Kurt Warner not sold on Lions QB Stafford's turnaround

Now that it's over, Matthew Stafford's first season in a new offense and under the tutelage of three quarterback-centric coaches has drawn mixed reviews.

Detroit Lions general manager Martin Mayhew called Stafford's season "outstanding" last month, and coach Jim Caldwell praised his quarterback's ability to cut down on turnovers while leading the Lions to 11 wins, tied for the second most in franchise history.

But one prominent analyst isn't completely sold that Stafford has turned the corner as a signal caller.

"I thought (he) was up and down," NFL Network analyst Kurt Warner said. "I think the thing is in the past we've seen his tremendous athletic ability. I mean, the guy can make every throw and he's special with what he can do with his arm. But the one drawback was, with all of that, he made a lot of bad decisions. He would force balls because he just felt physically he could do it.

"This year, I think you kind of saw the opposite. You didn't get to see as much of the upside with the physical part of it, but you got to see a guy that was able to manage games and step back from making those bad decisions, which to me excites me because it tells me that he can do that."

Stafford completed 60% of his passes for just the second time in his career, though he still ranked in the bottom third of the league in completion percentage, and threw for 4,257 yards with 22 touchdowns and just 12 interceptions.

But the Lions offense, which struggled with injuries on the offensive line and to some of its top skill players, lacked the explosion it had in past seasons and Stafford took the most sacks (45) he had in his career.

Warner, who has been a critic of Stafford's footwork in the past, said the challenge now is for Stafford to mesh his big-play ability with the improved decision maker he showed this year.

"There's still things I think he can clean up with (his fundamentals), and I think if he does, because what I believe as a quarterback is that the more movement you have in your technique, the more opportunity there is to miss," Warner said. "That's what you kind of see with Matthew Stafford. He makes some incredible plays, even with his arm in different positions," Warner said. "But the consistency's not there that you need at the position to be one of the top quarterbacks in the league and I think that's where cleaning up the technique will help."

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.