Fansided

Kyle Shanahan sounds heartbroken the Rams landed Matthew Stafford

By Russell S. Baxter

SONOMA, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 06: San Francisco 49ers head coach, Kyle Shanahan walks the grid prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on June 06, 2021 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
SONOMA, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 06: San Francisco 49ers head coach, Kyle Shanahan walks the grid prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on June 06, 2021 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
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There’s a new starting signal-caller in the City of Angels. And the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers has certainly taken notice.

It was one of the most notable moves of the 2021 NFL offseason. Matthew Stafford is now a member of the Los Angeles Rams.

On a recent episode of The Ringer’s “Flying Coach” podcast with Rams’ head coach Sean McVay and GMFB’s Peter Schrager (via NFL.com’s Kevin Patra), the duo got some thoughts from the another member of the NFC West’s head coaching fraternity via San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan:

"Stafford’s the man. I studied him hard coming out of college, and you always play against him, so you know how good he is. But to know he might be available and to spend two weeks really watching him, Sean, yeah, he’s better than I realized. He was the man. He’s actually underrated to me. I know how good of a guy you got. I know how good he is at play-action. I know how smart he is. Not only does he just have a big arm, but he’s got touch, he knows where to go with the ball. So I was trying to get involved in it…"

Interesting comments indeed considering the 49ers still have talented but injury-prone Jimmy Garoppolo. And of course, the franchise did move up in April’s draft to select Trey Lance. It really shows that the organization has been ready to move off their starting quarterback from Super Bowl LIV.

But could McVay also be concerned about facing such an experienced passer, who has piled up the yards (45,109) and TD passes (282) during his 12-year career? The past two seasons, the Niners have swept the Rams each year. McVay’s team owns a combined 19-13 regular-season record the last past two seasons and four of those losses are to the Niners.

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And perhaps McVay may miss his team squaring off against Jared Goff – now a member of the Detroit Lions?

? In San Francisco’s aforementioned four wins over Los Angeles, the Niners forced the younger signal-caller into a combined six turnovers and held him below 200 yards passing three times. Food for thought?

Never boring in the NFC West.