With the offseason taking forever, let’s see how Matthew Stafford of the Detroit Lions stacks up against the other quarterbacks of the NFC North.
Over the next few weeks of the offseason that needs to end already, I’ll be dipping into each NFC North team and ranking them position by position. So today I’ll be looking into the quarterbacks for the Detroit Lions and all their division rivals.
The ranking won’t go by legacy, rather what I expect from them this upcoming season.
Now let’s get into this!
4. Chicago Bears
In the next few years, the Bears could end up at the top of this list rather than at the bottom. They used their top pick to select Mitchell Trubisky as their new franchise quarterback.
However, they don’t seem too keen on him playing this season and if he does, it’ll be late in the year just to get him some reps.
The real quarterback of this season is ex-Tampa Bay Buccaneer Mike Glennon. Now Glennon isn’t awful, but he isn’t worth buying a jersey either. The Bears seemed to have wanted him to be the guy, but after making a move in the draft they seem to see him as a placeholder.
Either way, they Bears aren’t going to wow anybody from the quarterback position.
3. Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings quarterbacks have created an interesting situation. Teddy Bridgewater is their guy; however, his injury last season called for the team to trade for Sam Bradford. Unfortunately for the Vikings, Bridgewater might still miss this season and his career seems to be in jeopardy.
Bradford, meanwhile, was able to set an NFL passing record last season, but he didn’t look great doing it. He fell apart as the season went on and the Vikings ended the season missing the playoffs.
If the Vikings had it their way, I’m sure they would choose a healthy Bridgewater, but it seems they’ll spend another season riding or dying with Bradford.
2. Detroit Lions
Coming up just short is our favorite Detroit Lions gunslinger. By the end of this season, I truly believe that Matthew Stafford has the ability to be the top quarterback in this division, and maybe even get that playoff win monkey off his back.
Another year of working with Jim Bob Cooter’s offense and his stellar receiving core should put him in the top tier statistically.
Stafford’s ability isn’t going unnoticed nationally. He was just ranked 31st overall by NFL.com, where other players decided the rankings. This isn’t the only buzz though, ESPN just placed him as one of its MVP candidates as well.
Stafford is going into a contract year, and those words alone should excite fans that it’s going to be a great season for him.
1. Green Bay Packers
Is this annoying? Maybe. Aaron Rodgers is arguably the top quarterback in the league. Lately, he’s been starting the season off slowly, allowing people to start wondering if he’s fallen off and then decides to make us all eat our own words.
I probably speak for most Detroit Lions fans when I say that I want that trend to end with him.
I do think his production drop is coming. Well, eventually. But since I haven’t seen it happen yet, I have a tough time buying it happening until the season ends and it actually happened.
And even though Rodgers is ranked number one here, I still wouldn’t give up Stafford to get him. Their skill sets are very close nowadays, just Rodgers has some dumb luck sometimes that gives him this spot.
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