Mannion’s first career start against 49ers big test for Rams backup quarterback

With Jared Goff resting, Sean McVay will go with Sean Mannion at quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams in Week 17 against the San Francisco 49ers.

Thanks to clinching the NFC West title following last weekend’s win over the Tennessee Titans, the Los Angeles Rams will earn the No. 3 or No. 4 seed for the NFC playoffs, depending on the outcome of Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers. With the win, the Rams will remain in their current position as the No. 3 seed, but with a loss to their division rivals, it could end up dropping them to the fourth spot.

Either way, it’s easy to make the argument for both sides when looking at all of the possible contenders Los Angeles will have to face, but with players like Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, and even Aaron Donald earning a day of rest, at least Sean McVay won’t have to worry about dealing with any key injuries since that seems to be a popular trend this year. As for who will be under center for the Rams on offense, let’s just say all eyes will be on backup Sean Mannion to see how the former Oregon State product looks during his first career start.

After Case Keenum ended up signing with the Minnesota Vikings, Los Angeles decided to reward Mannion with the backup job, and despite the times he’s looked impressive during the preseason over the years, Week 17 is the perfect opportunity for the backup to show off his skills. Keep in mind there was some speculation surrounding the Rams before the 2017 regular season officially got underway that Mannion was impressing enough where the team may consider replacing him with Goff if the former No. 1 pick came out struggling, which obviously wasn’t the case.

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A trip to the postseason may already be officially in the books for Los Angeles, but at least this upcoming game against San Francisco will give McVay an opportunity to see what Mannion is capable of during an actual start in the regular season. Sadly, a reliable backup quarterback can be difficult to find these days, and if any sort of injury were to happen to Goff, the Rams need to make sure they would still be in good shape at the position. The 49ers may have been eliminated from the postseason a long time ago, but also this team has worked their way to being one of the hottest in the NFL since Jimmy Garoppolo took over the starting job, meaning this will be a good test for Mannion to show he does in fact deserve to be Goff’s backup.