2019 Detroit Lions Awards: Most Valuable Player

Most Valuable Player is an award whose definition is widely debated. Does it mean the best player on the field? Does it mean the player that provided the most value to a team in game? Is it a player that proved he is the most valuable player in the locker room either by his play or by his absence?

The Detroit Lions’ 2019 season provides the perfect setting for this debate. Did Matthew Stafford prove to be the team’s MVP by not only providing stellar play in the first eight game, but with Detroit’s ugly 0-8 finish without him? Or was it someone like Kenny Golladay, who provided top-tier play for all 16 games?

This year’s 2019 Detroit Lions MVP is down to two players. Your vote will decide the winner.

Matthew Stafford

Stats: 187-of-291 (64.3%) for 2,499 yards, 19 TDs, 5 INTs—106.0 passer rating

We all saw how Stafford played during his first eight games, but look at how big of a slide the entire offense took with and without Stafford.

I don’t know how I could make the case any better for Stafford as MVP right there. Eight more points a game, 90 yards per game and well over a full yard better per play.

Sure, there are other factors at play here, including the injuries to Marvin Jones Jr., Marvin Hall, and T.J. Hockenson, but there’s no doubt Stafford’s absence had the largest impact on the offensive decline.

Kenny Golladay

Stats: 65 catches, 1,190 yards, 11 TDs

Golladay provided more value to the team in 2019 than Stafford. He not only played in all 16 games, but he was responsible for nearly 19 percent of the team’s catches and over 28 percent of the team’s receiving yards. He had a whopping 22 plays of 20+ yards (second in NFL) and 11 of the team’s 28 receiving touchdowns. His 18.3 yards per catch was third best in the NFL.

Simply put, Kenny Golladay established himself as one of the league’s best big-play receivers and he did it with second and third-string quarterbacks for half of the season.