Who Is The Rams QB? Playoff Hopes Rest On New LA Starter After Jared Goff Injury

The Los Angeles Rams are turning to a quarterback who most NFL fans have probably never heard of with the team's playoff hopes hanging in the balance. John Wolford is expected to start for Los Angeles when they host the Arizona Cardinals in Week 17 as the NFC West rivals vie for a wild-card berth.

Jared Goff underwent surgery on his broken thumb Monday, sidelining him for the regular-season finale. The injury has forced the Rams to promote Wolford from second on the depth chart to the starter.

Wolford will be the first quarterback in seven years to make his first start for a team in Week 17 with a playoff spot on the line. Kyle Orton did it for the Dallas Cowboys in 2013, making his 70th career start.

"John Wolford will step up," Rams head coach Sean McVay told reporters Monday. "John's done a great job preparing himself all year. If you watch the way that he's worked at it, I know there's confidence from coaches and from his teammates and guys will need to rally around him. But we're excited about the opportunity that John will have to lead the offense this week.”

Sunday won’t simply be Wolford’s first start with the Rams. The 25-year-old has never attempted a pass in an NFL regular-season game.

Wolford has watched every game from Los Angeles’ bench this season as Goff’s backup. The Rams are expected to sign Blake Bortles off the Denver Broncos’ practice squad to be the emergency quarterback Sunday, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. Bortles served as Goff's backup in 2019.

Wolford was Wake Forest’s quarterback from 2014-2017, throwing for 8,794 yards in his college career. He emerged as one of the sport’s most productive quarterbacks in his senior season with 3,192 passing yards, 29 touchdown passes and only six interceptions. Wolford added 683 rushing yards and 10 scores on the ground in 2017.

Undrafted in 2018, Wolford signed with the New York Jets. He played in the team’s final preseason game, going 8-20 for 89 yards and one interception in a 10-9 loss against the Philadelphia Eagles. Wolford played in the Rams’ preseason games last year and was signed to Los Angeles’ practice squad for the regular season.

In between his preseason stints is where Wolford received his most playing time. Wolford was the starting quarterback for the Arizona Hotshots in the now-defunct AAF for the 2019 season. He threw for 1,617 yards, 14 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 95.9 passer rating as Arizona went 5-3.

The Rams clinch a playoff spot with a win on Sunday. If Los Angeles loses, they need the Chicago Bears to lose against the Green Bay Packers to reach the playoffs.