About the worst thing a team aspiring to go back-to-back as Super Bowl champs can have is its franchise quarterback with elbow problems before the season starts. That’s the case for the Los Angeles Rams and quarterback Matthew Stafford, who has sat out almost all of training camp with elbow tendinitis.
Below, we look at Matthew Stafford‘s 2022 fantasy football average draft position (ADP) and where you should draft him.
The Rams swung a blockbuster trade prior to last season with the belief that Stafford was all that stood between Los Angeles and a Super Bowl title and they were right. Stafford threw for almost 5,000 yards with 41 touchdowns and consistently posted big fantasy numbers on a week-to-week basis. Yet, his elbow is getting all the attention now.
Matthew Stafford’s ADP: 91.64
(ADP data courtesy of MyFantasyLeague.com; last updated at time of this publishing – ADPs continually change as more drafts occur)
Coming off a season like he had last year, if healthy Stafford would be a top-5 or 6 quarterback. As it stands, his ADP has him as the 13th-ranked quarterback in the abyss of where QBs are going in drafts.
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In the span of 5 rounds (the 9th to the 13th) only 4 quarterbacks are coming off the board. The drought begins after Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay Packers) at 76.17 and continues until Tua Tagovailoa (Miami Dolphins) at 122.74. In between (almost 50 picks) only 4 quarterbacks are coming off draft boards — Trey Lance (San Francisco 49ers) at 88.11, Stafford at 91.64, Derek Carr (Las Vegas Raiders) at 93.08 and Kirk Cousins (Minnesota Vikings) at 105.92.
Matthew Stafford’s 2021 stats
Games: 17
Passing yards: 4,886
Completions | attempts: 404 | 601
Passing touchdowns: 41
Interceptions: 17
Carries | rushing yards: 32 | 43
Rushing touchdowns: 0
Where should you draft Stafford?
The million-dollar question is how bad is Stafford’s elbow? From this ranking, it’s clear that the fear is that Stafford won’t make it through the season. He’s never going to give you value as a runner — he hasn’t scored a rushing touchdown in the last 5 years — but when you can pile up the passing yards and touchdowns that Stafford does, you don’t need to run.
I would definitely have him in front of Lance and probably Rodgers as well. That would put him at QB11 and he can be paired with another quarterback that can carry the load if he misses times.
It seems like a no-brainer that, unless his elbow is an ongoing issue that becomes obvious, grabbing Stafford as your QB2 is a gamble worth taking. As long as you have someone you like already on the roster, if Stafford plays anywhere close to his 2021 level in his 1st year in L.A., you will be making difficult decisions every week on who to play — and I’d go with the guy who has Cooper Kupp more times than not.
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