Notes: Yahoo Sports’ 2020 NFL preview ranks Detroit Lions in bottom 6

With training camp around the corner, publications are just now starting to put out their preview material for the 2020 NFL season.

Yahoo Sports’ Frank Schwab has been doing team-by-team previews, starting with teams he views as the bottom of the NFL up to the top. Tuesday, he dropped his Detroit Lions preview as the 27th ranked team in the league.

Obviously, with a ranking that low, Schwab isn’t very high on the Lions. He notes their lack of premier talent, according to several outlets.

“There weren’t any Lions on a few top 100 players lists this offseason, including one from Pete Prisco at CBS and another consensus list of NFL writers who study film,” Schwab wrote. “Pro Football Focus didn’t have one Lions player on its top 101 from the 2019 season, and nobody on its top 50 heading into this season.”

That being said, Schwab does believe this team still has potential, even to contend for a NFC North title in a division that’s very much up for grabs. One big reason for optimism, Schwab notes, is Matthew Stafford. He pulls out a doozy of a stat to back this claim.

Let’s prorate last season’s stats for two quarterbacks who missed time due to injuries, to reflect their 16-game paces:

QB 1: 4,868 yards, 31 TDs, 6 INTs, 104.6 passer rating

QB 2: 4,998 yards, 38 TDs, 10 INTs, 106.0 passer rating

The first quarterback is Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes (we removed his 11-attempt outing against the Denver Broncos to make the rate stats fair). The second quarterback is Matthew Stafford

Overall, Schwab admits he feels like he probably should have put the Lions higher, but his lack of faith in head coach Matt Patricia ultimately holds them down.

You can read his entire preview here.

• Last week, voice of Detroit Lions radio Dan Miller caught up with team president Rod Wood about the succession of Sheila Ford Hamp and how the team has managed to operate in the wake of COVID-19.

• PFF argues that Matthew Stafford may be one of the biggest fantasy football steals in this year’s quarterbacks class.

• Last week, Matthew Stafford was one of many NFL players who went against the NFLPA recommendation by practicing with a few teammates. NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith explains here why that could hurt upcoming negotiations regarding their health for the 2020 season:

• It’s the lean part of the year, y’all. The Athletic ranked NFL mascots. Roary cracked the top-10.

• ESPN’s NFL Live team is getting a shakeup, including the addition of former Lions quarterback Dan Orlovsky: