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A couple weeks ago, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler asked a variety of NFL employees to rank the top 10-15 quarterbacks in the league. Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford got votes from as high as four to as low as 14. When averaged out with the rest of the league, Stafford came in as the 10th best quarterback in the league.
The Athletic did something similar this week, but with a different methodology. Polling 50 different NFL coaches and evaluators, Mike Sando asked them to simply put every starting quarterback in buckets from Tier 1 (best) to Tier 5 (worst). He then averaged out the votes and ranked the quarterbacks by those results.
Stafford was firmly in Tier 2, along with Tom Brady, Lamar Jackson, Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Ryan, Carson Wentz, Dak Prescott and Philip Rivers. His average tier vote was 2.04, good for ninth best in the NFL.
This is a pretty big improvement from Sando’s results from 2019, when Stafford averaged a 2.22 tier and was 11th overall. Check out how the voting broke down for each season.
2019 (55 votes):
- Tier 1: 1 votes
- Tier 2: 41 votes
- Tier 3: 13 votes
2019 (50 votes)
- Tier 1: 5 votes
- Tier 2: 38 votes
- Tier 3: 7 votes
As you can see, Stafford got significantly more Tier 1 votes this year and nearly half the Tier 3 votes he received last year. Slowly, Stafford is gaining the respect he deserves around the league. Now, if he performs at the same level as last year but for an entire season, we may see him pushing Tier 1 next year.
- ESPN’s Dan Graziano got an inside look into the Lions’ Infectious Disease Emergency Response (IDER) plan, and came away impressed by its thoroughness.
- Sorry to bring up a horrible memory, but it’s pretty interesting to watch the television coverage of this day in Lions history:
On this date in 1999, Barry Sanders shocked the sports world by retiring from the NFL. pic.twitter.com/2bMf46idZB
— The Undefeated (@TheUndefeated) July 28, 2020
- Erik Schlitt of Lions Wire breaks down the Lions’ salary cap situation as they enter training camp. He also takes a little peek into the future.
- Get well soon, Tori! Eager to see you on the four-wheeler at camp!
Been quiet on Twitter lately since this is what my last month has looked like. A (planned) foot surgery may have me on the NFI list for the start of camp but I’m ready!
— Tori Petry (@sportstori) July 27, 2020
Also - 2019 era Coach Patricia made it look so much easier than it actually is to get around on this thing pic.twitter.com/a53UyGBfqC
- Frustrated by the NFL’s Top 100 Players of 2020 list? Here’s one from Pro Football Network that actually has Lions players on it.
- Bold predictions are the best predictions:
Feeling dangerous at 10am.
— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) July 28, 2020
Bills’ QB Josh Allen is going to put the Bills in contention for a Super Bowl
and
The Detroit Lions will win their division.
Bold predictions with my bold coffee. The End.