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NFL Network's series on the "Top 100 Players of 2013" continued on Thursday night with the unveiling of spots 71-80, which included a Detroit Lions player. Specifically, Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford came in at No. 76 in the rankings, which were put together based on votes from NFL players.
Stafford was actually ranked 41st in the 2012 edition of this list, so he dropped 35 spots this time around. I'm actually surprised he didn't fall farther down the rankings considering how rough 2012 was for both him and the Lions. As a team, the Lions went 4-12, and Stafford's numbers were not nearly as good as they were in 2011. He still threw for 4,967 yards, but he only had 20 touchdowns after throwing for 41 TDs a year earlier. Also, he threw 17 interceptions and lost 4 fumbles in 2012.
The flip side of Stafford's struggles is that a lot went wrong around him. Aside from Calvin Johnson, he didn't really have a reliable target at wide receiver after Nate Burleson and Ryan Broyles got hurt, and he could have really used Jahvid Best, who was never cleared to play. This left Stafford with a lot of new targets, and he didn't seem to be on the same page with most of them.
My guess is that Johnson and Ndamukong Suh will be the only other two Lions in the "Top 100 Players of 2013," but that's just my own personal speculation. What do you think?