Matthew Stafford Hasn’t Been Good
Posted: August 25th, 2008 | Filed under: Last Decade | No Comments »
Apparently my assertion that the Georgia passing attack has lacked credibility with Matthew Stafford under center is “wholly incredible“.
I never thought to ask Alabama and Auburn about Matthew Stafford when I was compiling my totally slanted preseason notes on Georgia. I guess I forgot the cardinal rule of talent evaluation: A few impressive moments witnessed by the naked eye > overall body of work.
It doesn’t matter that to this point in his career Stafford has been flat out below average. Who cares that this fact can be easily verified by a quick scan of his numbers and/or game logs from last year? He beat Alabama in a tight game and blew out Auburn in a mere 19 pass attempts, god damnit. Those two results are much more accurate predictors of his future performance than his career stats are.
Except they aren’t. Where Georgia fans see a 6-3 highly touted stud with a strong arm and unlimited potential, I see a QB whose numbers compare favorably to those of Thaddeus Lewis.
I am not suggesting that all hope is lost for Georgia. LSU just won an S.E.C. and national title with Matt Flynn as their primary signal caller. Flynn was basically Stafford’s twin last year minus the potential. A modest improvement on 2008 would put Stafford into Ken Dorsey and Craig Krenzel territory in terms of efficiency, and there is always the off chance that he will unlock his potential and take a Vince Young-esque leap forward during his junior season.
All of this remains to be seen. The point was, and remains, that for whatever reason(s) Matthew Stafford has not been good through two full seasons as a college starting quarterback. Arguing against this point isn’t just stupid. It is dishonest.
totally agree. uga is set up to fail this year.
Thaddeus Lewis is the second coming of Johnny Unitas. You heard it here first.
I can’t imagine a good ol’ church going boy like Mr. Bradley regularly frequents sites devoted to degenerates like us… I’m curious if you can tell what search criteria he used to find your Stafford quotes. I’m sure that other SEC blogs, known for their civility, had many worse things to say. It just surprised me that he wound up here. God help you if the Rocky Mountain News does an off-season piece on Jeff Francis.
You wouldn’t expect it, but I get linked in from all sorts of MSM sites on the rare occasions that I write actual content. A lot of the writers love the gambling angle.
Hopefully Mark Bradley explores themoneylinejournal thoroughly enough to see your take on his hometown NFL team’s starting Quarterback.
Did you see Matt Ryan play the last 90 seconds in Blacksburg? Ask Va Tech how cltuch he is.
I just scanned through the comments for the Bradley article and the posters are actually on my side. That is a first.
ML–I think the reason you’re seeing commentors on your side in the above linked article is because everyone in who reads the AJC knows that Marc Bradley is a clown, and in order to be right most of the time you need to disagree with what he says.
AC-
That and the fact that ML’s argument is based on, you know, sound logic and math instead of blatant, pandering homerism.
Moneyline is significantly more credible because he simply doesn’t CARE what the right answer is with respect to Georgia’s chances of winning the National Championship, whereas Bradley started not from scratch, but with the intent of reaching the conclusion “GEORGIA IS SOOOO AWESOME.”
This is why gamblers are almost always more credible than bad sportswriters. Gamblers are totally objective, and have a significant financial incentive to remain as such.