ESPN recently came out with their top 10 QB’s heading into 2020. Detroit Lions’ Matthew Stafford sits at No. 10 on the list. Does he deserve to be there?
ESPN recently released their top 10 quarterback rankings for this upcoming season. Kansas City Chiefs passer Patrick Mahomes was first (as expected), with the Seattle Seahawks’ Russell Wilson second, and Green Bay Packers’ Aaron Rodgers third.
You have your expected QB’s inside the top 10, but then there’s some questionable ones on the list as well. Philadelphia Eagles QB Carson Wentz sits at eight, with his division rival from Dallas, Dak Prescott, sitting at nine.
To round out the top 10, it’s your very own Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford according to The Detroit News. This came as a surprise to me, and probably others as well. For most of his career, 9God has been criticized hard. People either hate him, or they love him. There seems to be no grey area when it comes to critiquing Stafford.
The question now sits, does Stafford deserve that number 10 spot? Now, I know this is a Detroit Lions page, but personally, yes I think he does deserve it. One reason why is because outside of Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan, and the Minnesota Vikings’ Kirk Cousins, I don’t think there’s anyone else you can make an argument for to be inside the top 10.
Even then, I don’t think the arguments for Ryan and Cousins are better than the one you can make for Stafford. Despite only playing half the season due to injury, he was on pace to have one of the best seasons of his career. In eight games, he had thrown for 2,499 yards, 19 touchdowns and only five interceptions. All of which came on a 64.3 completion percentage.
Looking at those numbers, Matthew Stafford honestly could’ve been in the running for the MVP. Would he have won it? Probably not as Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson had a superb season, not to mention that his team as a whole was a legit powerhouse in the NFL. But still, nonetheless, it’s safe to say that Stafford would’ve put up top 10 QB statistics if he had played the whole season.