LA Rams News: Wait until you see Bryce Perkins play

The LA Rams news – did the team find a diamond in the rough with rookie QB Bryce Perkins

6-foot-3 215-pound Virginia quarterback Bryce Perkins is a name that most LA Rams fans might not be familiar with. Originally, he went to Arizona State from Chandler High School but never played due to an injury.  He eventually found his way to the University of Virginia after a successful run at Arizona Western College.

At Virginia, he completed 544 passes for 6210 yards with 47 touchdowns. Perkins ran the ball 439 times for 1692 yards with 20 touchdowns. This dual-threat quarterback might be the proverbial, “diamond in the rough”.

He has great NFL dimensions for a quarterback at 6-feet-3 weighing 215 pounds. Bill Walsh would say that he passes the eye test as the prototypical size of an NFL quarterback (6-feet-3, 210-pounds). His family has ties to the NFL.

Richard Obert of azcentral.com reports the following:

"Perkins comes from a football family. Older brother Paul Perkins was a running back for the New York Giants and their great-uncle, Don Perkins, was a running back for the Dallas Cowboys."

The talent is definitely there in his DNA. He could use more playing time to better develop his skill set. Remember, Perkins played only two seasons in the ACC and will have to adjust to the speed of the NFL game.

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The success of the dual-threat quarterback is changing NFL offenses. Perhaps LA signed Perkins to be the bridge into the air raid offense? Do they project him as the Rams version of Patrick Mahomes or Lamar Jackson? Or is he simply a weapon intended to mock opposing quarterbacks during weekly game preparations?

It is very difficult for undrafted rookies to be successful NFL quarterbacks. It was tweeted by Jason Fitzpatrick of overthecap.com that only two undrafted free agent quarterbacks, since 2011, ever signed a contract worth $4 million or more. Don’t count Perkins out.

Obert continues:

"Former NFL quarterback Dan Manucci, who has worked with Perkins since he was in high school, believes Perkins will continue to show at the NFL level why he belongs.“For Bryce, when you look at him, he’s always had a determination to be the best quarterback and fight the ‘athlete’ moniker,” Manucci said. “He’s a quarterback who happens to be a great athlete. He proved what a great quarterback he is at Virginia, especially last year. He looks to throw more before he runs and that’s attractive to NFL guys.”"

The backup quarterback spot will be heated with talented guys. For now, the addition of a dual-threat quarterback may simply be to better prepare the defense for game day. But it could mean so much more to the Rams offense.

Since the Rams training camp will be here soon, more clues will be forthcoming. Let’s watch to see how things work out.