After suffering a hip injury, Matthew Stafford is among the NFL’s worst quarterbacks.
Nearly as healthy as he has ever been going into the 2023 NFL season, Matthew Stafford plays quarterback. Stafford’s health suffered as a result of the Los Angeles Rams’ poor pass protection, though. Stafford hurt his hip in Week 4 against the Indianapolis Colts, and it doesn’t look like the same quarterback has played since.
The hip ailment has not received much attention from the Rams. But according to Diana Russini of The Athletic, he was in agony and the club was keeping a careful eye on it. Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic also reported that the Rams are keeping an eye on the hip contusion.
This season, Stafford has had moments when he looked like one of the NFL’s top-7 quarterbacks. During Weeks 1-4, Stafford’s EPA ranking was 11th. But ever since, he’s had one of the worst quarterback runs in the Sean McVay era (four games in a row).
Stafford is ranked 22nd in EPA over the last four weeks, and he is ranked 24th out of 28 quarterbacks with an EPA + CPOE (completion percentage over expectation) of -0.004.
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The last four games Stafford has played are the second worst in McVay’s tenure. The only worse period for Jared Goff in 2019 was from Weeks 6–10, when his composite score was -0.017 EPA + CPOE. The Rams had a bye in Week 9 of that season, even though that was spread out over five weeks.
The Rams had trouble fielding even a mediocre offensive line in both seasons. According to Pro Football Focus, the Rams offensive line finished 22nd in pass-block win rate and 29th in pass-blocking in 2019.
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The Rams are ranked 27th in pass-block win-rate by ESPN Stats and Info and 29th in pass-blocking by PFF this season.
It’s reasonable to wonder why the Rams have only recently begun to seriously address the position this season for an attack that depends so heavily on the offensive line. They acquired Kevin Dotson via a trade and selected Steve Avila. But there are still a lot of unanswered questions, particularly at center and left tackle. After losing Rodger Saffold and John Sullivan, the Rams also have a lot of questions at center and guard in 2019.
After suffering a hip injury, Stafford’s performance has declined, and he is currently coping with a sprained UCL in his thumb. Stafford’s average QBR for the first four weeks of the season was 58.83. That decreased by more than 10 points to 43.85 over the previous four weeks. To put it plainly, the Rams have had difficulty guarding their most valuable asset and the guy who has contributed most to their success. Additionally, as the injuries mount, he is aging, which is never ideal for a player at this point in their career.
If the Rams hope to keep Stafford healthy and restore the offense to its proper level, they must prioritize improving the offensive line during the 2024 offseason.