LA Rams QB room is epicenter of confidence and chaos for 2024

If it all comes down to the quarterback, then the LA Rams have the possibility to experience the entire range of outcomes this season. If luck holds out and the team gets a full 17 game season out of veteran QB Matthew Stafford, then 2024 could be incredibly successful. But if Stafford is injured early, the dominoes could fall the wrong way, and 2024 will rival the disappointment that came with the 2022 season.

Is this a dominos all falling the right way or all falling the wrong way type of season? That is still yet to be determined. But we can follow the trail of breadcrumbs left by the team so far in the offseason to get in the right ballpark.

The quarterback position has always been a topic of debate for this team. While the team has invested in the starting quarterback role, the focus has inevitably slipped when it came to addressing the backup quarterback role. Perhaps it has been the vitality and durability of the two starting quarterbacks who have led the offense under HC Sean McVay: Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford. But nearly every team has some form of Plan B in case of injury that does not involve packing up the rest of the season and hoping for a great pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.

The LA Rams front office has taken a different and rather outside-the-box approach in recent years. This was a team that was content to invest next to nothing in a backup QB role, betting on the durability of the starting QB to ensure a competitive roster would step out onto the football field on any give football game.

But the strategy backfired in 2022 when starting QB Matthew Stafford was injured mid season, and the combination of both John Wolford and Bryce Perkins was simply not up to the challenge. Fortunately, the Rams signed just-released QB Baker Mayfield, and he learned the offensive playbook just hours after disembarking from the plane. That instant crash course allowed the Rams to win a Thursday Night Football game in come-from-behind fashion.

That same pattern of sign-QB-on-demand happened again in 2023, when Matthew Stafford was injured once more. This time, the Rams signed veteran QB Carson Wentz. But in both cases, the partial-year rental as both ineffective and short-lived. The team only benefited from the QB upgrade for a partial season, and the investment into that quarterback was lost by the end of the season.

Have the Rams come up with a better process for 2024? Let's dive into the team's quarterback room and find out.