FANTASY FOOTBALL NEWS

Matthew Stafford Returns to Practice

By Shane Hallam | Updated on Mon, Aug 18 2025 5:00 PM UTC

Rams QB Matthew Stafford returned to practice on Monday for the Rams. Stafford has been dealing with an aggravated disc in his back. It is a significant step toward getting Stafford on the field for Week 1, but the team will see how Stafford’s back responds and keep monitoring.

2025 Fantasy Football Impact

If Stafford returns to full health -- a question with his aggravated back disc -- he could be a value at his QB28 ADP.

If Puka Nacua and Davante Adams deliver at their draft cost, Stafford should at least finish as a top-24 QB.

But the injury worries along with being 37, makes him a risk to make it through the entire season (We put him at an 80.3% chance to miss at least two quarters this year)

Stafford finished last year as QB22 in points per game (12.6). His lack of rushing and inconsistent health cap his fantasy upside.

More importantly, we want him on the field to support the rest of the skill players.

Other Winners & Losers

Stafford’s impact on the Rams offense as a whole cannot be understated. WRs Nacua and Adams value (and fantasy output) is tied to Stafford being out there. We would rather not see Jimmy Garoppolo throwing to Adams (again) and Nacua.

This should relieve fantasy managers to still draft Nacua in the late first round in PPR leagues, and invest into Adams at his fourth round consensus ADP in PPR.

Shane Hallam, Writer

Shane has over 20 years of experience creating content and playing every fantasy football format, including redraft, dynasty, devy, C2C, IDP, CFF, and more. He is a multi-year winner of $500 dynasty leagues on the FFPC and a King's Classic Champion. Shane utilizes deep film and scheme study to enhance his fantasy performance. He led the industry in 2024 preseason Kicker Rankings and ranked second in preseason QB Rankings. He also ranked eighth in preseason IDP rankings.