Rams fan poll results: How Rams fans feel about Stafford trade, Tutu Atwell, and Jalen Ramsey’s DPOY chances

What Rams fans had to say about DeSean Jackson vs Tutu Atwell; Cooper Kupp vs Matthew Stafford; Aaron Donald & Jalen Ramsey

News broke on Friday that the Los Angeles Rams are seeking a trade for receiver DeSean Jackson, which is GREAT news for the 20 percent of Rams fans who voted to see Tutu Atwell replace him in the lineup. Whether or not fans would prefer DeSean or Tutu was one of 12 questions that I posed to Rams fans earlier this week and it turns out it wasn’t the only query that carries even more relevance as we head into Week 8’s game against the Houston Texans.

Here are the results of “Tutu or 1?” and 11 other questions from this week. Stay tuned for 5 more poll questions that I’ll be asking you directly after the Texans game on Sunday.

Thank you to everyone who voted!

Fans remain SPLIT on the Kenny Young trade

382 Rams fans said “FALSE” that this was a good move.

374 Rams fans said “TRUE” that it was a good move.

Leave no doubts unturned — trading for Matthew Stafford was GENIUS

Over 60 percent of voters LOVE the Stafford trade nine months after it happened, with another 23 percent coming in at a 9/10.

Overall, 92.1 percent of Rams fans voted at least 8/10 on the Matthew Stafford-Jared Goff swap.

OPOY – Cooper Kupp over Stafford

DPOY – Jalen Ramsey over Aaron Donald

Rams receiver Cooper Kupp leads the NFL in catches, yards, and touchdowns.

Jalen Ramsey has 41 tackles (he had 44 tackles in 15 games last year), six passes defensed, two interceptions, and he’s on pace to blitz the QB twice as many times as he did last year. Ramsey is allowing 6.4 yards per target, 63 percent completions, and a passer rating of 78.3.

Fans remain on the fence about defensive coordinator Raheem Morris

I posted some partial results of this question on Thursday and with the polls finally closed, Rams fans are leaning closer to “good” than “bad” after seven games.

Here’s the deal: Raheem Morris deserves slack when it comes to figuring out a defense with more than half of the starters from last season being replaced, and he needs time to find out if these are players who can get the job done or not. Question his play calling if you want, but be prepared to cite schemes and play calling decisions and to not simply sigh about allowing a first down or pointing to plays allowed per drive.

If you can’t separate the value of the defensive coordinator from the ability of the players to execute the calls, consider why it is then that you are upset with Raheem Morris.

Over 90 percent of fans think 12-5 or better and almost 30 percent say 14-3 or better

There were almost 29 percent of votes counted towards a 14-3 record or better, and fewer than 10 percent thought that LA could lose more than five games. The Rams are 6-1 and they have the Texans, Titans, and 49ers in the next three weeks, prior to a Bye.

If they play up to their talent, the Rams could be 9-1 headed into the Bye week, and then they would only need to go 5-2 down the stretch to win 14 games. That may not be enough for the number one seed this year, but the Cardinals lost to the Packers on Thursday, dropping them to 7-1.

LA’s looking up, but maybe not for long.

Ro-Ro, Row Your Boat, Gently to the Field

Over 50 percent of Rams fans voters wanted to see more of Robert Rochell on defense. Rochell is listed as QUESTIONABLE for Sunday against the Texans, so perhaps LA will turn to Terrell Burgess, who had 24.1 percent of the votes.

Only 17.5 percent are like me (Donte’ Deayon, please) and that left just 47 votes for David Long, Jr., the starter at nickel all during training camp and the start of the season.

There were 397 votes for Robert Rochell, a fourth round rookie out of Central Arkansas. How quickly things can change in the NFL.

Should the Rams trade DeSean Jackson to see more of Tutu At-WELL APPARENTLY NOT!

Almost 80 percent of Rams fans voted that Sean McVay should NOT “bench” DeSean Jackson for more of Tutu Atwell, but then on Friday we learned that Jackson will never play for the Rams again. It’s not just that he’s seeking a trade if LA can find one, McVay noted that Jackson is going to be inactive on Sunday, if he’s with the team at all.

It’s over.

Fans may not have been voting this way because they like Jackson or dislike Atwell, however. It was likely influenced by the fact that we just don’t know anything about Tutu Atwell (McVay admits this himself) and Jackson is barely seeing the field anyway.

In any case, the Tutu Atwell era begins now. It just may continue to not include targets.

All Brian Allen, All Every Day

Perhaps there was no complaint that I heard more often from Rams fans over the offseason than the fact that LA had no center, that they didn’t draft no center, and that Brian Allen would never be no center. After seven games, Brian Allen has become just about every LA Rams fan’s top priority.

Of course, this was unpredictable from every angle and maybe only McVay and Brian Allen could confidently say before training camp that a real change in him had happened over the last year. Allen has gone from the focal point of so many bitter screams in 2019 to getting 51.4 percent of the vote to the question of “Which offensive lineman should the Rams prioritize for an extension?” in 2021.

And that is over a VERY GOOD right guard and one of the more reliable backup left tackles in the NFL.

Allen also did well in the next question…

Rams fans are ready to sign off on the Van Jefferson pick

Without having any real dominant performances this season (Jefferson did catch six-of-six for 90 yards and a touchdown in the loss to Arizona), Van Jefferson has still made most of the plays asked of him to make and he’s getting in-sync with Stafford at quarterback. He’s doing his part to make plays downfield — Jefferson has caught four ~22 yard passes, plus a 67-yard touchdown — but in truth that may just be due to having a better downfield passer at quarterback.

It may not even be that Van Jefferson has improved this year, he’s just getting more opportunities and there are way more explosive passing plays this season. The good news is that Jefferson could turn those opportunities into 50 catches, 700 yards, and eight touchdowns. There’s not really any bad news.

And so when asked which offensive player they would protect out of these options, 40 percent chose Van Jefferson over Allen (27.8 percent) and Darrell Henderson (24.6 percent).

Nobody else came close to them, but 40 people out of 769 chose Bryce Perkins.

The defensive choice is also from the 2020 draft class

And 43 percent of Rams fans wanted to protect safety Jordan Fuller over Sebastian Joseph-Day (33.6 percent), who is a free agent in 2022, and Terrell Lewis (17.2 percent), thanks to having a healthy season with production on the edge. Cornerback Robert Rochell provides a lot of upside at a key position, but understandably fans could be hesitant until seeing him play some more.

NFC favorite? The Bucs won by a lot, and many of the votes came before TNF

I kept the LA Rams OUT of the options, because we’re looking for LA’s best NFC competitor to watch out for, and 45 percent of voters chose the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs have plenty going for them and will be playoff-ready, you’d think, with so many players on the roster who have won a Super Bowl. More than one has won multiple Super Bowls.

The Cardinals still chewed up 33.6 percent of the vote and maybe their ranking would go up even higher given that Arizona really should have beaten Green Bay on Thursday. Given a second chance, will Kyler Murray be hungry to beat the Packers? They only received 14.3 percent of the vote, and you’d think that now that would go up.

The Rams are still just the five-seed, but a win over the Texans on Sunday could help change that in the near future—but it won’t change the voting results of what happened before then and I think it’s good to keep track of how you used to feel.