UCLA's Lake, Rams Could Be in Store for Big 2025 Season

The ultimate Bruin, Quentin Lake is a Westwood legacy who is starting to establish a foothold in the NFL. A key piece of the Los Angeles Rams' defense, Lake could be on the verge of a new deal that would make him one of the highest-paid Bruins in the NFL.

Lake has been a part of the Rams' renaissance, accelerating their post-Super Bowl LVI rebuild. After an excellent 2025 NFL Draft, the Rams and Lake may be on the verge of something special.

Rams coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead took to the podium after the draft.

"I think the good thing is when you just look at the last two years, you really realize as much as you say, 'Alright, we're going to carry some good momentum," McVay said. "I think you want to learn from stuff. Each of the last couple of years, it's a totally separate season. We want to be able to build, and there is a lot of confidence, but it has to be earned.

"You finish the season in '23 7-1 down the stretch, you go toe-to-toe with Detroit [in the playoffs], and then we start 1-4 this past year. There are a variety of reasons I could give for that, but as you accumulate experience, there is an understanding that every year really is a new year. When you draw on previous experience to understand that you don't take for granted setting the foundation the right way.

"That's what we started talking about last week with the offseason program. These guys are people that we feel like will be a part of that, but they're going to earn it. They're going to come into a great group of guys that are going to welcome them with open arms.

"I do think that we're in a good position to be able to project a lot of confidence, but we have to be able to go earn it and then hopefully stay as healthy as you possibly can, which we've seen what a big deal that is not only for us, but a lot of different teams across the league in what is a really physical sport that we play."

Snead shared his thoughts.

"I'm jacked about this team and jacked to get started, but we're just getting started," he said. "As
Sean always talks about, now build the foundation for what we're going to attempt to do next season and then you take it a phase, a month and a day at a time from there. [I'm] looking forward to going through the process to getting to Week 1 where, 'Uh oh, we're seven days away till they start keeping score and it counts.'"

That foundation sees Lake at the defensive helm. Considering the importance he has and the fact that he's still heavily involved with the UCLA football program, this could be the year Lake becomes the face of the Bruins in the NFL.

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