Stafford Earns Major Ranking in Top QB List

The Rams now have a top-five quarterback to pair with the NFL’s fifth-ranked playmakers.

Three-time Super Bowl champion Mark Schlereth on Wednesday said Matthew Stafford is the fifth-best quarterback in the NFL.

“When you talk Matthew Stafford,” Schlereth said on Wednesday’s edition of FS1’s Breakfast Ball, “preface it by saying all my quarterbacks have got to be able to win you a championship from the pocket, okay? That's what I believe.

“So, this guy, unbelievable arm talent. His ability to look off defenders, the no-look pass, the arm angles, finding windows to throw from. I love watching Matthew Stafford play football. The sidearm, I mean, misdirection, eyes all over the place. Love the way this guy plays the game. He's my No. 5 guy.”

Stafford was No. 1 on the NFL’s list of best quarterback transactions, when he and the Rams reworked his contract in early May. He also sits atop the list of most significant quarterback acquisitions this century, according to many who cite the 2021 trade that brought him to Sean McVay in Los Angeles.

Since that 2021 trade, Stafford ranks sixth in the league with 14,700 passing yards and 10th with 95 touchdown passes. And while his playmakers, including running back Kyren Williams and wide receivers Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, are arguably the best he’s had since coming to Los Angeles, Stafford has to be thinking about his offensive line.

Sharp Football Analysis recently ranked the Rams as the NFL’s No. 13 offensive line.

“The offensive line finished 13th in our rankings for the second consecutive year, earning one top 10 vote in the process,” Sharp wrote. “The biggest question facing the Rams is the health of left tackle Alaric Jackson, who is being treated for blood clots in his leg three months after signing an extension.”

That’s a huge question mark on Stafford’s blindside, something free-agent veteran D.J. Humphries will likely have to step in and answer. Humphries, 31, signed just last month when Jackson’s scary condition resurfaced.

A former first-round selection and a Pro Bowler in 2021, Humphries played his first eight seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. A cap casualty in March of 2024, he was out of football until signing with the Chiefs in November to help alleviate Kansas City’s left-tackle woes. But Humphries started just two games with the Chiefs last year.

Stafford and the Rams might need him a lot more than that in 2025.

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