Rams' QB2 Battle is Far From Over
· Yahoo Sports
The Los Angeles Rams are now 2-0 in the preseason thus far after a dominant 34-0 victory over the New Orleans Saints yesterday at home in SoFi Stadium.
In the win on Saturday, the backup quarterback battle between Stetson Bennett IV and Ty Simpson got a lot more interesting with Bennett playing the entire first half and performing quite well.
Visit newsbetting.cv for more information.
Simpson, on the other hand, played the full second half and looked good, but Bennett did have the better overall performance.
In the first half, Bennett went 19/31 for 181 yards with zero touchdowns and zero interceptions. On the ground, Bennett added nine yards and two rushing touchdowns, which showcased an element of his game that helps him to extend plays and make plays with his legs.
Throughout Bennett's reps yesterday, he looked confident and had a strong command of the offense, which helped the Rams to move the ball consistently while he was in. Out of the five drives that Bennett played, he led the Rams on four scoring drives with three touchdown drives and one field goal drive, which gave Los Angeles a 20-0 halftime lead.
On another note, Bennett did more than just command the offense; he spread the ball around very well as he completed at least one pass to six different receivers. Those receivers included C.J. Daniels, Max Klare, Alex Bachman, Tyler Scott, Brennan Presley, and Tru Edwards.
Overall, Bennett played pretty well as he showed the ability to process the defense, make plays with his legs, throw accurately, and complete passes to a variety of receivers. If he continues to perform like this in practice and in next week's preseason finale, assuming he plays, he could be in a great position to win the backup quarterback job.
Now, looking at Simpson, as previously mentioned, he only played in the second half, but once again, he looked solid. During the second half, Simpson completed 8/12 passes for 73 yards with zero touchdowns and zero interceptions while also adding three rushes for 10 yards on the ground.
Similar to Bennett, Simpson had a pretty good command of the offense, but he was not able to have a ton of success when it came to scoring drives. In terms of drive success, the rookie quarterback led one touchdown drive, one drive where the Rams turned it over on downs at the New Orleans 24, one punt, and his final drive was the end of the game, where he took a knee to wind down the clock.
While Simpson only led one scoring drive, he did lead the Rams to a near red-zone trip before they turned it over on downs, and, as mentioned, one drive was a quarterback kneel. So, when looking at each drive the signal caller had, he did do well even in limited action compared to Bennett.
Simpson also showed the ability to get the ball to several different receivers. On his eight completions, he was able to complete passes to six different receivers, including Max Klare, Alex Bachman, Tru Edwards, Dan Villari, Jordan Waters, and Brennan Presley.
For Simpson to be able to have six of his eight passes go to different receivers is a great sign as a rookie because it demonstrates that he truly reads the progression and finds the open receiver.
It is also important to note that, because of Bennett's performance, the Rams had a big lead before Simpson got on the field, so head coach Sean McVay and the coaching staff did not fully open up the playbook for Simpson simply because there was no need for it.
Even so, Simpson took advantage of the reps he could while making no major mistakes, extending plays with his legs, and getting the ball where he needed to on time and on target.
Moving forward, if Simpson can continue to make good reads and take advantage of his opportunities, it will be interesting to see if McVay trusts Simpson enough to give the nod as the backup quarterback to Matthew Stafford.
Now, looking at the competition between Bennett and Simpson after the second week of the preseason, it seems at this point that the competition is too close to call.
The reason for the battle being so tight is that Bennett and Simpson have looked good in both games, but neither of them has made major mistakes either.
This week, Bennett had an impressive performance . On the other hand, last week against the Kansas City Chiefs, Simpson was the star as he went 21/25 for 190 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions.
Currently, with the way that Bennett and Simpson are playing, this battle looks too close to call and is definitely far from over, which will very likely force McVay into playing both quarterbacks in the season finale against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Heading into the final week of the preseason, it will be very interesting to see how Bennett Simpson performs in practice as well as how the snaps are managed next Saturday against the Chargers.
When the preseason does conclude, McVay and the staff should be close to deciding a winner at backup quarterback, but if it is still tight, this is a position battle that could linger into the regular season.