Martin Mayhew used his first draft pick on a quarterback, taking Matthew Stafford with the No. 1 overall selection in the 2009 draft. Through the rest of his time with the Detroit Lions, Mayhew passed on taking another quarterback every time.
Instead, the Lions relied on veteran backups Drew Stanton, Shaun Hill and then Dan Orlovsky to handle the No. 2 role. The Lions signed Kellen Moore as an undrafted free agent and kept him on the roster for three seasons.
In other words, Stafford was never pushed for the starting role once he had it and the Lions didn’t really develop a potential starter behind him.