3 reasons why LA Rams should develop QBs to trade in the future

Reason II: LA Rams need backup quarterbacks today and tomorrow

The LA Rams need to get some hurlers on this roster, and fast. With the team's only quarterback being veteran starting quarterback Matthew Stafford, the team is already losing a valuable opportunity to have younger quarterbacks interact and learn from Stafford. After all, this needn't be a one-and-done strategy. The talent pipeline at the quarterback position, once it starts to flow, and be a self-sustaining strategy.

Here's what I mean. Let's imagine a scenario in which the LA Rams choose BYU quarterback Jaren Hall late in Round 5 of the 2023 NFL Draft. While nobody believes currently that he will develop into a successor worthy of taking over after Stafford steps down, let's carry his rookie season out to the point where he is a primary backup to Stafford, and whether the fact that gameday scores are so lopsided or that the Rams simply need Hall to start due to a Stafford injury, he sees some playing time. When he plays, imagine that he does a respectable job.

Rams can trade young quarterbacks for picks

While the typical pattern for the LA Rams is to draft a raw prospect, coach him up for a year, play him in an increasing role for three years, and then let him sign with a new team, and be awarded a compensatory pick in the following year's NFL Draft, that is not the only way to parlay players into picks.

An alternate strategy, and one that I hope the LA Rams adopt, is to draft a quarterback early on Day 3 or late on Day 2, work with that quarterback for a year, and then field offers for that quarterback the following year. We saw how quickly the reputation of veteran quarterback Baker Mayfield was restored by playing a handful of games in the LA Rams offense. Now, keep in mind that his career was all but over when he failed to click for the Cleveland Browns and for the Carolina Panthers. Now, he has the pole position to win a starting quarterback spot as the successor to Tom Brady for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The LA Rams could leverage that interest in their quarterbacks by putting out feelers from other teams in the offseason. If no team bites? Fine. Keep them. But if they get a nibble, then the Rams can trade that quarterback for a better draft pick than they used to select the player, and then draft a new rookie quarterback to repeat the process.