Matthew Stafford: Every situation is different for quarterbacks chosen with No. 1 overall pick

Matthew Stafford was the No. 1 pick of the 2009 NFL draft, and he was thrown immediately into the fire as the Detroit Lions starter.

That is a contrast to Jared Goff, the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft who has not played for the Rams and instead serves as Case Keenum’s backup.

“Every situation is different,” Stafford said Wednesday during a conference call with reporters. “Every team is different that the player comes to, what those expectations of that team are, all that kind of stuff.

“It’s all different. What the player is showing in practice, all that. That all goes into it. And in the end it’s a coaches’ decision. I think it’s worked well both ways for certain types of guys.”

Stafford is off to a good start for the Lions, who play host to the Rams on Sunday at Ford Field.

He has completed 68% of his passes, 10 for touchdowns, with four interceptions and has a 99.6 passer rating.

That’s much different than Stafford’s rookie season, when he completed 53% of his passes, 13 for touchdowns, with 20 interceptions in 10 games. He had a 61 passer rating.

The Lions had earned the first pick by finishing 0-16 in 2008. They were 2-14 in 2009.

“As a competitive person, I always wanted to play,” Stafford said. “I wanted to come in and try to win the job as soon as I could and was able to early on.

“We were battling that year. The Lions were coming off a year that wasn’t one to remember the year before that — we were just trying to find who was going to be part of our team and make us try to win games any way we could.

“But it was a tough situation. Being a rookie in this league playing quarterback is not an easy thing and I was just happy to get some experience early under my belt.”