Matthew Stafford is a young dude.

And at 25 years old, the Detroit Lions' quarterback's best days are still in front of him.

That's according to ESPN analyst

Miss Cleo

Mike Sando, who on Thursday,

ranked the projected top 10 quarterbacks in 2016

.

Stafford came in at No. 7.

"Stafford's talent is obvious," Sando wrote. "He delivers difficult throws accurately and decisively, and his health has stabilized. The Lions' contract extension for Calvin Johnson ensures Stafford will have a great weapon for the long haul, so the future remains bright for him."

Of course, these days, the league is a young quarterback's playground.

Spring chickens like Andrew Luck of the Indianapolis Colts, Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks, Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers and Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers are all projected to be better quarterbacks than Stafford in three years.

It can be seen as a vote of confidence in the ability of Stafford and the Lions to rebound from a rough 2012 season, in which the team went from 10-6 to 4-12 and Stafford's QB rating went from a 7th-best 65.5 to a 15th-best 58.9.

"Stafford fell short of expectations last season and the Lions could stand to balance out their offense," Sando continued. "Stafford has dropped back to pass a league-high 46.3 times per game over the past two seasons, and he's done it without much threat from the Lions' ground game. Detroit is hoping that Reggie Bush can change that."

Interestingly enough, ESPN's crystal ball may be sending them mixed messages about the Lions' future. ESPN's Future Power Rankings projected that in 2016, the Detroit Lions would be the 21st best team in the league.

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