Ian Hartitz hits the West Coast to uncover team needs for the Los Angeles Rams heading into the NFL Draft and 2025 offseason.

Early-season injuries to Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp went hand-in-hand with some brutal defensive performances to help the Rams enter their Week 6 bye with a rough 1-4 record.

And then something funny happened: Matthew Stafford and Co. started looking a lot like the beastly squad that captured a Super Bowl championship three short years ago. Winning 10 of their final 14 games helped Los Angeles capture its first NFC West title and playoff victory since that magical 2021 season, even with the team's -19 regular-season point differential ranking just 17th in the NFL.

Unfortunately, Stafford and Puka's comeback push in snowy Philadelphia fell just short, sending Sean McVay's squad home with a one-score playoff loss for the second time in as many seasons. Still, their performance in that Divisional Round contest reflects the reality that this team doesn't appear too far off from competing for championships again.

Today we'll recap some of the good and bad of 2024 before getting into potential offseason injuries to monitor as well as team needs ahead of the 2025 offseason. As of this writing, there are reports that the Rams are entertaining trade offers for Stafford. These team needs reflect Stafford being on the Rams in 2025. 

As always: It's a great day to be great.

What Are The Biggest Needs of the Rams Ahead Of 2025?

Team Need No. 1: Wide Receiver

Note that these needs are working under the assumption that Stafford will remain a member of the Rams in 2025, although that doesn't seem to be an absolute given at the moment.

Either way: Restocking the WR room will be a priority ahead of 2025. Obviously Puka is a cornerstone, but each of the team's next three most-productive WRs in Cooper Kupp, Tutu Atwell, and Demarcus Robinson are either hitting free agency or headed out via trade.

Certainly McVay will continue to raise the floor of everyone involved; just realize even last year's offense looked like it needed a bit more juice on the outside with Rams WRs and TEs ranking just 23rd in average Open Score. Kudos to the team for hitting big on Puka, and maybe they have something in Jordan Whittington as well, but their only top-100 draft picks used on the position since selecting Kupp back in 2017 have been Atwell and Van Jefferson. It's probably about time to change that.

Team Need No. 2: Offensive Tackle

Both starting LT Alaric Jackson and swing tackle Joe Noteboom are entering free agency, leaving the Rams with a bit of an unknown when it comes to who their blind-side protector will be in 2025. Simply bringing back Jackson would be fine–he was PFF's 18th-highest graded tackle last season–but that could wind up being pricey for a team already boasting the league's sixth-most expensive offensive line ahead of 2025.

Team Need No. 3: Front-Seven

Here are the league's five cheapest defensive lines when it comes to 2025 dollars at the moment:

  • Buccaneers ($41.4 million)
  • Jets ($39 million)
  • Patriots ($35.7 million)
  • Cardinals ($31.6 million)
  • Rams ($15.6 million)

Quite the discrepancy there! And here's the kicker: The Rams' linebacker room is one of just three groups in the league with under $3.5 million allotted to them ahead of 2025.

Of course, the Rams will inevitably re-sign some of their free agents, and stud rising second-year talents Jared Verse and Braden Fiske sure look like long-term solutions across the front.

That said: More! Please!

LOS ANGELES RAMS 2024 RECAP

  • Record: 10-7 (8.5 preseason win total)
  • Points per game: 21.6 (20th)
  • EPA per dropback: +0.112 (14th)
  • EPA per rush: -0.069 (15th)
  • Points per game allowed: 22.7 (17th)
  • Leading passer: Matthew Stafford (3,762 pass yards, 20 TD, 8 INT)
  • Leading rusher: Kyren Williams (316 carries, 1,299 yards, 14 TD)
  • Leading receiver: Puka Nacua (79 receptions, 990 yards, 3 TD)

 

Biggest Surprise: WR Puka Nacua

I almost went with Demarcus Robinson here thanks to the veteran catching a team-high 7 scores (and looking good doing it!), but we'll side with Puka due to the reality that we now might not need more than one hand to count the number of WRs better than him in real life and fantasy alike.

Of the 489 players who have at least 100 targets since 2015 … Puka ranks first in both yards per route run (2.92) and targets per route run (31.4%). First!

While the presence of Stafford and McVay have certainly helped make life easier, it's tough to see Nacua falling off too hard even in the absence of one or the other. After all, Nacua's combination of contested-catch goodness and beastly YAC skills might be unmatched across the league.

Biggest Disappointment: WR Cooper Kupp

Kupp's "Open Rating" separation metric and rank by year reflects the reality that we aren't quite looking at the same baller these days.

  • 2021: 76 (13th)
  • 2022: 55 (56th)
  • 2023: 47 (72nd)
  • 2024: 32 (107th)

Injuries have certainly played a role, but yeah: Not great! To be fair, there was still a ceiling here either way: Kupp worked as the overall WR4 in PPR points in Weeks 8-14 last season.

While Kupp's reign in Los Angeles has come to an end, the former triple-crown winner will still be remembered as one of the most productive receivers of the 2020s. Here's to hoping the injury gods chill out for once and the 31-year-old veteran manages to supply one last dance somewhere else in 2025.

Key Injuries

Matthew Stafford (cracked ribs) and Blake Corum (fractured forearm) were dealing with some significant pain down the stretch of 2024, but both are tentatively believed to be just fine ahead of the 2025 offseason. So yay!