Rams can’t be done at QB

Even with Matthew Stafford back in the fold, there is still work for Rams to do at quarterback

Even with Matthew Stafford’s contract dispute put to bed and his return inevitable, the Los Angeles Rams cannot and should not be done tinkering with the quarterback position this offseason.

Currently the only two QB’s on the roster for LA are Stafford and Stetson Bennett. Bennett has never played in the regular season. Last year’s backup, Jimmy Garoppolo, is slated to hit free agency at the start of the new league year—though the team and Sean McVay seemingly have interesting in reuniting for 2025.

What avenues are available to the Rams in terms of improving depth behind Stafford and possibly turning an eye towards the future?

Step 1: Securing veteran depth behind Stafford

Garoppolo seems like the obvious fit behind Stafford, and there’s been talk this offseason about his Week 18 success lighting a fire under the starter into the postseason. Garoppolo’s strong outing against the Seattle Seahawks and pushing a divisional rival to a close finish was a very encouraging sign. He was playing with backups against Seattle’s starters and still put together a quality game. There’s enough there to feel confident that Garoppolo can step up if Stafford goes down, though the offense likely won’t look exactly the same.

Still, there are more teams with needs at the position than starting quarterbacks available to fill those spots. Garoppolo will be an intriguing bridge-type option for some teams. He’d make sense as an insurance policy to JJ McCarthy with the Minnesota Vikings. The Cleveland Browns are operating under salary cap constraints and will likely explore the veteran market. Garoppolo could find himself with opportunities to compete for a starting job elsewhere, and that may ultimately be a driver in him moving on from Los Angeles.

Some other names I’d throw out as options in case the Rams can’t make it work with Garoppolo would be:

Jake Browning, Cincinnati Bengals*

Mac Jones, Jacksonville Jaguars

Carson Wentz, Kansas City Chiefs

Brandon Allen, San Francisco 49ers

Daniel Jones, Minnesota Vikings

Zach Wilson, Denver Broncos

*would require a trade

Step 2: Develop a long-term starter behind Stafford

Of all the names above, Wilson is the only player that presents at least some long-term starting potential as the former second overall pick for the New York Jets.

The Rams understand they are on a year-to-year proposition with Stafford, though the veteran said this week he could play for maybe another two years. Sean McVay deeply appreciates how Stafford approaches the mental aspect of the quarterback position, and there is value in a young quarterback shadowing his process without the pressure of being forced into action before he’s ready. This is also why Step 1 was to find a veteran and Step 2 being to think more long-term.

Drafting a quarterback early isn’t out of the question for Los Angeles even though they are happy to renew their vows to Stafford for another season. Replacing a Super Bowl-winning quarterback won’t be easy, but the earlier you start the better.

It’s worth noting that the Rams met with Texas QB Quinn Ewers at the NFL Scouting Combine. McVay and Les Snead were not in attendance and instead this was likely intended to collect more information on the prospect to round out his profile.

As detailed by The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue a year ago in her deep dive into LA’s scouting process, the more meaningful meetings for the Rams are their guarded trips by special assistant Andy Sugarman:

The Rams do not typically conduct official “30 visits,” where teams are allowed to host up to 30 prospects at their facilities each spring, except for extreme cases when they feel they need more medical information. Those sessions must be reported to the league and, therefore, frequently leak in the media.

Sugarman’s visits do not as long as they are in person and within a 50-mile radius of the player’s school or hometown. Snead doesn’t want other teams to know who the Rams are paying closer attention to, and he and Sugarman believe in approaching prospects in their own world, where they may be more comfortable and more themselves…

Sugarman’s frenetic travel itinerary illustrates the shifting debate or level of interest in a prospect based on discussions between assistant coaches and the scouting staff. Coaches receive buckets of film from Snead and the scouting department in three waves over March/April and by then have access to the in-depth reports in JAARS. The coaching and scouting sides then meet deep into April. If they are stuck on a player, or if there is an argument, a question or exaggerated interest, Sugarman books a flight.

While having Stafford back in the fold keeps the Rams competitive for the 2025 season, they will only maximize the window of the careers of Puka Nacua, Jared Verse, Braden Fiske, and others if they can thread the needle to the next long-term starting quarterback.

These are the prospects in this year’s NFL Draft that I’d keep an eye on, with the idea being they could sit behind Stafford for a year or two before taking over the reigns full-time. The number in parentheticals outlines their position ranking according to CBS Sports:

Shedeur Sanders, Colorado (2)

Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss (3)

Quinn Ewers, Texas (4)

Kyle McCord, Syracuse (5)

Tyler Shough, Louisville, (8)

Will Howard, Ohio State (9)

Riley Leonard, Notre Dame (12)