Getty Matthew Stafford chats with an official.
Matthew Stafford’s 2019 season was cut short by injury, but that might only be preparing him for bigger and better things come the 2020 season.
While Stafford was hurt and the Detroit Lions suffered, his eventual rebound might only be a short time away. According to Pro Football Focus, Stafford is one of the top 10 players to watch as it relates to the Comeback Player of the Year award this coming season. The reason has not only to do with his own health but the talent he will be set to work with on the offensive side of the ball once again.
Writer Ben Linsey took a stab at projecting the top players who could get into the mix for the award, and Stafford placed at No. 3 on the list.
Linsey wrote:
“The Lions’ record early in the 2019 season may not have reflected how well they were playing, particularly offensively. Through the first nine weeks of the campaign (with Stafford at quarterback), they ranked fifth in expected points added per pass play. Stafford was thriving in a scheme that allowed him to push the ball downfield with reckless abandon, ranking eighth in PFF grade among quarterbacks from Week 1 to Week 9 and doing so with an average depth of target of 11.4 yards (highest in the NFL).
Stafford once again will have some quality receivers around him in the passing game with Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones Jr., Danny Amendola, T.J. Hockenson and the rookie additions of D’Andre Swift (PFF’s top pass-catching running back in the class) and Quintez Cephus. If he puts together a complete season of that early 2019 success, there’s no reason Stafford can’t take home this award for the second time.”
Stafford does figure to be boosted by some major upgrades to his offense this coming season, and might only have a better ground game to rely on. That should help him as it relates to the potential for this award.
It would be the second time in his career Stafford will have won the award if it happens, as he took it home in 2011 as well. This comeback, if it happens, could be even better than that one.
Matthew Stafford Called Underrated MVP Candidate
While Stafford might be a leader for one award, some early odds have Stafford as quite a long shot to take home the league MVP award in 2020 but according to some, Stafford could be a great value buy as a guy who could be a dark horse to take home the award.
Recently, Pro Football Focus presented a take of the most overrated and underrated candidates for the award. Stafford falls into the underrated category.
MVP odds: Don’t count out Matthew Stafford
“For me it’s Matthew Stafford at 60-1. He was having a pretty good season last year when he left. He’s to me the best best value,” the analyst says.
Indeed, Stafford was on his way to perhaps being an MVP candidate when his back injury struck. Without Stafford, the Detroit season fell off a cliff. Obviously, that only proves how valuable the quarterback is to his team. Stafford has willed the Lions to the playoffs before and if he has a good season, the team could be in great shape for 2020.
Matthew Stafford Named Potential MVP by ESPN
That 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 become league MVP, the Lions will have to have an elite season on the field in terms of winning and also get great stats from Stafford. It might seem like a tall order, but it’s always possible if the Lions can finally play up to their potential.
Golladay might be a big reason why, and Stafford could be a player that is one of the truthfully great comeback stories as a result. Most see him in the mix to make that happen soon.
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