Is Matthew Stafford on the trading block? Multiple reports out of Detroit suggest the Lions are at least considering trading their most notable player.
There might be more smoke than substance here. Trading Stafford would involved absorbing a crippling cap hit. And the team needs to win now for Matt Patricia to have any chance of sticking around for 2021. But the Lions hold the No. 3 pick of the draft, so they want to transition at quarterback, this could be the year to do it. Most everyone is saying that Joe Burrow and Chase Young will be the first two picks of the draft. That would leave Tua Tagovailoa there for the Lions at No. 3.
More likely, the Lions auction off that No. 3 pick, bringing in a nice package of assets.
The Lions had their troubles last year, but Stafford looked very good before missing the second half of the season. He averaged 312 passing yards in his eight starts, with 19 touchdowns versus 5 interceptions.
Stafford was gunning it downfield. I saw a stat chart showing that he averaged a league-high 10.7 yards per pass attempt; only one other quarterback averaged even 9.5. (That 10.7, that’s the average distance downfield that the ball traveled in the air – if the Lions had a first-and-10 from their 20, with Stafford dropping back to his own 10, then gunning a pass that was caught at the 31-yard line, with the receiver then turning it into an 80-yard touchdown, that would be scored as an 11-yard throw using this metric.)
Using standard scoring, Stafford put up the 4th-best per-game numbers in the league last year (using standard fantasy scoring). That’s among the 32 who started at least half the season.
It was a good year to wait on quarterbacks, because I don’t think any of the top 4 on this list were among the first 10 quarterbacks chosen in most fantasy drafts.
| QUARTERBACKS, PER-GAME PRODUCTION | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | St | Pass | Run | TDP | TDR | FPG |
| Lamar Jackson, Balt. | 15 | 208 | 80 | 2.40 | .47 | 30.9 |
| Jameis Winston, T.B. | 16 | 319 | 16 | 2.06 | .06 | 26.7 |
| Ryan Tannehill, Ten. | 10 | 260 | 18 | 2.20 | .40 | 26.2 |
| Matthew Stafford, Det. | 8 | 312 | 8 | 2.38 | .00 | 25.9 |
| Deshaun Watson, Hou. | 15 | 257 | 28 | 1.73 | .53 | 25.9 |
| Dak Prescott, Dall. | 16 | 306 | 17 | 1.88 | .19 | 25.8 |
| Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 14 | 288 | 16 | 1.86 | .14 | 24.4 |
| Daniel Jones, NYG | 12 | 251 | 23 | 2.00 | .17 | 24.2 |
| Russell Wilson, Sea. | 16 | 257 | 21 | 1.94 | .19 | 24.0 |
| Drew Brees, N.O. | 11 | 271 | 0 | 2.45 | .09 | 23.9 |
| Matt Ryan, Atl. | 15 | 298 | 10 | 1.73 | .07 | 23.3 |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick, Mia. | 13 | 259 | 18 | 1.46 | .31 | 22.6 |
| Kyler Murray, Ariz. | 16 | 233 | 34 | 1.25 | .25 | 21.9 |
| Josh Allen, Buff. | 16 | 193 | 32 | 1.25 | .56 | 21.6 |
| Carson Wentz, Phil. | 16 | 252 | 15 | 1.69 | .06 | 21.5 |
| Andy Dalton, Cin. | 13 | 269 | 6 | 1.23 | .31 | 21.1 |
| Jared Goff, LAR | 16 | 290 | 3 | 1.38 | .13 | 21.0 |
| Gardner Minshew, Jac. | 12 | 237 | 28 | 1.50 | .00 | 21.0 |
| Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 16 | 250 | 11 | 1.63 | .06 | 20.9 |
| Philip Rivers, LAC | 16 | 288 | 2 | 1.44 | .00 | 20.5 |
| Jimmy Garoppolo, S.F. | 16 | 249 | 4 | 1.69 | .06 | 20.2 |
| Tom Brady, N.E. | 16 | 254 | 2 | 1.50 | .19 | 20.1 |
| Kyle Allen, Car. | 12 | 252 | 8 | 1.42 | .17 | 20.1 |
| Kirk Cousins, Min. | 15 | 240 | 4 | 1.73 | .07 | 19.9 |
| Baker Mayfield, Cle. | 16 | 239 | 9 | 1.38 | .19 | 19.6 |
| Sam Darnold, NYJ | 13 | 233 | 5 | 1.46 | .15 | 19.3 |
| Derek Carr, Oak. | 16 | 253 | 5 | 1.31 | .13 | 19.2 |
| Jacoby Brissett, Ind. | 15 | 196 | 15 | 1.20 | .27 | 17.9 |
| Mitchell Trubisky, Chi. | 15 | 209 | 13 | 1.13 | .13 | 17.2 |
| Mason Rudolph, Pitt. | 8 | 191 | 4 | 1.25 | .00 | 15.0 |
| Joe Flacco, Den. | 8 | 228 | 3 | .75 | .00 | 14.9 |
| Case Keenum, Was. | 8 | 194 | 2 | 1.25 | .00 | 14.8 |
—Ian Allan