5 urgent questions the Rams must answer as 2025 OTAs arrive

The Los Angeles Rams are gearing up to assume a new NFL season, and with a new year comes a need to return to OTA, training camp, and preseason. For the most part, the Rams front office has completed their heavy lifting. Now it's up to the coaches and players to take over. The Rams roster is restocked, but how will the new iteration of Rams players connect?

That is what we are about to find out.

As much as we know about this team, there are many things that we simply do not know. Are the Rams able to stuff the run? Will the Rams roll over for rookies who are trying to make a name for themselves on offense? Will veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford rediscover another fountain of youth and have another stellar season like 2023?

There are many questions to be answered by this team throughout 2025. And some of those questions need to be answered earlier rather than later.

Of course, these questions did not spring up overnight. They come as a result of lessons learned from the 20245 NFL season. The Rams were better in 2024 than in 2023, eventually. But the retooling of the defense and injuries to key offensive players early in the season dug a hole that the team needed to climb out of over the final 12 games of the season. So there will be basic questions about durability and health that simply cannot be answered until the 2025 season starts.

But some questions can be answered in OTAs and training camp, which must be resolved as quickly as possible. Such as?

(5) - Will Poona Ford be the missing link the Rams need?

Until the pads go on, the Rams are guessing and hoping that new nose tackle Poona Ford is that guy to help this team do a much better job of stuffing the run. At just 5-foot-11 and 310 pounds, Ford is not exactly the prototypical NFL nose tackle. But he was a run-stuffing dynamo for the Los Angeles Chargers in 2024. Can he do as well for the Rams? His Pro Football Focus overall grade of 85.1 for 2025 suggests that he can.

But a quick review of his workload on the Chargers' defensive front at Lineups.com suggests that he was kept fresh by handing about 60 percent of the defensive snaps. Can the Rams keep up a rapid rotation on the defensive front to keep Poona fresh, rested, and effective?

Yes. The heaviest workload on the defensive front for the Rams was handled by versatile defensive lineman Kobie Turner, who lined up almost everywhere. When it came to pure nose tackles, the team toggled between Bobby Brown III (472 defensive snaps) and Neville Gallimore (264 defensive snaps). Since the Chargers played Ford just 604 defensive snaps in 2024, it appears to be a safe bet that the Rams will demand a lighter workload.

Ford was able to get 39 tackles, 3.0 QB sacks, and eight tackles for a loss last season. As long as the Rams keep Poona Ford at about 50 percent of the defensive snaps, fans will almost certainly be impressed. But will this defense have enough horses to limit Poona to that level of work, particularly if he dominates early in the season?

Yes, again. The Rams drafted rookie defensive lineman Ty Hamilton to be the primary relief for Poona Ford this season. But this team signed several powerful defenders who could show up big in training camp as well. We won't know for sure until about Week 4 of the season. But we'll know early on if Poona Ford is better than the brochure.

Bring plenty of popcorn. Poona Ford is the real deal.