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

I: Is Matthew Stafford still NFL's most dangerous gunslinger?

Even as veteran starting quarterback Matthew Stafford had an impressive 2023 NFL season, the offense left plenty of yards on the field to claim in 2024. After all, Stafford rebounded from a 2087 yard season in 2022 to put up 3,965 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions in 2023. But would you think me off-base to believe that Stafford can match his 2021 performance this year?

Stafford played in just 15 games last season, which limited his total yards. If Stafford was able to average 300 passing yards in those two games, his numbers would have been in excess of 4,500 passing yards last year.

But another point to realize is that Stafford was throwing to new faces in 2023. Of 521 passes thrown last season, more than half were thrown to new faces on the Rams roster, While we cannot know how the team will distribute targets in 2024, you are standing on safe ground to believe that a significant majority of passes will be thrown to familiar faces. Why does that matter?

Prior to 2023, Stafford averaged two-plus completions for every three passes thrown. In 2023, that completion rate plummeted to three completions for every five passes. That is likely due to the fact that he was in the process of creating chemistry with so many unfamiliar faces.

Since the team has made only minor changes to the wide receiver room, and the team made only minor changes to the tight end room and running back room. But where the Rams did invest heavily is the ability to block and protect Matthew Stafford this season.

I believe that bringing back the same receivers, while investing in an offensive line upgrade this season will pay off big dividends for the team this year. Despite the chaos at the quarterback position over the past two seasons, the team has instilled calm confidence into the quarterback room for 2024.

As always, thanks for reading.