Like a lot of NFL teams, the Los Angeles Rams had had their share of stars and duds at the quarterback spot. How many Ram fans long for the days of Steve Walsh? Mike Pagel, or the brief Bert Jones experience? How about the big John Hadl trade from back in the day? Here, we are breaking down the best Rams quarterbacks of all time.
Today’s NFL is a quarterback-driven league. You aren’t going anywhere without a good one. The Rams are lucky. They have veteran Matthew Stafford fresh off a Super Bowl win.
Where does Stafford rank among the best Rams quarterbacks of all-time? He’s in the mix for sure. Here’s the list of the Top 10 Ram QB1s in their history.
10. Joe Namath
Yeah, yeah, I know, Namath as a Ram is always one of those things that comes up in an online photo gallery, like, did you know Namath was a Ram? I freely admit Namath makes this list just because of his name and reputation as an NFL original.
The Rams signed Namath off the Jets in 1977, getting rid of Ron Jaworski (ouch) and James Harris to let him start.
Namath’s Ram career lasted four games. People think he was all bad, but the Rams were actually 2-2 and one loss was by a point. But the production just wasn’t there. In Namath’s last game against the Bears, Namath was 16-40 for 203 yards and four picks. The next week Pat Haden was the starter and Namath’s career was over.
9. James Harris
Harris is famous for being the first African-American starting quarterback in the NFL on Opening Day. He went 21-6 as the Rams starter over parts of three years. In 1974, he had his best year as a pro, the Grambling product went 7-2 and led the Rams to the NFC Championship Game where it lost to the Vikings.
In 1975, Harris and the Rams were good again. Harris started 13 games, then got hurt against the Packers. The Rams brought in Jaworski for the last regular season game and first playoff game. In the NFC title game against the Cowboys, Harris started (controversy!). He threw a pick and was replaced. The Cowboys won in a romp.
8. Vince Ferragamo
One of the most interesting careers of any football player.
Ferragamo was a fourth-round pick of the Rams in 1977, and was the quarterback in the Super Bowl against the Steelers. But he wasn’t really the starter until 1980 when he threw for 3,199 yards (a lot for the time).
Then, what does Ferragamo do? He leaves for the Canadian Football League!
Montreal offers him $600K, the Rams had said $250, so he heads north and it’s a disaster.
Ferragamo comes back to the Rams as a backup in 1982, then becomes starter in 1983 and takes the Rams to the playoffs. He’s replaced by the immortal Jeff Kemp in 1984 when he gets hurt.
7. Pat Haden
From a period of about 10 years between 1975-1985, the Rams quarterback position was musical chairs. Haden was the main reason why.
Drafted out of USC, Haden kept showing promise as a starter and kept getting hurt. He took the Rams to the playoffs in 1978 and started 10 games in 1979 when the Rams went to the Super Bowl but broke a finger, which is why Ferragamo was the starter.
In 1981, Ferragamo is in Canada and Haden is the starter again, but he gets injured again. CBS called him and he became a broadcaster and later athletic director at Southern Cal. He went 35-19-1 in his Rams career.
6. Jim Everett
Finally, after 10 years, the Rams found a quarterback they could get the ball to every day in 1986. Everett was originally a draft pick of the Houston Oilers, but they couldn’t make a deal, so they traded his rights to the Rams.
Everett took the Rams to the playoffs three times and ranks in the top 50 in NFL history in total yards (34,837) and touchdown passes (203).
He leads the Rams in all-time passing yards at 23,758.
Why isn’t he higher on the list? The Rams didn’t win anything. He went 46-59 in his Rams career. Stats are nice, wins are better.
5. Marc Bulger
The man who replaced Kurt Warner at the tail end of the Greatest Show on Turf in St. Louis is probably overlooked. He made the Pro Bowl twice. He completed 62.1 percent of his passes as a Ram.
In 2003, Bulger took the Rams to the playoffs, where they got run off by Steve Smith and the Carolina Panthers in overtime.
That was the beginning of the end. The Rams were bad for most of the decade. Bulger finished 41-54 as a starter.
4. Matthew Stafford
The second Rams quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl, Stafford is in the middle of his second year with the Rams, but he has a ring, so that trumps almost everyone on the list.
After coming over from the Lions, Stafford threw for 4,886 yards and 41 scores in 2021. If he has 2-3 more years like that with LA, he will be higher on this list.
3. Jared Goff
It’s hard exactly to place Goff on this list. He was a hotshot rookie, handcuffed by the Jeff Fisher regime, Sean McVay shows up and Goff immediately shows his talent. He was the Rams starter for four years and took the team to the Super Bowl in 2018, but then laid a total egg in a 13-3 loss to the Patriots.
Goff ranks fourth all-time in passing yards in Rams history with 18,171. He’s still only 28 and now a starter with the Lions.
2. Kurt Warner
The first Rams quarterback to win a Super Bowl, and an amazing story to go with it. He was a stock boy in a grocery store, played Arena Football, signed with the Rams, Trent Green gets hurt and boom, Kurt Warner was a star.
But to be honest, he was a flashing star. Warner only played 53 games with the Rams, and is the only QB in franchise history to take them to two Super Bowls.
When it went bad though, man, it went bad. It all fell apart with the Rams in 2002. Warner had some moments with the New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals, but he will forever be remembered as a Ram. He was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 2017.
1. Roman Gabriel
He’s makes it as No. 1 because of his longevity and success as the Rams quarterback. He’s the first Rams player to win the NFL MVP award in 1969.
Gabriel has the most wins as a Rams quarterback (74) and most touchdown passes (154). Gabriel was drafted No. 2 overall by the Rams in 1962, but football was a different time then, Gabriel basically sat for four years before getting his chance.
Can you imagine that happening today?
Gabriel became the Rams starter in 1966 and had his big year in 1969 throwing 24 touchdown passes to lead the league. He guided the Rams to the playoffs in 1967 and 69, but they were one-and-done.
Gabriel’s Rams career ended in turmoil. Basically, the Rams thought he had a bad elbow and they made a trade for John Hadl from the Chargers (the Chargers had signed a guy named Johnny Unitas).
Gabriel demanded a trade and the Rams sent him to the Eagles for three picks and two players. The truth was Gabriel was pretty much done. He had one good year with the Eagles and that was it. Unitas never really worked out for the Chargers either.
