My argument for Matthew Stafford

I posted this over at DawgSports, but I thought I'd share it with anyone that would like to read it here:


215 completions on 352 attempts for a 61.1% completion rate. 3,209 yards through 12 games for an average of 267.4/game, 9.12/attempt, and 14.9/completion. 22 TD's to only 9 INT's for a 2.4 TD/INT Ratio. An overall passer rating of 153.17 which places him 15th out of 119 passers, behind only Tim Tebow in the SEC.

Asides from the quantitative measures I mentioned above, have you guys seen the games he's kept us in this year? He played most of the second half of Alabama after getting his bell rung pretty good and helped make the score a little more respectable. He was the only player on the offense making plays in the South Carolina game. He was nearly flawless at Kentucky, at Arizona State, and against Georgia Tech. If he doesn't have the games he had at Kentucky or GA Tech, we get blown out of the water. He made huge throws in the LSU game. Dude is 20-5 the last two years, same as Tim Tebow.

My question to what seems like a growing faction of the Bulldawg Nation; Do you honestly believe yourself when you say we'll be better off next year without Matthew Stafford lining up behind center? That production is pretty difficult to replace (keep in mind he's done this behind one of the greenest and thinnest O-Lines I've ever seen). Imagine what next year could be like playing behind an offensive line that is more mature and stronger. I don't think we'll see it as the $$$ are pretty hard to pass up, but Stafford is Damn Good Dawg and anyone who thinks otherwise, please prove me wrong. Sure, he makes the mind-boggling throw every now and then, but tell me what QB doesn't that isn't Tim Tebow or Sam Bradford. Keep in mind the O-line issues when comparing those three. Of the Oklahoma games I've watched this season I don't think I've seen Bradford get touched and Tebow has a more than adequate line. Put those guys behind UGA's O-Line this year, and I have a sneaking suspicion their numbers wouldn't be so outrageous. His one bad game this year was Florida, but that was a case of him being the only player on the field that seemed to give a crap and tried to force things because no one else was.
Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Stafford may never win an SEC or national title, but it's not like it's all his fault or our problems are going to be magically solved if he leaves. If anything, we're going to regress on the offensive side of the ball and have to rely on the defense even more next year. And we all know how I feel about that...

Let me know what you think.