Fantasy Football: 4 Quarterbacks Who Easily Outperformed Their 2016 Preseason Rankings

Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions

Fantasy experts had a legitimate reason to believe Detroit's Matthew Stafford would regress this past season since his go-to guy -- elite wide receiver Calvin Johnson -- retired. Stafford had an average preseason ranking of 128th, including 18th among quarterbacks.

But offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter was able to turn Stafford into a different quarterback -- one who throws shorter, quicker passes and is more efficient. He also spread the ball around more instead of relying on a primary target, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing to do when you have Megatron.

Stafford's passing numbers were pretty much in line with what he's done the past four seasons. He ranked sixth in passing yards (4,327) and minimized his mistakes, throwing a career-low 10 interceptions -- if you throw out the 2010 season in which he played in only three games and threw one pick.

Detroit replaced Johnson with a combination of emerging Marvin Jones and veteran Anquan Boldin. Jones posted a career-high 930 yards and 4 scores on 55 catches while Boldin collected a team-high 8 touchdowns with 584 yards.

Stafford finished 7th in fantasy points among quarterbacks and 10th in Passing NEP per drop back.