We here in the Motor City know just how valuable quarterback Matthew Stafford is to the Detroit Lions. The veteran gunslinger has set numerous team records throughout his career, which has now spanned 11 seasons.
And since he was drafted 1st overall in the 2008 NFL Draft, he's completed 62.5% of his passes for 41,025 yards, 256 touchdowns, and only 134 interceptions in 149 games.
Prior to going down last season with a back injury, he was playing MVP level football.
While speaking on his show “The Lombardi Line”, analyst Michael Lombardi spoke about Stafford at length, praising the quarterback's play last year prior to his injury as “flat out remarkable”:
“If you study Matthew Stafford last year, this guy was flat out remarkable,” Lombardi said. “Just flat out remarkable. In the eight games, he was unbelievable, but then he gets hurt.”
And that's not an understatement. He recorded career bests in yards per attempt with 8.6, touchdown percentage with (6.5), and a passer rating of 106.0.
The division the Lions play in features some pretty good quarterbacks in their own right, most notably Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers and former Michigan State Spartan Kirk Cousins with the Minnesota Vikings.
But to Lombardi, Stafford leaves them in his dust.
“Let me just say this really clearly, Matthew Stafford is the best quarterback in the NFC North…make no mistake about this. Truly, Matthew Stafford is the best quarterback.”
“Let me just say this really clearly, Matthew Stafford is the best quarterback in the NFC North.”@mlombardiNFL and @TheWrapRadio discuss their expectations for the Detroit Lions this upcoming season.#LombardiLine pic.twitter.com/SkUAUoIrKn
— VSiN (@VSiNLive) August 29, 2020
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Stafford has stuck with Detroit though thick and thin, and in the words of head coach Matt Patricia, we're definitely “blessed” to have him as our quarterback.
