Matthew Stafford (QB, DET) - Fantasy Football Draft Values

4 years ago by Nick Mariano

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BALLER MOVE: Target Around ~85 Overall

CURRENT ADP: ~107

ANALYSIS: The Lions drafted D’Andre Swift to bolster their RB stable but this team still goes through Stafford’s arm. After eight straight 16-game seasons, Stafford had 2,499 yards and a 19:5 TD:INT ratio through eight games last year before injuries ruined the fun. And fun it was while it lasted indeed.

Those keeping score at home will note the 5,000-yard pace with 35+ TDs (don't bank on that, but it's in his range). It's weird calling Stafford a sleeper, I know, but unhinge from this meaning "unknown-turned-superstar" and realize he's just being slept on. In his 8 games last year Stafford averaged 21.1 PPG, which was the fourth-best mark among QBs and made Stafford one of only seven players at the position to finish the year with at least 20 PPG (min. 8 games played). The sample is half what we'd like it to be for us to be really comfortable drafting him early, but the production was insane and it is not that we don't already know what the veteran is capable of.

Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones Jr., and Danny Amendola (another nice sleeper himself) are a hearty trio of WRs while T.J. Hockenson hopes to recapture the 131-yard Week 1 from last season. The RB committee may take some weight off Stafford’s shoulders, but Detroit still passed the ball 60% of the time in 2019 and should still skew above league-average in 2020. Take Stafford before you get snipped (because you will, accept it), see if his body holds up in a fresh season and after many months of rest, and you may be on your way to scoring yourself top-10 QB by the price of a low-end QB2.