The Los Angeles Rams are by no means a long shot to find success for the upcoming 2025 NFL season. But what is the measure of true success for this team? Will Rams fans be content with another slow start, only to end the season on a hot winning streak? If the team can do no better than 10-7, is that concerning? Do these Rams need to appear in Super Bowl LX, or even win the Super Bowl, to emerge at season's end feeling successful?
The higher the bar, the more room to be disappointed.
But there is no reason to list the many ways to find disappointment. Most fans realize that injuries can derail even the best-laid plans. On the other hand, it's virtually impossible to point to the Rams' recent past and find a season that was not adversely impacted by injuries. Sometimes, the front office avoided disaster by acting quickly and effectively. Sometimes, not.
The Rams' front office is not always effective, but it definitely acts quickly to respond to roster shortcomings. As such, the team has already put into place several veterans on this roster to not only reinforce trouble spots from one year ago, but to compete for the starting role.
Are the Rams so needy that the front office can simply grab veterans out of the NFL Free Agency market to install as front-runners for starting roles in 2025? Not exactly. After all, the front office does not seek out players like a guy with a grocery list. The Rams vet, assess, deliberate, and then redo the process all over again.
This team needs competition in key roles. Where? Let's investigate:
(4) PR/WR Britain Covey
It's about time that ST Coordinator Chase Blackburn finalizes his core group of contributors. After three seasons, Blackburn has landed the right long snapper, punter, and place kicker. Now, it's time to complete the set with a return specialist, and former Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver and returner Britain Covey is perfectly suited for the job.
Standing 5-foot-8 and weighing 173 pounds, Covey is not exactly a guy who is going to do more than flitter through an occasional offensive set of plays. But when he lines up to return punts, watch out. His 4.43-second 40-yard dash speed suddenly kicks in, and he leaves opponents in the dust. He has averaged 21.5 yards per kickoff return and 11.3 yards per punt return. What is so special about that? He seldom fair catches anything. Rather, he runs up to make the catch in a dead run and uses that momentum to put up return yards before coverage gets to him.
He accounted for 417 punt return yards for the Eagles in 2023. The entire Rams team put up just 365 total punt return yards in the 2023 and 2024 seasons combined.
If the Rams get superb production out of the return units, the team will have a leg up on other NFL teams. Britain Covey can deliver superb return production for the team in 2025.
(3) ILB Nate Landman
It's a foregone conclusion that the Rams defense will never boast the presence of a household NFL name at the inside linebacker position like 2022, when the team agreed to sign veteran All-Pro inside linebacker Bobby Wagner for one season. The Rams finished that year with a disappointing 5-12 record, which was a far cry from the mark. And his teammate, ILB Ernest Jones, was traded away shortly afterwards.
But the experience from the 2024 NFL season for the Rams defense at the inside linebacker position was not acceptable either. The team threw together a makeshift pair of veterans in Christian Rozeboom and Troy Reeder, and was forced to reluctantly promote undrafted rookie Omar Speights after Reeder fell to injury.
Speights put up a valiant effort as a rookie, but it was clear that he was not quite prepared for the intensity of play in the NFL Playoffs. The Rams' run defense betrayed the team's hopes of competing in Super Bowl LIX, despite giving the Philadelphia Eagles their stiffest competition on the road.
The fans called for the team to sign a big-name defender to reinforce the inside linebacker position, but the team opted to add an under-the-radar player fresh out of the Atlanta Falcons defense, who was a part-time starter named Nathan Landman.
I won't pretend to be wowed by Landman when the news first broke. I presumed that rookie Omar Speights to be the starter in 2025, and Landman's skill set was far too similar to that of Speights. Through that lens, the Rams seemed to be applying the same template approach at the inside linebacker position that they deployed with the running back, tight end, and wide receiver positions.
What was not evident with Landman's arrival was the expectation that he would win the starting inside linebacker job outright. So far, he is taking the lead in the competition. It makes sense. Landman played for former Rams DC Raheem Morris last season. And he competed for Rams Senior Defensive Assistant Jimmy Lake in 2024, as Lake was the Falcons' Defensive Coordinator.
Landman has impressive size, standing 6-foot-3 and weighing 238 pounds. He gets high marks at stuffing the run and has decent enough pass coverage skills. Best of all, he has started 23 of 36 NFL games.
Omar Speights has not lost the starting ILB job just yet. But it's clear from multiple veteran signings that the team is more comfortable entering postseason competition with veterans on the football field. Nate Landman is one such veteran.
(2) C Coleman Shelton
The saga of how the Rams parted ways with veteran starting center Coleman Shelton is history. He's not the biggest offensive lineman on the team. He's certainly not the most powerful. But Coleman Shelton has a history of getting the offensive line to gel and getting the most out of his teammates when it matters most.
Keep in mind that Shelton was the Rams' starting center when the team went on a four-game winning streak in the postseason that culminated in winning Super Bowl LVI. Shelton stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 285 pounds. In the past three seasons, he has appeared and started in 47 of 51 games. So it's logical to conclude that he is a durable offensive lineman.
Rookie center Beaux Limmer appeared in 16 games last season, starting in 14. Limmer stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 312 pounds. It's that extra body mass, almost entirely composed of muscle, that attracted the Rams to select Limmer in the 2024 NFL Draft. But the team decided to sign veteran IOL Jonah Jackson last season, and cross-train left guard Steve Avila to the center position, which made Shelton expendable.
Avila didn't pan out at center, forcing the team to slide Jackson into the center position.
It was Avila's injury in Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season that forced the team to shuffle players once more. Jackson reverted to left guard, and Limmer found himself starting.
Limmer did well enough throughout the regular season, but he struggled to call proper blocking in the playoffs. At one critical point in the game, Philadelphia Eagles DT Jalen Carter was unopposed in his straight-line pass rush against QB Matthew Stafford. Many view those two plays as time wound down as a pivotal moment that resulted in the Rams' loss.
Shelton brings experience under pressure to the Rams' offensive line, and he is quite familiar with the other four starters. It may be that Limmer can win the battle to earn the start in training camp. But it appears that the Rams brought Shelton back to start for the team, and give veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford one more opportunity to hoist another Lombardi Trophy.
(1) CB Emmanuel Forbes
There are many perspectives about the quality of the Rams' secondary from 2024, but unless those reviews break last season into separate quartiles, there is almost no validity to the belief that the Rams' pass defense is struggling.
When the season opened, the Rams' defense was under new management. DC Chris Shula was promoted from positional coach to Defensive Coordinator. But even promoted, he has a new defensive philosophy, strategy, and tactics to deploy. And it didn't help that cornerback Derion Kendrick was lost for the season, Darious Williams suffered a hamstring injury and was unable to suit up, and free agent cornerback Tre'Davious White was completely ineffective as he tried to fight back from two consecutive season-ending injuries.
The Rams also lost safety John Johnson III to injury in Week 1.
The Rams signed veteran cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon after the first four weeks of the season. And Witherspoon was instantly elevated to compete against the Green Bay Packers in Week 5. From that point on, the Rams would be beaten just three times after the Week 6 BYE.
The Rams lost winnable games against the Miami Dolphins in Week 10. The Philadelphia Eagles and RB Saquon Barkley ran roughshod over an unprepared Rams run defense. And the Rams would lose Week 18 as the team sat all starters to face the Seattle Seahawks in a meaningless game.
In Weeks 15, 16 and 17, the Rams defense allowed six, nine, and nine points respectively
In the 2025 NFL Playoffs, the Rams' pass rush recorded 16 quarterback sacks, while the pass coverage allowed just 40 of 60 passes to be completed for a total of 228 net passing yards, one touchdown, and one interception. That averages out to 114 passing yards per game.
All through it all, the Rams had claimed former Washington Commanders cornerback Emmanuel Forbes off waivers. Now, Forbes enters the competition.
He is not alone. Veteran Ahkello Witherspoon finally enjoys the first Rams training camp in 2025 after starting for the team for two previous seasons. But it's Forbes who seems to be raising eyebrows and dropping jaws in OTAs so far.
Forbes has historically looked very good in OTAs, when it's all run and catch flag football. The true test for the Rams and Forbes is when the pads go on. Will he hold up against physical receivers like Puka Nacua, Jordan Whittington, or Tyler Higbee? If he can, he flips the Rams defense into elite status and gives the team a huge and positive response to early defensive struggles from a year ago.
Whether or not the front office adds more players to the secondary, they may have enough on the roster right now. If Forbes can show his potential in coverage in 2025, the Rams appear to have the depth and proficiency in the secondary to put up a solid effort this season.
The front office tried and failed to tap into the NFL Free Agency market to improve the team in 2024. Perhaps the team's luck will change this season. If it does, this will be a fun season for Rams fans.
As always, thanks for reading.
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