3 reasons why the LA Rams roster will best PFF's paltry projections

According to one of the myriad roster rankings from Pro Football Focus, the LA Rams roster, a team that finished on fire in 2023 to claim the sixth seed in the NFC, is projected as the 14th-ranked NFL roster for 2024. If true, that places the team at the very precipice of failing to earn a berth in the 2025 NFL playoffs and could mean that this team accelerates a changing of the guard from veterans to a new and very young roster.

It's not as though I or any Rams fans are adamant about this team appearing among the Top-3 teams of the 2024 NFL seasons, or even too premature discussions about competing in Super Bowl LIX (although I believe that this team can compete in that season finale), but when it comes to the different directions that NFL analysts project the LA Rams and Houston Texans, I am forced to throw the BS flag.

Let's recap what I mean, and why this particular topic makes little sense. To understand the reason why the Rams and Texans are so similar, let's track their recent records, beginning in 2022. At the end of the 2022 NFL season, the team ended with a record of 5-12. The Houston Texans, conversely, ended the season with a record of 3-13-1.

It was that poor result that catapulted the Texans to land both the second and third overall picks: Rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud and outside linebacker Will Anderson Jr.. Both Stroud and Anderson would go on to earn Rookie of the Year Honors for the 2023 NFL season.

But I argue that neither deserved those accolades.

Despite the fact that the team did not possess a first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and had only a slightly better record of 5-12, the Rams selected WR Puka Nacua with the 177th overall pick in Round 5 of the 2023 NFL Draft. The team would also draft OLB Byron Young with the 77th overall pick, and NT Kobie Turner with the 89th overall pick in Round 3 of the same draft.

Puka Nacua would go on to set the NFL All-Time Rookie Receiving Record. Both Kobie Turner and Byron Young would have better seasons than Will Anderson Jr. Not one of these three players would earn any honors, awards, or recognition for outstanding seasons.

As a result of this misplaced honorarium, the Texans are projected to improve to the seventh-best roster in the NFL. The Rams, meanwhile, are projected to slide to the 14th-best record in the NFL. Now, here are three reasons why the Rams deserve to be included in the Top-10 rosters of the NFL for 2024.