Rams' Sean McVay Still Undecided on QB2 Battle

Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay said that the QB2 battle behind Matthew Stafford is still undecided ahead of Week 3 of the preseason.

On Monday, McVay revealed that rookie quarterback Ty Simpson will play on Thursday in the team’s final preseason game against the Chargers. 

As for veteran quarterback Stetson Bennett IV, McVay added that he’s still undecided on whether he will play. 

The Rams QB2 battle has been one of the more intriguing roster battles entering training camp, and that remains the case as the final preseason game approaches.

Simpson stole the show in the Rams' Week 1 preseason win over the Kansas City Chiefs, but it was Bennett who bounced back in a big way after a not-so-strong outing in the first game. 

Bennett played the entire first half and led the offense through five possessions and five drives. The veteran quarterback passed for 181 yards and rushed for two touchdowns as he led the Rams to a 20-point lead entering halftime. 

The 28-year-old completed 19 of 31 passes against the Saints and had a quarterback rating of 77.5. Bennett was sacked zero times, as the offensive line had another stellar outing. 

Although Bennett didn’t have the strongest performance in Week 1, there was very little doubt he’d be overtaken for the QB2 spot. He proved that it’s still his spot to lose after a big bounce-back performance against New Orleans. 

As for Simpson, he didn’t light up the box score as he did against the Saints, but he was still solid and continued to look comfortable in his outing. 

The 13th overall pick in this year’s draft completed 8-of-12 passes for 73 yards. Simpson did not record a touchdown against the Saints, but he also didn’t commit a turnover as well. The 23-year-old wasn't sacked and had a better quarterback rating than Bennett at 83.0.

The backup job remains a tight race; however, if Simpson is the lone quarterback under center on Thursday against the Chargers, that could tell us all we need to know about where the QB2 battle stands.  

Simpson entered training camp with a chance to beat out seasoned veteran Stetson Bennett, but the complexity of McVay's offense made that a difficult task. From that standpoint alone, it was tough to envision the rookie entering camp ahead of Bennett on the depth chart.

As things stand, it’s unclear if the rookie quarterback will start for the Rams on Thursday.