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....
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....
