Athletic's offseason grade for Rams efforts leaves fans with a flicker of hope

The Athletic recently published an ambitious article, assessing and grading the offseason efforts of all 32 NFL teams. It's ambitious in two ways. Any grade made now is based on presumptions and projections. And trying to deliver to all 32 teams is a huge undertaking. But Nate Atkins, the new Los Angeles Rams beat writer for The Athletic, affords the team a rather solid assessment. Part of his rationalization is as follows:

"The Rams have sky-high aspirations, and though the draft class didn’t add to that ceiling, it did raise the floor a tad. The moves for McDuffie and Watson should have them feeling like they’re firmly in the mix for the Super Bowl, so long as they can find some answers on special teams." - per Nate Atkins

That's a fair assessment. While nobody 'knows' how the roster moves will pan out, Atkins makes a compelling case that general manager Les Snead addressed the team's greatest needs, and did so in a very economical way.

Rams have enoiugh oomph to win Super Bowl LXI

Even as the LA Rams must rebuild, retrain, and replay a brand new set of 17 regular-season games to get there, this team is confident it has what it takes to win Super Bowl LXI. The offense, now powered by 13-personnel packages, was tops at scoring in 2025. And the team could be even more proficient at scoring this season, with the arrival of new rookies.

But the key will be special teams that add, rather than subtract, from the team's success. And then there is fielding a secondary that can frustrate opposing quarterbacks and receivers. LA believes it has done so with trading for cornerback Trent McDuffie and signing his teammate Jaylen Watson. Now, it's about getting defensive backs on the same page.

Los Angeles restocked the roster to corral the Seattle Seahawks roster in 2026. But there will be challenges each week, and this team will need to play well which statying healthy. That's not an easy task. But it's one the Horns are confident they can master.

As always, thanks for reading.

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