Matthew Stafford Won't Abandon Puka Nacua

2025 Fantasy Football Impact

This might be better news for Rams WR Puka Nacua's fantasy outlook than it is for Stafford's.

Sure, Stafford benefits from sticking in a familiar system, with a strong offensive coach, and some talent around him.

But the Rams are expected to move on from WR Cooper Kupp. And WR Demarcus Robinson's a free agent.

That leaves 2024 rookie Jordan Whittington as (arguably?) the best in-house candidate to emerge as the 2025 WR2. And it figures to make the TEs important.

Stafford wound up just 28th among multi-game QB starters in fantasy points per game last year. And he has fallen short of 20 points per game for three straight seasons (depending on your format).

Stafford's not particularly enticing for 1-QB leagues but looks fine as a late QB2 or QB3 for best ball drafts and multi-QB formats.

He likely would have projected at least similarly, though, with the Giants or Raiders and might have found more passing volume on teams that have been less competitive than the Rams.

Other Winners & Losers

Nacua wins by keeping his QB around for at least another season.

That makes it a little comfier to draft the third-year stud in Round 1 -- and we like him high in that range of our early WR rankings.

Stafford's return is obviously also good for TE Tyler Higbee, who jumped back into the lineup for the final five games, including the playoffs.

Higbee caught 5+ balls in each of the final three contests, scoring in two of them. He's an all-upside option at his current TE26 best ball ADP.