Matthew Stafford Is Handed Lions Starting Job | Fantasy Player Rankings

Today, the Lions have made their decision on who will start at quarterback: It will be touted rookie and 2009 No. 1 overall draft pick Matthew Stafford.

While I do believe this move is a bit early, it was bound to happen at some point in the first eight weeks of the season. The only way that Stafford wouldn't have played this year is if Daunte Culpepper had won the job outright and the Lions were somehow in a fight for the playoffs.

Obviously, that was not going to happen as this team didn't even win a game last season.

Regardless of who is at quarterback, the Lions may only win three or four games this season.

Bumpy Ride To Start

My biggest problem with having Stafford starting to begin the year is that the Lions have a hard schedule early on. I have listed below the teams that Stafford will have to face to start the year.

Week One—@ Saints
Week Two—Vikings
Week Three—Redskins
Week Four—@ Bears
Week Five—Steelers
Week Six—@ Packers

As you can see, this schedule isn't going to be easy for the youngster. Maybe he can have a decent showing against the Saints, but it's not going to be easy to handle that loud New Orleans crowd.

After those games, the Lions' schedule becomes much easier to handle. I have listed their schedule after Week Seven—the Lions' bye week—below.

Week Eight—Rams
Week Nine—@ Seahawks
Week 10—@ Vikings
Week 11—Browns
Week 12—Packers
Week 13—@ Bengals
Week 14—@ Ravens
Week 15—Cardinals
Week 16—@ 49ers
Week 17—Bears

As you can see, there are more games in this section of the Lions' schedule to take advantage of. Sure, Stafford would still play some top 10 defenses, but at least they are spread out over this part of the schedule.

For my money, I would have let the kid sit behind Culpepper until the Week Seven bye. Then he would have two weeks to get ready for the Rams. Not only that, but he would have the first six weeks of the year to learn from game film and Culpepper, a 10-year veteran.

Fantasy Player Rankings

Stud wide receiver Calvin Johnson should still have a fine season, as he proved last year that he can overcome quarterback issues to perform at an elite level every week.

Running back Kevin Smith is still a valuable player, but he may suffer from inconsistent drives and the team falling behind early to their opponents when the Lions will be forced to throw the ball. If Stafford continues to throw interceptions (he threw an interception in every preseason game), then Smith will have to continue his pass-catching work to have weekly success.

Smith has good hands. If the Lions are smart, they should give him the ball in the passing game early and often. If they do, the Lions could use Smith as an all-important safety valve for the young Stafford.

As far as Culpepper is concerned, he will be the team's backup for the entire season if Stafford does not go down with an injury. Now that this decision is made, the team will keep Stafford in from this day forward.

For better or worse.

Fantasy Football Information writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com