Matthew Stafford is most intriguing in LA Rams training camp

Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports /
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Matthew Stafford LA Rams Brian Baldinger
Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /

Pressure. Pressure. I feel pressure

The pressure’s on Stafford to produce immediately. There won’t be much of a honeymoon period if any is granted at all. Straight out the gate, he’s gotta come correct. Deliver unto us the kind of play deemed worthy of such a king’s ransom of all that future draft capital. The bar was already set on the last guy. Getting to the playoffs is not enough any longer. Now it’s getting there and winning.

Los Angeles Rams
Los Angeles Rams /

Los Angeles Rams

Yes, the organization made the move, a big move, after the 2020 season. It was, after all, the biggest blockbuster of a bombshell off-season trade made not just by the Rams, but by any  NFL team.

Perhaps one of the biggest uncertainties will be whether Stafford can master a new system, a new roster, and (as we recently learned from “I’m on my Farewell Tour So I can Speak Freely Now” Andrew Whitworth) . . . a new particularly demanding and moody-leading-up-to-gameday head coach in Sean McVay.

Seems McVay has fairly fawned over what he’s seen thus out of his new shiny bauble of a QB in no pads and shorts. Heck, he’s even appearing to be looking not only pleased but downright giddy in a lot of recent photos. In fact, he’s said as much.

Will Stafford truly emerge as the answer? Have the Rams mortgaged their future at a high-risk maneuver? Or will the gamble pay off?