Rating the Rams’ Championship Foundation Ahead of a Super Bowl Run

The Los Angeles Rams have one of the strongest rosters in the NFL heading into the 2026 season and are firmly in a championship window. After retooling the roster in 2023 and 2024, the Rams have a competitive roster again and are considered a Super Bowl favorite.

Heading into the offseason, the Rams didn’t have a lot of needs. They needed to fix the cornerback position, which was their Achilles heel in 2025 and cost them in the NFC Championship game. They did that by trading for Trent McDuffie and signing Jaylen Watson. However, the Rams didn’t address any immediate needs during the draft and instead took a player they hope will be their future franchise quarterback.

Did the Rams do enough during the offseason to make a Super Bowl run?

The Blueprint: Breaking Down Bucky Brooks’ Roster Formula.

NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks has a formula he leans on to assess whether a team has a championship foundation in place, as well as a ranking system to gauge the strength of that foundation.

1 quarterback
3 offensive playmakers
3 quality offensive linemen
2 pass rushers
3 back-seven playmakers

Daniel Jeremiah brought this up last week as well.

https://x.com/MoveTheSticks/status/2059313580969988603

It obviously takes more than 12 players to win a Super Bowl. However, this is a great way to gauge the foundation. Given where the Rams are, it’s hard to argue that they don’t have a championship foundation, but this is also a good exercise to see where they may be lacking and where they could look to make a trade later this offseason.

Quarterback - Matthew Stafford

When it comes to the quarterback position, it doesn’t get much better than the league MVP. Matthew Stafford is coming off his best season as a Rams quarterback, winning his first MVP award after throwing for 46 touchdowns and 4,700 yards. However, he is also 38 and managed a back injury last summer.

There will likely be some regression in 2026, but as long as the Rams get efficient play from Stafford, they’ll be in a good spot. The Rams have built a strong team around Stafford and he’s shown that he’s still a top-5 quarterback in the NFL.

Offensive Playmakers

Puka Nacua

Over the past two seasons, Puka Nacua has been one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. Last year, he was a unanimous First-Team All-Pro and arguably should have won Offensive Player of the Year. Nacua has proven over the past few seasons that he can be relied on in the big moments. In six career playoff games, Nacua has three 100-yard games and three touchdowns. Despite the off-field drama, Nacua is one of the pillars of the Rams offense.

Davante Adams

Adams scored 14 touchdowns last season, but at 33 years old, it’s fair to wonder if he can stay at that level. Toward the end of last season, Adams dealt with a hamstring injury and was clearly around 75 percent of the player he was in his prime. The Rams need a second option opposite Nacua and the hope will be that by moving to more 12 and 13 personnel packages, they can keep Adams fresh. However, it is still fair to wonder if Adams can hold up over 17 games.

Kyren Williams

When it comes to Williams, multiple things can be true at the same time. He may not be a top-five running back, but he’s good enough in the Rams offense to be one of the most efficient players at the position in the NFL. He’s rushed for over 1,000 yards and had 10 or more touchdowns in each of the last three seasons. While he lacks explosiveness, if the Rams pair him with someone who can provide it, Williams is more than good enough and can still be relied on..

Quality Offensive Linemen

Kevin Dotson

Dotson may not get the All-Pro or Pro Bowl recognition he deserves, but he changes the math in the Rams’ run game. When Dotson was out with an injury at the end of last season, the Rams averaged nearly a full yard less per carry. He finished as the third-best guard in the NFL via PFF and received five All-Pro votes.

Alaric Jackson

Without Jackson in Week 17 against the Atlanta Falcons last season, it was obvious how important he was to the offensive line. He was the eighth-best tackle in the NFL via PFF in 2025 and ranked fifth in run blocking. Jackson is a stable piece at left tackle and a ‘set-it-and-forget-it’ type of player on the offensive line. There are some health questions with his blood clots, but he has proven to be one of the more reliable tackles in the NFL.

Steve Avila

An argument could be made for Warren McClendon at this spot, but Avila is a big reason why the Rams dominate on the interior. He does need to improve in pass protection, but he’s a very solid left guard and a strong complement to Kevin Dotson. His 19 pressures were the seventh-fewest among guards last season.

Pass Rushers

Jared Verse

The pass rush is the strength of the Rams defense. They put all of their eggs in that basket in 2025, and unfortunately, the secondary couldn’t complement it well enough. There seems to be a narrative that Verse had a sophomore slump in 2025, but he had 80 pressures and 7.5 sacks, both of which were improvements over his rookie season. That doesn’t mean he can’t improve in certain areas, but he is the face of the Rams’ pass rush for good reason.

Kobie Turner

An argument could be made for Byron Young here, but Kobie Turner is an important pass rusher on the inside. Turner had the fifth-most pressures among defensive linemen last season to go with his seven sacks. Despite his smaller size, he holds his own against the run. The Rams are likely going to extend Turner because they view him as an important part of both the defensive line and pass rush.

Back-Seven Players

Trent McDuffie

Heading into 2026, there is an expectation for McDuffie to be a shutdown cornerback. However, that role doesn’t really exist in the same way it once did. The Rams did pay a lot to acquire McDuffie while signing him to a large extension. Still, he hasn’t ever been a shutdown cornerback. The expectation will be for him to provide a versatile presence who can raise the floor of the secondary. There is some risk, but the Rams hope McDuffie can give them exactly what they need.

Quentin Lake

Prior to his injury last season, Lake was playing at a Pro Bowl level. During the first 10 games of the season, the Rams allowed just 17.2 points per game with Lake. After Lake’s injury, the Rams allowed 24.9 points per game. Lake does so much in the Rams defense. He’s able to play the STAR role as well as nickel cornerback. The Rams are also able to line him up as the deep safety. While the Rams don’t usually pay safeties, they made an exception with Lake.

Kam Curl

An argument could be made here for Jaylen Watson or Nate Landman. However, Curl proved himself as one of the best tackling safeties in the NFL last season. After generating a lot of hype during his first training camp, Curl lived up to it in his second year with the team. His best moment came in the NFC Divisional Round when he intercepted Caleb Williams in overtime to give the ball back to the offense.

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