Sports Illustrated's Peter King Gives Stafford Some Love

Now that CNNSi's Peter King has officially been assimilated as of this morning, perhaps the national media (we're talking to you, ESPN) will drag themselves away from Mark Sanchez's bedroom closet and into Matthew Stafford's corner.

Writes King:

"Let me be the first to say how absurd it is to answer the question I got later in the day at Detroit Metro Airport, at the gate of my flight to Indianapolis: "Hey Peter, have we got the right guy with Stafford?'' Here's what I said, and what I believe: Stafford's got an A-minus NFL arm right now. The only quarterback I'm sure who has a better one is Jay Cutler."

... although, there is something refreshing about flying under the radar, and out of ESPN's painfully embarrassing east-coast and Dallas Cowboys-emblazoned cross hairs.

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Peter King: Stafford favorite to win "arms race"

Peter King of SI.com, in his weekly "Monday Morning Quarterback" article, is reporting that the coaches are swooning over Stafford's OTA performances.  Moreover, given the amount of money the Lions have already invested in Stafford, and the suddenly empty seats in Ford Field, starting Stafford is not an "if" but a "when"--and it's looking like "when" will be sooner rather than later.

King questions the wisdom of putting Stafford in early against the Lions' brutal early schedule; of course the debate about when to start a rookie quarterback is always intense and divisive.  Stafford, however, has all the hallmarks of a start-him-early quarterback: elite arm, three-year starter at a power program, unflappably confident--yet not cocky.  If he is not right now a better quarterback than Duante Culpepper, then he'll likely never be worth the contract he's signed.  It makes littler sense to revamp the entire franchise from the top (President, GM, Head Coach) to the bottom (logo, uniforms)--and then have the face of the franchise be the washed-up stopgap from 0-16.

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