Rich Hammond, 11 Personnel Podcast Host

Step right up here.

Don't be shy. The Super Bowl is over, but the NFL quarterback carousel is just beginning. You've got to ask yourself a question.

Do I feel lucky? What does the future hold for all 32 NFL teams at the QB position? Now I'm going to give you an opportunity to spin this wheel right here. Let's spin the wheel and find out which teams we hit today. Los Angeles Rams. Alrighty, let's hit our final team in the QB carousel. Rich Hammond joins us, the co-host of 11 personnel at LA Rams Podcast for the Athletic, as he joins us right now. Rich, we appreciate the time. How are you? Hey, I'm doing well.

Thanks for having me. What can Rams fans expect this year with Stafford coming back from the injury a year ago? Yeah, well, if you believe everything that they're saying, which we don't have any reason not to, but they're saying he's ready to go. They'll be able to fully participate in OTAs, no restrictions, no worries, no pitch clock or anything like that.

So from that perspective, I think you should feel pretty good about it. The thing you have to worry about is how is that offensive line going to look in front of him? Because that was such a huge part of the problem even when he did play in 2022 down to fourth string guys.

Guys are signing off the street and putting in the starting lineup. So if they have that kind of instability again, those types of injury problems, then he's going to be in a lot of trouble. But it seems like going into 2023, going into this offseason, there's more stability with him.

There's more certainty about his health and that sort of thing. So I think from an individual standpoint, it's looking pretty good. My biggest problem with the Rams, and I think you're spot on with the offensive line.

I think the line is going to be a disaster. But when you look at this organization right now, you hear yearly talks about McVeigh retiring, Donald as well. There was even some Stafford speculation before he shot it down on his wife's podcast. It seems like a lot of people in this organization are one foot in, one foot out. And that concerns me how much success they could have this year.

No, it's legit. I think we're coming to the end of the story here, at least the end of this particular story. Because I do think that Sean McVeigh will take some time off at some point. I don't think he wanted to do it coming off of that disaster of a 2022 season.

But it wouldn't surprise me if he did it in a year or two. It wouldn't surprise me if Aaron Donald does retire at the end of his contract. Matthew Stafford's nearing the end. So you're seeing this kind of chapter, I guess you could say, of Rams football kind of coming to a close. And what they're trying to do here is just trying to keep that window open. It's not going to be 2023, we know that, because of all the departures that they've had. And they're trying to refill the cap, refill the draft picks and that sort of thing. They're really kind of gearing up to 2024. They're hoping that this year isn't going to be a disaster, although it might very well be. But what they're looking at is let's take one last big kick at that can in 2024 with Stafford, with Donald, with McVeigh. With whoever they can get in to replenish the rest of this group. And then 2025, you might be looking at something completely different. But I think they think that they have one more shot at this thing.

So that's how they're looking at it. Earlier on in the offseason, when you heard McVeigh was letting people on his staff interview elsewhere. I was like, okay, that's the sign, he's definitely going to walk away this year. And then you find out he was coming back. Were you surprised when that was all going down, that McVeigh returned for this year?

Yes and no. The only part that I knew he was getting really burned out. And I mean, if anybody watches his press conferences regularly and just can read his body language, he was not the same guy. He was feeling it. And I'm not saying anybody had to feel sorry for him.

He's getting to live a dream. But I'm just saying, you could see the difference in him and his tone and just the way that he carried himself. So there's a point about the middle of the season where I thought, I think this guy's going to take his break now. But I think in a strange way, he almost got revitalized near the end of the season. And here's the big thing.

I've been around Sean since he got hired. I know how competitive he is. And that's A1 on his list. He doesn't want to go, wow, he doesn't want to have that 5 and 12 season. Being that last taste in his mouth.

However this season goes, next season, whatever it may be, that'll play out how it goes. He didn't want to go out that way. He didn't want to go out as the 5-win coach. So I think what he's done here is that, well, what do we need to change?

What can I make short-term changes that will help this situation, that will get me revitalized? He had to flush out the coaching staff a little bit, bring in some new blood, move some guys around. And the thought is, the hope is that that can support him in the right way. Get him revitalized a little bit, kind of get this thing back on the rails heading into next season. Rich Hammond, if dead cap wasn't a thing, would Stafford be back or would they have dealt him this offseason?

Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, they were dangling him. There's a fine line between dangle and shopping, right? Like, I don't think they were shopping him. But I do think they were dangling him out there to see if anybody would take a bite and give them something really big. With that cap hit that you're talking about, it had a 1% chance of happening. So I didn't expect that it would happen.

If it didn't, maybe you do. And I think if dead cap is not an issue and if somebody makes you a great offer, maybe you do push that button right now. They're going to have to make a move at some point, whether it's drafting a quarterback this year in the third round, whether it's waiting until next year and seeing if you want to use a first-round pick. They're going to have to make that pivot at some point. It's not going to be this season, but we're in that window, let's put it that way, where it wouldn't surprise me if they brought in somebody to kind of beat that heir apparent whenever it may be. So yeah, I think they were looking at it.

They were keeping their eyes open, their ears open. But I just don't think it was going to happen this offseason. Were they ever close to bringing Baker back, or was it just Baker going to Tampa as an opportunity for him to start, the only way he would start this year for the Rams is if Stafford got hurt again?

Yeah, pretty much, pretty much. And I don't know if that was a great – I mean, look, Baker Mayfield came in, again, talked about a guy coming in off of his couch and became the starting quarterback. He did extremely well for the situation that he was put in, but I don't know that he's quite the kind of fit for this offense. And I'm not saying he's a bad quarterback.

It's just a fit thing. He did what he could do. He ran around back there and tried to make some plays in front of an offensive line that just wasn't blocking for him without any receivers. So he did what he could do, and I think he did a fine job. But it was probably going to be better for his long-term career if he went somewhere else.

So no, I wasn't real surprised that that happened. But now they need a backup quarterback, so they're kind of back at square one on that one. Rich Hammond here with us. When you look at this Stafford contract, if he wants to keep on playing, I know he's under contract through 2026, when can the Rams maybe the earliest actually get someone to take him and move on, and it makes sense financially as well?

Yeah, all you need is one, right? I mean, it's hard for me to sit here and say, oh, no team would ever do that, because there's 31 of them out there, and only one of them needs to panic or something. But I would really say after 2024, and I think that lines up about right with the Rams anyway. I think that's when, like I said, they're going to start that pivot anyway, or that kind of reorganization, I guess you might say. So it definitely wasn't this year. Could it be after next year? Yeah, it could. If somebody really wanted him bad enough, I mean, if he had a fantastic season and they're willing to take some of that on, sometimes it happens. So it wouldn't be shocking.

But I kind of think, and I think this was the plan kind of all along, that he's got two more years here, and then after that, I think you'll see kind of a mutual thank you very much. With how many names have departed this team since winning the Super Bowl two years ago, would it surprise you on draft night with the draft three weeks away if Cooper Cup gets dealt? Yeah, it would surprise me just because of what I said there. Like, if they really wanted to tear this thing down, they could do it. I mean, they could have, as much as people think they did dismantle it, they could have done more to tear it down. I mean, they could have traded Aaron Donald. You know, there's places that he could go. That would surprise me. I think the Rams' hope here is, look, to be real brief about it, they really dismantled the defense.

You look at a lot of the guys who went out. The defense is what's going to have the problem here. The Rams' hope is that they can revitalize that offense. Basically, they're going to be trying to outscore people 35 to 31 every week, and their hope is that they can rebuild the offense well enough that they can get to that 30, 35 points, because they're not going to stop a lot of teams.

So I don't think that's in the plan. I think they're trying to keep this offense as strong as they can this year and then try to rebuild that defense going into next season, and then hopefully you have those two pieces coming together. Last thing I'll ask you, just staying inside the NFC West, we know the Cardinals are going to be bad this year, not a lot of optimism with the Rams. San Francisco, what do you make of their quarterback situation? And then the Seahawks, what do you think year two in the starting role for Geno Smith will look like? Yeah, I probably have a little bit more optimism about the 49ers, just because I just have a lot of respect for their coaching staff, and I see how things even go during the season with that group, and that's the one thing that really impresses me. I mean, just look back at last season, how much turmoil they had early in the season, and you kind of left them for dead, and then they figure it out. That coaching staff is so smart working with what they have, even if it's not an ideal situation, which they certainly were not in with Brock Purdy, a quarterback, but they make it work. So yeah, they've got to answer some questions there, and I definitely am looking at that, wondering how that's going to play out. But I have a lot of respect for Kyle Shanahan and that staff there, and I think that whatever it is, they're going to pull it together. They always play the Rams very well, give them a tough time. So if I had to pencil it in, I'm looking at them.

A lot of respect for Pete Carroll, too, but I just think the 49ers are in a little bit better shape. Rich Hammond, we appreciate the time. Thank you so much.

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