Matthew Stafford hasn’t played one game for the Los Angeles Rams. Heck, he hasn’t even participated in training camp. And that still hasn’t stopped the lovefest over him.
Last week, 49ers’ coach Kyle Shanahan jumped on the train. On Monday, Damien Woody joined.
ESPN’s Get Up discussed Jeremy Fowler’s list of the NFL’s Top Ten quarterbacks heading into the upcoming season. On that list, Fowler ranked him as the sixth-best QB, one spot ahead of Dak Prescott.
Dominique Foxworth chimed in quickly, disagreeing with Stafford’s placement. Foxworth felt Fowler’s list reflected more of a projection than stating facts. Furthermore, he said Prescott’s worst-QBR season (quarterback rating) is better than Stafford’s best.
And that’s when Damien Woody sounded off.
“I love Dak Prescott, but I think that’s nonsense by Nique’ right there. [Matthew] Stafford, consistently over his career, has been a stat monster,” said the two-time Super Bowl champ.
“You know what’s been holding Stafford back? The Detroit Lions as an organization. This is an organization that has won a grand total of one playoff game since the 1950s. One!”
It’s worth noting that Foxworth was incorrect in his suggestion about Dak Prescott and Matthew Stafford’s QBR. Prescott’s worst QBR was 55.2 in 2018. That isn’t better than any of Stafford’s six-best QBR’s.
Stafford’s best was 71.3 in 2019. However, he only played eight games that season due to injury. His following best number was 68.4 last season.
While Foxworth and Woody continued going back and forth on Lions and Cowboys misery, Foxworth relaxed his stance.
“As much as I love ‘Cousin Dak,’ I don’t think that it would be outrageous to put Matthew Stafford above Dak at the end of the season. To me, the problem is putting him up there now,” said Foxworth. “Dak has had real success that [Matthew] Stafford hasn’t had.”
“We’re smart enough not to think of wins as a QB stat, but we’ve seen Dak Prescott have big moments in big games time and time again. And offensively carry his team to success in ways we haven’t seen Matt Stafford.”
After 12 seasons in Detroit, the Lions traded him to the Los Angeles Rams for Jared Goff, two first-round picks (2022 and 2023), and a third-round pick (2021). In three postseason games with the Lions, Stafford did not lead the Lions to a playoff win.
Follow Kory Woods on Twitter at KoryEWoods.
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