Can Rams' Sean McVay Develop Another Young Quarterback in Los Angeles?

Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay is inching closer to the reality of needing younger quarterback. Will he have the patience for it?
Jan 13, 2025; Glendale, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay reacts against the Minnesota Vikings during an NFC wild card game at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Jan 13, 2025; Glendale, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay reacts against the Minnesota Vikings during an NFC wild card game at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
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Sean McVay has been the head coach of the Los Angeles Rams for seven seasons, becoming one of the best coaches in the league before turning 40 years old. 

He has developed a coaching tree that has seen success from coaches such as Green Bay Packers’ Matt LaFleur and Minnesota Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell. Furthermore, he has overseen one of the best stretches of success in Rams franchise history with the 2022 season being his lone losing campaign.

One of the key reasons for McVay’s accomplishments in Los Angeles centers around the quarterback. He spent four years developing Jared Goff before the experiment initially came to a halt when the Rams sent him to the Detroit Lions for Matthew Stafford– a trade that has come to be a winner for both franchises.

Stafford led the Rams to their first Super Bowl victory since 1999 and McVay’s offenses have continued to produce and play well with the former Lion under-center and healthy. However, as McVay enters his eighth season in southern California and Stafford not getting any younger, a question persists about how or if the 39-year-old coach can develop another young signal-caller.

McVay is one of the best offensive minds in the league and has become one of the more successful examples of the young offensive coordinators becoming the go-to choices for many franchises searching for the “next McVay.” What he has done since 2017 is not easy even if he has had two long-term starters under-center since then. Yet, when the time comes, McVay will have to grow and mentor another rookie QB.

There have been stories about how McVay and Goff’s relationship withered away as the latter began to make frequent mistakes and failed to see the field well at all. McVay grew increasingly impatient with the consistent shortcomings from his quarterback and it became a key aspect to the trade for Stafford with Detroit. He wanted a veteran quarterback with the talent to win games “because of,” and succeed in 2021 in Super Bowl LVI.

Stafford had seemingly taken a boulder size weight off McVay’s shoulders and it has allowed him to coach more freely and do things that he couldn’t do with Goff. When the time comes, it’s fair to ask if McVay would be willing to have patience with a rookie or second-year QB.

With the current roster core, the Rams may not be in a position to draft a signal-caller high in the draft anytime soon but at some point they must make a move to get one. Whichever draft it happens in, identifying McVay’s type of QB in the draft will be one of the more fascinating discussions during the pre-draft process.

McVay could be the type of coach who could work with any serviceable quarterback and succeed regardless. Or, he may also be one who would rather have a veteran leading his offense to avoid the stress and expectations of developing a rookie into the face of the franchise.

In fairness, Goff saw some of his best years early in Los Angeles on an offense that would be in the Super Bowl in McVay’s second season but it became increasingly clear, at the time, he would never be good enough to be the reason a franchise wins the Super Bowl. That is likely another source to the lack of patience from the head coach.

McVay may have more patience as he has garnered years of experience coaching the Rams franchise. Only time and personal growth, both from coaching and personal point of view, will tell if he possesses it.

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