Lions notes: Matthew Stafford ranked 11th-best QB by NFL coaches, executives

After a down year in 2018, NFL analysts are in disagreement as to where Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford stands amongst the rest of the league’s passers. Now ten years into his career, many would have expected more from the former first overall pick. Others blame his circumstances, noting that he’s never truly had a good running game, and his defenses are usually pretty bad.

This week, Mike Sando of The Athletic released his 2019 NFL quarterback tiers. Sando reached out to 55 coaches and NFL executives and asked them to place every starting NFL quarterback into a tier. Then he averaged every answer and ranked them accordingly.

Stafford came in 11th on Sando’s list, with 41 of 55 coaches and executives giving Stafford the second tier grade. 13 voters ranked Stafford in the third tier, while only one still believes the Lions quarterback is a first-tier quarterback.

Here’s a sampling of what they said about Stafford.

“He has 1 talent, but 2 production,” an anonymous GM said. “He hasn’t won as much as they had hoped, but I think they haven’t helped him a lot, either. Last year, they traded his best receiver. I just think he’s talented, I think he’s a competitor. He scares us.”

“He can do everything you want, but you are always waiting for everyone around him to get better, and usually what happens with the top guys, they make those guys better, and you just do not see that happening with him,” a defensive coordinator said.

At this point, 11th seems fair for the veteran quarterback. For the majority of his career, he’s hung right around the top 10 and this year doesn’t feel any different.

• On Tuesday, the Lions added one more name to the Physically Unable to Perform list: wide receiver Tommylee Lewis.

Lewis joins defensive end Trey Flowers and linebacker Steve Longa.

• This offseason, there were a lot of very misinformed takes regarding the Detroit Lions. Erik Schlitt of Lions Wire addressed each one and took them down.

• Ever wondered what an NFL contract looked like in 1940? Tommy Hackenbruck, grandson of Lions tackle John Hackenbruck, shared this photo on Twitter:

• Justin Rogers of the Detroit News has your pre-training camp 53-man roster prediction.

• You can catch up with the Lions’ new offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni on the latest episode of the Detroit Lions’ One Pridecast: