When I'm right, I'm not shy about saying I was right. When I'm wrong, I'm not too proud to say I was wrong.
I was wrong about Matthew Stafford.
When the subject of trading for Stafford first came up, I was, in a word, apathetic. I viewed Stafford the prospect of acquiring Stafford as a lateral move that would not be worth the expense of draft choices, and I said as much.
Then the trade happened, and I was compelled to take a closer look. What I found is that I really didn't know that much about Stafford.
Sure, I knew his background, had a general idea of his stats and his winning percentage, and I had seen him play a handful of times over the years (including the Rams last trip to Detroit, which I attended). But I really didn't focus on him in great detail until after the Rams made the deal.
When I started looking at his film, I saw a QB who is clearly superior to Jared Goff in terms of pocket awareness, footwork/resetting the pocket, release speed and arm strength. I also was overwhelmed by praise he received from former teammates and talent evaluators, who lauded his football IQ, his work ethic, his team approach and his community involvement. This was echoed in the sentiments of Sean McVay, who is reportedly ecstatic about his new QB, and oddsmakers, who have put the Rams near the top of the list of Super Bowl contenders for 2021.
I then started looking more carefully at the context of his career. I was amazed a just how poor his run support has been over his career (the average leading rusher for the Lions during his tenure had around 600 yards). I confirmed that he has played on some very poor defensive teams, which forced him to play catch-up far too often.
So, in the end, I realized that I was wrong about Stafford. He is a much better QB than I realized, and there is a lot of reason to be excited about this trade.
Sorry it took me so long to get with the program!
I was wrong about Matthew Stafford.
When the subject of trading for Stafford first came up, I was, in a word, apathetic. I viewed Stafford the prospect of acquiring Stafford as a lateral move that would not be worth the expense of draft choices, and I said as much.
Then the trade happened, and I was compelled to take a closer look. What I found is that I really didn't know that much about Stafford.
Sure, I knew his background, had a general idea of his stats and his winning percentage, and I had seen him play a handful of times over the years (including the Rams last trip to Detroit, which I attended). But I really didn't focus on him in great detail until after the Rams made the deal.
When I started looking at his film, I saw a QB who is clearly superior to Jared Goff in terms of pocket awareness, footwork/resetting the pocket, release speed and arm strength. I also was overwhelmed by praise he received from former teammates and talent evaluators, who lauded his football IQ, his work ethic, his team approach and his community involvement. This was echoed in the sentiments of Sean McVay, who is reportedly ecstatic about his new QB, and oddsmakers, who have put the Rams near the top of the list of Super Bowl contenders for 2021.
I then started looking more carefully at the context of his career. I was amazed a just how poor his run support has been over his career (the average leading rusher for the Lions during his tenure had around 600 yards). I confirmed that he has played on some very poor defensive teams, which forced him to play catch-up far too often.
So, in the end, I realized that I was wrong about Stafford. He is a much better QB than I realized, and there is a lot of reason to be excited about this trade.
Sorry it took me so long to get with the program!
