The Los Angeles Rams are one of the hardest teams to make predictions on for the 2025 NFL season. They were a play away from the NFC championship game in 2024, returned most of their stars, added some weapons and look to be among the best teams in the conference. But, there are also serious injury concerns and questions on defense.
A panel of NFL executives curated by The Athletic couldn’t agree on where L.A. stood among the pack in the NFC either. According to a poll by Mike Sando of eight NFL executives, the Rams ranked anywhere from third to 10th in the conference and averaged out to the fifth-best team in the NFC.
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Here’s what a few respondents said about the Rams:
“I trust Stafford’s back more than [San Francisco 49ers receiver Brandon] Aiyuk’s knee,” an executive who ranked the Rams sixth said.
“That defense is very impressive,” an executive who ranked L.A. third said. “They have a lot of youth. They get after guys. They challenge your offense. They force the issue. They’ll create turnovers. They have a good athletic front four. And then, unlike the Giants, they have complementary play from their secondary. Then you add Davante Adams to a quarterback like Matt Stafford, and a coordinator/head coach that they have [Sean McVay], with two really good running backs, and that makes it very interesting.”
This is the storyline of the Rams in 2025. They’re among the best when they’re at full strength, but could just as easily fall to the wayside if it all goes south, like it did in 2022 when L.A. missed the postseason.
Most executives in this poll are optimistic, however. And even ranking 10th puts them on the playoff bubble if the Rams can win some games others believe they’ll lose.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: NFL execs can’t agree on how good Rams will be in 2025