According to ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky, Matthew Stafford could establish himself as one of the five greatest quarterbacks of all time with a second Super Bowl victory this upcoming season.
“Matthew Stafford gets another one, he has an MVP in his back pocket, he becomes top-five, top-seven of all-time conversation,” Orlovsky said on Get Up.
Top five? Top seven?
Let us first establish the modern-day quarterbacks whom Stafford ranks below historically, in no particular order:
- Tom Brady
- Joe Montana
- Peyton Manning
- Patrick Mahomes
- John Elway
- Aaron Rodgers
- Drew Brees
8. Brett Favre
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And then there is another group of pre-1980s quarterbacks who are also ranked ahead of Stafford on most all-time lists:
- Terry Bradshaw
- Otto Graham
- Johnny Unitas
- Roger Staubach
- Bart Starr
A recent Bleacher Report ranking of the 99 greatest quarterbacks featured Stafford at 20th. He has some work to do to reach the top five, or seven.
For the sake of argument, let’s set aside the pre-modern era. The difference in competition, rules, statistics, and number of games makes such comparisons difficult and misleading.
Today, Stafford is commonly listed in an echelon with the likes of Troy Aikman, Ben Roethlisberger, Dan Marino, and Steve Young. These are all-time greats who sit a tier below the, let’s call it, G.O.A.T. category.
For example, Brady is universally recognized as the greatest, but there are arguments, of varying degrees of validity, that Montana, Manning, Mahomes, and Rodgers are better.
Of that top tier, a second Super Bowl win, the crux of Orlovsky’s case, would give Stafford more rings than Brees, Rodgers, and Favre. Granted, he never quite achieved the sustained individual success of those three.
Stafford was the best quarterback in the NFL last season, winning his first league MVP. The knock is that it was the first year in which he was definitively in that conversation. Brees, Rodgers, and Favre each spent multiple seasons among the two or three best players in the league.
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What also makes Stafford’s résumé debatable is that he didn’t experience notable team success until he joined the Rams in 2021, whom he did lead to a Super Bowl win that year.
Stafford clearly elevated the Detroit Lions during his first 12 years in the NFL. The Lions were the first team in NFL history to go 0-16 the season before they drafted him. However, he didn’t win a single playoff game while in Detroit. That matters.
Moreover, the Rams are one of the bigger preseason favorites in recent NFL history, currently +500 on DraftKings. While Los Angeles would not be such favorites without Stafford, he is far from the only reason it is.
Consider the surrounding talent. Puka Nacua is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. Sean McVay is an elite coach and game-caller whose 13-personnel scheme has transcended the league.
In the offseason, the Rams added Myles Garrett, Trent McDuffie, and Aaron Donald. Garrett is the most dominant edge defender in the NFL. McDuffie is a top-tier corner. Donald, albeit 35 and coming out of retirement, was the premier defensive tackle of this generation.
The Rams may have already had the best roster in the league. They then added all of that.
Therefore, Stafford shouldn’t have to carry a franchise at a historic level for the Rams to win, the way Mahomes did for his three rings.
Stafford didn’t have to in 2021 either, thanks to Donald, Leonard Floyd, Odell Beckham Jr., and eventual Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp.
None of this diminishes Stafford’s legacy. In general, he is underappreciated. That said, in this case, the pendulum is swinging too far in the other direction.
With all due respect to Dan Orlovsky, one of the best analysts in the industry, we must disagree.
Even with a Super Bowl win this season, Matthew Stafford still won’t be one of the five or seven best quarterbacks ever.
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