Matthew Stafford: Why He Makes the Future Bright For the Detroit Lions

First overall pick of the 2009 NFL Draft. He will live permanently with that pressure on his shoulders. Despite this, Matthew Stafford was looking better than ever before Julius Peppers busted his shoulder in the season opener. Prior to this, accolades were flying at him from all directions, and commentators were predicting wild success for the Georgia product.

Then, he returned to the team, and after a great performance against the Redskins, again he was pronounced the next big thing in the league. But then another tragic injury has knocked him out for the rest of the season.

Now it seems the hottest debate in the NFL is why the Detroit Lions should not have drafted Stafford in the 2009 draft, or why they should now trade him for a proven veteran.

I would like to argue why both these topics are senseless. 

Stafford's Skills

Although he has not been on the field that much, when he has, Stafford has looked by far the best of the recently drafted quarterbacks. While Sanchez is merely a game manager, and Freeman has great physical abilities, Stafford combines a brain with physical prowess. He has possibly the strongest arm in the league and is developing good touch on crossing routes and poise in the pocket.

In the preseason, Stafford was tearing apart first ranked defenses, and in his limited playing time so far this season, he has not thrown an interception. This shows that he has matured from last season, when the ability was there for all to see, but he was mentally not up to standard.

No Injury History

Coming out of Georgia, one of the positives in Stafford's favour was that he had not been injury prone in college. While his sudden spate of injuries could be showing the extra physicality of the NFL, I would not bank on that.

His impressive resume of injuries can be placed on the less than adequate protection provided by his offensive line last year and in the season opener against the Bears. Then, the re-injury against the Jets shows that Stafford was rushed back into the team too fast. No professional athlete can injure a fully healthy shoulder just by falling on it.

Lions fans should also take heart from the example that Sam Bradford has set. After two serious shoulder injuries (which are eerily similar to Stafford's), he took a year off and did not try to fight back into the team. He just let it heal fully, and now looks as durable as any quarterback. This is what Stafford should do.

Schwartz should place him on the IR and let the season pan out. Take the high draft pick and then make a playoff push next season with a fully fit and hopefully bulletproof quarterback in 2011.

Money

As with all controversies in the NFL, money does have an important role to play. The Detroit Lions sunk 70 million dollars into Stafford, so unless someone is willing to trade another young gun quarterback like Flacco, Ryan or Bradford for Stafford, trading him or seeking a replacement makes no logical sense.

The Detroit Lions are poised to become one of the teams to beat in the NFL for the near future, and all that stands in their way is a bad run of serious injuries or incompetent managing. Martin Mayhew and company are finally giving Detroit some quality players, so unless bad luck continues to dog the men in honolulu blue, success is just around the corner. Patience is important now.