Where they ranked individually
QB-Matthew Stafford: t-18th (tied with Nick Foles)
My thoughts: I’m going to choose to take this as a compliment. Consider that Stafford (a) had the worst season of his career, and (b) was playing with a broken back. Then add in that he lost nearly all of his offensive weapons either to injuries (Kerryon, Marvin Jones), one-sided trades (Golden Tate), or loss of faith (Eric Ebron 1.0).
So after a year like that, to still be considered an ‘average’ NFL quarterback should be viewed as a compliment more than anything. If his worst season is still average, even an average season from Stafford would land the team in good shape.
RB-Kerryon Johnson: 16th (behind Phillip Lindsay, ahead of Mark Ingram)
My thoughts: This is a cautiously ranking, one that Johnson should outperform in 2019. Only nine players in the league rushed for 1,000+ yards in 2018. Before his injury, Kerryon was well on his way to reaching a thousand of his own, and he wasn’t even getting carries like that until Week 3. His 5.4 yards per carry ranked 2nd in the NFL as well. People must realize this; it’s not very easy to fly under the radar these days.
I think the problem is the “if healthy” asterisk that’s already starting to follow Johnson around until he proves otherwise. I’ve been guilty of it myself, but how does saying “He’ll be really good if he stays healthy” make him different from literally anybody else? Obviously, if he’s injured he won’t be as good, we shouldn’t need to spell that part out. And, just because he was injured a lot as a rookie and in college, that doesn’t mean he’s damaged goods.
For instance, Frank Gore tore his ACL so many times when he was younger, he’s lucky he can still walk up and down stairs. He can also pass Barry Sanders on the all-time rushing yards list this year. “If he stays healthy”.
All of that is a long way of saying that I think Kerryon Johnson is a top 10 running back right now, probably even higher.