Is Matthew Stafford an Upgrade for Los Angeles Rams and Robert Woods?

The Los Angeles Rams made big moves on Saturday after agreeing to send former No.1 overall pick quarterback Jared Goff to the Detroit Lions for another former No. 1 overall pick quarterback Matthew Stafford.

The trade comes after news broke that Rams head coach Sean McVey and Goff’s relationship started to crumble once the offense started to struggle in the second half of the 2020 season.

Former USC wide receiver Robert Woods will have an upgrade at the QB position now that Stafford will be slinging him the ball in a brand new SoFi stadium next season.

Detroit is dealing QB Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for two future first-round picks, a third-round pick and QB Jared Goff, per sources. Two former No. 1 overall picks trading places in the first blockbuster NFL trade of 2021.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 31, 2021

There's no denying that Woods and Goff created a solid connection over the last four years in LA. But a majority of the connection stemmed from the west coast style offense, which included screen passes, short throws, motioning and no huddles.

This gave Woods 322 receptions during his time with Goff. But over the last two seasons, the deep ball has been almost non-existent.

In 2018, Goff was most aggressive in pushing the ball downfield, averaging 8.7 intended air yards per pass attempt and seven completed air yards per completion. Since then his numbers declined steeply, as his intended air yards dropped to 7.7 and then 6.6 while his completed air yards fell to 6.1 and then 4.9 in 2019 and 2020.

As for the former USC wideout, Woods averaged an exceptional 9.3 yards before catch per reception in 2018, and those numbers steeply declined as well, mirroring Goff. The following two years, Woods averaged 6.2 and 4.9 yards in the same category in 2019 and 2020.

Whether it was poor play-calling by McVey or Goff's lack of execution, the former Cal Bear has not been known as a threat to defenses recently with the Rams.

On the contrary, new quarterback Matthew Stafford has never been shy to throw rockets down the field. His intended air yards over the last two seasons are much higher than Goff's, at 10.6 and 8.7 respectively, while he averaged 8.6 and 6.9 yards per completion in 2019 and 2020.

Stafford's addition will force defenses to respect the long passing game, which will allow Woods and other targets to get more cushion from opposing defensive backs. This means that the Rams receivers will have more space to run their routes and get open.

Since 2017, Stafford's PFF passing grade is at 84.7, which is better than the 81.6 grade Goff received. The 12-year pro also has a better QBR than the 26-year-old since entering the league.

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To add, Stafford is statistically one of the best quarterbacks in the regular season by the age of 32. He is third in passing touchdowns behind only Peyton Manning and Dan Marino, second in yards behind Manning, and first in completions, attempts, game winning drives and 4th quarter comebacks.

The resume for Stafford is extremely impressive, especially since he has been stuck on one of the worst NFL franchises in Detroit. While the wins aren't there, it had a lot to do with the talent and team around him.

Nonetheless, expect Stafford to give Woods and the other receivers a confident, gun-slinging QB that they have been missing over the past few years. And who knows, with a new QB in town, the Rams might have a chance at winning the Super Bowl down the road.

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