Ranking 39 NFL quarterbacks: Where does Matthew Stafford rank?
When ranking 39 different NFL quarterbacks, where does the Detroit Lions veteran passer, Matthew Stafford, rank among the league’s elite?
Every year that the Detroit Lions don’t win the division or make a deep run in the playoffs fans of other teams, and a few Lions fans, will bring out the Detroit hate and direct it at quarterback John Matthew Stafford.
It is especially true of this time of year when there’s less football to talk about, All-Pro teams have been named, coaching moves have happened, and the Super Bowl is over. This installment is to discuss why Stafford is elite among his peers and discuss his current value to the franchise.
To start off with, saying that Matthew Stafford is elite shouldn’t be some shocking, crazy thing for people to agree with. It also isn’t a tacit denial of the greatness of other quarterbacks but everyone’s gotta get offended by something, we guess. Firstly, let us say which quarterbacks are currently elite and have proven it with more than a few games.
The point of the exercise is to look at Stafford’s value as a 31-year-old quarterback and where he lies in the bigger landscape of professional signal-callers. Is he another Jameis Winston or his he close to Super Bowl MVP, Patrick Mahomes? The answer is consequential for the Detroit Lions.
These are the 39 quarterbacks that should be up for consideration as possible starters, in our opinion. We also reserve the right to amend the list as many quarterbacks are on the border of being in one category or another. This list is subjective as most lists are and the criteria are based upon statistical analysis, opinion of how players produce in the system they are in, and taking into consideration their cast and coaching as factors.
At its most basic level, though, the purpose is to make this less subjective. At the same time, the mere appearance of Stafford in these rankings will make them seem more subjective to some. To us, our opinions are informed by production, analytics, and having watched football for decades.