With of the featured Rams news of the day being Matthew Stafford leaving practice with a tight hamstring, it’s only fitting to discuss contingency plans should Stafford miss action this season. Now, the news of Stafford’s “injury” has been blown out of proportion. While a hamstring injury does have the potential to linger, there is no doubt in my mind Stafford will be ready to go Week 1 in Detroit.
That is not to say Stafford won’t miss time in the regular season, as we saw last season when he got banged up and would go on to miss a start in a pivotal game against Green Bay. The Rams saw just how important it is to have a backup quarterback capable of operating the offense at a respectable level. The Rams addressed that need in the offseason by signing NFL veteran Jimmy Garoppolo, a rhythm and timing-reliant quarterback whose style fits in perfectly for an offense that is built off rhythm and timing. If Stafford gets banged up again and is forced to miss time for the third consecutive season, Jimmy G will be more than capable of steering the ship.
There is a catch, though. Garoppolo will be unavailable to be the backup quarterback due to a two-game suspension, which leaves Stetson Bennett as the projected Week 1 QB2 for the Rams. The fourth quarterback on the roster, Dresser Winn, is projected to be the Rams’ QB3/emergency quarterback to open the season.
Bennett missed all of last season as he dealt with personal issues, and he returns to the Rams this season as a shoo-in for the QB3/emergency role. With the aforementioned Jimmy G suspension, many projected Bennett would assume the QB2 position for the first two games of the regular season.
However, if you watched the Rams’ opening preseason game, Bennett showed he may not be such a lock after all.
Bennett took all 71 of the Rams offensive snaps against the Cowboys, tossing four horrific interceptions and the eventual game-winning touchdown in route to a 13-12 victory over Dallas. The most concerning parts of Bennett’s interceptions were that he was not under pressure, none of the INTs were a result of tipped or dropped passes, and they all could have been avoided with better decision-making. Simply not good enough to warrant being the QB2 to open the season on an NFL roster. McVay made it clear Bennett is still under evaluation following his performance against Dallas.
The poor showing from Bennett should open the door for Winn to get some game reps this weekend against the Chargers. Winn, who enters his second season, has only appeared in one preseason game in his career. Winn’s lone preseason appearance was short lived, as he went 3-for-5 with 21 yards at the tail end of a 41-0 blowout loss against Denver on August 26th, 2023. Winn was released by the Rams on August 29th, 2023, but went on to earn a couple of stints on the Rams practice squad throughout last season. Obviously, McVay and company see something in Winn to bring him back for another go around, so why not give him a shot to play this weekend?
Bennett has an average of a 57.2% completion percentage in four preseason appearances. Pair that statistic with two passing touchdowns to a whopping seven interceptions, and you’ll come to the conclusion Bennett may not be NFL-caliber. At this point, Bennett has shown the Rams who he is with his play on the field. Los Angeles needs to allow Winn to do the same.