It took one rep for this Rams rookie to start climbing the depth chart

How do you fix the Los Angeles Rams' offense for 2025? It may seem easy enough, as everyone knows who the team parted ways with and who the team added. But when it comes to specific problems, who solves those challenges for this year? It's no easy task to wake up to the knowledge that the Rams' weaknesses, challenges, and shortcomings fall on you to make them right. That includes Rams GM Les Snead and Rams HC Sean McVay.

As is so often the case, the buck stops there.

So, let's tackle this conundrum together. We know that the Rams' offense fell short of expectations in 2024. And the single most significant statistic for any offense is points scored. Ultimately, nobody cares whether the offense drives the length of the football field for a touchdown, or simply recovers a muffed punt at the one-yard line and punches it in. In both cases, the scoreboard reflects six points added to the score for a touchdown.

But recognizing the objective is not the same as diagnosing the problem.

(4) - Rams Red Zone offense was problematic in 2024

We cited the Rams' Red Zone offense as a problem in the 2024 NFL Playoffs when the team moved the football to within the Detroit Lions' 20-yard line four times, but had to settle for four field goals. The inability of the Rams to score touchdowns in the Red Zone was the reason why the team lost the game.

So you may have expected the team to focus on improving its ability to put touchdowns on the scoreboard whenever the team rolled into the Red Zone last season. But that never happened. The LA Rams plummeted from eighth-place in red zone scoring in 2023 to 25th-place in red zone scoring in 2024. In gross percentages, the team dropped from scoring 60.34 percent of the time in 2023 to just 51.39 percent of the time in 2024.

Houston, we have a problem.

Now the trick is to find when and where the Rams failed to execute in the Red Zone.

(3) - Rams rushing touchdowns in the Red Zone

If you focus on how well the Rams' offense did by running in the red zone, you must turn your attention to RB Kyren Williams. Williams was the sole running back to run into the endzone for the Rams in 2024. He scored 14 touchdowns in 65 rushing attempts inside the red zone, which works out to a touchdown rate of 21.5 percent.

In 2023, Kyren Williams scored 11 touchdowns in 50 rushing attempts, for a touchdown rate of 22.0 percent. While Williams scored more frequently in 2024, his rate of scoring was very similar. That suggests that we have to look elsewhere to find the drop.

(2) - Rams passing touchdowns in the Red Zone

The image begins to form as you turn to the Rams' passing effectiveness in the Red Zone. Rams starting quarterback Matthew Stafford tied for the 13th-most passing touchdowns in the red zone with 16, but the true story lies a bit deeper. Stafford only completed 46.48 percent of his passes within the opponent's 20-yard line. For quarterbacks who attempted more than 20 red zone passes, that is only better than three other NFL quarterbacks.

That is not good.

In 2023, Stafford tied for the eighth-most passing touchdowns in the NFL with 17. But even then, his completion percentage in the Red Zone was only 48.72 percent. You have to dial the calendar back to 2021 before you find a year in which Matthew Stafford completed more than 50 percent of his passes in the Red Zone. In 2021, Stafford scored 32 TD passes in the red zone.

So what was so different about the Rams offense in 2021?

(1) - Who can help with the Rams RZ woes?

In 2021, Rams Q!B Matthew Stafford threw for 4,886 yards, 41 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions. Since we know that he threw for 32 touchdowns in the Red Zone, it leaves nine touchdown tosses to fall more than 20 yards away. While that may not seem like a large number compared to a total of 41 TD passes, it is huge compared to his totals in 2022 through 2024 with 10, 24, and 20 touchdowns, respectively.

Stafford threw for seven, 17, and 16 touchdowns in the Red Zone in that same years.

It is never easy for a rookie to crack the lineup in Year 1, but offensive rookies seem to have a very difficult time getting offensive snaps. Either it simply takes a long time for the coaching staff to trust newcomers, or the offense is so complex and difficult to learn that rookies need time to get it right. Still, rookies have contributed in the past, but only in dire need.

Trust the luck of this Duck

When the Rams drafted Oregon TE Terrance Ferguson with the 46th overall pick in Round 2, many simply believed it to be the culmination of a three-year quest to add a top-tier rookie tight end to the Rams roster. The team was seeking to do more than fill veteran tight end Hunter Long's spot on the roster.

The front office was looking for ways to fortify several areas of the roster that had fallen below expectations, while giving the team new opportunities to gain yards and score points. And it very much looks like Terrance Ferguson will bring that to the team.

The Rams need a red zone threat. Terrance Ferguson was the epitome of FBS red zone threats. In the past two seasons, he scored 14 touchdowns from two different quarterbacks. Over that same time, all tight ends on the Rams roster over the past two seasons scored just nine touchdowns in the Red Zone.

Red Zone receiving TDs in the last two seasons:

Terrance Ferguson at Oregon: 14 (3rd in FBS)
Every Rams TE combined: 9 (T-25th in NFL) https://t.co/6TMwyOcS33 pic.twitter.com/shFoFA3Z4R

— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) June 8, 2025

As the 33rd team pointed out in the string above, Terrance Ferguson ranked first among tight ends who tested at the 2025 NFL Scouting combine at

• 40 time: 4.63
• 10-yard split: 1.55 (tie w/ Mitchell Evans)
• Max speed during 40: 21.83 MPH
• Vertical: 39”

So the Rams added a tight end who can score and possesses key athleticism. But what about his quarterback, Matthew Stafford? If Stafford doesn't throw his way, Ferguson is just another blocker. Well, don't look for Stafford to be shunning Ferguson too often in 2025:L

There are many areas that need to be addressed and improved with the Rams before they can contend for a spot in the NFL Playoffs. But rookie TE Terrance Ferguson is more than window dressing or icing on the cake. He is a very versatile offensive weapon who the Rams will use in the Red Zone to score.

It won't be easy, but it most certainly be worth it.

As always, thanks for reading.