Has Detroit Lions Quarterback Matthew Stafford Reached A Plateau?

Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

The Doubt Is Real

The 2015 season is just over a month away and already the doubts about Matthew Stafford are beginning to turn up despite many NFL experts claiming the Lions have one of the more talented rosters in the league.

Recently, ESPN released their annual quarterback rankings as they do prior to the start of every season. In 2015, Matthew Stafford came in at 12th, tied with New York Giants QB, Eli Manning. While the ranking of 12th place isn’t too far off in my opinion, it was the statement from one anonymous offensive coach that is sure to catch your eye:

"“…Holy s—, you look at Matthew Stafford’s eyes and it’s like gym class. It’s like, ‘I hope we win, I think we are pretty good’ as opposed to, ‘I am going to rip your throat out.”"

An anonymous GM also chimed in on Stafford saying, “there is something missing”.

A third anonymous insider — this time a personnel director — continued this theme by comparing Stafford with the Baltimore Ravens’ Joe Flacco and the Atlanta Falcons’ Matt Ryan.

"“I don’t know if he has internally what Flacco and Ryan have in terms of the will to be special. I see those guys working on their mechanics, which is huge for guys like Peyton and Brady. Stafford’s mechanics have not changed.”"

Basically, there is no mistaking it — the doubters continue to grow, despite an improvement statistically a season ago. But why is that?

After doing some searching and reading of my own, I feel like a may have found the answer. And it lies in the Wall Street Journal…

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