There’s no rewriting what Matthew Stafford meant to the Detroit Lions. He played hurt often, carried some truly bad rosters, put up numbers that never really got the credit they deserved, and took that same formula to Los Angeles, where he parlayed his talent into a Super Bowl ring.
That version of Stafford is a lock for Canton. No one’s going to argue that. But when ESPN’s annual quarterback rankings slotted him at No. 6 heading into 2025, it raised a few eyebrows. Not necessarily because Stafford can’t still play, but because that kind of placement feels like it leans more on what he’s meant to the league than what he’s putting on tape right now.