Matt LaFleur - Stafford is Elite!

The War Room Detroit Lions — The Den
21

I’d suggest the Stafford is Elite thread where a lot of players, coaches and former players have come out to call him elite and one of the best.

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22

well I can say Stafford is the greatest QB to have ever played. doesn’t make it so…just like anyone CAN call Stafford “Elite” , doesn’t mean he is. but you can say it.

23

True but when several coaches and players have said it over the years. You have to give it some weight. Opposed to fans.

I recall a few years back when Bruce Arians said he thought Stafford was the best young QB in the game.

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24

I’m not trying to really get into this big debate but most of the guys that say these things say them right before they play the Lions. Usually in that situation they don’t give opposing teams bulletin board material. Stafford isn’t going to be considered Elite until the Lions start winning the division and playoff games.

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thank you !!

26

I can’t like this comment enough. These debates are all subjective and dumb…do I think he is elite, sure…does that really matter in the grand scheme? No…

27

I was just thinking this too. It’s a title tossed around. A talking point. But almost nothing more than that. Some non-locals have started saying this lately - and I guess it’s fueled the conversation. As a talking point. The premise: a quarterback can still be considered elite if he is mired in a dysfunctional organization. I guess it means little to us, as fans, if the organization is still dysfunctional. Which, I think, I hope, it is no longer true. In which case, I guess we’d see soon enough if the moniker holds. Good talent, good coaching, good front office (if that’s what you believe) - he’d have no other excuse than to excel this year, and to help the team excel.

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28

That said, people were saying exactly the opposite last year. Stafford was swiss cheese, talent with holes. So you gotta think that the recent spike in conversation is mostly due to the fact that we are in an early year, on a team that is re-surging - and he’s a 10 year vet on a new hype team. People can come around and say "Yeah, I always saw that in Stafford’.

Big whoop. We’ve been hyping Stafford for the longest, because we’re locals. Now national perspectives have a hot take all of a sudden. Who cares. The final ledger seems to read: even if you are “elite” it doesn’t matter if the organization is shit. So now (maybe) we have a good organization - in which case “elite” only matters if you have people around you. So it remains a team effort.

I’m glad Stafford is good. I’m even more glad this team looks good.

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29

So comparing him to what many consider the best ever in Brady.
Stafford has thrown more passes while trailing in his career then Tom Brady has, even though Brady has played in 130 more regular season football games .

Career #'s when leading

Stafford 65.52 comp%, a 5 to 1 TD to int ratio & a QB rating of 114.5… when leading.

Brady… 65.40 comp%, a 5 to 1 TD to int ratio & a QB rating of 113.6… when leading.

Career #'s when trailing and odd they have almost identical attempts 2931 to 2929

Stafford 60.76 comp% 80 TD’s with 82 int’s a QB rating of 80.1

Brady …61.32 comp% 82 TD’s with 76 int’s a QB rating of 81.2

Extremely similar numbers, whats not similar is the Defense and Run game each has had and that the attempts each take when up in games or down in games with Stafford making throws at a 2 to 1 ratio trailing to leading and Brady is making his throws at a near 3 to 1 ratio leading to trailing.
You can’t have Brady results when the staff & team around him has not been remotely the same… It’s why wins as a QB stat is useless in determining what you have at QB and why many will argue & it’s not lazy to do so (since the numbers back it up) & that if Stafford had been a Patriot the results in NE would have been similar

Weak argument my ass.

30

These are some very interesting numbers, that could lead to some very good discussions. I likey.
But… it’s the internet… so I have to be “that” guy…
Could you cite your source for these numbers?

31

two scenarios. A. The OP did some of his own homework and bothered to look up these numbers and this comparison by himself. OR B. He copied the findings from a site , and in turn brought them here . the only thing I question, is if it was from a site…why no link ? my two cents…

32

The only scenario is I bother to look stats up and compare them and wrote my own response . I copied and pasted nothing I did not write. The stats are readily available to see online via free sites .

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https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ is a great site to break stats down and a go to for accurate stats.
https://nextgenstats.nfl.com/ a great site for quirky interesting stats.

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34

“I wrote my own response.” (your words) when I said, that you may have copied findings from a site…I meant that in turn, that you wrote those findings from that site and brought it here. period. then I only asked why not a link , being Humberto asked for your source for these stats/findings. that’s all brother…no harm, no foul.

35

My stance on elite hasn’t changed, but for those that have missed it, I view “elite” as one of the most overused words in sports.

So considering all of the pro QBs would be elite in pool of all people, I will say the top 5-10% of starting QBs. That will get you 2-3 elite QBs in any given season.

I see Matt as a very good QB that you can win with. I do not see him as elite. However, the world at the top is filled with aging and injuries and the landscape is changing. Will we see Matt as a top 2-3 guy? He has the arm talent. But I am not seeing it.

Honestly I don’t care if he is or isn’t. I want the Lions to win and I don’t care how they do it.

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36

this is my stance as well, and said as much if not in a bit of a different way. but Hins….damn good response man.