When a backup quarterback is suddenly thrust into the starting lineup, the offense typically becomes simplified. The playbook isn’t as open, the calls are more conservative and the backup typically takes what the defense gives him by making short, safe throws underneath.
That wasn’t the case for John Wolford in the Rams’ season finale against the Cardinals, which happened to be his first NFL game ever. In fact, the Rams offense became more aggressive than it was under Jared Goff in previous weeks.
Wolford was aggressive and threw the ball to all levels of the field, spreading it around nicely in his first career game. As we can see in his passing chart from Next Gen Stats, he even took shots downfield – a part of the offense that has been sorely lacking all season long.
Of Wolford’s 38 throws, nine were at least 20 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. He completed three of them along the boundary, and a couple others were close to being caught, too.
If you compare Wolford’s passing chart to Goff’s from Week 13 against the same Cardinals team, there’s a huge difference. Of Goff’s 47 pass attempts in that game, only six were at least 10 yards downfield, with only one being thrown 20 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
Sure, he completed 37 passes in that one, but only three of those completions were 10-plus yards downfield. For a defense facing the Rams, that’s easy to plan for because it comes down to wrapping receivers up after they catch a short pass.
With Wolford, the offense was much less predictable. There were throws missing over the middle, but it was highly encouraging to see Wolford attack the field vertically and along the sidelines.
That was made easier because the Cardinals sat on underneath routes like a lot of defenses do against the Rams. On Wolford’s two deep shots to Cam Akers and Tyler Higbee, the boundary corner bit on a route underneath, leaving a hole deep down the sideline.
It’s easy to be impressed by Goff’s numbers from that Week 13 game against the Cardinals. But you also have to look deeper than just a 78% completion rate, 351 yards and a touchdown. Goff averaged 3.5 intended air yards, which was the third-lowest by any quarterback in any game this season. For comparison, Wolford averaged 10.2 intended air yards against Arizona, 11th-highest of Week 17.
Wolford’s aggressiveness (percentage of throws into tight windows) was also impressive at 31.6%, second-highest of Week 17. Goff’s was an NFL-low 4.3% against the Cardinals in Week 13.
The debate about whether the Rams should start Wolford or Goff against the Cardinals will rage on until game time, but it’s impossible to ignore the job Wolford did in his first career start and the aggressiveness that he showed.