See which players made the cut!
For a team considered a Super Bowl contender, the Los Angeles Rams don’t possess much star power. There are plenty of excellent players on the roster, just very few (if any) who will pack the stands come September. That much was reflected in CBS Sports’ analyst Pete Prisco’s rankings of the NFL’s top 100 players.
Only three Rams players made the cut, and they were the most expected and deserving candidates. Reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year Jared Verse was L.A.’s highest-rated player in Prisco’s column, coming in at No. 54:
“Verse had 4.5 sacks as a rookie, but the pressure numbers show how dominant he can be as an edge player. He did rack up a lot of them on his way to winning Defensive Rookie of the Year honors. He’s also good in the run game. This could be his breakout sack season.”
The second-year defender should be in for a monster campaign if he can increase his sack numbers. Unsurprisingly, the other two Rams players mentioned happened to be the team’s top wideouts. Puka Nacua was the No. 63 player overall, according to Prisco:
“He was limited to 12 games because of injury, yet Nacua still managed to catch 79 passes with three touchdowns. That number was down from the 105 he had as a rookie, but he did average more catches per game.”
Davante Adams, L.A.’s major free agency splash and Nacua’s newest partner in crime, came in at No. 91:
“Adams turns 33 in December, so age is starting to become a factor. He was never a burner, so that’s a concern. But the Rams offense would seem to be perfect for how he plays. Playing for the Raiders and Jets, he still had 85 catches and eight touchdown receptions.”
Age is a reasonable concern for Adams, yet he managed a 1,000-yard campaign despite being traded during the seasonand having to put up with mediocre quarterback play in both stops. The Nacua-Adams pairing should make the Rams, and more importantly, Matthew Stafford, more dangerous in the passing game.
Compared to the early days of Sean McVay’s tenure, L.A. doesn’t need a bunch of household names to be successful. The Rams have made the postseason in back-to-back seasons, largely due to their youth. Superstars are a nice luxury to have, but given which formula has gotten Los Angeles back into contention, it’s not always a necessity.