NFL QB Comparison: Ryan Sets the Bar—Can Stafford Live Up To It? Pt. One

If you were Matthew Stafford, would you want the weight of changing the only 0-16 franchise into a winning one? If you were Mark Sanchez, would you want the daunting task of not only filling in where Brett Favre left off, but also try to do it with a group of receivers who haven’t even established themselves yet at the pro level? Take a moment, I’ll wait. Last year, the bar was set for rookie QBs coming into the NFL thanks to Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco—play like veterans from the get go or enjoy the bench. In part one of a two-part series, we will look at the two first-round draft picks and compare them to the last two first-round picks from a year ago. Are things really that different? At the beginning of the year, we really didn’t know they were gonna be out there so soon, did we? Ryan was supposed to be the guy who spent a year in training before getting out there. Coach Smith was adamant about keeping his prized rookie away from the game so he could ... (link)