Stafford's Starting, should we?

The Lions and head coach Jim Schwartz have named their starting quarterback. No, it's not Duante Culpepper or Drew Stanton. The days of should be piano-playing Joey Harrington are years behind us now. It's now the league's youngest starting quarterback, Matthew Stafford.

What are we to take away from this in a fantasy perspective? Well if you're in a keeper league, he was probably already drafted, or he should have been. If he wasn't and you got him, wow. If you're in a two quarterback league and he isn't already on some team's bench, you might want to grab him while you can. Now I'm not saying we have the next Matt Ryan or Joe Flacco on our hands, but he is worth a look in deeper leagues because he is throwing to superstar a receiver in Calvin Johnson.

Sure, the Lions will again have one of the worst teams in the leagues, but that doesn't mean they won't be involved in plenty of shootouts while trying to play catch up.

Don't forget that just a few short years ago 2006 Jon Kitna passed for over 4,200 yards and 21 touchdowns, all with a less talented team, and Kitna didn't necessarily have the tools that Stafford has. The 2006 version of the Lions didn't feature Megatron, or Kevin Smith, a more than capable runner and pass catcher. The Lions also drafted tight-end Brandon Pettigrew out of Oklahoma State in the first round to give Stafford his safety valve for years to come.

The history of junior quarterbacks entering the NFL doesn't exactly play in favor of Stafford. JaMarcus Russell, Vince Young, Alex Smith, and Ryan Leaf are players that come to mind when thinking of junior quarterbacks who bolted for the NFL a year early. It's tough for a rookie to come in and play the quarterback position at a high level, while making so many adjustments to the professional game.

Stafford won't be alone in making the jump from junior year of college to the NFL, with Mark Sanchez also set to start for the Jets this year. Which quarterback is set to have the better season, only time will tell. If were talking about success, you have to like Sanchez being on the better team, but for fantasy purposes, Stafford might be the better choice as he has many more weapons at his disposal.


If your into taking risks with high upside, if not later this year, then next year, Stafford might be a serviceable fantasy quarterback.