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In a matter of a week, John Wolford went from a relative unknown to the Rams’ starting quarterback with their playoff hopes on the line. His rise to this point has been a wild one, going from undrafted out of Wake Forest to working on Wall Street to a stint in the AAF before finally landing with the Rams last year and starting his first NFL game on Sunday.
His debut didn’t initially go as he and the Rams hoped, throwing an interception on his first career pass attempt. But after that mistake, he settled in and proved Sean McVay right. He made a handful of excellent throws down the field, used his legs to extend plays and showed the poise of a five-year veteran in the pocket.
McVay couldn’t help but rave about the young quarterback after the Rams’ 18-7 win, saying “John Wolford was the star offensively.”
“He made plays. We have to continue to make plays around him,” McVay told reporters after the game. “I just thought his movement, his athleticism, some of the things where he recognized coverage, he’s hitting Cam Akers, he’s hitting Tyler Higbee down the sidelines when corners are kind of coming off and not honoring the deep part of the field. This guy’s resilience showed up in a big way. I was really impressed with him.”
Wolford’s stat line wasn’t anything to eye-popping. He threw for 231 yards and rushed for 56 with zero touchdowns and the one interception. However, four of his carries picked up first downs and he spread the ball around nicely by hitting seven different receivers.
Wolford’s mobility was always viewed as one of his best attributes and that showed up on Sunday in a big way.
“I think his ability to see the field and extend plays,” McVay said. “The one that stands out to me is the first third-down-and-10 conversion, where he dropped back, he kind of gets flushed, they play a split-safety zone, gets flushed to his left and then ends up being able to put his foot in the ground and convert. Some of those things are big-time deals. Even just being able to extend some of the bootlegs where he finds Van Jefferson on the cross, or where typically those things, the ball kind of has to come out. So, I thought it showed up in a big way really on all three downs. He gave us a chance in a big way today.”
Got it done 👏 pic.twitter.com/8VEnWDF8HN
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) January 4, 2021
McVay said repeated that he was “really pleased” with the way Wolford played and came away impressed on Sunday, both in evaluating how he performed as a runner and passer. But what also stood out was Wolford’s resilience and mindset after throwing a bad interception on his first pass.
It was meant to be a simple read for the quarterback to get him comfortable, but he missed the linebacker underneath and threw it directly to him. Wolford took a little while to get settled in, but McVay didn’t condense the playbook or lose confidence in the quarterback after that initial misread.
“It really didn’t. He has a nice way about himself. He thought he saw something, it was just a little mistake,” McVay said. “And then we came back to a very similar play and he got the look that we wanted and ripped it to Josh Reynolds on a big-time slant from the two-spot in an empty. So, I think it didn’t change much other than putting our defense in a tough spot to start the game after they end up getting the first stop of the game. He learned from it, but it didn’t change my confidence in him, and I think you could see that with the way that we called the game.”
McVay didn’t commit to a quarterback for the first round of the playoffs, saying he’s “not sure” if Jared Goff will be available. The Rams will give some thought to starting Wolford again, especially considering the way he played against Arizona.
Whether Wolford starts against the Seahawks or not will be something to watch, but even if he reverts to a backup role, he did enough on Sunday to prove he’s a quality No. 2 option for L.A. should anything ever happen to Goff.
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