I’ll just drop this here and let you all decide. Is he Elite or not?
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“Yes son…I was there that day. The day Air started that famous Stafford thread. It was an epic thread that lasted for almost 7 years! A lot of good posters went down in that battle…but it needed to be fought.”
Unknown poster, circa 2027 A.D.
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lol … I stumbled onto this on “the Twitter“ and just had to share it. I think It’s a cool stat.
Hoping you all can keep it civil. Please … Please!
Someone posted this stat.
Since 2009 the Lions have averaged only 95.2 yards rushing a game on offense and the Defense has average 353.4 yards allowed per game.
Off all NFL teams the Lions have the 3rd highest win % in this scenario. Meaning they have a QB who wins far more games than most QB’s do with a poor defense and poor run game.
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100% he is …
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I’m sure many of us have had this similar thought:
“Is Stafford a Super Bowl QB if he played for a different team?”
He’s a great player and he’s the closest to a Super Bowl capable QB I’ve seen in a Lions uniform. He has all the attributes to lead a team. Teammates love him and play hard for him. The dude never quits, plays hard, practices hard, great overall durability in career, plays till the final snap of every game as evidence by all his 4th qtr comeback career wins.
Will he win one in Detroit? I don’t know, but we all sure hope so. Get Stafford into the Playoffs and I believe he has the tools and is very capable of making a great run for 3 or 4 games.
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In b4 “Empty stats in garbage time” and “9-56”
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The old no division titles or playoff wins argument will be the reason why lot’s of folks will say no.
For the record I consider him an elite QB!
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1 career win on the road vs. a winning team
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Elite, top quartile, above average
Everyone’s got an opinion
If you look at the totality of his time here, he’s been the best pick by the lions since Sanders
I dunno … 10-11 years at or near the top?
That’s a damn good pick by any measure
The playoff thing … the naysayers get to hang on that
Too bad
I hope the Lions can assemble a team that compliments Stafford before he’s done
Been a long road for the guy
I like that he’s a decent human being
One of the guys you wouldn’t mind your kid looking up to
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Very elite. Still young enough, and lots of football to play.
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Best case scenario: John Elway (some late career Super Bowls)
Middle scenario: Dan Marino (Big numbers, no ring)
Worst case: Jeff George
He came into the league when it went full soft mode and passer friendly. The timing was perfect. Played on a team that had poor defenses and fell behind a lot. Never had a great running game, so was in a scheme that was always pass-first. Had one of the best WRs of all time. Rifle arm. 700 attempts in a single season.
His stats on their face are pretty impressive. He is somewhere between a Matt Ryan and Andy Dalton. If he played for ATL, I’m not sure he makes a SB. If he played for Cinnci, he probably has similar stats and results.
His best years seemed to be that short time when JBC simplified the playbook and went more dink and dunk. More efficient, we kept in more games. Curious to see if the 8 games last year where he played pretty well was just a blip, or if there is more of that to come. That’s what’s really important at this point.
I guess it depends on what your definition of elite is.
To me, just because you throw more than anyone else in the history of the NFL doesn’t mean you are elite. The Lions are typically losing a lot so he needs to throw at the end of the game. Hollow stats against teams that are trying to run out the clock with a lead playing soft zones does not make a guy elite. He has elite arm talent, no doubt about it, but he isn’t an elite QB. The two are totally different things. He came into the league when offenses were shifting to the current passing game and his stats have benefited from that and his ability to stay healthy.
He has been in the league for 11 years. First off, he has been elected to 1 pro bowl in an era when everyone makes it.because no one wants to play in it. Cousins 2x, Goff 2x, Watson 2x, Tannehill 1x, Dalton 3x, Carr 3x, Wentz, 1x, Prescott 2x, Foles 1x, Winston 1x, Newton 3x, Trubisky 1x, Those guys have either been in the league less time or made more pro bowls than Stafford. I know Pro Bowls isn’t a great way to decide anything, but an elite QB would have made it more than 1x in 11 years.
Ryan 4x, Rivers 8x, Brady 14x, Brees 13x, Rodgers 8x, Wilson 6x, Roethlisberger 6x, He certainly doesn’t stack up to the other guys that have been around 10+ years.
Never even been close to being All Pro.
Point to any other QB that is considered elite with a losing record. He is 69-79-1. No playoff wins and 0 division titles. He has only been to the playoffs 3 times in 11 years (27%). Guys like Andy Dalton 44%, Flacco 50%,
And the HOF talk is ridiculous. Out of 26 modern QBs in the HOF, 24 of them have played in a SB and Dan Fouts played in 2 AFC Championship games. Then there is Warren Moon who only won 3 playoff games. Stafford has not even won a playoff game. As things stand right now, he has zero chance of making the HOF. Guys like PManning, Brady, Brees, Rodgers, Wilson, Ryan, Rivers, Roethlisberger, EManning, have to get in over him. If Ryan and Rivers are not making the HOF, no way does Stafford.
In 11 years he has only been in the top 10 for QB rating 4 times and only once in the top 5 (5th place), Passing TDs 4 times out of 11 years, Completion percentage 4 times (never higher than 5th. QBR only 2 times in the top 10. Five times in top 10 for INT, 7 times for pick 6s (including 3 times #1). He has finished 7 times top ten in pass attempts. His Y/A is pretty low for a starting QB which tends to point to a lot of short dump off passes (only 3 times in top 10) Other than by Lions fans, he has never been considered a top 5 QB ever. When compared to his contemporaries, he has never been a league leader. He has been very healthy while many other QBs have been injured which helps with his career numbers.
If you are just rating guys based on career stat accumulation, then whatever.
I know he is all we’ve ever had here in Detroit at the QB position, but he isn’t a game changer. Compared to Charlie Batch, Jon Kitna, Scott Mitchell, et al, he certainly is a huge step ahead of those guys. Elite QBs take teams to SBS. Name one elite QB that has never taken a team to the SB or at least a championship game. Name one elite QB that has a losing record in his career.
He is a guy who can look as good as anyone in the league at times and then look like Jameis Winston the next moment. I like him but I just think there are better QBs out there.
And I am sure the Cult of Stafford is going to rip on this post, throw out their “what if” arguments…and that’s fine, but the “if he played here or if this had happened…” argument is a pure fantasy. It never happened. “He would have won on so and so team…” argument can be made for anyone ever so it holds no validity with me.
A good QB but not elite.
His first 6 years were mediocre and simply quantity over quality.
Although, I think you could make a case he was elite when Caldwell was his coach from 2015 to 2017, In 2017 he was definitely one of the top QBs in the league, that is why it was such a shock they fired Caldwell. I think he is probably low top 10 as things stand now but he has young guns like Mahomes, Wentz, and Watson surpassing him.
It will be interesting to see what he does in 2020. Which way is he going to go?
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He’s also missed almost 2 years (27 games) due to injury… His numbers would be off the charts had he stayed healthy to begin his career.
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I truly see the merit in all of these arguments. That said, team matters so much in football, and as evidenced by the acquisition of Bevell, coaching probably matters just as much. I truly do see where people are coming from with all of these arguments.
I feel in my heart that if Matt was magically put into Brady’s situation, you get a similar result.
Toughness, intelligent, good leader on the field and off. I think the dude’s a stud. I don’t feel like this is being a homer, because I have literally never liked another QB we’ve had, and also disliked a lot of the players from other positions. I’m aware that I see it through my own lens, and am also aware that I have a propensity to root for good human beings.
I’m very thankful we have him as a QB, and don’t have a single complaint about him.
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All in garbage time so…
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He is an elite thrower, he throws more than any other QB in NFL history.
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His stats his first 2 seasons (when he wasn’t hurt) were not that good. Of course playing more games would mean more passing yards, TD’s, and interceptions…but his QBR of 37 as a rookie and 50.5 in his 2nd season probably wouldn’t have been much better.
I think someone actually did an in-depth study on this and debunked it. If I can find that needle in a haystack, I will share it.
Yes, Lord Stafford is the most elite QB the Detroit Lions have. His attempts and yards are incredible. He throws a pretty ball for sure.
This thread will poke the bear. I’ll do my best to not repeat my thoughts on Stafford. He’s a good QB, and I’ll leave it at that.
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