Matt Stafford is the suckiest suck to ever suck

[dpatnod]

you know this thread will be killed in a few, just saying.

That is funny to read. I am as surprised as you.

[DanO]

"Calvin was 17th in yards/game last season ... which would put him precisely in the middle of the pack of #1 receivers. Or about average."
-----------------------------------Don't try to insert logic at chemi. He's got his head shoved so far up CJ's ass it's amazing.

[chemiclord]

Yeah... we've been over this. DanO just wants to pretend that smackdown didn't happen.

He HAS to believe CJ was average so he can feel good about the team.

Basically YPG is a very poor gauge of a receiver's quality completely on its own. I mean, if Johnson was "average", how is Golden Tate going to fill the role (considering Tate by that metric would be "below average")?

[chemiclord]

Here's a funny stat just to show how absurd YPG is on its own.

Player A: 50.8 YPG
Player B: 51.0 YPG
Player C: 75.9 YPG

One of these players is the overpaid, unexciting Free Agent the Lions just acquired, Marvin Jones.

One of them is the "average" wide receiver that the Lions won't miss, Calvin Johnson.

And the last one is the surefire replacement #1 guy who will make Lions fans forget all about CJ, Golden Tate.

Can you guess who is who? Surely, Tate's Player C, right?

Nope. He's Player A. The worst of the three. Player B is the entirely mediocre Marvin Jones, and Player C is the "average" Calvin Johnson.

Ya guys wanna run out with YPG again? Or are you all ready to concede?

Truth of the matter: Lombardi's offense was so garbage that it drug down EVERYONE'S numbers on that offense.

[jaadam4]

You could say that Tate got a lot of those yards because of the Barry rule. Teams would stack CJ's side of the field with multi coverage allowing Tate to roam. Same thing with Jones in Cincy being the number 2 behind clear #1 Green

[jaadam4]

But CJ did lose a step. He wasn't the best WR in the game anymore and you have to wonder if he was just fed up with the team.

[wcfwtf]

I don't think him retiring had to do with losing. I just think that not being a Diva, he didn't need the NFL spotlight to shine on him. He comes from a successful family and with the money he made he will be able to fill the time. He got tired of being in the hot tub 3 hours a day.

[wcfwtf]

When the Red wings lost in 09, I remember them playing the first 3 games in 4 nights. I don't think they ever recovered from that schedule and the penguins were younger so it benefited them.

[Futureshock]

But CJ did lose a step. He wasn't the best WR in the game anymore and you have to wonder if he was just fed up with the team.

He did lose a step. That step caused him to take some bone crushing shots the last couple of years. Before, when he caught slants he would accelerate by defenders. Now he would just get hit. Hard. It is time. Not for the Lions, but for CJ. He fought the good fight and it's time for someone else to pick it up. Hopefully the whole team. (I felt the same with Borry)

pANDs But only in his own metric was he average. Odd that NFL D coordinators still triple teamed him. Yeah, that's how you defense an average player. My goodness I wonder what games people are watching.

[jaadam4]

CJ took some big hits over the years that's for damned sure.

[edindetroit]

Quinn: Matthew Stafford 'really growing as a leader'

[Fraquar]

Well lets just say I'll be looking forward to what drives the bus in 2016. Last year Stafford ranked 34th in yards in the air on passes thrown, and the convenient excuse will be that the O-line sucked. To quote an article from ESPN about how the view of the "average" QB in the NFL has changed.

Stafford was league average in YPA last year at 7.2.

".......There aren't numbers for the typical pass distance in the air for years past, but it's generally accepted that teams are throwing shorter passes than they ever have before. So while teams are getting all kinds of yardage throwing the football, that comes more from volume and increased completion percentage than it does from efficiency.

There's an interesting point to be made here between how the league evaluates skills and actually uses them. Stafford has arguably the league's best arm strength, a howitzer that many teams use as the example when they think about the prototypical quarterback. His average pass traveled 6.4 yards in the air this year, which was 34th in the league. There's nothing wrong with using your Bugatti to run errands within a half-mile of your house -- you will get there faster -- but it does defeat the purpose a little bit......"

[Futureshock]

The article (and author) misses the point in reference to MS. Yes he can throw it a country mile, but the arm strength get's the ball through windows quicker. Making attempts to thwart the completion less successful. And the way the Cooter O goes, it makes for someone being open by way of picks and screens (Not a literal screen play, but one WR screening off a defender(s) of another WR).

A better analogy is if you needed to get to shelter a mile away because a Twister was coming. Yeah, give me the Bugatti

[dpatnod]

Well lets just say I'll be looking forward to what drives the bus in 2016. Last year Stafford ranked 34th in yards in the air on passes thrown, and the convenient excuse will be that the O-line sucked. To quote an article from ESPN about how the view of the "average" QB in the NFL has changed.

Stafford was league average in YPA last year at 7.2.

".......There aren't numbers for the typical pass distance in the air for years past, but it's generally accepted that teams are throwing shorter passes than they ever have before. So while teams are getting all kinds of yardage throwing the football, that comes more from volume and increased completion percentage than it does from efficiency.

There's an interesting point to be made here between how the league evaluates skills and actually uses them. Stafford has arguably the league's best arm strength, a howitzer that many teams use as the example when they think about the prototypical quarterback. His average pass traveled 6.4 yards in the air this year, which was 34th in the league. There's nothing wrong with using your Bugatti to run errands within a half-mile of your house -- you will get there faster -- but it does defeat the purpose a little bit......"

The Lombardi era (error) was, as has been said before, failing to utilize the strengths of the players on hand. Stafford is more Brett Favre than Joe Montana. The play calling with the grandkid here was designed to reign in / limit Stafford, making his arm strength a non-factor. If that monkey did not spend half of last season trying to mash a square peg through a round hole, the end result could have possibly been different. It was an over-correction trying to remove MS from his wheelhouse (and take no advantage of any advantages his true strengths provide). They refused to take shots down the field.

[Marko69]

How annoying is DWT poll?!

Im no where near as informed as you guys, but I read Dwt's posts and think, "fkn right, mate"......., then someone calls him an asshole, and I have to go back and re-read it.

Would it be correct to say that all DWT is guilty of is not having a decent replacement for Fatt Stafford? Everything else is accurate? No?

Awesome thread by the way.