Matthew Stafford benefitted greatly from being traded to Los Angeles in 2021. He got the change of scenery he was looking for and immediately helped the Rams win a Super Bowl in his first season.
Gauging Stafford’s placement among the rest of the NFL’s quarterbacks is more difficult after his injury-plagued 2022 season, but Pro Football Focus still sees him as an above-average player at his position.
PFF ranked every starting quarterback in the NFL heading into the 2023 campaign and while Stafford didn’t crack the top 10, he was close. PFF put him No. 12, just behind Dak Pescott and Tua Tagovailoa.
The biggest question PFF has with Stafford is his health.
Is Stafford physically able to be the player he once was? Last season was a nightmare for the Rams from start to finish, and Stafford wasn’t far different on an individual level. He went from throwing 50 touchdowns including the playoffs the season before to just 10 across nine games before being shut down for the year. The Rams and Stafford are likely on the far side of their Super Bowl window, but how much he has left in the tank is a big unknown.
Stafford was a stud for the Rams in 2021, despite a high number of interceptions (17). He threw 41 touchdown passes in the regular season and another nine in the playoffs, leading three game-winning drives in the postseason alone.
If healthy – and if the Rams’ offensive line can improve – Stafford should be in for another season with 35-plus touchdowns. Whether Los Angeles has success as a team is another story, but he’s more than capable of putting up big numbers again.
