When it comes to the Los Angeles Rams, there are fewer questions about this team than you may think. Yes, the 53-man Rams roster is yet to be decided, but that is a question that happens every season. Even as recently as 2024, the front office signed a significant number of veteran free agents to aid the team in transitioning into a steadfast contender.
While many of those free agent additions did not pan out as intended, the Rams did manage to achieve the overall goal of claiming a chance to participate in the postseason once more. And this time, the team advanced to the Divisional Round of the 2025 NFL Playoffs before the season ended in a snowstorm at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles.
But the Rams have regrouped and are already aiming for Super Bowl LX.
Can this team get there? Well, with a bit of luck, even more determination, and a lot of excellence, yes. Unlike some of the roster moves from last season that failed to gain traction, the Rams need roster changes to deliver this season. Two of the biggest moves that can have a material impact on the fortunes of the team in 2025 are the additions of veteran wide receiver Davante Adams and veteran nose tackle Poona Ford.
Both veterans step into roles on this team that require immediate and constant contributions this season. If Davante Adams fails to deliver in 2025, can anyone truly envision this offense delivering more points and better yardage than last season? Adams may be an elite receiver, but the team has factored that into their plans for this season.
Similarly, veteran nose tackle Poona Ford is not arriving at this defense on a clean slate. This defense needs to get far better at stuffing the run than last season, and Poona Ford's elite run stuffing from last season made him an ideal acquisition in the offseason. Now, he merely needs to deliver.
But can he?
Those are two huge questions that face the Rams this season. So, when do we cover the team's developing answers for 2025? Believe it or not, Rams OTAs have begun resolving several questions that confronted this team. What are they? Here are three questions that are already beginning to be answered in OTAs, and fans will love the fact that the team is already taking shape.
(3) Nate Landman is pulling ahead as starting ILB
As soon as the LA Rams season ended, fans pivoted to the 2025 NFL season with a checklist of tasks that the front office had to take on to fix this team. Of course, run defense was nearly tops on the list of many fans, and bolstering the team's inside linebacker position was step one to accomplishing that task.
The Rams allowed inside linebackers Christian Rozeboom and Jake Hummel to seek their fortunes and opportunities elsewhere. Unfortunately, the team could not resist the temptation to re-sign last year's starting inside linebacker, Troy Reeder. After the team traded away veteran inside linebacker Ernest Jones IV, the team promoted both ILBs Troy Reeder and Christian Rozeboom to starting roles.
The defense seemed to struggle until Reeder fell to injury, forcing the team to start undrafted linebacker Omar Speights. But if you thought that Speights was starting in 2025, you may need to revise those projections. You see, the team signed veteran inside linebacker Nate Landman, a run-stuffing linebacker who exhibits nearly all of the qualities of Omar Speights, only with plenty of NFL experience.
It was the comparison to Omar Speights' style that disappointed me with his signing. After all, per statistical comparison, Speights was superior. But competing with Speights openly for the starting ILB role in 2025 did not seem to be on the table. Much like the signing of former center Coleman Shelton, the Rams front office seemed to target veterans who would not only arrive and compete with 2024 rookie starters but also claim the inside track to those starting roles.
So far, it appears that Nathan Landman is staking his claim to a starting ILB role in this defense. And the coaching staff is very impressed with what they've seen so far.
It falls to reason that Nate Landman arrived with a solid sense about the Rams' defense. He played under HC Raheem Morris and DC Jimmy Lake in 2024. Morris was the Rams' DC in 2023. Jimmy Lake is the Rams' Senior Defensive Assistant in 2025. So, Landman is perfectly connected to the Rams' defense in terms of coaching staff, philosophy, and tactics.
Landman is a worthy veteran linebacker who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 238 pounds. He started nine of 17 games for the Atlanta Falcons defense in 2024, and 23 of the 36 games he had appeared in over his three years of NFL experience.
In 2023, Landman started in 14 of his 16 game appearances. In that season, he recorded 110 tackles, seven tackles for a loss, 2.0 quarterback sacks, one interception, three deflected passes, three forced fumbles, and only allowed 69 percent of passes thrown his way to find their mark. But he was not perfect. He allowed a touchdown reception that season. And he missed an alarming 13 tackles (10.8 percent missed tackle rate).
In shorts and t-shirts, Landman may be winning the battle to start. But whether or not he can secure his hold on a starting role when the pads go on and players can hit and tackle is the true litmus test.
(2) Terrance Ferguson is gelling with QB Matthew Stafford
The Los Angeles Rams sought rookie TE Dalton Kincaid in 2023 and rookie TE Brock Bowers in 2024. And by 'sought,' I mean to assert that the team aggressively tried to trade up in both respective NFL drafts to position itself to select either player. As fate would have it, the team was unsuccessful in either attempt.
We even have video footage confirming the NFL rumors that the Rams aggressively tried to trade up in the 2025 NFL Draft, all the way from the 26th overall pick to the eighth overall pick. Some have concluded that the Rams sought to trade up for WR Tet McMillan, the rookie who was selected by the Carolina Panthers at the eighth overall selection. But I suspect, in light of the team's relentless pursuit of trading up for a tight end, that Michigan's Colston Loveland may have been in the Rams' crosshairs. The Chicago Bears drafted Loveland with the 10th overall pick.
So the Rams failed to get their guy again? Well, if you examine how the draft played out for the Rams after failing to trade up, you cannot begin to entertain any disappointment. The Rams front office has nailed the last two rookie draft classes, and there is every reason to expect that pattern to happen this year as well.
The Rams may not have landed the highest regarded tight end in 2025, but it appears that they did end up with the most passionate, coachable, and workaholic tight end rookie in the draft by selecting Oregon tight end Terrance Ferguson. Despite the inability of the team to select either of the top two tight ends in 2025, plenty of talented rookie tight ends were within reach. The Rams traded back 20 spots to get a Round 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, and still emerged with one of the draft's top tight ends.
Now the question is, will the Rams actually use him?
The first step to actually seeing rookie TE Terrance Ferguson used in the Rams offense is developing chemistry and rapport with the quarterbacks. And while it's all flag football now, that communication and trust starts now. Terrance Ferguson must assemble a foundation of trust that he will be where he needs to be and will catch every football thrown his way, brick by brick. He must show up now in a phenomenal way so that when the pads go on, QB Matthew Stafford will continue to look his way.
So far, so good.
Nobody can describe a wedding cake from the looks of the batter in a mixing bowl. Unfortunately, that is all anyone has to work with right now. Fans are unlikely to see Stafford throwing to Ferguson until the season opener. So, what can fans do to gauge the chemistry and progress in the meantime?
Matthew Stafford is a wily veteran. He can read his progressions in a flash, noting separation of receivers and secondary coverages, and decide where to throw the football in less than a second. He is not going to be pressured to throw the football to a player because the coach wants him to. So it's up to Terrance Ferguson to give Stafford every reason to throw the football his way.
Of course, the Rams can execute two tight ends more frequently. Ultimately, the decision of who Stafford targets falls to Stafford. Scoring touchdowns in OTAs to Ferguson may not move the needle for fans, but you can bet that it moves the needle for Matthew Stafford. And when it comes down to it, Matthew Stafford decides who does and does not get targeted this season.
(1) Jared Verse in on a mission in 2025
You may suspect that 2024 DROY Jared Verse would be satisfied and content with his performance in the Rams' defense last season. He certainly positively impacted the games he appeared in last season. And he was constantly in pursuit of opposing quarterbacks all season long. But in the aftermath, Jared Verse revisited what he did in his rookie season, and he has reached a conclusion.
He believes that he may have left 10 or more quarterback sacks on the football field in 2024.
Perhaps even more intriguing is the fact that the Rams may agree. That explains the team's interest in hiring former Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots positional coach Drew Wilkens. Wilkens is a pass rush aficionado, a coach who specializes in optimizing the pass rush efforts of the defense.
Drew Wilkens arrives as the Rams' new Defensive Pass Rush Coordinator. That's an odd assignment for a defense that just blew up offensive lines with 17 quarterback sacks in two NFL Playoff games. But what the Rams learned in the postseason is that with the abundant talent suiting up for every game, averaging 8.5+ quarterback sacks per game is within the scope of possibilities.
Now the team has brought in the expertise to the coaching staff to realize that potential more consistently. And if the question about the defense begins with OLB Jared Verse's claim to leaving 10+ quarterback sacks on the football field, where does it end?
If you project OLBs Jared Verse and Bryon Young, and DTs Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske at 10.0+ QB sacks apiece, that is a significant jump over 2024 alone. But it really starts to get exciting when you factor rookie Josaiah Stewart into the mix, and an entirely new arsenal of stunts and blitz packages to free up pass rushers.
Many NFL teams would sit back and conclude that 17 quarterback sacks prove that the defense is on the right track. But the Rams witnessed the significant progress made by the pass rush and then invested in even more resources to see it explode in 2025.
Second-year outside linebacker Jared Verse is not satisfied with chasing a quarterback out of the pocket. He wants to record sacks, and the history of second-year outside linebackers is very much on his side in terms of significant improvement this year. The Rams' young pass rush was bonkers in the NFL Playoffs. But if the stars align in 2025, the team could lead the NFL in quarterback sacks.
As always, thanks for reading.
