The latest person to subject himself to slings and arrows from NFL fans is Steve Palazzolo of Pro Football Focus. Palazzolo took on the thankless task of ranking the 32 NFL quarterbacks for PFF.
Detroit Lions QB Matthew Stafford came in squarely in the middle, ranked No. 15 overall and in the middle of the third tier of quarterbacks Palazzolo devised to help cluster QBs of similar abilities.
Sandwiched between Kirk Cousins and Cam Newton, Stafford ranked fifth in a 12-QB tier PFF labeled like this:
Tier 3: Volatile or conservative quarterbacks whose production will rely even more heavily on supporting cast and play calling. Tier 3 quarterbacks can post top-10 production in any given year in the right situation.
The explanation succinctly nails why Stafford is such a polarizing QB even amongst Lions fans…
Perhaps no quarterback in the league tantalizes with high-end play as often as Stafford, though it usually comes out two to three times per season rather than an entire season at a time. At his best, Stafford makes throws with arm strength and accuracy, both on and off schedule. However, he’s only ranked in the top-10 in PFF grade twice in his career, and last season lacked the high-end brilliance from previous seasons.
After noting Stafford’s pathetic 5.1 yards per attempt in his underwhelming 2018, and giving him credit for losing top target Golden Tate, Palazzolo offers hope for a spike upward under new offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell,
It’s a tricky balance when trying to tap into Stafford’s strong velocity and off-balance magic while trying to corral him into a safer brand of football, but much like Cousins, perhaps an unleashing is once again in order to see if he can carry the offense on the back of downfield chunk plays.
Tricky balance is a great way to describe Stafford and his impression in Detroit. Ranking him 15th and in the middle of the middle tier feels appropriate.
