Garoppolo landed at No. 2 in Sports Illustrated’s ranking of the NFL’s 32 backups
For the last few seasons, the Los Angeles Rams had a revolving door at the backup quarterback spot. Baker Mayfield and then Carson Wentz provided flashes, but weren’t meant to last long in Los Angeles. Enter Jimmy Garoppolo, and the Rams have the most stability at the QB2 spot than ever before with Matthew Stafford under center.
Sports Illustrated’s Gilbert Manzano placed Garoppolo at No. 2 in his ranking of the NFL’s top 32 backup QBs of the 2025 campaign, behind (for now), the Falcons’ Kirk Cousins:
“It doesn’t get much safer at quarterback than Garoppolo, who racked up 38 wins and made a Super Bowl appearance with the 49ers. Garoppolo can keep teams afloat amid injuries and has the skill set to run offenses smoothly. He lacks arm strength and is sometimes slow to react, but he has a nice gig in Los Angeles as Matthew Stafford’s backup. If Garoppolo is needed to play, he can lean on Puka Nacua and Davante Adams.”
Garoppolo re-signed with the Rams in March 2025 on a one-year deal. The Eastern Illinois product is the third-longest tenured backup quarterback during Sean McVay’s tenure, behind only Sean Mannion (2017-18) and John Wolford (2019-22).
As Manzano wrote, there are few safer options around the league to back up Stafford than Garoppolo.
While Garoppolo did not take the field until the regular season finale against the Seahawks, he made the most of his lone start. The veteran completed 27-of-41 passes for 334 yards and 2 touchdowns in the narrow 30-25 loss. Nothing spectacular production-wise, yet he proved that he could hold down the fort if God forbid, Stafford misses time in games that actually matter.
Re-signing Garoppolo was a worthy investment, and one the Rams’ front office needed to make to remain competitive if the sky begins falling in Hollywood.