Which quarterbacks have been drafted by the Los Angeles Rams since 2000
The NFL Draft is an event of hope and optimism, a struggling team can turn into perennial Super Bowl favorites in the NFL sportsbook, and it all starts with the quarterback. The NFL QB might be the most challenging position in sports. Teams will try for years to draft a franchise quarterback. Sometimes it comes in the first round, or even in the sixth round, in the case of Tom Brady. In this series, we will look at the QB draft history of the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams in the 21st century and see how the pick’s career in the NFL turned out.
Kurt Warner led the Rams into the new millennium with “The Greatest Show on Turf.” St. Louis won the Super Bowl in 1999, went back, and lost the Super Bowl in 2001. The Rams have had multiple identities over the last twenty years, including many different quarterbacks. Marc Bulger was the successor to Warner, but the Rams did not draft him. He was actually drafted by the New Orleans Saints in 2000. The Rams have drafted a quarterback with the number one pick twice, and neither one was the long-term solution for the team. Drafting a franchise quarterback is one of the hardest things to do in the NFL, and the Rams can vouch for that.
Ryan Fitzpatrick (2005)
Ryan Fitzpatrick is known for having a long NFL career, with many teams from all over the league, but did you know that the St. Louis Rams drafted the Harvard QB in the seventh round of the 2005 NFL Draft? Taken in the seventh round, the Harvard QB made his debut in NFL Week 12 when starter Jamie Martin was injured. The rookie QB played well, tossing three touchdowns and 310 yards in a 33-27 win over the Houston Texans. It looked like the Rams had changed their playoff odds.
Fitzpatrick started the next three games and was atrocious. He threw only one touchdown in three straight losses versus seven interceptions, including five INTs against the Minnesota Vikings alone. He would not start another game for the Rams and was traded to the Cincinnati Bengals in 2007.
Fitzpatrick started as a backup to Carson Palmer, but after an elbow injury to Palmer, Fitzpatrick started 12 games for Cincinnati. The Bengals went 4-7-1 in those 12 games, and Fitzpatrick threw for 1,905 yards, eight touchdowns, and nine interceptions.
In 2009, he signed with the Buffalo Bills. Fitzpatrick spent four seasons with the Bills and started 53 games with a 20-33 record. In 2011, Fitzpatrick led the NFL with 23 interceptions, but he maintained the ability to win games with his durability and tough mentality. The Bills finished last in the AFC East with a 6-10 record. The Tennessee Titans signed Fitzpatrick to a two-year contract in 2013, but after going 3-6 in his nine starts with the team, he was released in 2014.
Later that year, the Houston Texans signed him to a two-year contract. Fitzpatrick earned the job as the NFL odds Week 1 starter and made it until NFL Week 11, where Ryan Mallett replaced him. After Mallett tore his pectoral muscle, Fitzpatrick returned to the starting role, but his 2014 season came to an end after fracturing his left tibia.
Fitzpatrick signed with the Jets in 2015, and with a 10-6 record, he had his first winning NFL season as a starting quarterback. 2015 was also his best NFL season, but unfortunately, the Jets did not make the playoffs. He threw for a career-high 3,905 yards and 31 touchdowns. He returned to the Jets but only started 11 games and was replaced by Geno Smith and Bryce Petty.
Then Fitzpatrick spent 2017 and 2018 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the backup to Jameis Winston, with glimpses of incredible gameplay combined with head-scratching decision making. That would follow with a two-year stint in the Miami Dolphins organization from 2019 to 2020. Although Miami seemed to play better with Fitz in the game, the Dolphins had invested too much in Tua Tagovailoa, and in 2021, Fitzpatrick signed with his ninth different team. It was a one-year contract with the Washington Football Team.
Fitzpatrick has had a long 16-year career, playing for nine different teams, but only started 16 games three times. He has a 59-86-1 career record as a starter, 34,977 passing yards, 223 touchdowns, and 169 interceptions. A QB who wears his heart on his sleeve and is a leader of men, Fitzpatrick’s teams have never been a favorite in the Super Bowl betting odds, and the aging QB has never played in a playoff game.
Sam Bradford (2010)
The Rams had the coveted number one overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, and it was an easy decision to make. The team drafted the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner, Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford. Bradford was coming off shoulder surgery on an injury he suffered in 2009. Despite the injury, he was considered one of the top NFL expert picks. The rookie was named the NFL Week 1 starting QB and was fantastic. Bradford won the 2010 Offensive Rookie of the Year Award, throwing for 3,512 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions. The Rams went from 1-15 in 2010 to a 7-9 2nd place finish in the NFC West.
After the promising rookie season, there were high expectations in St. Louis, but an ankle injury limited Bradford to 10
starts with a record of 1-9. With the number two overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft, there was speculation the Rams would take Robert Griffin III. Head coach Jeff Fisher insisted that Bradford was still their quarterback and, as if confirming the coach’s statement, the Rams later traded the pick to the Washington Redskins. Bradford had his best season with the Rams in 2012, throwing for 3,702 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. The Rams went 7-8-1.
In 2013, another injury ended Bradford’s season; this one was a torn ACL in an NFL Week 7 matchup. In the 2014 preseason, Bradford tore the same ACL while being sacked against the Cleveland Browns. He was given a fresh start in 2015 when the Rams traded Bradford to the Philadelphia Eagles for Nick Foles. He started 14 games for Philadelphia, going 7-7 with 3,725 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. Not seen as enough, the Eagles drafted Carson Wentz in the 2016 NFL Draft, and the writing was on the wall for Bradford.
Before the beginning of the 2016 regular season, Minnesota Vikings’ QB Teddy Bridgewater tore his ACL during practice. The Eagles traded Bradford to the Vikings for a 2017 first-round pick and a 2018 fourth-round pick. He would make his Minnesota debut in NFL Week 2 and would start the remainder of the season. He led the Vikings to a 7-8 record with an NFL-best 71.6 competition percentage for 3,877, 20 touchdowns, and only five interceptions.
His knee injuries would catch up with him, and Bradford would only make two starts in 2017. He was put on injured reserve when a knee scope revealed wear and tear on the same knee on which he had two ACL surgeries.
Despite the history of injuries, the Arizona Cardinals signed Bradford in 2018 to a two-year, $20 million contract with $15 million guaranteed. He made only three starts for Arizona before being benched in favor of rookie Josh Rosen. Bradford was released in November 2018.
Jared Goff (2016)
As the Rams moved from St. Louis back to Los Angeles, the team looked to make a big splash and turn the franchise around. The Tennessee Titans held the number one pick in the 2016 NFL draft, and Los Angeles traded up to get their franchise quarterback in Cal’s Jared Goff. Goff started the season as the backup but was named the starting quarterback midway through the NFL regular season. The rookie QB went winless, going 0-7.
Jeff Fisher was fired in 2016, and the Rams hired 31-year-old Sean McVay. Las Vegas Super Bowl odds reflected the high expectations for the Rams and Goff, as McVay was seen as an offensive genius by NFL experts. Goff got his first NFL win in NFL Week 1 with McVay, throwing for 306 yards and a touchdown in a 46-9 win over the Indianapolis Colts.
At the end of the 2017 NFL regular season, the Rams were 11-5 and had won the NFC West. Goff made the Pro Bowl, throwing for 3,804 yards, 28 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. It looked like the pairing of Goff and McVay would be successful and together for a long time, and the two continue to thrive in 2018. Goff made his second-straight Pro Bowl and had a career-high 4,688 yards and 32 touchdowns. The Rams reached the Super Bowl for the first time since 2001.
Super Bowl LIII was a highly anticipated matchup between the New England Patriots and the Rams. It pitted the old generation of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady versus Goff and McVay, and the Patriots were favored by two points in the Super Bowl odds. Unfortunately, the Rams did not live up to expectations scoring the fewest points in Super Bowl history in a 13-3 loss. Goff completed 19 of 38 passes for 229 yards and a fourth-quarter interception to Stephon Gilmore.
The Rams took a step back after the Super Bowl loss, with Goff having an NFL-high 626 pass attempts in 2019 and throwing for 4,638 yards with 22 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. Los Angeles finished the NFL regular season with a 9-7 record and missed the NFL playoffs.
In 2020, Goff broke his thumb during NFL Week 16. The Rams finished 10-6 and made the playoffs as a wild card team. Goff was cleared to play in the wild card game against the Seattle Seahawks but did not start, even though he had finished the NFL regular season with 3,952 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. After a John Wolford neck injury, Fate stepped in as Goff entered the game and got the win 30-20. The following week against the Green Bay Packers, the Rams lost 32-18.
In March 2021, the Rams traded Goff, two first-round picks, and a third-round pick in exchange for Detroit Lions QB Matthew Stafford.
Drafting a franchise quarterback is one of the hardest things in sports. Getting the number one pick is no guarantee that the player will turn out to be a Hall of Famer, and the Rams know this all too well. In the span of six years, the Rams selected two number one overall QBs, and both of them did not work out.
Sam Bradford had a shoulder injury coming into the draft, but it ended up being knee injuries that derailed his career. Jared Goff showed promise and put up great numbers, but the Rams decided to move on and saw an opportunity to upgrade with Mattew Stafford. A great quarterback can change a team’s NFL odds and lines, and the Rams thought they had it in Jared Goff, but he was not good enough for Los Angeles, so the team upgraded to Stafford.
