Matthew

Stafford

Stafford lost one of his top pass-catchers early in the second quarter after Puka Nacua aggravated the knee injury that had him on the injury report leading up to Week 1, forcing a heavy dose of Cooper Kupp for the remainder of the game. He fed Kupp an ungodly 21 targets on a ridiculous 49 pass attempts. Unfortunately for the Rams, the Lions got the ball back for a two-minute drill and eventually tied the game with under a minute left to force overtime. They would then win the coin toss and the drive the field for the clinching touchdown and Stafford and the Rams would not touch the ball again. It was a valiant effort considering the stout nature of the Lions run defense, which forced the lofty pass attempt numbers. We’ll have to wait and see how Nacua’s knee responds in the coming week as it could force a similar setup when the Rams travel to Arizona to take on the Cardinals in Week 2, albeit in a much friendlier ground matchup.

Stafford left last Wednesday’s practice with a hamstring injury and remained sidelined for the rest of the week. The good news is his return on Monday was what the team hoped for when they opted to rest him, so it doesn’t sound like there’s too much to worry about here. Head coach Sean McVay said earlier that he doesn’t have any concern about Stafford’s Week 1 availability, meaning fantasy managers can draft him with confidence over these final few weeks.

Stafford is experiencing tightness in his hamstring and will miss a few days of practice as a result. We wouldn’t read much into this beyond opting to exercise caution for their franchise quarterback with the season rapidly approaching. It should go without saying that Stafford won’t play in the Rams’ preseason matchup on Saturday against the Rams, which could pave the way for another long outing for Stetson Bennett.

Stafford leaving practice is likely a precautionary measure for the Rams to ensure any hamstring issue does not escalate. Head coach Sean McVay said, “unfortunately, [Stafford] had some tightness” in Wednesday’s joint practice against the Cowboys. The 36-year-old just agreed to a re-worked contract in the offseason and the Rams anticipate Stafford continuing to run the offense at a high level. Jimmy Garoppolo and Stetson Bennett took over reps for the second half of the practice.

McVay was delayed to a training camp presser, citing the reason being that he was part of a meeting to resolve Stafford’s contract adjustment. Stafford had three years remaining on his deal, with no guaranteed money past this season. Presumably, the re-worked contract gives Stafford a little more juice in his deal and avoids a potential holdout. With recent contracts given to quarterbacks like Jared Goff and Trevor Lawrence, it was only a matter of time before Stafford got his share as well.

Stafford is 36 years old and coming off a solid season passing for 3,965 yards, 24 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. The Rams and head coach Sean McVay feel like they are in a good, competitive spot with Stafford after a productive season that got the team to a Wild Card game. Rapoport says, to his understanding, Stafford “wants more guaranteed money, doesn’t sound like he would mind a raise either.” Stafford is set to make $31 million in 2024 and has no guaranteed money in the remaining two years of his deal after this season. He is not expected to hold out of training camp, but with recent jumps in the quarterback market, Stafford desires more guaranteed money as he enters the late-30s stage of his career.

Stafford’s presence for the opening day of OTAs is notable considering the veteran quarterback had expressed intent to seek more guaranteed money in his contract this offseason, placing doubt in his status for organized team activities leading up to camp in the process. It also speaks to his level of health heading into the 2024 season after Stafford battled multiple injuries the previous two years. Either way, consider it a slight boost to Stafford’s fantasy value for the coming year.

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford heads back to his former home while Lions quarterback Jared Goff hosts his former team after freshly signing a four-year, $212 million contract extension. This will be a rematch of last season’s Wild Card game, where the Lions bested the Rams 24-23. Goff and Stafford were dealt for each other in 2021, with the Rams winning a Super Bowl and the Lions making it to the Conference Championship since then. This game will kick off Sunday Night Football for the season and will feature many fantasy-relevant players, including top receivers Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua, and Amon-Ra St. Brown.

Breer said Denver’s front office has done a lot of work evaluating Nix as a potential franchise quarterback. They’ve also met with Michael Penix and according to Peyton Manning, the team remains “very interested” in J.J. McCarthy, who likely won’t be on the board when the Broncos pick at 12. Without a second round pick, the Broncos will need to decide whether to go all in on a QB in the first round. The game-managing Nix would seemingly be a good fit for Sean Payton’s check-down passing offense. No one threw more running back screen passes in 2023 than Russell Wilson in the Denver offense. The Rotoworld crew on Tuesday talked about the best landing spots for Nix, who has also been connected to the Rams as Matthew Stafford enters his age-36 season.

The Rams were down 14-3 and 21-10 at various points in the first half but clawed their way back to within a point half way through the fourth quarter. They ultimately fell just short in an instant classic. Stafford leaned on his dynamic rookie receiver, earning nearly half of his yardage on the night through Puka Nacua. Stafford’s 2023 season ends as the QB15 in fantasy points per game but he ranked as the QB8 from Week 10 on. The fact the Rams were able to make the run they made into the postseason with such a young roster speaks volumes to Stafford, head coach Sean McVay, and the rest of the supporting cast in Los Angeles. He heads into 2024 in the third year of a four-year contract with the Rams and should again push for another playoff berth in the new league year.