The Los Angeles Rams have two of the best players in the NFL on their roster for the 2026 season after acquiring Myles Garrett from the Cleveland Browns and pairing him with reigning MVP Matthew Stafford. Garrett is the defending Defensive Player of the Year and though he’s now teammates with Stafford, they’ll be going head-to-head for a notable award this summer.
ESPN announced that Garrett and Stafford are both nominees for the Best NFL Player ESPY award, along with Drake Maye and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Both Garrett and Stafford are deserving of the honor, but who should win it?
ESPN’s panel on NFL Live debated Stafford vs. Garrett in this award category, and the votes were 2-1 in favor of Garrett.
Field Yates and Dan Graziano both said they think Garrett should win the Best NFL Player ESPY, while Jeremy Fowler gave his vote to Stafford. Yates cited a quarterback bias in these awards, including MVP, but he thinks for an award that’s called “Best NFL Player,” Garrett is the right choice.
“The best player in the NFL last year, might be the best player in the NFL again this year, it’s Myles Garrett, who is now a Los Angeles Ram,” Yates said.
Fowler noted that quarterback is the toughest position to play, and Stafford “mastered” it last season with his 46 touchdown passes and only eight interceptions.
“There are only three guys that have had at least 45 touchdown passes and less than 10 interceptions. It’s Tom Brady, it’s Aaron Rodgers and it’s Matthew Stafford. Pretty good class,” Fowler said.
Graziano agreed with Yates and voted for Garrett, who was historically great with an NFL-record 23 sacks on a bad team that was playing from behind most of the time.
“I think this is going to be a tremendous validation of what’s already been a Hall of Fame-caliber career and if the MVP could go to defensive players on losing teams, I think Myles Garrett might’ve won it last year. But as we know, it does not,” Graziano said.
So who’s got your vote? The Rams’ outstanding quarterback or their newly acquired defensive stud? You can vote for every ESPY award here.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Should Matthew Stafford or Myles Garrett win ESPY for Best NFL Player?
Reporting by Cameron DaSilva, Rams Wire / Rams Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Cameron DaSilva, Rams Wire | USA TODAY Network
