Detroit Lions fan’s 2020 fantasy football success guide
Detroit Lions fantasy quarterback
Matthew Stafford
Stafford was averaging over 312 yards per game in 2019, along with 19 touchdowns in those 8 games. He was also taking care of the football with only 5 interceptions in the first half of the season. For some context, Stafford was second in yards-per-game to only Jameis Winston when he was still in Tampa Bay.
All stats are from the Pro Football Reference’s website unless otherwise noted. We would expect some similar numbers in 2020, with a better run game and an improved cast returning around No. 9 in offensive coordinator, Darrell Bevell’s offense.
Stafford will get taken somewhere in the eighth or ninth rounds, conservatively speaking, in a 12-man league unless someone is a crazy fan (like you???). His overall rank in ESPN’s “Live Draft Trends” fantasy rankings is No. 115 overall and he is taken at pick 127 on average. ESPN ranks him as the thirteenth selected quarterback and that puts him near the tenth round by their estimation.
Despite the ESPN ADP (average-draft-position) rankings, plan for Stafford to be near the Top-10 quarterbacks selected, and viewed as a starter, if you want him.
The cost for Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson is a Top-20 pick in a draft. Deshaun Watson and Russell Wilson are both Top-50 picks. Selecting any of them would cost a first through a fourth-round pick for the chance to select a Tier 1 or Tier 2 player. It is helpful to remember that Stafford was outpacing all of them in passing and touchdowns until he was hurt in Week 8.
Quarterbacks, and any position really, get drafted in waves; once people draft Kyler Murray and Dak Prescott, the Tier 3 players and the usual fifth and sixth quarterbacks off of the board, Stafford could go in the next few rounds at any point.
Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, Josh Allen, Aaron Rodgers, and Carson Wentz rank ahead of Stafford according to ESPN’s tracker; Cumulatively, they represent the rest of the starter-caliber quarterbacks but once this group starts being drafted they could all go in almost any order.
Key on waiting for those top-6 quarterbacks to go before you think about Stafford as a QB1 because it is doubtful that anyone outside of Detroit Lions fans knows how good Stafford really is. That said, don’t be cocky and assume that he will be left until after twelve other quarterbacks have been chosen- remember you are a Detroit Lions fan.
Chase Daniel
Behind Stafford is journeyman Chase Daniel, who could be an adequate fill-in if Stafford went down but we wouldn’t draft him in any format at this point. He would be an emergency pick-up if Stafford was your starter and you had to play someone else last minute. In 12-man format’s most teams only carry two quarterbacks, meaning there should be better options on the waiver wire that are normal starters on their teams.