a regular season game. During the preseason, Blough threw for 271 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions for Cleveland. His best game statistically came against the Lions ironically enough, when he threw for 115 yards on 11-17 passing. He did throw both of his picks in that game.
Now that Blough has his first game under his belt, it will be interesting to see if the Lions continue to give him chances to start given the absence of Matthew Stafford. Arguably, he’s earned that right most of all after a big day in his NFL debut.
Like has been said, Blough could be carving out quite a role for himself in the league with the Lions or someone else if he can continue to perform like this.