[Hacksaw]

Chris Simms' Top 40 QB Countdown: No. 8 Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams

[max]

Looks like his top 10 is something like this:

1. Mahomes
2. Rodgers
3. Allen
4. Watson
5. Wilson
6. Jackson
7. Murray
8. Stafford
9. Prescott
10. Brady

Based on what I’ve seen so far.

[Hacksaw]

Looks like his top 10 is something like this:

1. Mahomes
2. Rodgers
3. Allen
4. Watson
5. Wilson
6. Jackson
7. Murray
8. Stafford
9. Prescott
10. Brady

Based on what I’ve seen so far.

What do you bet Stafford will move up on this list after a year in LA?

[Hacksaw]

[Elvis]

Greg Cossell is very high on Stafford:

[Hacksaw]

A little slow around here so here a feel good article. Other than the Rams resigning Goff, it all sounds good..

LA Rams: HC Sean McVay happy? “You’re damned right I am”
by Bret Stuter 3 days ago

LA Rams News Sean McVay

Well it certainly took LA Rams head coach Sean McVay enough time to take over the LA Rams entire team, didn’t it? After all, he was hired in 2017 as the youngest head coach in the NFL. But he had the help of defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and special teams coordinator John Fassel.

Sure, they were part of McVay’s staff, but they were his right-hand men, coaches who either came with the package of getting the head coaching gig or were hired to help out the rookie head coach if he found himself in tight spots.

That lasted until 2020. A year ago, the Rams found themselves in the market for a new defensive coordinator and a new special teams coordinator. You see, the word that trickled out in various reports is that McVay wanted more say-so, more direct responsibility for the other aspects of the team. Of course, to gain more oversight of the other two-thirds of the team, he would have to relinquish some control of the offense. So he hired three new coordinators, and the team was “more his”.

The changes in 2020 were more than cosmetic. For the first time in his short head coaching career, Sean McVay was spreading his reach a bit. He clearly wanted more interaction, more dialogue. That style seemed to more closely fit how he operated, and that was not how coaches from the previous generation got things done. New faces on the coaching staff signaled a more collaborative effort. The Rams were turning the corner, and Coach McVay had his hand hard on the wheel steering the team in a new direction

Special teams coordinator John Bonamego didn’t have much positive impact, and he has since been reassigned to Senior Coaching Assistant. In his wake, the LA Rams hired former Jacksonville Jaguars Special Teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis. New face? Yes. But he arrived with a singular mission to help the team’s special teams perform among the top units of the NFL.

Offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell didn’t turn the corner with young quarterback Jared Goff as planned, but his second opinion must have confirmed the diagnosis of McVay – namely that the Rams offense needed to move on from Jared Goff. Defensive coordinator Brandon Staley rocketed the defense to best in the NFL. So his tenure with the Rams was short-lived. He’s now the head coach of the LA Chargers.

Lots of changes, but still not enough. After all, McVay inherited his franchise quarterback from Coach Jeff Fisher. While that may not seem like much, head coaches who take over a new team want their guy under center calling the plays and making the throws. For his first four years, McVay tried to reiterate the offense to optimize Goff’s production. Yet, with each revision, Goff seemed to recede further and further into a shell.

Was Goff the reason McVay wanted to remain so closely tied to the offensive playbook and the play-calling? Was Goff a bit of a distraction who needed the oversight of the head coach to remain focused? Or was Goff himself stunted in his own NFL growth by his helicopter-head coach McVay? The answer was locked in the deteriorating dynamics of a head coach and a quarterback.

The answers may have remained on par with the chicken vs. the egg debate, but for the fact that the LA Rams moved on from Goff this year. Not just moved on but traded him plus one third-round and two first-round picks to obtain veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford. The result is very clear. Head coach Sean McVay staked his reputation to lobby LA Rams team owner Stan Kroenke to authorize adding a second first-round pick to the pot in the trade package.

There is no more doubt or debate now. The 2021 LA Rams are no longer tied to the past. This is the present now, the real deal Sean McVay stamp-of-approval roster. Does that mean that this is a perfect iteration? Hardly. But it does mean that the LA Rams head coach has finally hand-picked all of the cogs to the machine.

McVay didn’t jump at the first chance to switch quarterbacks, at least not in those terms. He gathers plenty of data, processes it all quickly, and makes a decision based upon the best option from all available data. That option was getting veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford into his offense. A high-performing chassis powered by McVay’s high-octane playbook. In many ways, this is a custom-fit for both.

There was a song written by Mac Davis in 1968 and recorded by Bobby Goldsboro in 1970 entitled Watching Scotty grow. It is a meaningful song about being a father of a young son, and the beaming pride that overwhelms the dad even as his son slips with the lessons of his young life. That is pretty close to the mood of head coach McVay this season. He finally has placed his thumbprint on the entire roster.

This is his blueprint. This is his spreadsheet with his formulae. This is his baby. He’s no longer working on somebody else’s house. Some have pointed out that the reason for Sean McVay’s happy mood this year is tied to no longer facing the frustration of working with quarterback Jared Goff.

““I think I’ve been very happy,” McVay said Thursday while on stage at a news conference for the Los Angeles Super Bowl Organizing Committee. “Everybody says, ‘Man, you just seem like you’re in a better mood this offseason.’ I say, ‘You’re damn right I am.’”-per Sean McVay as reported by APNews Greg Beacham

Is the emotion spike simply getting rid of his problem-child quarterback? Hardly. That would be a relief, calm, no pressure. Joy is something entirely different. He wanted to work with Matthew Stafford in his offense, and now he can.

It was pretty clear that the LA Rams paid a bit of a premium for the rights to acquire Matthew Stafford. And until the LA Rams play real NFL regulation football, it’s all speculation. Yep. I can’t change the rules of time and physics. But I can read the signs that are expressed in the face of head coach Sean McVay. He finally believes that this is his team: his coaching staff, his coordinators, and most of all, his quarterback. That’s a huge step up for the Rams head coach, and it’s only taken him five years to realize.

Let’s put it this way. If McVay could get 43-21 with a quarterback who was never his first choice, what do you think will happen this year with a quarterback who was so singularly his choice that he personally lobbied the team’s owner to make it happen? I suppose it comes down to your opinion of the coach, doesn’t it? Well, one thing is certain. This appears to be fun for the head coach of the LA Rams once more....

https://ramblinfan.com/2021/07/05/la-ra ... d-right/3/

[/zn/]

Lots of changes, but still not enough. After all, McVay inherited his franchise quarterback from Coach Jeff Fisher. While that may not seem like much, head coaches who take over a new team want their guy under center calling the plays and making the throws. For his first four years, McVay tried to reiterate the offense to optimize Goff’s production. Yet, with each revision, Goff seemed to recede further and further into a shell.

This is a bs take.

I keep kind of being amazed at the shallow, bs takes on Goff-with-Rams history.

Though I always have to add this when I say things like that--I have nothing against the trade and I like Stafford and expect good things from him.

But when it comes to just recounting the history, I keep seeing all this hyperbole out there about Goff.

Goff and McVay ended up in a bad disconnect and Sean had a lot to do with that too. But when your winning coach is in a disconnect with your qb, it will be the qb who leaves.

One of the reasons I like Stafford is that as a very savvy, been there and done it all 13 year vet, he's going to be good for McVay too. The offense will be more collaborative, McV will listen to MS, and most likely there are not going to be any disconnects with those 2.

....

[safer]

As much as anything, I just didn't see Goff getting fired up when we needed more juice from our O. I think he's a laid back kind of guy who doesn't motivate the guys around him. And, yeah, we've got a fiery coach, who really does support his players, but I'm happy that he will only go so far with his support. There were times I thought he should have benched Goff last year (like Miami, for sure). Stafford is a natural leader, and a better QB--both should make a huge difference in our O this year. I was shocked when this trade was made, but keep liking it more and more.

[snackdaddy]

When I first heard Stafford was a available for a trade, I never thought we could make that happen. I thought we didn't have the resources teams with higher picks would have. Kudos to Les Snead for finding a way to make it happen. For years everyone kept saying the Rams are mortgaging the future to win now. Here we are in year 5 with McVay and Snead's strategy of trading for proven players. And we still have a wide open window to win now. That window will be open for the foreseeable future.

[PARAM]

As much as anything, I just didn't see Goff getting fired up when we needed more juice from our O. I think he's a laid back kind of guy who doesn't motivate the guys around him.

I don't agree with that. Same thing was said about Bulger for years. Fans remember what they want to remember. For those who 'remember' he wasn't a leader they forget the 4th down sneak in Seattle a couple of seasons ago.. They forget toughing out a broken thumb last season. When a team is losing or not winning convincingly enough....usually the QB is doing very little right in fan's eyes. Truth is unless a team mate says he was or wasn't inspired by his leadership, we just don't know.

I wonder how many Detroit fans felt Stafford didn't do enough to win, yet we're all giddy about acquiring him.

Note: I am among those "giddy" fans