Los Angeles Rams: Quarterback problem highlighted in Preseason Week 1
By Hunter Noll
The Los Angeles Rams took a beating from the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1 of the preseason. One of the biggest takeaways being a lack of quarterback depth.
The Los Angeles Rams roster holds four quarterbacks at the moment. Jared Goff tops the depth chart. Last season, he showed he can be a top-tier quarterback in the NFL. After Goff, however, the Rams depth at the position is poor at best. Should anything happen to their No. 1, this could present a debilitating problem for Los Angeles.
Sean Mannion was given the start in Week 1 of the preseason. The 26-year old played the entire first half — and it wasn’t pretty. Mannion went 3-for-13 with 16 yards and one interception, while fumbling once. The Rams were down 23-0 at the end of the first half.
Brandon Allen was given the second half. While things went better for him, let’s not pretend like all was perfect. The 25-year old completed 10-of-15 passes for 73 yards and a touchdown while losing one fumble. Solid numbers, but he still wasn’t producing much (against lesser competition). The Rams lost the second half, 10-7.
Rookie Luis Perez joined Jared Goff in the DNP category.
So this is officially what the Rams have behind Goff. Mannion, who has 50 career pass attempts (zero touchdowns and one interception). Then there’s Allen, who’s never made a regular season appearance. Finally, there’s an undrafted rookie in Perez, who didn’t appear in Week 1 of the preseason.
It wasn’t a secret that the Rams didn’t have much experience at quarterback behind Goff even before the preseason. However, Preseason Week 1 showcased just how painful an injury to their QB1 could be.
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Mannion is set to be the backup, but looked far from ready to take over should anything happen to Goff. Allen put up better numbers but faced lighter competition in the second half. Even then, 73 yards is nothing to write home about. Neither is the fact that the Rams mustered seven first downs in six second half drives. Worse still, one of those came via penalty, and only three came from Allen, who seemed content with the short pass.
The Los Angeles Rams are in good hands with Jared Goff as their starting quarterback. Week 1 of the preseason highlighted the week depth behind him though.