Rams tweets etc. … 7/3 – 7/5

from PFF Quarterback Rankings: All 32 starters ahead of the 2026 NFL season — https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-quarterback-rankings-all-32-starters-2026

[me: 1-4 are Allen, Burrow, Jackson, Mahomes]

…

Rank 5
—
Matthew Stafford
Los Angeles Rams · QB

If these rankings were based solely on 2025 output, Stafford would have a legitimate case for the No. 1 spot. His 91.7 PFF passing grade and 4.49 Wins Above Replacement both led the NFL, with the latter finishing more than a full win clear of second-place Dak Prescott (3.39). He also paced the league with a 7.7% big-time throw rate, a mark that also tied for the 15th-highest single-season mark ever recorded in the PFF era.

That said, the 2025 MVP enters 2026 in one of the NFL’s most favorable situations. Rams head coach Sean McVay remains one of football’s premier offensive minds, and the Rams’ dominant rushing attack consistently forces defenses to respect the run, creating favorable passing opportunities. Stafford has also had the luxury of throwing to Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, giving him one of the league’s best wide receiver duos.

And then there is the interception variance. Stafford threw just nine interceptions in 2025 despite 21 turnover-worthy throws, with opposing defenders dropping nine potential interceptions (seven of them on genuine turnover-worthy throws). That wasn’t a one-year anomaly, either. His 2024 and 2025 campaigns rank as two of the three luckiest quarterback seasons on record, making it unlikely those breaks continue to fall his way in 2026.

His 2025 season was spectacular; there is no question. His grading profile is the product of elite quarterback play that he made look almost effortless at times, and he routinely produces throws that few other quarterbacks can. That said, the reasons above are enough just to push him outside of the top four.

PFF@PFF
Myles Garrett | PFF Pass Rush Ranks By Season:

2025: 1st
2024: 2nd
2023: 1st
2022: 1st
2021: 2nd
2020: 7th
2019: 3rd

Rams Wire@TheRamsWire
Matthew Stafford is among the best in the NFL at the boring passes, too.

***

from https://theramswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/rams/2026/07/05/matthew-stafford-quietly-beating-mahomes-and-others-in-routine-passes/90794125007/?taid=6a4a7f8e63792900018a44e2&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

New data suggests…that Stafford was also getting more out of the offense’s routine plays than almost anyone would expect.

Pro Football Focus’ Mark Chichester inspected an often overlooked quarterback stat: “zero-graded throws.” In PFF terms, these throws are neither blown assignments nor highlight-reel plays. They are, as Chichester describes, “unremarkable … simply a quarterback doing his job, making a play that an NFL quarterback would be expected to make.”

This exercise, therefore, is all about how a quarterback executes the offense that he’s placed in and how that offense produces in that design. That distinction matters because, historically, these plays haven’t been a strength for the league as a whole. Across nearly 221,500 PFF zero-graded attempts since 2006, only one season has produced a net-positive result leaguewide, with the average sitting at -0.060 expected points added (EPA) per attempt. In other words, doing exactly what’s asked has usually left offenses worse off, not better.

Best Quarterbacks at Avoiding Sacks when Under Pressure🧼 pic.twitter.com/niBliDGuaO

— PFF (@PFF) July 5, 2026