2025 NFL Season Preview: Los Angeles Rams

Los Angeles Rams (Last Year: 10-7)

2025 NFL Season Preview:

Veteran Additions:
WR Davante Adams, OT D.J. Humphries, C Coleman Shelton, NT Poona Ford, LB Nate Landman.
Early Draft Picks:
TE Terrance Ferguson, OLB Josaiah Stewart, RB Jarquez Hunter. Rams Rookie Forecast
Offseason Losses:
WR Cooper Kupp, WR Tyler Johnson, TE Hunter Long, OT Joseph Noteboom, G Jonah Jackson, DT Bobby Brown, DT Mike Hoecht, LB Christian Rozeboom, S John Johnson.

2025 Los Angeles Rams Offense:
There was some speculation much earlier in the offseason that Matthew Stafford would be traded and left tackle Alaric Jackson would be allowed to walk via free agency. Rumors floated about a complete Rams rebuild, which never made much sense because the team came closest to beating the Eagles in the playoffs last year. Common sense eventually prevailed, as the Rams not only retained their core group of players, but found a massive upgrade at receiver.

Puka Nacua is emerging as one of the best receivers in the NFL, but the Rams saw Cooper Kupp decline rapidly in 2024. Kupp had some nice games in the first half of the season, but was a shell of his former self to close out the year. He’s now gone, but the Rams found an upgrade in Davante Adams, who will be one of the top No. 2 receivers in the NFL this season. Stafford will also be able to utilize Tyler Higbee, who missed the regular season but returned to have a couple of brilliant performances in the playoffs.

Jackson, meanwhile, was re-signed to remain the team’s blind-side protector. He’s an excellent blocker, so Stafford should have felt thrilled to have him on the team again. Jackson was set to form a terrific tandem with Rob Havenstein, though Havenstein missed six games last year. Jackson, however, will be the player to miss action this season, as he was diagnosed with blood clots. He could return by the end of the year, but that’s unknown. The Rams signed D.J. Humphries, but he resembled a human turnstile last season.

Steve Avila was another lineman who missed several games. He was out for seven contests, but he and Kevin Dotson will return to form a strong guard duo. Dotson is arguably the best blocker on the Rams’ offensive line. He and Avila will flank Coleman Shelton, who will be looking to upgrade the Rams’ lone starting liability from last year, Beaux Limmer. Shelton isn’t anything special, but he still figures to provide the Rams better play at center than Limmer did.

Kyren Williams will welcome the improved blocking. He rushed for 1,299 yards and 14 touchdowns last year, but wasn’t as efficient as he was the prior season. Stronger blocking will give Williams a chance to have a better season.

2025 Los Angeles Rams Defense:
Matthew Stafford was obviously instrumental in nearly defeating the Eagles in the divisional round of the playoffs. Another huge factor was the amount of pressure the Rams were able to place on Jalen Hurts. The Rams were only in the middle of the pack in pressure rate last year, but they amped up the amount of heat they were able to generate on opposing quarterbacks late in the season.

Jared Verse was a huge part of that. Verse, the Rams’ 2024 first-round pick, had just 4.5 sacks as a rookie, but he was incredibly impressive down the stretch. He was able to blow by Philadelphia’s Pro Bowl tackles with ease, which indicates that he’s going to have a monstrous sophomore campaign. He’ll bookend 2023 third-round selection Byron Young, who logged 7.5 sacks last year. Another third-round choice was just used on Josaiah Stewart to help improve the edge-rushing depth.

The Rams’ two leaders in sacks last year played on the defensive line, with Verse’s fellow rookie Braden Fiske notching 8.5 sacks. Kobie Turner, the other five-technique, collected eight sacks. They’ll flank new nose tackle Poona Ford, who should help the Rams’ run defense, which was a liability for the team last season.

The greatest liability on the Rams’ roster in 2024 was the linebacker corps. The linebackers struggled mightily in coverage, so this was an area the Rams absolutely had to address. They signed former Falcon Nate Landman, who was just mediocre last year. Still, mediocre is a big improvement over the inept Christian Rozeboom. Landman figures to start next to Omar Speights, who is a fine two-down linebacker who doesn’t do very well in coverage, but can play the run well.

Another problematic area for the Rams is cornerback. Darious Williams and Cobie Durant will return as the starters on the outside, while Quentin Lake will play the nickel once again. Durant is a fairly decent player, but Williams is coming off a down year. Williams has performed well in the past, so perhaps he can rebound in 2025. Lake is rather mediocre.

The best player in the Rams’ secondary is Kamren Curl, who had a nice first season in Los Angeles after playing in Washington. The talented safety will start next to Kamren Kinchens, who is coming off a solid season.

2025 Los Angeles Rams Schedule and Intangibles:
The Rams don’t have the best home-field advantage. They’re 43-26 as hosts since moving back to Los Angeles, but they’re 44-28 on the road during the same span. In a crumbling city comprised of heavy traffic, high taxes, countless homeless people, diseases from the 1800s, and insufferable celebrities who think they know what’s best for everyone else, there aren’t many people who care about professional football.

The Rams had major kicking problems in 2023, so they spent a sixth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft on Joshua Karty. It paid off well, as Karty was 29-of-34 as a rookie. He drilled 6-of-7 tries from 50-plus.

Ethan Evans was a seventh-round choice in 2023. He finished 20th in net punting, but did a great job of pinning the opposition inside the 20.

Los Angeles’ schedule is mixed. The team has non-divisional battles against the Texans, Eagles, Ravens, and Lions. However, they also have easy contests against the Colts, Saints, and Panthers.

2025 Los Angeles Rams Rookies:
Go here for the Rams Rookie Forecast, a page with predictions like which rookie will bust and which rookie will become a solid starter.

2025 Los Angeles Rams Positional Rankings (1-5 stars):

Quarterbacks	Offensive Line	Secondary
Running Backs	Defensive Line	Special Teams
Receivers	Linebackers	Coaching

2025 Los Angeles Rams Analysis: As mentioned earlier, the Rams came closest to beating the Eagles in the playoffs last year. They looked to be one of the best teams in the NFL, thanks to their excellent coaching, electric offense, and improving pass rush. They have issues at linebacker and cornerback, but if they can overcome those problems and get Alaric Jackson back prior to the playoffs, they can make another Super Bowl run.

Projection: 11-6 (TBA in NFC West)

2024 Projection: 12-5. 2024 Actual Result: 10-7.
2023 Projection: 5-12. 2023 Actual Result: 10-7.
2022 Projection: 11-6. 2022 Actual Result: 5-12.
2021 Projection: 12-5. 2021 Actual Result: 12-5.
2020 Projection: 5-11. 2020 Actual Result: 10-6.
2019 Projection: 9-7. 2019 Actual Result: 9-7.
2018 Projection: 9-7. 2018 Actual Result: 13-3.
2017 Projection: 3-13. 2017 Actual Result: 11-5.
2016 Projection: 3-13. 2016 Actual Result: 4-12.

NFL Draft Team Grade: C- Grade

Goals Entering the 2025 NFL Draft: The Rams may have considered blowing everything up and beginning anew when they were rumored to be shopping Matthew Stafford. However, they are all in, so it would make sense to address their very few needs. Cornerback, linebacker, and center are the three areas that must be improved. It wouldn’t hurt to find a receiver either, given that Davante Adams is past 30.

2025 NFL Draft Accomplishments: The Rams had an incredible draft last year, so surely they could follow that up with another strong haul, right? Well, if the needs are considered, that is not the case. Cornerback, linebacker and center, the team’s top three needs, were not addressed at all, save for the 172nd pick on linebacker Chris Paul Jr. The Rams inexplicably passed on all the cornerbacks and centers.

Needs don’t really need to be addressed if a team finds amazing values instead. The Rams, however, did not aside from their fifth-round choice on Ty Hamilton. The second-round selection of Terrance Ferguson was extremely disappointing, as was the fourth-round pick of Jarquez Hunter. The only Rams selection graded favorably outside of Hamilton was the third-round pick, Josaiah Stewart, who could help rattle Jalen Hurts with his tremendous pass-rushing ability.

I like the upgrades the Rams made to their front seven. However, there were far too many whiffs in this class for Los Angeles to be graded favorably.

NFL Draft Individual Grades:

46. Terrance Ferguson, TE, Oregon – C- Grade

This is a reach. I thought Terrance Ferguson would go in the third or fourth round, so it’s not an egregious reach, but Ferguson was taken too early nonetheless. We knew the Rams were looking for a tight end as insurance for Tyler Higbee, but they could have drafted a similar player a round or two later.

90. Josaiah Stewart, DE/OLB, Michigan – B+ Grade

More pass rush for the Rams, who gave the Eagles more problems than any other team in the playoffs. Josaiah Stewart is a dangerous pass rusher, but he’s undersized. Still, he should be a good player in the NF

117. Jarquez Hunter, RB, Auburn – B- Grade

The Rams traded up for Shed- I mean, Jarquez Hunter. He’s a physical, downhill runner who could end up being a better backup for Kyren Williams than Blake Corum. It makes sense for the Rams to draft Hunter, but I don’t think they needed to trade up for him.

148. Ty Hamilton, DT, Ohio State – A+ Grade

I had Ty Hamilton as a third- or fourth-round prospect. Ty Hamilton is quick and athletic, so he could emerge as a starter in the NFL. The Rams need pass rushers to take down the Eagles, so this could be a crucial selection.

172. Chris Paul Jr., LB, Ole Miss – B Grade

Chris Paul was expected to be a fifth-round pick, and that’s exactly where he went. This is a logical selection for the Rams, who had severe linebacker issues last year. They really needed to attack the position.

242. Konata Mumpfield, WR, Pittsburgh – B Grade

Konata Mumpfield got some buzz late in the pre-draft process, but he’s a slower receiver. This is an OK pick.

Follow me @walterfootball for updates.