Rams must find long-term backup QB for Matthew Stafford

LOS ANGELES — On Day 3 of the 2023 NFL draft, the Los Angeles Rams felt they had figured out their backup quarterback situation, an issue that plagued them during the 2022 season when quarterback Matthew Stafford missed significant time with a spinal cord contusion.

They drafted quarterback Stetson Bennett in the fourth round. When coach Sean McVay was asked about having a young quarterback the coaching staff could mold as a backup and perhaps an eventual starter, he said, “Well, I think you’re excited.”

McVay spoke about the chance Bennett would have to learn from Stafford, “a perennial All-Pro, a great football player who’s been doing it at a high level.”

“I think there’ll be a lot of good things that Stetson will be able to see what it looks like,” McVay said.

Instead, Bennett went on the reserve/non-football illness list in September and was not active for a single game. McVay declined to go into details about why Bennett was away from the team and when asked after the season about the quarterback’s status, said, “I think that’s a conversation for another time.”

“I think he’s doing better, but I wouldn’t be in a position to answer that accurately right now,” McVay said. “That’s probably a long way away from me being able to answer that.”

The last two seasons, the Rams have seen just how critical the backup quarterback role is, with Stafford missing eight games in 2022.

And although he missed just one game last season due to injury, it was a game that could have been significant for playoff seeding because it was a loss to the Green Bay Packers. The Rams scored just 3 points with backup quarterback Brett Rypien and cut him after the game. They signed veteran Carson Wentz to back up Stafford.

“I do think it’s important, as we saw in Green Bay, if we can have a backup quarterback that can help us win a game because losing the Green Bay game could have hurt us [in the playoff hunt],” Rams general manager Les Snead said in January.