One of the primary focal points for the Los Angeles Rams over the next year will be how they approach life after quarterback Matthew Stafford. While it’s something that’s been brought up in the past few drafts, the Rams will have two first round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft in a quarterback class that has a lot of talent. At this point, it’s almost presumed that the Rams will use one of those first round picks on a rookie quarterback.
While the 2026 quarterback draft class was seen as a strong class when the Rams made the trade, it hasn’t necessarily turned out to be the case. Top talents like Cade Klubnik and Drew Allar have taken a step back. Arch Manning has been the disappointment of the college football season. Garrett Nussmeier has shown some upside, but still has questions. The most impressive quarterbacks have been players like John Mateer, Fernando Mendoza, Carson Beck, Dante Moore, and Ty Simpson. All of those quarterbacks have questions of some fashion around their skillsets.
Heading into the 2024 NFL Draft, there were rumors that the Rams may have been interested in Bo Nix. Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton was convinced that the Rams were going to try and trade up for Nix. According to Dan Graziano of ESPN, before the draft, there were some speculative connections between quarterback Jaxson Dart and the Rams. However, during the draft, the Rams were seen looking to trade down before they knew Dart was even gone.
With that said, given how the 2026 quarterback class has shaken out, it’s worth wondering whether or not the Rams should have had more interest in Dart. Dart is going to have his rookie performances as was seen in the loss to the New Orleans Saints. However, with Dart under center, the New York Giants are 2-1. On Thursday Night Football against the Philadelphia Eagles, Dart was 17-for-25 for 195 yards and a touchdown. He added 13 runs for 58 yards and another touchdown.
For the first time since Eli Manning retired, the Giants seem to have some hope at the quarterback position in large part because of Dart.
When you consider that the 2026 quarterback class hasn’t shaped out the way that many hoped and the fact that Terrance Ferguson has barely played, and it’s worth wondering if the Rams should have shown more interest in Dart last season. It’s worth noting that Dart was selected with the 25th pick while the Rams picked at 26. However, in the same way that the Giants traded up to get Dart, the Rams could have done the same.
Through three games, Dart has at least shown that he was worth taking a gamble on in the first round. By punting until the 2026 draft, the Rams can only hope that one of those quarterbacks improves over the second half of the season and the picture becomes more clear. As it stands, the 2026 class is a pretty muddy picture with a lot of uncertainty. It doesn’t appear to be a class worth investing a future in currently.
A lot of pressure is on the Rams to find their quarterback of the future. With two first round picks in the 2026 draft, it has been presumed that the Rams will take one next April to sit behind Stafford. At the same time, it’s not something that can be forced. That’s what the Rams did with Joe Noteboom and replacing Andrew Whitworth. The Giants made the same mistake previously taking Daniel Jones in a bad quarterback class to sit behind Eli Manning. At the same time, waiting until Stafford retires could force the Rams’ hand which is how the Pittsburgh Steelers ended up with Kenny Pickett.
It’s a tricky balance and whoever the Rams choose next needs to be someone Sean McVay and the team fully believe can lead the franchise into its next era. The Rams may not have believed that guy to be Dart, but he is certainly showing the ability early in his career that he could have been.
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