Bryce Perkins made his first career start in the NFL on Sunday, taking the place of the injured Matthew Stafford. John Wolford was active and could’ve played, but the Rams rolled with Perkins as their starter.
Whether that was because Wolford struggled in his start in Week 10 or because he was limited in practice last week, the Rams made the right call by starting Perkins over Wolford. And moving forward, if Stafford remains out with a neck injury and possible concussion, the Rams should keep rolling with Perkins.
That might be hard to understand when you see his stat line of 100 yards passing, one touchdown and two interceptions, but Perkins played better against the Chiefs than Wolford did against the Cardinals. That’s partly because he used his mobility to move the chains and bail the offensive line out of poor protection.
Perkins carried it nine times for 44 yards, some on designed runs and some on scrambles when the play broke down. Of his nine carries, three of them picked up first downs. In a game when the Rams only had 13 total first downs, that’s not bad.
There are areas where he must improve, which he admitted after the game. The pre-snap procedure has to be better, whether it’s getting the play off in time or reading the coverage properly.
And his first interception was a poor decision made worse by a bad throw, attempting to hit Van Jefferson late to the left side after he was already covered.
But even with the mistakes Perkins made, he seems to have more upside than Wolford. That’s one of the primary reasons the Rams should keep him as their starter if Stafford can’t return. They know what they have in Wolford. He’s played before and played poorly against the Cardinals. With Perkins, there’s probably a lower floor, but he also has a higher ceiling than Wolford if the offense is designed around him.
If Stafford is ruled out again this week, it’ll be interesting to see who gets the bulk of the first-team reps in practice. Perkins did last week because of Wolford’s neck injury, but hopefully that won’t change this week as the Rams prepare for the Seahawks.
