Who was the Lions’ best Offensive player in 2017?

The Detroit Lions offense may not be all that different in 2018. While Detroit did make strides to improve the running game through a new offensive line coach, much of the remaining staff will be intact next season—both in terms of personnel and coaches.

And that could be good new for the Lions. Detroit ranked seventh in scoring in 2017, and a few offensive players had career years.

Here’s a look at the 2017 Detroit Lions Offensive Player of the Year nominees:

Matthew Stafford

Stats: 371-565, 4,446 yards, 7.9 Y/A, 65.7 comp. %, 29 TDs, 10 INTs, 99.3 passer rating

Matthew Stafford set several career highs in 2017, including passer rating (99.3) and yards per attempt (7.9). Despite having a constant rotation of offensive linemen in front of him that failed to provide ample pass protection or a consistent running game, Stafford was electric.

Stafford was the third-most successful play-action passer without a legitimate threat of a running game. That’s all on No. 9.

Golden Tate

Stats: 92 catches, 1,003 yards (10.9 avg.), 5 TDs, 1 fumble

Golden Tate’s 2017 season was nothing out of the ordinary for Tate, which is actually a compliment. Tate has now caught 90 passes in all four seasons with the Lions and surpassed 1000 yards in three of those years.

Tate didn’t just dominate for one or two games, but was a consistent threat all year. He had at least five catches in 10 games last season and had over 80 yards in seven games. And he also had one of the greatest celebrations of the year:

Marvin Jones Jr.

Stats: 61 catches, 1,101 yards (18.0 avg.), 9 TDs

Jones was the team leader in receiving yards, touchdowns, yards per catch, 20+ yards receptions and just about any other receiver stat. But he didn’t only rack up the stats, he did it in style.

Jones was responsible for two of the seven nominees for Play of the Year, and that doesn’t even include this phenomenal catch:

Graham Glasgow

Stats: 16 games (16 starts): PFF grade 76.1

Obviously it’s hard to quantify how valuable Glasgow was with any sort of run-of-the-mill statistics, but it’s clear that the Lions’ guard turned center was one of the most crucial pieces on the offensive line. Glasgow made big strides at left guard, but more importantly, he looked more than capable to take on the responsibilities of the center position when Travis Swanson was injured.

Reliability is huge on the offensive line and Glasgow had that in spades in 2017.