'Intrigue With Question Marks': Can Rams' QB Matthew Stafford Bounce Back?
"Intrigue With Question Marks" feels like it could be the name of a preseason preview show about the Los Angeles Rams, who slipped to 5-12 in 2022 just a year after winning a Super Bowl title.
Coach Sean McVay and defensive tackle Aaron Donald are both back after flirting with walking away from the Rams in each of the last two offseasons, but how committed are they beyond 2023? Will receiver Cooper Kupp, now 30, return to his All-Pro form after an ankle injury limited him to just nine games a season ago? Will another receiver outside of Kupp emerge as a legitimate No. 2 target? Can esteemed defensive coordinator Raheem Morris overcome having almost no proven talent in the secondary or at the linebacker position?
Perhaps the biggest question facing the Rams in 2023 is whether quarterback Matthew Stafford will rebound after preseason elbow problems and multiple stints on the injury list turned 2022 into a lost season. So it's fitting that when it came time for CBS Sports to group quarterbacks into tiers before the 2023 season, Stafford was placed in the "Intrigue With Question Marks" category:
"Stafford won the Super Bowl two years ago! He was injured all of last year and everything went wrong for the Rams, who Vegas hates this season, along with everyone else."
The other six quarterbacks placed in Tier 3 with Stafford were Aaron Rodgers of the New York Jets, Tua Tagovailoa of the Miami Dolphins, Daniel Jones of the New York Giants, Justin Fields of the Chicago Bears, Russell Wilson of the Denver Broncos and Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns.
As recently as 2021, Stafford tossed 41 touchdowns and racked up 4,886 yards in his first season playing for McVay. If he's healthy, there's no reason to believe Stafford won't be one of the more productive quarterbacks in the NFL, as he was for the bulk of his first 13 seasons.
At the same time, Stafford is now 35 and was often asked to be Superman for undermanned Detroit Lions teams. It feels at least possible that 2022 was the beginning of more than a decade's worth of bumps and bruises catching up to Stafford.
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