NFL QB Rankings: Unfair Placing for Rams Matthew Stafford?
Matthew Stafford led the Los Angeles Rams to a Super Bowl title during the 2021 season, but both he and his team feel quite a bit removed from a magical playoff run.
Typically, it's the loser of the Super Bowl that has a hangover the next year. But the Rams followed up their victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI by going 5-12. Stafford found himself in concussion protocol on two separate occasions during the 2022 campaign, ultimately playing in just nine games.
And so as Stafford prepares for his third season with the Rams, it's tough to know what to make of the 35-year-old. For his part, Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports ranked Stafford as the 20th-best quarterback in his post-NFL Draft rankings:
"Talk about a whirlwind two-year ride in Los Angeles: first the Rams elevated him from good to great in 2021; then they both broke down physically in 2022. If he can stay upright, he's still serviceable, but what condition is he really in at 35?"
We would push back against the idea that Stafford went from good to great when he joined the Rams. He was always an excellent individual player, but the Detroit Lions did little in the way to put talent around him -- outside of Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson -- over 12 seasons and therefore, didn't have much team success. But Stafford certainly isn't a system guy that's being propped up by Sean McVay.
Still, the former No. 1 overall pick had a laundry list of injuries during his time in Detroit. It is fair to wonder if 2022 was the start of that catching up to Stafford. And it doesn't help that he once again doesn't have a supporting cast that looks especially imposing on paper.
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