Matthew Stafford Fantasy News and Statistics

It didn’t take long to see Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was always destined to be an NFL quarterback.

As a senior at Highland Park High in Dallas, TX—the same school good friend Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers attended—Stafford led his team to a 15-0 record and a state title. He was as highly touted as a recruit comes, even ranked higher than Tim Tebow in the Class of 2006. Hell, Mel Kiper, Jr. predicted that he would be the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft before he even started a collegiate game.

Stafford’s journey to the promised land continued through college, where he shined under center for three straight seasons while between the hedges at Georgia. He threw for 19 touchdowns and over 2,500 yards as a sophomore, leading the Bulldogs to a Sugar Bowl victory over the Hawaii Warriors and a No. 3 ranking in the AP Poll to finish the season.

He continued to post gaudy numbers as a junior in 2008, and when he was eligible to leave school, he did just that. And just as Kiper predicted, Stafford was selected by the Detroit Lions with the first overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.

Unfortunately for Stafford, his success at the high school and collegiate levels hasn’t always transferred to the professional ranks in Michigan. However, much of that is not his fault.

Detroit has only made the playoffs three times since selecting Stafford, all of which were first-round exits. There have been bad seasons (when the Lions finished 4-12 in 2012) and worse seasons (2-14 as a rookie in 2009). Through it all, Stafford has remained relatively steady.

His best season came in 2014, when the former Bulldog threw for over 4,000 yards and 22 touchdowns to earn himself a trip to the Pro Bowl. His heroics also led Detroit to the Wild Card round of the postseason, where it was promptly eliminated by the Cowboys despite holding a 13-point lead and receiving a 323-yard day from its quarterback.

Stafford took his team back to the playoffs again in 2016, a season in which he set the NFL record for most fourth-quarter comebacks (eight) in a season. He was the key part of a five-game winning streak that gave the Lions some breathing room in the middle of the season, a stretch they would ultimately need since the regular season ended with three straight losses.

In addition to his fourth-quarter comeback record, Stafford also holds the league record for most passing touchdowns in a game by a rookie (five) and the most passing yards in his first 100 games in the league. He has remained a staple throughout a tumultuous era in Detroit, the face of a franchise that is often mocked.

The future is unknown for Stafford and the Lions, but in the short term they will look to build on the momentum of that 2016 trip to the postseason. His $22 million contract will expire after the 2017 season, making him an unrestricted free agent in 2018.