Andrew Whitworth on Matthew Stafford: You can see how hungry he is for success

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Rams left tackle Andrew Whitworth is entering his 16th season after deciding to hold off retirement for another year.

Los Angeles’ new quarterback isn’t quite as experienced. But Whitworth sees the benefits of having a seasoned QB like Matthew Stafford to lead the offense.

“You know what, just being around Stafford, Matthew is one of those guys you can tell, [he’s] just a veteran QB who has played a lot of football and has been a really good football player in this league for a while and is just yearning to have some success,” Whitworth said on Thursday’s episode of the Jim Rome Show. “And you see it in him, how hungry he is, how hard he works, and also just how talented he is. So I think our whole football team is obviously really excited about the opportunity to take the field with him this fall.”

Whitworth added that no matter how talented a quarterback is, there’s no substitute for actual game experience.

“I think it’s pretty invaluable. It’s one of those things that you can’t — I don’t care what a quarterback’s done early in their career, you can’t replace experience and wisdom and the opportunity to see all these defenses,” Whitworth said. “And for Matthew, also, to play in a lot of different offenses. He’s had a lot of different schemes. He’s read things a lot of different ways. So he’s had that opportunity of experience where there’s things he can help young linemen with, there’s things he can help young receivers, backs, tight ends — just little tidbits that he can say, ‘Hey, against this coverage, this is what you’d want to do,’ that almost feels like a coach on the field a little bit.

“I think that’s that added level that a veteran QB gives you that’s just hard to replace. And a guy who’s as talented as him, I think, we’d be lying if we said we weren’t excited about our opportunity this season.”

Head coach Sean McVay similarly praised Stafford’s veteran presence recently, saying the quarterback has been “even better than advertised.” Time will tell if it actually happens, but Stafford has a clear chance to elevate the Rams’ offense back to the top of the league.