The elite level of play from Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, wide receiver Puka Nacua and outside linebackers Jared Verse and Byron Young has earned them Pro Bowl recognition.
All four were selected to the 2026 Pro Bowl Games, it was announced Tuesday morning. According to the NFL, Stafford, Nacua and Verse have been designated as starters.
"I'm really happy for those guys," head coach Sean McVay said Wednesday. "I think there were a lot of guys that were also recognized as alternates. I thought there were some guys that weren't, that are very well deserving. I think the best thing about football is that it's the greatest team sport that there is. Really well deserved and I'm happy for Matthew, Puka, Byron and Jared. I think the strength of our team is our team. There are a lot of other guys that have done an excellent job of being vital parts of the collective. I'm looking forward to us continuing to show the strength of this group with another, hopefully great week of preparation and a great challenge against the Falcons on Monday night."
Stafford has authored an MVP-caliber season with a league-leading 4,179 passing yards and 40 passing touchdowns against only five interceptions entering Week 17. This marks his fourth career Pro Bowl nod.
"It's great. It's a great honor to get," Stafford said Wednesday. "Fans are involved, players are involved, coaches… whoever's involved is involved. I appreciate it. I play this game to try to play at a high level and get respect from the people that you do it with and play against. That part of it is really cool. Are there instances [where he's felt overlooked]? In 2011, I thought I had a chance. I wasn't even close, so at that point I kind of reserved myself to just go play and have fun. Whatever happens, happens, but it is cool to be a part of it."
Nacua's 114 receptions lead the NFL, while his 1,592 receiving yards are second-most in the league behind the Seahawks' Jaxon Smith-Njigba's 1,637.
"It was exciting," Nacua said Thursday. "I feel like it was an offensive world. I think Coleman Shelton and big Rob (Havenstein) were some of the first guy to congratulate me. And I just think, 'Man, I can't do without you guys.' I mean, it starts up in the front and I think, I hope, they know that that comes from the truest meaning of my heart, and because of that, that's where it is, and that's how you should play the game of football, is how they do it in the trenches."
Meanwhile, Verse's 59 quarterback pressers are tied for fifth-most in the NFL entering Week 17. He also has 6.5 sacks, third-most on Los Angeles' defense. Young's 11 sacks lead the team and are the most by a Rams player since Aaron Donald had 12.5 in 2021, while his 46 quarterback pressers are tied for 12th-most in the league.
"It means a lot," Young said Friday. "Just all my hard work from the past few years, learning from my mistakes and trying to be better at my position, and just taking a better approach to this offseason, I feel like it paid off. So definitely proud of myself."
"Personally, it's an incredible honor," Verse said Friday. "Being one of the top players in the league and to be able to be recognized for that, to be able to have the opportunity to go to the games and everything like that. I don't want to go. I'm not planning on going or anything like that, but to be recognized and everything like that, just to make my presence felt, the things I'm doing, my impact not being let up. It's not being taken advantage of, but doing with it with 'BY' [Byron Young], it's amazing. I wish y'all could have seen when we both found out. Sean told both of us. He was on opposite side. I was on the field and he was in the weight room and we found out and he came running out. It was kind of weird the way we like hype up each other. It was a little weird."
For both Nacua and Verse, it's their second career Pro Bowl nods; Verse in consecutive seasons. Young is a first-time Pro Bowl selection.
The 2026 Pro Bowl Games will take place in San Francisco, California, home of Super Bowl LX, after the NFL chose to move the Pro Bowl to the Super Bowl host city this year; last season it was hosted in Orlando. The game itself will take place at and be televised live from San Francisco's Moscone Center South Building on Tuesday, Feb. 3.
