A Rams rival in the NFC West may have a serious problem on their hands

The San Francisco 49ers were reportedly interested in trading with the Detroit Lions for QB Matthew Stafford back in 2021, but ultimately the Los Angeles Rams got the deal done instead. The 49ers then turned their focus to the draft, where they traded multiple first round draft picks for the opportunity to select Trey Lance.

Three years later, Lance has seemingly fallen to third on the depth chart and has been abysmal to start training camp.

The bad news doesn’t stop there for San Francisco, as last year’s starter Brock Purdy has also been up and down over the first few days of camp. Purdy is working his way back from an UCL injury suffered in the NFC Championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles. He’s fully cleared for the season, but the 49ers will be smart in working him back—and it seems the plan is for Purdy to be on a rest count and have scheduled rest days.

Sam Darnold is currently penciled in as Purdy’s backup. Former Ram Brandon Allen is San Francisco’s apparent fourth-stringer, though Allen has had nearly as many reps as Lance in the early goings of training camp:

While the 49ers have a roster that is competitive top to bottom and is capable of competing amongst the best of either NFL conference, they could find themselves hamstrung by the quarterback positions. Could struggles at QB create an opening for the Rams to surprise and take back their hold on the NFC West?

To Los Angeles’ credit, they have stability at the position with Matthew Stafford now fully healthy. LA has embraced a youth movement on its defense, but there’s still enough talent to work with on offense—and the team has poured significant resources into its offensive line to keep Stafford upright.

The Rams and 49ers have been to three Super Bowls and four NFC Championship games combined since 2018, and if a championship-caliber roster falls apart for San Francisco history could look back on the Stafford trade as LA seizing their moment and weakening an important foe.

There’s still plenty of time for Brock Purdy to regain the momentum he built up a year ago, though the early indications from training camp are concerning for the 49ers. If the second-year QB is unable to turn things around quickly, Matthew Stafford and the Rams may be able to retake their hold on the NFC West.

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