Contextualizing the talent on this team

[Rambitious1]

How about vs. the 2001 Rams with the following players:

QB Kurt Warner
RB Marshall Faulk
WR Isaac Bruce
WR Torry Holt
TE Ernie Conwell
LT Orlando Pace
RG Adam Timmerman
DE Grant Wistrom
MLB London Fletcher
CB Aeneas Williams

Of course they lost the Super Bowl vs. the Patriots.

Did they?
I mean Actually lose........?

 

[thirteen28]

It's crazy how stacked this team is now. To the point where it makes me paranoid. We just need the football Gods to favor us with health.

Well, at least we have the FO that tries to stack the odds in their favor, rather than just saying “we’re close” and then hoping things work out. We had a decent chance of going to the show without the offseason we had, but McSnead decided that wasn’t good enough and went out and got some difference makers.

 

[PhillyRam]

Still wondering why the Rams cut him loose. It's a hole they've tried to fill ever since.

Snead mentioned in a recent interview something to the effect that if a player is not on board with what they're doing, he sticks out and its not a comfortable situation for that player. My guess is he was bitching about wanting a contract extension and it was affecting his off the field workout and team activities. And they simply got him out of the building.

In Seattle we have seen him being more open and blunt in his interviews. He was likley like that behind the scenes with the Rams relating to an extension and they got tired of it.

 

[fearsomefour]

I've been thinking about this team relative to our Super Bowl team, and I think it is truly insane how good this team is, so I wanted to stack it up player to player:

Stafford - Stafford - Matt, if anything, seems to be getting better

Kyren/Corum - Michel/Henderson/Akers - the Kyren/Corum are tiers above those guys

Puka/Davante - Kupp/Woods - Kupp went off this year, but IMO Puka is better, and Davante better than Woods

Parkinson - Higbee - I'll say a push, but we are using our TEs much better

Alaric - Whitworth - Whitworth was better, but I don't think the gap is huge

Avila - Edwards - Edwards was solid, but I think Avila is better

Shelton - Allen - ironic that both are/were not popular here, but I think Shelton is a smidge better

Dotson - Corbett - not even close, Dotson

McClendon - Havenstein - IMO this is a wash with how well Warren played last year



Kobie - AD - obviously AD

Poona - Gaines - I liked Gaines, but Poona was better

Fiske - A'Shawn - again, I liked A'Shawn, but this is Fiske

Garrett - Von - obviously MG here

Young - Floyd - Young is better

Landman - Jones - Jones was a rookie, I think Landman is better here for how good Jones was at the time

Speights - Howard - Speights is better

McDuffie - Ramsey - I think Ramsey was a smidge better, but he also played pretty poorly in the playoffs overall

Watson - Williams - I was a big fan of Darious, and he played well, but I think Watson is a touch better

Lake - Deayon - our third CB spot was ROUGH that Super Bowl year

Kinchens/Curl - Rapp/Fuller/Weddle - yiiiiiiiiiikes


This is an overly simplistic way to view it, but by my estimation, the 2026 Rams are better at 8/11 key spots on offense, worse at one spot, and a push on two

For defense, better at 10/12 key spots, worse at two - one of those is Ramsey/McDuffie which may be arguable.

And then this teams depth is light years better - backup QB, TEs, DL depth, secondary depth.

And that 2021 team won the Super Bowl....

One of the best signings and such a key, yet undervalued (by casual fans/media) part of this defense is Poona Ford.
Dude is a stud.
You simply will have a hard time running in the A gaps when Poona is in.
Huge signing.

 

[Ramstien]

The improved backend of this defense is the biggest improvement on this team as a whole and for heavens sakes let the dogs eat, no soft arse zone coverage.

 

[Pupped]

What!? Jones was a rookie in the SB. He was drafted in 2021.

Strongly disagree on him being better at that point. One may argue that he was better later but that can't be statistically substantiated.

He wasn't a rookie by the time he played in the Super Bowl. He had a full NFL season under his belt.
Anyway.. fine.. but Jones special ability as a blitzer was one of the key factors in the Super Bowl.

 

[fanotodd]

I almost fell for it, but this is where this thread dies.

One team has a ring.
The other hasn’t even had an official practice.

Carry on.

 

[DzRams]

Still wondering why the Rams cut him loose. It's a hole they've tried to fill ever since.

The hole was filled last year.

145 tackles, 14 TFL, 4.5 sacks, 6 QB hits, 6 PD, 0 FF, 0 INT, 0 FR

132 tackles, 8 TFL, 2.5 sacks, 5 QB hits, 6 PD, 4 FF, 1 INT, 2 FR

These are the stat lines of Landman and Jones' best year on the Rams. Is there much difference?

 

[Memento]

How about vs. the 2001 Rams with the following players:

QB Kurt Warner
RB Marshall Faulk
WR Isaac Bruce
WR Torry Holt
TE Ernie Conwell
LT Orlando Pace
RG Adam Timmerman
DE Grant Wistrom
MLB London Fletcher
CB Aeneas Williams

Of course they lost the Super Bowl vs. the Patriots.

I know he's an utter piece of shit, but you have to include Leonard Little in that category with 14.5 sacks in a limited role. Andy McCollum was a helluva center as well, and Hakim was still the #3 receiver. Dre Bly also was amazing. Marc Bulger was the backup.

Kim Herring, Tommy Polley, Tyoka Jackson, Adam Archuleta, Ryan Pickett, Jeff Zgonina, Brandon Manumaleuna, Tom Nutten, Ryan Tucker, Mark Fields, Chidi Ahanotu, Rod Jones, Jerametrius Butler, etc. There was a fuckload of talent on that team, even if they never showed it with the Rams. It's at least comparable with this team, in my honest opinion; we had stars from other teams join us for a Super Bowl run that almost - and should have - happened.

And as far as losing? They were absolutely cheated in that Super Bowl, and everyone fucking knows it.

 

[WestCoastRam]

Still wondering why the Rams cut him loose. It's a hole they've tried to fill ever since.

Word was he was making noise about a new contract in a way that was unacceptable to McVay. I think they were worried that he was sh*t talking management in the locker room and didn't want it to blow over into the season.

 

[DzRams]

Word was he was making noise about a new contract in a way that was unacceptable to McVay. I think they were worried that he was sh*t talking management in the locker room and didn't want it to blow over into the season.

Basically, it sounds like he violated the 'We, Then Me' culture.

 

[SteezyEndo]

and Davante better than Woods

Well. Woods is different in many ways than Adams. Woods was good at his craft and he made others around him ie. Kupp much better. Now that Woods is our Assistant WR Coach I feel that our WRs will be that much better especially the newbies.

 

[RamFan58years]

The hole was filled last year.

145 tackles, 14 TFL, 4.5 sacks, 6 QB hits, 6 PD, 0 FF, 0 INT, 0 FR

132 tackles, 8 TFL, 2.5 sacks, 5 QB hits, 6 PD, 4 FF, 1 INT, 2 FR

These are the stat lines of Landman and Jones' best year on the Rams. Is there much difference?

Stats don't tell the whole story. Landman's play went appreciably downhill the latter part of the year. But every time I saw Seattle the last few weeks/playoffs it seemed Jones was making a big play. He's a ballhawk, he's tough, and he's a leader on a SB winning defense with SAM DARNOLD as its QB. I appreciate what Landman did last year, but it's hard to see a world where a majority of GMs would trade Jones for Landman straight up.

 

[DzRams]

Stats don't tell the whole story. Landman's play went appreciably downhill the latter part of the year. But every time I saw Seattle the last few weeks/playoffs it seemed Jones was making a big play. He's a ballhawk, he's tough, and he's a leader on a SB winning defense with SAM DARNOLD as its QB. I appreciate what Landman did last year, but it's hard to see a world where a majority of GMs would trade Jones for Landman straight up.

Landman did tail off. Valid point.

On the other hand, you can't go by how Jones looked on Seattle since that's an entirely different ecosystem. We already saw how Jones looked in our system, and he was slightly above average. In our system, they're a wash. That was the point of the stats.

 

[CoachAllred]

McClendon -

I have no thoughts on comparison. I think Havenstein played some good ball for us. he retired and I'm happy he got a ring. He deserved one.

But just looking at what the Rams have done with both Alaric (UDFA) and Warren (2023 5th rd,) There are 2 things happening.
1. A Personnel dept who's able to know potential when they see it and 2- A
coaching staff that knows how to bring that potential to reality.. Alot of teams have parts of that
Not a lot of teams have both We are a machine lol

Warren McClendon Jr. is an offensive tackle for the Los Angeles Rams who earned a 83.5 overall PFF grade in the 2025 season, 7th among 89 qualified offensive tackles. He played 667 offensive snaps on the season.
His PFF pass-blocking grade of 73.9 ranked 30th among 89 qualified offensive tackles. His run-blocking grade of 86.7 ranked 5th at the position.
He allowed 12 total pressures in pass protection. That total included 1 sacks and 1 hits allowed to opposing pass rushers. He was flagged for 1 penalties over the course of the season.

 

[WestCoastRam]

Stats don't tell the whole story. Landman's play went appreciably downhill the latter part of the year. But every time I saw Seattle the last few weeks/playoffs it seemed Jones was making a big play. He's a ballhawk, he's tough, and he's a leader on a SB winning defense with SAM DARNOLD as its QB. I appreciate what Landman did last year, but it's hard to see a world where a majority of GMs would trade Jones for Landman straight up.

McDonald's sxs highlights LB play. They really didn't start taking off till they traded for Jones. While I think we'd have better LB play with Jones I don't think we'd use him in such a way as to get as much out of him.

 

[CoachAllred]

Love our oline espwcially RT McLendon went from decent backup to
a strength by years end



McLendon and Dotson SMASH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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