Matt Stafford Is No Savior for NFL Sportsbooks Odds. Sportsbook opinions are split as to what type of impact overall number one pick Matthew Stafford will have on the woeful Lions. One thing is certain, the Lions can do no worse (from a statistical standpoint) than they did in the 2009 sportsbook season. Still, even if Stafford gets the starting job in the motor city the Lion’s turnaround is still years in the making.
Sportsbook fans have seen few franchises in any sport more futile than the Detroit Lions. They have been the worst franchise in online action for the past decade and cemented their status last year by achieving perfection: a 0-16 sportsbook record. For this lesson in futility they were awarded the number one pick in the NFL, an act of charity that is meant to bolster this pathetic organization’s Matt odds.
And it just might work, but not for a few more years. Drafting Stafford was a bold move and probably the right one if you’re looking to revamp the online profile of the moribund franchise. But the single biggest move the Lions made to improve their sportsbook odds was fire Matt Millen. After that move, every other gain in the sportsbook world will seem like minor dividends. The dude single handedly transformed the team into the laughing stock of the online sportsbook world.
Stafford was a bold move, but there’s no guarantee he’ll be the QB of the future or that the team will win more games in the sportsbook odds with him at the helm. In fact, he probably wasn’t even the best QB in the draft class and it could come back to haunt the franchise. There is no doubt the kid has a big time arm and he can make some big time throws. But what everyone wants to know is: can he win NFL games?
His track record would indicate that he can’t. College sportsbook competition and NFL football are two very different animals, but it’s all we have by way of comparison. In college games the guy was loser. The bigger the game the worse he played. He entered the season as the QB of the best team in the online sportsbook rankings but after eight weeks of competition the team was an afterthought.
Compare that with other recent SEC QBS like Jay Cutler who played on an awful team but somehow was able to make them into winners at Vandy. If you’re a Lions fan that comparison can’t make you feel that good. Add to that the fact that Lions have no skill players and an average O-line at best and Stafford’s chances of sportsbook success look very slim indeed –at least in the near term.