Matthew Stafford’s MVP-caliber 2025 season showed up in nearly every corner of the box score, and a new data visualization confirms he was just as dangerous whether he stayed in the pocket or was forced off his spot.
Nutshell Sports plotted every qualifying quarterback’s Expected Points Added (EPA) per play inside the pocket against EPA per play outside the pocket for the 2025 regular season, using data from nflfastR and FTN. Stafford landed in the “Elite Everywhere” quadrant, reserved for passers who graded above the league median in both situations. Only Brock Purdy and Jordan Love joined him in this efficiency.
Stafford was especially dominant from a clean pocket, throwing 42 touchdown passes against just seven interceptions when unpressured, with a 118.6 passer rating and 8.3 yards per attempt. Those 42 clean-pocket touchdowns are the most in a single season in the Next Gen Stats era, dating to 2016, surpassing the previous mark of 40 set by Aaron Rodgers.
Stafford’s full-season efficiency backed up the eye test as well. He posted a league-best 91.7 Pro Football Focus passing grade in 2025 and led all quarterbacks with a 7.7% big-time throw rate, a mark that ranked among the highest single-season figures recorded since PFF began charting quarterbacks in 2006.
The Rams also leaned on Stafford’s pocket presence when the game was on the line. Los Angeles went 5-1 in games where he was pressured on fewer than 10 dropbacks, with the lone loss coming against Carolina in Week 13.
Stafford’s outside-the-pocket production, while a smaller sample than his work from a clean pocket, was still enough to clear the league median and land him alongside Purdy and Love as one of just a handful of quarterbacks who graded positively in both situations.
For a Rams offense built around timing and rhythm passing from Sean McVay, having a quarterback who can also extend plays and produce off schedule gives Los Angeles a level of stability few teams in the league can match heading into 2026.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Matthew Stafford’s 2025 pocket efficiency put him in rare company
Reporting by Oliver G., Rams Wire / Rams Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Oliver G., Rams Wire | USA TODAY Network
