ESPN came out with its mid-season rankings of NFL players and it wasn't flattering about the Lions, and in particular, Ndamukong Suh and Matthew Stafford.
Suh did make the Top 50 list - at No.50. But if there is a notion he is considered the best defensive tackle in the NFL, ESPN doesn't think so. Baltimore's Haloti Ngata (No.6) and San Francisco's Justin Smith (No.10) are both in the Top 10, and New England's Vince Woolfolk is 28th.
The only other Lion in the Top 50 is Calvin Johnson. He is 13th, which seems fair. What doesn't seem right is that Stafford isn't mentioned anywhere. In the Top 50. In the list of up and coming players, in the list of players who just missed making the Top 50. Stafford has 19 touchdown passes and just four interceptions. He is the fourth-ranked passer in the league behind Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and Drew Brees. And he has done so with a limited running attack and a mediocre offensive line.
Just my opinion, but if Suh and Stafford were playing in New York, they'd be in the Top 25 on this list.
They do mention defensive end Cliff Avril at the very bottom of the up and coming players, but not Stafford. Unreal.