The Facts: Last year, Stafford‘s elbow prevented him from throwing at all in the offseason. This year, he was healthy enough to throw from the start of the offseason program, to the finish. As the Rams wrapped up the 2023 offseason program, coach Sean McVay was asked about the difference between last year and this year. “Oh, it’s night and day,” McVay told reporters. “I mean, and he’ll be the first to tell you. You talk about being able to enjoy it. I don’t think I realized it or anybody, and he would never say it because he’s so tough, the amount of pain that he was working through, how limited he was, and he’s a special player. He’s the guy that we all know he is. He’s a mentally, physically tough competitor. He elevates everybody around him."

Diehards Line: McVay says of Stafford “he’s our guy,” even though we heard early in the offseason that the Rams would have welcomed a trade offer for Stafford in lieu of having another $57 million become fully guaranteed. The Jets specifically were the target, in the event they had not gotten Aaron Rodgers. But the Jets obviously did get Rodgers, and no one made a play for Stafford. Now that Stafford is healthy, the question is whether he’ll stay healthy once camp gets going and, more importantly, once the season begins. Offensive line issues got him banged up and eventually unable to play in 2022. It could happen again, especially since Stafford seems to have a habit of keeping his mouth shut and fighting through whatever pain and discomfort he might be experiencing. He might have to do the same this year. As PFT put it, "Frankly, the Rams don’t seem to have improved sufficiently in 2023 to keep Stafford from getting further banged up, once Week 1 arrives."