Turf Show Times
Heading into the 2025 NFL season, there remain some serious questions regarding Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and the ongoing back soreness situation. However, that hasn’t necessarily changed how Stafford is viewed around the league. At his best when healthy, Stafford is still arguably one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL with incredible arm talent.
Stafford has always been that quarterback, but since joining the Rams in 2021, more people around the NFL are beginning to see it first hand. That’s especially the case with Stafford consistently making the postseason and leading late-season surges to get the Rams into the playoffs.
The Athletic’s Mike Sando released his annual QB Tiers list on Monday and taking a top-five spot as number five for a second consecutive season was Stafford. Said Sando,
“Stafford is making his Tier 1 debut at age 37 after 11 consecutive seasons in Tier 2. His ability to work through a back injury that has sidelined him in camp will be key…Stafford’s ability to process and play from the pocket has long endeared him to offensive coaches who prefer to play that way.”
An interesting aspect here is Stafford making his debut into Tier 1 at age 37 and entering his 17th season. The longer Stafford remains with McVay, the more his image is inflated around the league. Nobody would say that Stafford just had his best season in 2024. However, how he’s viewed around the NFL has never been higher.
From 2014 to 2017, Stafford threw for over 4200 yards in each season. Still, he received a combined 24 Tier 1 votes in those seasons with 15 of them coming before 2018. Stafford’s best season with the Rams came in 2021 and he still had 18 Tier 1 votes to 30 Tier 2 votes. Heading into 2025, Stafford recorded a career-high 26 Tier 1 votes, but ranked just 16th in EPA per dropback. Said one NFL Defensive Coordinator,
“I guarantee all your 1s for Stafford came from offensive coaches. Offensive coaches kiss this guy’s ass all the time, especially guys from that system. He’s really good, though. I would take him over (Justin) Herbert because he is a better passer, with better timing.”
This isn’t to say that Stafford isn’t deserving of being a Tier 1 quarterback, but the difference in how Stafford was viewed in Detroit and how he is viewed the longer he is with McVay is certainly interesting. Stafford’s stock is at an all-time high, but he just recorded his second-worst season in EPA per dropback with the worst coming in the disastrous 2022 season. If anything, it’s at least an overcorrection for all of the years that he didn’t get the recognition with the Lions.
Stafford may have lacked some consistency last year. However, as seen against the Buffalo Bills, he still has the ability to make incredible throw after incredible throw while going toe to toe with the best in the league. As another defensive coordinator said, “That...
