Golden Tate was talking to the media last week and shared some love for his longtime quarterback Matthew Stafford. "He's been the best quarterback I've played with," he said. Nice and all, but can easily be construed as a shot at the quarterback he played with previously, Russell Wilson.
Certainly, Stafford has been a fine quarterback over the years, though he hasn't enjoyed the postseason success of Wilson. What can be said, though, is that both have been excellent fantasy quarterbacks. In the seven years both have been starting quarterbacks in the league, Stafford has five top-10 fantasy finishes. Wilson has four, and a slightly higher floor -- he's been in the top-12 all seven years.
| MATTHEW STAFFORD FF RANKS, 2012-2018 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Pass | TDP | Run | TDR | Pts | FF Rk |
| 2012 | 4967 | 20 | 126 | 4 | 367 | 8 |
| 2013 | 4650 | 29 | 69 | 2 | 371 | 4 |
| 2014 | 4257 | 22 | 93 | 2 | 324 | 15 |
| 2015 | 4262 | 32 | 159 | 1 | 363 | 10 |
| 2016 | 4327 | 24 | 207 | 2 | 347 | 8 |
| 2017 | 4446 | 29 | 98 | 0 | 352 | 5 |
| 2018 | 3777 | 21 | 71 | 0 | 280 | 20 |
| RUSSELL WILSON FF RANKS, 2012-2018 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Pass | TDP | Run | TDR | Pts | FF Rk |
| 2012 | 3118 | 26 | 489 | 4 | 333 | 11 |
| 2013 | 3357 | 26 | 539 | 1 | 332 | 10 |
| 2014 | 3475 | 20 | 849 | 6 | 375 | 6 |
| 2015 | 4024 | 34 | 553 | 1 | 399 | 4 |
| 2016 | 4219 | 21 | 259 | 2 | 335 | 11 |
| 2017 | 3983 | 34 | 586 | 3 | 416 | 1 |
| 2018 | 3448 | 35 | 376 | 0 | 352 | 12 |
With Wilson, of course, it's the running ability that gets him up into that top-10 area. Stafford will pass for more yards in most years, while Wilson will run for a lot more.
In any case, Tate's had the good fortune to play most of his career with a couple of great quarterbacks. Now he's working with Eli Manning, who's got those two Super Bowls, but his best football is behind him. Tate might wish he was playing with Wilson or Stafford again a year from now.
--Andy Richardson