If there's one undeniable truth heading into the 2026 NFL offseason, it's that the Los Angeles Rams need to convince Matthew Stafford to return for at least one more season.
The Rams just lost a heartbreaker to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship, and narrowly missed a chance to compete for their second Super Bowl in the Stafford-Sean McVay era. And at this point, it's clear that Stafford is still playing as good as he ever has.
With Stafford likely to win the MVP award, how can he possibly call it quits now? At some point, Stafford's time will come, but looking at the 2026 NFL Draft class, the Rams need to convince him that his time isn't now.
Rams need to convince Matthew Stafford to come back so they can avoid 2026 NFL Draft class
The quarterback class in 2026 is not the worst we've seen in recent years (shout out to the 2022 class), but it's close.
Fernando Mendoza, the Heisman winner and starting quarterback for the National Champion Indiana Hoosiers (still a weird thing to say) is almost undoubtedly going to be the #1 overall pick for the Las Vegas Raiders. The only other quarterback right now that is getting 1st-round hype is Alabama's Ty Simpson, and he's not considered a unanimous 1st-round player.
Simpson had a breakout year at Alabama this past year, but only has 15 college starts. And we're seeing more and more the value of experience from these guys coming up to the NFL level.
Drew Allar of Penn State, Garrett Nussmeier of LSU, and Cade Klubnik of Clemson are all players who appeared in the 1st round of various mock drafts over the last year, but they don't appear to have done anything to solidify that status. Could one of them -- or someone else -- become the next Tyler Shough?
Potentially, but it doesn't seem to be trending that direction right now.
Even though the Rams could potentially take a shot on someone and see it work out in their offense, the 2027 NFL Draft class is where you probably want to take your risk at this point. That class looks loaded, especially at the quarterback position.
The dilemma is that the Rams have two first-round picks this year. It's always possible they could parlay one of those picks to get another first-rounder in 2027, but they also own the 13th overall pick thanks to the way this season went for the Falcons. Could they be convinced of Ty Simpson, take him there, and let him sit for a year?
Maybe.
Even if they like that scenario, they need Stafford back. This is not a team that should be taken over by a quarterback with 15 college starts, or anyone else in this rookie class.