Path to creating explosive plays with Matthew Stafford starts in OTAs

Rams start Phase III of offseason work this week

Tasked with improving an offense that averaged 23.3 points per game in 2020 -- the lowest during his tenure as head coach -- Los Angeles head coach Sean McVay vowed to create more explosive plays this offseason.

The Rams executed a trade to secure Matthew Stafford from the Detroit Lions to help put more points on the scoreboard.

McVay wants to be more explosive and more dynamic on offense. That means creating more chunk plays in the passing game, becoming more dangerous in the second and third levels of the defense down the field.

“You’ve got to give guys an opportunity to create big plays in a variety of ways,” McVay said after this year’s draft. “There’s a big responsibility that I know I feel, and our coaches feel to put our players in the positions to be able to make those plays. There was definitely an intentional approach and process to being able to add a quarterback of Matthew Stafford’s caliber, and then surround him with the right pieces.

“Guys that we’ve already had in place and then guys that we’ve added, whether that be DeSean (Jackson) or the players that we drafted, and then the guys that we have in-house, but we have a lot of expectations and things that we expect to accomplish, but you got to do it.”

With his strong arm and deep accuracy, Stafford and the Rams will push the ball down the field more. Stafford also is accurate throwing the ball in the red zone. And he takes care of the football, something Jared Goff struggled with last season.

The Rams start Phase III of offseason work on Monday and will open organized team activities up for reporters on Thursday, so we’ll get our first opportunity to see Stafford on the field with his new team.

Here are a few areas where Stafford should improve L.A.’s offense, starting this offseason. The Rams just completed Phase II of offseason.

Yards after catch

McVay’s offense is known for generated yards after the catch because of his ability to devise passing schemes with receivers catching the ball on he run in open space. But the Rams finished No. 15 in yard after catch last season (4,183).

Led by Matthew Stafford, the Lions finished No. 8 in the NFL. (4,397).

With the addition of speedsters like Jackson in free agency and Tutu Atwell through the draft, along with players like Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp and Cam Akers already on the roster, McVay should dial up more chunk plays.

In particular, because of Stafford’s ability to fit the ball into tight windows down the field, throwing a catchable ball and hitting receivers in stride, it should create more opportunities for pass catchers to gain more yards after a reception.

Play-action game

Stafford also should be more dynamic in creating chunk plays through the play-action game. McVay wants to create balance by leaning on Akers and others running the football.

Once they can run it, the Rams will effectively run play-action off that, and Stafford is one of the best throwing off platform or moving the pocket and hitting guys in stride off play-action.

According to Next Gen Sports, Stafford averaged 9.1 yards per pass attempt on play-action passes last season, totaling five touchdowns and zero interceptions. Stafford has a 108.7 passer rating on play-action passes in 2020.

For comparison, Goff averaged 7.9 yards per pass attempt on play-action passes, finishing with seven touchdowns and five interceptions last season. Goff posted a 92.1 passer rating on play-action passes in 2020.

Quick game

McVay and the Rams will continue to emphasize taking check downs and getting the ball out quickly for Stafford. That means not getting bored with easy completions and taking what the defense gives him to move the chains.

Stafford completed 80 percent of his passes and averaged 9.4 yards per pass attempt when he got the ball out under 2.5 seconds last season, per Next Gen Stats.

Sam Farmer of The Los Angeles Times talked with Stafford about a slight change in his footwork that he hopes pays dividends this season in this Q&A.

“I’m always trying to find a way to be a little bit better,” Stafford told Farmer. “The common fan probably wouldn’t notice it, but I used to be in the shotgun with right foot forward, and now I’m left foot forward. It’s a little thing that helps me on certain throws to certain directions.

“The left side is a little bit easier to get to. I’m a little bit less busy on my drops, especially with the quick-game stuff. Gives me good tempo. It’s just finding ways to get a little bit better. I’ve really enjoyed working with those guys, trying to find little things here and there to help me out.”