Matthew Stafford: Top-12 fantasy quarterback in 2020?

Because of his undeniable arm talent, Matthew Stafford has always been a fantasy football darling, but will he still be a top-12 quarterback for 2020?

Even though the Detroit Lions fell apart in the second half of the season, we need to remember they were without starting quarterback Matthew Stafford for half the year. Before he suffered his season-ending back injury, he was great for the Lions. He had 2,499 passing yards for 19 touchdowns and five picks. Detroit went 3-4-1 in his eight starts. Will he be back to good, though?

The Fantasy Footballers ask the question of if Stafford will be a top-12 quarterback in fantasy in 2020? This benchmark signifies if he’s good enough to be your QB1 next fall. What the guys decided on was yes, he will be a top-12 quarterback next season as long as he’s healthy. That’s the big key here, so will he?

Check out The Fantasy Footballers for all their advice

Back issues are never a good thing for any professional athlete to have, but had the Lions been more competitive than they were towards the end of last season, there is a chance Stafford would have come back and helped the Lions push for a playoff spot. The guy was on pace to throw for over 5,000 yards and push for 40 touchdown passes before his untimely injury.

In a short sample size, Stafford should absolutely be a QB1 in your fantasy league. It’s not like the Lions have any incentive to lose next season. Should they play terrible football, head coach Matt Patricia and general manager Bob Quinn will get the ax. Though they have the No. 3 overall pick, the Lions shouldn’t draft a quarterback this year, and should smartly trade back for more picks.

Should the Lions trade back from No. 3, they can still get a top-10 pick and a few other selections from a quarterback-desperate team. People bailing on Stafford like this don’t fully understand his value for the team. He’s given the Lions consistent quality quarterbacking for a decade. The Lions had been largely terrible at the position for decades and he’s tremendous in fantasy football.

Because he’s coming off injury and nobody’s buying the Lions to do much of anything this year, it would be wise to buy low on Stafford and make him your QB1. Address other key positions on your fantasy draft board first, but just remember Stafford is a quarterback capable of winning you weeks in fantasy. As long as he can throw a tight spiral, he probably always will be.