How Rams converted QB depth from weakness to strength

If you pause and ponder the state of the LA Rams quarterback situation has been since the team won Super Bowl LVI, you can find plenty of reasons why this team has struggled to find success over the past two seasons. This has been a team that has depended almost entirely upon the health and durability of the starting quarterback. If and what that fails, so too does this team.

Of course, that did allow the team to divert compensation for the quarterback position from the backup(s) role and line the pockets of the team's starting quarterback. As long as either Jared Goff or Matthew Stafford was healthy enough to suit up and play, it was an excellent strategy.

But it proved to be less ideal in 2022 and 2023.

As a result, the front office has been forced to scramble in search of a veteran quarterback to come onboard the roster mid-season, and somehow learn the offensive playbook and work with his teammates quick enough to offer some form of proficiency to run the offense almost instantly. While the team was able to find, sign, and coach up veteran quarterback Baker Mayfield in 2022, and quarterback Carson Wentz in 2023, that situation was not ideal either.

For starters, placing hopes into the basket of 'when you need them, they will come . . . " seems more like a Hollywood script for the sequel to Field of Dreams than a strategy to build an NFL roster upon. And the Rams were lucky in that Baker Mayfield proved to be a quick understudy in 2022, while the Rams had nearly two months to get Carson Wentz up to snuff in 2023.

Rams quarterback room is in much better shape in 2024

Even as the team did venture into investing in the backup quarterback role in 2023, the team was a bit snakebit in that rookie quarterback Stetson Bennett was absent for the entire 2023 NFL season, despite being selected in Round 4 of the 2023 NFL Draft. That absence seemed to play a factor in the Rams sub-par performance on the road against the Green Bay Packers, a loss that forced the team to rethink how they approached the quarterback role going forward.

But, did the team truly adopt a better quarterback strategy that will withstand the trials and tribulations of another NFL season? Or will this year's quarterback room be scattered like a house of cards in a similar fashion to previous seasons?

Rams finally invest in offensive line

There are distinct and solid reasons to view the 2024 NFL season with a far different set of expectations than previous years. For openers, this is no longer a bottom-shelf and discounted offensive line that has been stitched together like a quilting bee. The Rams' front office has truly begun to invest in the offensive line.

That is a significant improvement over previous years. Behind a must improved offensive line, the durability and health of starting quarterback Matthew Stafford will not be a major question mark. In fact, a new and improved offensive line adds not only to the pass blocking and protection, but gives a significant boost to the team's ability to run the football as well. We saw how effective RB Kyren Williams proved to be in 2023. Now, with an even more robust offensive line to plow the road, this offense could flirt with a Top-3 ranking in 2024.

2024 is a different beast altogether

Even as the offensive line has been upgraded, as well as the depth of the team's running backs for 2024, the proficiency of the team's quarterbacks will ultimately come down to the quality and depth of the players who are on the roster. And I daresay assert that this team has never begun a season with a more talented and diverse set of quarterbacks on the roster since hiring Sean McVay to become the team's head coach in 2017.

This team is not only entering the 2024 NFL season with Super Bowl winning QB Matthew Stafford under center, but with a backup quarterback who has appeared twice in the NFC Championship Game and once in the Super Bowl as well.

But wait . . . there's more.

The Rams also welcome back second-year quarterback Stetson Bennett who is already picking up glowing reports out of OTAs right where he left off from the Rams 2023 Training Damp. Finally, the team has developmental quarterback Dresser Winn back in the fold as well.

How do they look so far? Like a group of seasoned veterans, who are back with one common goal: A focused intensity on winning.

Of course, OTAs are helmets, tee shirts, shorts and cleats, which is simply dress rehearsal for when the pads go on later in training camp. But even from this early vantage point, the arc and speed of the football will not differ by much. And the Rams current group of quarterbacks are already appearing to be in mid-season form.

If this was the end of this topic, I would still be very optimistic. But the team had done far more to address the quarterback situation, and it requires us to pivot from players to the coaching staff.

Rams taking a holistic approach to quarterback quandary

Perhaps the main reason that the team has struggled at the backup quarterback position is due to the fact that the front office's approach has come from a reactionary perspective. Like many late-night informercials, the team seemed to take a set it and forget it attitude about backup quarterbacks, perhaps believing that watching the starter go about his business would be enough to create a learning-by-osmosis cycle.

Unfortunately, that never happened.

This year, the team appears to have invested in multiple 'quarterback whisperers' who have had success at developing multiple NFL prospects into starting quarterbacks in the past. The Rams hired QB Coach Dave Ragone to run point on the team's ability to coach up and align all four quarterbacks on the roster, but the Rams have multiple coaches who have had excellent success in coaching up quarterbacks in the past.

1. John Streicher | Game Management Coordinator | Story Link
2. Dave Ragone | QB Coach | (see link in next line)
3. Nate Scheelhaase | Offensive Assistant, Pass Game Specialist | Story Link
4. Jerry Schuplinski | Senior Offensive Assistant | Story Link

I have not read very much about the fact that Rams Senior Offensive Assistant Jerry Schuplinski was a former New England Patriots Assistant QB Coach who helped to develop Rams backup quaterback Jimmy Garoppolo. Was it simply a matter of coincidence that the Rams signs Jimmy Garoppolo to become the team's primary backup quarterback in 2024?

That's is a long-shot if it was simply random chance.

But this multi-layered quarterback coaching system is not limited to coaching starter Matthew Stafford or backup Jimmy Garoppolo. Imagine the support and help that second-year quarterbacks Stetson Bennett and Dresser Winn will get this season with so many coaches who understand how to get the most out of young hurlers. In this culture, in this set of circumstances, why wouldn't second-year QB Stetson Bennett be considered the Rams' best future QB option?

Has this team solved the problem of the backup quarterback position? Perhaps. But there has never been a time under Coach McVay that the team has taken the backup QB role more seriously. Perhaps that is why this team did not feel the need to draft any rookies to the quarterback position in 2024. From what we can see, the team believes that they have the talent, and simply need to upgrade the coaching.

How did the Rams convert QB depth from weakness to strength? By not only investing in the quarterbacks themselves, but by surrounding them with a talented offensive line, backfield, and receivers. Perhaps most of all, the team made sure to level up their coaching staff to provide multiple coaches who can develop quarterbacks as well.

As always, thank you for reading.