Fantasy Upside
Over the past eight seasons, Matthew Stafford has not missed a game, thrown for at least 20 TDs and completed at least 360 passes. While completing nearly 66 percent of his attempts the last three years, he has also done a good job of taking care of the ball, tossing an average of just 10 INTs during that span.
Fantasy Downside
After seven consecutive seasons of throwing for at least 4,200 yards, Stafford’s total dipped to under 3,800 in ’18. His 21 TD tosses were the fewest he’s thrown since ’12 and only once in the past seven seasons has he thrown for more than 30 scores. He averaged just 6.8 yards per completion, the lowest since ’12. Without his safety valve, Golden Tate, to throw to starting in November of last year, it seemed Stafford and the Lions offense tended to struggle, as all three of his 300-yard games came with Tate in the lineup.
Bottom Line
Between Tate getting traded and various injuries to Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones and Theo Riddick, there were a lot of moving parts in the Lions passing attack in ’18. As this regular season begins, Stafford will have his main weapons along with the additions of Danny Amendola and TEs T.J. Hockenson and Jesse James - all which should help, especially in the red zone. Stafford has been about as consistent as they come and that shouldn’t change this year. Look for him to remain a low QB1 option, throwing for around 4,000 yards and 25 TDs.
