Stafford's health could affect Georgia's future BCS title chances

Former Georgia QB Matt Stafford was the No.1 overall pick by the Detroit Lions in the 2009 Draft, and after leading the Lions to several victories last season, Stafford missed a large portion of his rookie campaign to injuries. In his second year in Detroit, Stafford hurt his throwing shoulder early in the season opener and missed several games before returning last week. In that game against the Washington Redskins, Stafford threw for four TDs in a win and seemed ready to live up to the hype of being a No.1 overall pick. This past Sunday, Stafford appeared to be doing it again, this time against the ferocious New York Jets defense, as Stafford had two passing scores and one rushing score before he was forced from the game again with an injury to the same shoulder.

As much as Lions fans are hoping that Stafford isn’t an “injury-prone” player, Georgia fans are hoping that Stafford can live up to the billing that he had before coming to Athens. Stafford was supposed to be the REAL DEAL, delivering titles to Georgia. He did take the Dawgs to a Sugar Bowl win during the 2007 season, but Stafford never quite thrived in Athens. He always had the look of an NFL quarterback serving time in college before the shackles came off at the next level. Many Georgia fans never felt the connection with the Texas boy-wonder and often picked up a “hired gun” vibe from Stafford.

I still want him to succeed at the next level though. I want badly for Stafford to shine in the NFL so perhaps folks will look at Georgia as a school that can produce something other than running backs and offensive linemen. If top high school prospects see folks like Stafford and Knowshon Moreno and AJ Green lighting it up in the NFL, then they may see Georgia as a viable option for producing NFL talent. I realize that Georgia has a large number of NFL players, but the real standouts didn’t come to Georgia under Richt. Richard Seymour was a Donnan guy. Hines Ward was pre-Richt. Champ and Boss Bailey were not Richt recruits. I want a few elite guys in the NFL with a Richt Stamp and perhaps the doldrums the Bulldogs currently reside in will vanish and the Dawgs can once again challenge for a conference and national title. Believe it or not, a healthy Stafford would help that out. So would an interception-free game against Florida from Aaron Murray though too…