Latest mock draft has the Rams picking surprise developmental quarterback
Though quarterback Matthew Stafford was back to playing at close to a Pro Bowl level in 2023, it’s not too early for the Los Angeles Rams to start looking for his successor.
The 36-year-old signal caller is a little over a year removed from an injury to his spinal cord that caused him to miss the final eight games of the 2022 season, likely limiting how many seasons the former No. 1 overall pick has left.
Which is why CBS Sports’ Garrett Podell believes the Rams could benefit from picking Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, who’s considered more of a project than some of the other QBs in the 2024 draft, and letting him develop behind Stafford until he’s ready to call it a career.
“Rams head coach Sean McVay takes a page out of former assistant and Packers head coach Matt LaFleur's playbook by taking a first-round quarterback to cook on the bench for a year or two,” Podell wrote. “It certainly paid dividends in Green Bay's move from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love. Learning from Matthew Stafford could be exactly what McCarthy needs to have a solid NFL career after playing predominantly in a run-first offense at Michigan.”
Scouts have been torn on what McCarthy’s draft stock actually is after he led Michigan to its first national championship since 1997 just a few weeks ago.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. named McCarthy as his biggest wild-card quarterback in the draft, and The Athletic’s Dane Brugler stated in mid-January that the 20-year-old passer should go in the top 50 picks.
McCarthy was 27-1 as the Wolverines’ starting QB, throwing for 6,226 yards, 49 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while leading Michigan to three straight Big Ten championships and consecutive College Football Playoff berths.
Stafford had a strong bounce-back 2023 campaign in which he threw for 3,965 yards, 24 touchdowns and 11 interceptions with a 92.5 passer rating in 15 games.
Across his 15-year career, Stafford has been known for gutting it out and playing through injuries, but his body hasn’t quite held up the same as it did early in his career. He missed eight games in both 2019 and 2022, plus two games this year.
Drafting and developing a QB with the kind of winning pedigree McCarthy has isn’t such a bad idea considering nobody really knows how much longer Stafford plans to play.
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