Matthew Stafford often times gets the short end of the stick from Detroit Lions fans, but folks in the NFL have a much higher opinion of the quarterback most of the time.
That was proven once again by Bucky Brooks of NFL.com. Brooks revealed a list of his top 5 quarterbacks who are transcendent in the league right now. Stafford was included, and was included amongst some true luminaries right now at the position.
It’s likely to be controversial for many that Stafford is on the list given his lack of big success in the NFL in terms of wins and losses at this point, but there is little doubting the fact that Stafford has some major talent to rely on at this point. He’s got a great arm and all the tools to dominate.
The hope is Stafford’s talent shines through and he starts to win bigger on the big stage in the future. For now, though, he still makes the cut in terms of elite players at his position in the mind of Brooks and likely plenty of others.
Matthew Stafford Named Potential MVP by ESPN
Last year’s back injury ended up costing Stafford the rest of the 2019 season, but now that he has presumably healed up, the sky could be the limit for the quarterback during the 2020 season. In fact, some already see Stafford as being in the mix for a major award for his play during next season.
ESPN recently put together an Insider piece predicting some outcomes for the 2020 season. When it came to league MVP, there were scant votes for Stafford, but one insider was bold enough to say he thinks the Detroit quarterback could be the league MVP.
In a piece by MLive.com’s Benjamin Raven, the thoughts of ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler from the piece are presented. Here’s a look at what was written by Raven that Fowler shared in the piece:
“The Lions quarterback was playing some of the best ball of his career before going down with fractured bones in his back, though, and his level of play was reason enough for one ESPN analyst to pencil him in as the 2020 NFL MVP.
“Mahomes is still the game’s best player, but Stafford was playing really good football before his midseason back issues,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler writes (ESPN Insider). “If he leads Detroit to contention, which isn’t so farfetched considering the talent around him, he’ll be in the MVP mix because he puts up numbers and the NFC North is as open as Kenny Golladay.”
The Lions were arguably getting MVP level play out of Stafford before he got hurt, and the numbers proved that he was acclimating just fine to Darrell Bevell’s new offense in Detroit. Last season, Stafford was cruising along to the tune of 19 touchdowns, 5 interceptions and 2,499 yards. Clearly, he was the most valuable player for the Lions considering what happened to the team when he went down.
To prove he belongs in this group, Stafford will likely have to have another huge season on the field while making some big plays and notching some big wins along the way.
Matthew Stafford Explains Feelings on 2019 Season
Stafford joined Tori Petry from DetroitLions.com for an exit interview following the completion of the 2019 season, and admitted to the frustration over not being able to reach goals and finish things off healthy as well as help his team to some more late season success.
“It’s been tough. Obviously, as a team, when you don’t win games, it’s difficult,” Stafford said in the interview. “I know the amount of hard work guys on our team and our coaching staff put into it and when the season doesn’t go the way you want it to, it’s not fun.”
For Stafford, the frustration was significantly over not being able to be on the field, even though he had a big role otherwise preparing the quarterbacks.
“For me personally, disappointed not being able to be out there. I love playing. I love playing with these guys. I love competing and not being able to do that was tough. I tried finding other ways to help us and stay involved as much as I possibly could, but nothing actually duplicates going out there and doing it.”
Stafford admitted his role didn’t change outside missing games, but the fact that he had to be a spectator wasn’t exactly something which made him happy. Easy to see, especially with how miserable the Lions finished.
All of that is now in the rear view mirror, and Stafford remains a player to watch as an elite talent.
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NFL Analyst Puts Lions’ Matthew Stafford on Elite List