These are the players the Rams lost from last year's team:
QB Jimmy Garoppolo
WR Tutu Atwell (Dolphins)
TE Nick Vannett
OT Rob Havenstein (retiring)
OT D.J. Humphries
LB Nick Hampton (Panthers)
LB Troy Reeder
CB Cobie Durant (Cowboys)
CB Derion Kendrick (Cowboys)
CB Roger McCreary (Lions)
CB Darious Williams (retiring)
CB Ahkello Witherspoon (Commanders)
LS Jake McQuaide
The only starters on that list are CBs and the Rams replaced them with McDuffie and Watson. Depending on how you measure it that's somewhere between a huge upgrade and an unbelievably huge upgrade.
Outside the 2 CBs all the other starters return from last year's 12-5 team.
This year the Rams play a 2nd place schedule instead of a 1st place schedule which should work in their favor.
In addition to the CB deficiency last year the Rams were pretty bad on special teams. Out with Blackburn, in with Ventrone. TBD, of course, but probably an upgrade.
There also seems to be more of an emphasis on acquiring players who excel on special teams (Stuard [
www.therams.com], Cardona [
ramblinfan.com], plus a number of their UDFAs (Walls, Connors, Hill-Green, Anderson, and Fourqurean to name a few)). Naturally, it's who makes the final 53 that matters, not who gets signed in April, but the change in Special Teams priorities has been evident so far.
When I look at all of that it doesn't occur to me that the Rams will lose 3 more games in 2026 than they did in 2025. Maybe it's me that's missing something and I was hoping you could clue me in on what you're seeing.
AlbaNY_Ram
