When the 53-man rosters are set in September, the Los Angeles Rams are almost certain to have one of the youngest teams in the NFL, if not the youngest. There’s an infusion of youth on this team following the departures of key veterans and the addition of about 40 rookies, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Sean McVay has spoken countless times about the energy the Rams’ young players are bringing to practice and that’s only expected to continue in training camp, the preseason and the regular season. Matthew Stafford is seeing the same thing, which has him excited entering his third year with Los Angeles.
As the quarterback, he’s naturally the primary leader of the team, but he’s not changing up his leadership style just because the Rams’ roster is younger.
“You know, I’m going to continue to be myself and lead the way that I know how, as I know those other guys will as well,” Stafford said last week. “It is really fun being around all this youth, all these guys that bring a bunch of energy. They’re hungry to learn which is awesome and I think bring their own personalities to our team, which is going be a lot of fun. But you know, as far as my role, I feel like as the quarterback, you’re always the leader of the team and just doing everything I can to try to get us going in the right direction.”
Stafford has been in the NFL for 14 years, all as a starting quarterback. He has as much experience leading a team as anyone in the league today, so he knows what it takes to rally his teammates and keep them on the right path throughout the season.
This may be one of the youngest rosters in the league, but not every team has a trio of veteran leaders like the Rams have with Stafford, Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald.
