3 reasons to believe in LA Rams backup QB John Wolford
By Bret Stuter
The LA Rams need to rally around backup quarterback John Wolford today, who is getting his first NFL start as the backup to veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford. That may not sound like a positive development, and perhaps it isn’t. But the change at quarterback will force the LA Rams offensive brain trust to rethink how this team goes about trying to move the football.
And right now, the LA Rams offense is struggling on all fronts.
Of course, the Rams are not the only team struggling right now, as the Arizona Cardinals are also deeply disappointed with their season so far. And as luck would have it, they find themselves relying upon backup quarterback Colt McCoy in this one as well.
Yes, the Wolfman is starting.
Clap for Wolfman. John Wolford is starting
The Rams have consistently supported Wolford, since signing him to the team in April 2019. Wolford won the primary backup quarterback position in 2020, beating out Brandon Allen in 2019 and then following that up with getting the nod in 2020. Since that time, he has proven to be the ideal backup to Rams HC Sean McVay’s complex offense, as well as the ideal quarterback to run the scouting team’s offense to prepare the defensive starters for each week’s opponent.
While John Wolford has yet to throw a touchdown pass for the LA Rams in regular season games, he is a masterful game manager who is dangerous enough to keep the Arizona Cardinals’ defense on their toes.
Wolford has enough passing expertise to threaten the Cardinals’ secondary, enough escapability to frustrate even the swiftest pass rushers, and enough savvy to give the Rams’ rushing attack multiple options on each play. In the course of reconfiguring the Rams’ offense to best suit John Wolford’s style of play, the Rams have added a huge amount of innovation. That could prove to be quite valuable to an offense that needs to define itself.
But to the non-believer, here are three more reasons to feel very optimistic about quarterback John Wolford starting today . . .