By Ben Strauss
The Los Angeles Rams are ready to make some noise during the 2025 NFL season. LA almost made the NFC Championship last year but lost a close game to Philadelphia. The Rams recently celebrated one of the city鈥檚 most prominent athletes after a major career milestone.
The Rams congratulated LA Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw for logging his 3,000th strikeout of his MLB career on Wednesday.
鈥淐ongratulations Clayton Kershaw for joining the 3,000 Strikeout Club!鈥 the team posted on X, formerly Twitter. The post also includes images of Rams QB Matthew Stafford and Kershaw in Dodgers gear, as well as Kershaw in a Rams hat.
The connection between Kershaw and the Rams is fairly obvious.
For one, the Dodgers and Rams are both teams in the same city. That alone is enough of a connection for the Rams to congratulate Kershaw on his accomplishment.
But there鈥檚 another level of connection too.
Stafford and Kershaw are lifelong friends who grew up playing sports together in the Dallas area. They were teammates at Highland Park High School on the football, baseball, and basketball teams.
NFL announcers love to mention Kershaw and Stafford鈥檚 history together. Especially after Stafford delivers a sidearm pass that is reminiscent of a baseball pitch.
Congratulations, Clayton Kershaw, on the impressive milestone.
Will the Rams draft Matthew Stafford鈥檚 successor during the 2026 NFL Draft?
Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Matthew Stafford signed a restructured contract with the Rams this offseason.
But how long will the 37-year-old remain the team鈥檚 starting quarterback?
ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller believes the Rams could select Stafford鈥檚 eventual successor during the 2026 NFL Draft.
Miller paired the Rams with Penn State QB Drew Allar in a recent article.
鈥淲ith Matthew Stafford entering his age-37 season, this would be a good spot for the Rams to pick his eventual successor. Allar is a big-armed quarterback with good mobility for his size (6-foot-5, 238 pounds), but he hasn鈥檛 quite put it all together. He has the arm to make any throw and can escape crowded pockets, but goes through cold stretches where his decision-making and accuracy drop off. His development in 2024, in which he increased his completion percentage from 59.9% to 66.5%, is encouraging and suggests that more improvement is coming.鈥
LA will have an extra first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. That should give them the ammunition needed to trade up for a quarterback, if they so choose.
Stafford鈥檚 performance in 2025 could have a large impact on LA鈥檚 important decision next spring.