J.B.’s end-of-season picks: A balanced, historic offense highlights an unforgettable 2025 campaign

J.B. Long

https://www.therams.com/news/jbs-end-of-season-picks-balanced-historic-offense-highlights-unforgettable-2025-campaign?utm_source=sfmcemail&utm_medium=022526_RR&utm_campaign=02_25_2026&utm_term=J.B.%27s+Picks+-+Season+Awards&utm_id=126970&sfmc_id=00QUW00000S9vHH2AZ&aid=&CFC_RAMS=022526_RR

The season stretched from the shores of Maui to the clubhouses of Camden Yards and the urban center of London.

12 regular season wins, two road playoff victories for only the third time in franchise history, and a trip to the NFC Championship game.

The Los Angeles Rams produced the top-scoring offense in the league, MVP and Offensive Player of the Year candidates, first-team All-Pro honors for both Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua, career years across the roster, more milestones for Sean McVay, the expansion of his coaching tree, and high-water marks for home attendance as the Rams went 7-1 at SoFi Stadium.

As for our team-specific honors, they’re a reflection of vision cast and ambition realized. Coming home from Philadelphia last January, the Rams knew they were close to greatness and attacked the offseason. This offseason should be more of the same, but before they construct the 2026 roster, let’s recognize some of the leading contributors from another of the greatest seasons in franchise history.

Free Agent Signing – Davante Adams

The story of the 2025 season began with the return of Stafford, followed shortly thereafter by the retention of left tackle Alaric Jackson. With those two pieces in place, the recruitment of a future Hall of Famer began in earnest (and from abroad).

The Rams knew they needed to unlock the red zone. And with an elite short-field weapon like Adams, LA went from generating touchdowns on 51% of red zone trips in 2024 to 65% of those chances in 2025.

For the third time in his career, Adams led the NFL in touchdown receptions – and did so by a comfortable margin, despite missing the final three games with a hamstring injury. His 14 scores tied for second-most in his career, 12 came in the red zone, and 11 from the 10-yard-line or below.

Adams bolstered his Canton resume by ascending to seventh all-time in touchdown receptions, now four shy of Larry Fitzgerald in the NFL record books. He also became the 18th player to reach 1,000 career yards receiving in the postseason and registered his ninth playoff touchdown, cracking the NFL’s all-time Top 10.

Ironman – Coleman Shelton

Another important offseason acquisition flew under the radar but paid major dividends.

Offensive line continuity drives success under McVay, and this year, center Coleman Shelton epitomized it. Every snap of Stafford’s All-Pro season came from Shelton, back for his second stint in Los Angeles. Stafford’s 3.71 percent sack rate was the lowest of his Rams’ tenure and second-best of his NFL career. Shelton’s performance – physical and mental, pre-and-post-snap – played a central role. He was charged with only two sacks and four pressures allowed by Pro Football Focus, grading out at the highest level of his career, both in overall and run blocking measures.

Reserve of the Year – Warren McClendon Jr.

While we’re along the offensive line, our Reserve of the Year stepped in for a captain at right tackle and thrived.

Warren McClendon had pinch-hit, both in 2024 and early in this 2025 schedule, and held his own. Once he resumed the starting role in Week 12, it was clear he would not be relinquishing it.

With Rob Havenstein on the shelf, McClendon took over for the final 10 contests and looked the part of an NFL right tackle. While his performance may have dipped in the postseason, McClendon’s third pro season was worthy of the highest PFF grade on the Rams offensive line, and he finished the regular season as a Top 10 offensive tackle in their system.

Let’s also use this opportunity to once again celebrate all that Havenstein contributed to the organization throughout his 11-year career.

Position Group – Tight End

LA’s offensive line absolutely was deserving of this award.

However, because of the total pivot to 13 personnel, the collective improvements and contributions of this unit, and the outsized role they played in the NFL’s best offense, I opted to recognize the tight end room.

It was a fair critique that the Rams had the least productive group in the NFL in 2024 – collectively, they produced 51 catches, 459 receiving yards, and three touchdowns. Fast forward one year and those tight end totals jump to 103 receptions, 1,128 receiving yards, and 17 touchdowns.

Much of it was driven by enhanced opportunity. Nonetheless, credit to first-year tight ends coach Scott Huff for maximizing his array of personnel.

Colby Parkinson led the way with a career year. His nine scores set a franchise record for touchdowns by a tight end. Plus, he added a dramatic game-winner in Charlotte in the Wild Card round.

Tyler Higbee persevered through injury once again to play 10 games and secure his place as the most accomplished tight end in Rams history.

Davis Allen also had the best season of his three-year career, while playing inline, in the backfield, in the slot, and out wide. His pass protection was particularly noteworthy.

As for the rookie? He gave us a glimpse of the future at the position.

Offensive Rookie of the Year – Terrance Ferguson

With running back Jarquez Hunter effectively redshirting, this was a two-man race between the first pick in the Rams class (drafted 46th overall) and the last (242nd).

Konata Mumpfield had some nice moments, but Terrance Ferguson was the clear choice here.

After playing only eight offensive snaps through the first five weeks, the former Oregon Duck became a steady part of the rotation as the 13-personnel identity came to life. Ferguson announced his arrival in London, scoring a 31-yard touchdown. By December, he’d reached another gear, with impressive performances in Seattle and Atlanta, before a hamstring injury suffered in practice derailed his closing kick.

Ferguson will be forever linked with whomever the Rams select 13th overall this spring (or whatever they opt to do with that pick), but as a standalone second-round selection, he showed flashes of being a weapon in the passing game that the offense can deploy for many years to come.

Defensive Rookie of the Year – Josaiah Stewart

Of the 27 edge defenders selected in the Class of 2025, these are Josaiah Stewart’s rankings relative to his peers.

Pick order: 15th

Snap count: 9th

Sacks: 6th

PFF Defensive Grade: 3rd

PFF Run Defense Grade: 2nd

PFF Pass Rush Grade: 2nd

Like Ferguson, he’ll turn 23 this offseason and appears to have only scratched the surface, having comfortably outplayed his draft slot.

Most Improved Player – Byron Young

Stewart was contending with a couple of Pro Bowlers for snaps at his position, including the most productive edge rusher for the Rams, Byron Young.

He made a resounding opening statement, earning NFC Defensive Player of the Month in September and registering at least a half-sack in the first seven games of the season. Though that breakneck pace was unsustainable, Young finished with 64 pressures, 12 tackles for loss, and a top 10 grade among all edge defenders, playing the run nearly as well as he got to opposing quarterbacks.

He is the first Ram to record at least 12 sacks since Aaron Donald in 2021. Young and AD99 are the only Rams with at least 7.5 sacks each of their first three seasons. And here’s one more link to the GOAT: Only Robert Quinn (34.5) and Donald (28.0) have more sacks in their first three seasons as Rams than Young (27.5).

Comeback Player of the Year – Blake Corum

There was a stretch in December in which Kyren Williams and Blake Corum became the first teammates in modern NFL history to each have at least 70 rushing yards and a rushing score in three straight games.

The way they complemented and elevated each other in 2025 was the ideal version of a running back tandem that had eluded the Rams offense for so long. With the stated goal of getting more explosive runs in 2025, Corum achieved at an elite level (11.7 percent of his carries, second only to Devon Achane among qualifiers, per SumerSports).

For Williams, his steady production followed a well-deserved contract extension. For Corum, his 782 scrimmage yards and six touchdowns marked his return from a broken arm that kept him out of the playoffs as a rookie. Collectively, they delivered the sport’s most efficient running game.

Moment of the Year – Kam Curl INT in Chicago

As with any successful season, there were more signature moments than we could ever capture in this year-end celebration.

The first of many Nate Landman punch-outs in the opener against Houston comes to mind. How about Tutu Atwell’s game winner over Indianapolis? The Adams hat trick in the UK. Stafford fileting the 49ers in Santa Clara. Cobie Durant’s pick-six versus the Buccaneers. Parkinson’s go-ahead touchdown in Charlotte.

No exaggeration, Puka Nacua single-handedly generated a nomination per week, with jaw-dropping catches against the Panthers and Cardinals, not to mention several others that didn’t count (see: Atlanta).

Ultimately, we landed on Kam Curl’s overtime interception in Chicago as our Moment of the Year, because it checked all the boxes: improbable, indelible, and consequential. We’ll remember the wind chill and the snow, and the heroics of Caleb Williams, and especially the takeaways in the Rams secondary that allowed them to overcome it all.

At the tail end of season in which he set a Rams record for most tackles by a safety, Curl’s ball skills kept the playoff push alive.

Special Teams Player of the Year – Harrison Mevis

Curl also teed up the heroics of Harrison Mevis.

And for a season scarred by special teams miscues, a sub-zero walk-off win courtesy of the Thiccer Kicker was cold-blooded.

With a nod to veteran long-snapper Jake McQuaide, who came off the couch to settle down the entire kicking operation, Mevis completely flipped the Rams’ fortunes.

Undrafted, released at the end of summer camps with the Panthers and Jets, Mevis made the most of his UFL stint in Birmingham and then did not miss his chance with the Rams.

Diving in midseason to make his NFL debut in November in Santa Clara, Mevis nailed nine extra points to break in as a pro. Then, he proceeded to convert 18-of-19 field goal tries with a long of 52 yards and all 48 of his point-after attempts by season’s end.

As an exclusive rights free agent, it’s hard to imagine Mevis won’t be the incumbent when the Rams open their offseason program this spring, as he’s given them every confidence he can be a long-term answer to their kicking search.

Defensive Player of the Year– Poona Ford

This may have been the most difficult choice.

On a defense that had two Pro Bowlers – Young and Jared Verse – as well as difference-making captains who enjoyed career years – Quentin Lake and Landman – I kept coming back to Poona Ford as the bedrock of a defense that looked elite at its peak and found its level as much-improved.

Lake, in particular, because of the results with and without him, had a very compelling case. His missed time disqualified him but simultaneously underscored his value.

Ultimately, I went with Ford for a few reasons.

First, the stated goal of the offseason on defense was to fortify the run defense. And largely because of Ford’s addition, the Rams jumped from 21st to fifth in that category (as measured by DVOA).

Secondly, Ford outperformed his own lofty standards. He earned the highest PFF grade since his rookie season of 2018, not only delivering his characteristic toughness against the run, but also straightening up and rushing the pass rusher better than any prior campaign. With 34 total pressures and three sacks, Ford was a free agent force.

Lastly, his durability in the crucible of the trenches was invaluable. The 30-year-old played in every game, including the postseason. If you were looking for an unheralded secret to the Rams success, I’d point to the men closest to the ball on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Just like Shelton, Ford was an ironman for Los Angeles in his first year in Horns.

Offensive Player of the Year – Puka Nacua

As with the NFL Honors, I believe Offensive Player of the Year has become a non-quarterback award because MVP has become exclusive to quarterbacks. Until that changes, I’m going with it.

Therefore, even though you all know where we’re going next, it’s time to give Nacua his flowers, and I’ll use many of the same talking points that should have put him over the top of Jaxon Smith-Njigba (and Christian McCaffrey) in the league-wide race.

If all we were allowed to consider was the passing game – who had the best receiving season? – I would have voted for Nacua.

In 2025, he earned the highest single-game and season-long offensive grade PFF has ever given a receiver. In terms of EPA, he was generationally great. Volume and efficiency were both off the charts. The ratio of contested catches to drops was immaculate. He saved his best for last, including a career night in prime time against the best defense in football in Seattle. Man, zone, full route tree, red zone, unlocking the end zone, he did it all this year.

And even though that’s plenty, Puka also has a pair of aces in the hole.

There may not be a better blocker in the sport at his position. And even if there were, certainly none of them are as integral to their offense as Nacua is to his. So much of the Rams’ playbook is built around his viability as a blocker.

Even after the scheme is deployed, Nacua continues to thrive without the ball in his hands. Think back to that night in Chicago, when he snow-plowed pathways for Colby Parkinson and others.

His second leg-up on the competition are his contributions to the running game when he’s actually got the rock. His first score of 2025 was a career-best 45-yard house call in Nashville. Including playoffs, he rushed for more than eight yards per carry, two touchdowns, and seven first downs.

Nacua’s third year as a pro goes down as a top-five receiving season in franchise history, in an echelon where only Cooper Kupp, Isaac Bruce, and Torry Holt reside.

Most Valuable Player – Matthew Stafford

Last February, and again in August, there was real doubt that Stafford was even going to be the Rams’ quarterback when they opened the 2025 season.

Though it didn’t end with a ring, it proved to be the finest campaign of his 17-year career.

He was the animating force of a historically efficient offense that led the league in scoring. Seemingly a month didn’t go by in which he didn’t make team or NFL history, with his characteristic swagger and bravado that led to scores of don’t-try-this-at-home throws.

Early on, Stafford was standing on the accelerator, relentlessly spamming Nacua and Adams with targets. Then on one week’s notice, he and the Rams changed gears. They shape-shifted and embraced a new tight-end-driven identity the extremes of which the league had never seen.

Among the highpoints I call back to: His 28 straight touchdowns without an interception, breaking Tom Brady’s NFL record; his 12 straight multi-touchdown performances, the sixth-longest streak in league history; authoring the fourth instance of at least 45 touchdown tosses and no more than eight interceptions in a season.

Like Nacua, against the stoutest defense in the league, Stafford was at his very best. He backed up a Week 16 game in Seattle (457 passing yards and three touchdowns) with a playoff game for the ages at Lumen Field (374 passing yards and three scores), committing no turnovers in either.

Now we rest in another February where the future may be uncertain, but the optimism is unbridled. Because the McVay-Stafford partnership extends to a sixth lap, and they return the MVP to the league’s top-scoring offense, with more draft capital and salary cap than ever before.

…

from https://theramswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/rams/2026/02/25/rams-puka-nacua-davante-adams-wide-receiver-rankings-terrell-owens/88859737007/

That makes ranking the best wide receivers incredibly difficult, but Hall of Famer Terrell Owens took on that task recently when asked to pick his top five by Sports Illustrated. The first two players he named? Nacua and Davante Adams, a pair of Rams stars.

“Right now, I would say Puka, Davante Adams, DeVonta Smith – I like him – Justin Jefferson and A.J. Brown,” Owens said.

wv wrote:

I see. Well, there’s pluses and minuses to the Rams proposed changes. I kinda like a chaotic scramble for a busted up lateral. I dont think I’d want the rule to be changed to where only the QB can recover the ball.

The issue is that the play was blown dead, ref’s whistle. The defense stopped playing at that point. They can’t be in a situation where they have to guess if a whistle is real or if counts. They risk getting flags if they contest the ball and get physical over it. This rule as written basically says the whistle didn’t count, the ball was still live.

Not every defender is in a position to see whether or not it was a backward pass. They see an incomplete and the whistle blows.

wv wrote:

Wonder what happened with Aubrey Pleasant? He didnt keep a job with McVay and he didnt get a job anywhere else.

w
v

There seems to be a shake-up in the secondary coaching. Also, of course, Pleasant was the assistant head coach and Kingsbury replaced him. So either McV wanted Kingsbury in that position and Pleasant didn’t like being replaced, or there was a coming to terms with the secondary coaching and so Pleasant was fired/or quit and KIngsbury replaced him as assistant head coach after that.

Rams’ 2026 coaching staff set

Stu Jackson

https://www.therams.com/news/rams-2026-coaching-staff-set?utm_source=sfmcemail&utm_medium=022325_Coaching_Staff_Announcement&utm_campaign=02_23_2026&utm_term=2026+Coaching+Staff&utm_id=126788&sfmc_id=00QUW00000S9vHH2AZ&aid=&CFC_RAMS=022325_Coaching_Staff_Announcement

Head coach Sean McVay’s finalized staff features a mix of promotions and new additions as well as familiar names. All told, the staff includes 16 returnees and eight new hires. Here is more about each of them.

Head Coach: Sean McVay

McVay enters his 10th year as head coach of the Rams. In 2025, Los Angeles reached the playoffs and double-digit wins for the seventh time in McVay’s first nine seasons. L.A. has also finished with a winning record in all one but one season of McVay’s tenure so far.

Assistant Head Coach: Kliff Kingsbury

Kingsbury joins the Rams’ coaching staff after serving as the Commanders’ offensive coordinator the last two seasons. He reportedly interviewed for the Ravens’ head coach and offensive coordinator openings, as well as the Titans’ and Giants’ offensive coordinator openings, before ultimately joining McVay’s staff.

Offensive staff

Offensive Coordinator: Nate Scheelhaase

Another new title for Scheelhaase in his third season on L.A.’s staff after serving as pass game coordinator last season. This promotion comes after he reportedly received multiple head coach and offensive coordinator interview requests this past cycle.

Quarterbacks/Associate Coordinator: Dave Ragone

Ragone returns for his third season as the Rams’ quarterbacks coach, but this marks his first with associate coordinator in his title as part of this staff. Working closely with Ragone, quarterback Matthew Stafford was named NFL MVP after leading the league in passing yards (4,707) and passing touchdowns at the helm of the NFL’s No. 1 total offense and No. 1 scoring offense last season.

Wide Receivers: Rob Calabrese

Calabrese gets a big promotion entering Year 3 after spending the first two seasons as an offensive assistant. The wide receivers were one of the position groups Calabrese worked closest with in his previous role.

Offensive Line: Ryan Wendell

Wendell returns for his fourth season overseeing the Rams’ offensive line. In 2025, the Rams tied with the Broncos for the fewest sacks allowed in the regular season with 23, marking back-to-back seasons where they’ve allowed the sixth-fewest sacks or better.

Tight Ends: Scott Huff

Returning for his second season on the Rams’ staff, Huff’s group collectively improved their production from 51 catches, 459 receiving yards and three touchdowns in 2024 to 103 receptions, 1,128 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns 2025, playing a key role as Los Angeles took on a 13 personnel-led offensive identity by the end of the season.

Senior Offensive Assistant/Wide Receivers: Eric Yarber

Entering his 10th season working with the wide receivers, Yarber now holds the title of senior offensive assistant/wide receivers coach. He joins assistant offensive line coach Zak Kromer as the longest-tenured member of McVay’s offensive staff.

Last season, Yarber led a receivers group headlined by Puka Nacua, whose 129 receptions led the NFL and 1,715 receiving yards were second-most in the league in the regular season. Additionally, Davante Adams led the league in receiving touchdowns with 14.

Running Backs: Ron Gould

Gould returns for his fourth season leading L.A.’s running backs. He’s been a central figure to Kyren Williams’ production over the last two seasons; in 2024, Williams set career highs in rushing yards (1,299) and rushing touchdowns (14).

Assistant Offensive Line: Zak Kromer

Kromer is one of the two longest-tenured member of McVay’s offensive staff and worked with Wendell to help the offensive line achieve the success it did over the last two seasons

Assistant Offensive Line: Brian Allen

A former Rams starting center, Allen initially began working with the team in a consultant capacity at the beginning of last season and is now on the coaching staff full-time.

Assistant Wide Receivers: Robert Woods

Fans won’t have to look far to wonder where Woods is headed in retirement. Fresh off signing a one-day contract to a retire as a Ram, Woods joins the team’s coaching staff as an assistant wide receivers coach working with Calabrese and Yarber.

Defensive Assistant: Robert Wright

This will be Wright’s first season as a defensive assistant on L.A.’s staff. He spent the last two seasons as Syracuse’s co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach, and prior to that was the University of Buffalo’s defensive coordinator in 2023, overlapping with former Buffalo standout and current Rams inside linebacker Shaun Dolac. Wright began his coaching career as a special teams quality control coach at his alma mater, the University of Miami, in 2015, and went on to have stops at Illinois (defensive graduate assistant 2016-17, defensive quality control 2018) where he worked primarily with the linebackers and nickelbacks in those roles, Texas A&M (defensive graduate assistant, 2019-20), Iowa State (special teams quality control coach, 2021), Duke (senior defensive analyst, 2022) before joining Buffalo’s staff.

Defensive staff

Defensive Coordinator: Chris Shula

Shula returns for his third season as defensive coordinator and 10th overall on the Rams staff. In his second, Los Angeles finished 10th in scoring defense and 12th in run defense.

Run Game Coordinator/Defensive Line: Giff Smith

Returning for his third season on the Rams staff, 2026 marks Smith’s second with this title. Defensive ends Kobie Turner (seven) and Braden Fiske (three) accounted for 10 of Los Angeles’ 47 sacks last season.

Inside Linebackers: Greg Williams

Williams returns for his third season coaching L.A.’s inside linebackers. In 2025, Nate Landman’s 132 total tackles led the team and also set a new career high.

Pass Game Coordinator/Defensive Backs: Jimmy Lake

A senior defensive assistant last season, Lake takes over the pass game coordinator/defensive backs coaching role previously held by Aubrey Pleasant.

Safeties: Chris Beake

Beake returns for his fourth season working with the Rams’ secondary and fifth on the Rams’ defensive staff overall.

Outside Linebackers: Joe Coniglio

Coniglio returns for his fourth season as outside linebackers coach. In his third, outside linebackers Byron Young and Jared Verse both earned Pro Bowl nods, with Young getting his first after a career-high 12 sacks in 2025.

Pass Rush Coordinator: Drew Wilkins

Wilkins returns for a second season working with the Rams’ pass rush. In his first season, the Rams tied with the Seahawks and Texans for the seventh-most sacks in the NFL with 47.

Assistant Defensive Backs: Michael Hunter

Hunter is among the eight new hires, joining the Rams after serving as assistant defensive backs coach for Ohio State the last two years. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Oklahoma State, doing so for two years before coaching the cornerbacks at Tula in 2023 and then heading to Ohio State.

Senior Offensive Assistant: Brian Johnson

Johnson joins the Rams’ staff after serving as the assistant head coach/pass game coordinator for the Commanders the last two seasons. Prior to that, he was with the Eagles for three seasons, serving as quarterbacks coach in 2021 and 2022 before being promoted to offensive coordinator in 2023.

Special Teams staff

Special Teams Coordinator: Bubba Ventrone

After spending the previous three seasons with the Browns, and the five seasons prior to that as the Colts’ special teams coordinator, Ventrone takes over the Rams’ special teams after Chase Blackburn was let go late last season and after his assistant, Ben Kotwica, held down the role on an interim basis for the remainder of the season.

Assistant Special Teams: Kyle Hoke

Hoke previously held the same title in Cleveland and keeps it following Ventrone to Los Angeles. Prior to becoming an assistant special teams coach with the Browns, Hoke spent 13 years at the college level, with stops at Texas A&M (2024), San Diego State (2020-23), Indiana State (2019), Texas State (2018), John Carroll (2017), South Carolina (2015-16), Army (2014) and Western Michigan (2012-13).

Game Management

Game Management Coordinator/Assistant Tight Ends: Dan Shamash

Shamash is back for a second season working with the Rams’ tight ends and also educating players and coaches on NFL rules and regulations. The Rams were the least-penalized team for the 2025 regular season with just 75 penalties against them.

zn wrote:

Nate Atkins@NateAtkins_
The Rams finalized their coaching staff for 2026 season, including a title for Kliff Kingsbury:

Assistant head coach.
Nathan Scheelhaase is the offensive coordinator.
No passing game coordinator this year.

Greg Beacham@gregbeacham
Two members of the Rams’ Super Bowl championship team are now on the coaching staff: Robert Woods begins his coaching career as ass’t WRs coach, and Brian Allen gets an official title as ass’t OL coach after being around last season as a consultant.

Adam Schefter@AdamSchefter
One other notable LA hiring: former Commanders assistant head coach and passing game coordinator Brian Johnson now has joined the Rams’ staff as a senior offensive assistant.

Rams Fans United@RamsFansUnited
No Aubrey Pleasant?

Rams Make Massive Changes To Their 2026 Coaching Staff
Sean McVay has freshened up his coaching staff for a Super Bowl run in 2026

Brock Vierra

https://www.si.com/nfl/rams/onsi/rams-make-massive-changes-to-their-2026-coaching-staff-01kj650vkz41

WOODLAND HILLS, Ca. The Los Angeles Rams have announced their 2026 coaching staff, saying goodbye to several notable names while officially adding others. Here’s the biggest news from the announcement.

Robert Woods

Former Rams wide receiver and Los Angeles native Robert Woods won’t have to look far for his next job. One of the pioneers behind the Rams’ receiver run blocking program, Woods has joined the staff as an assistant wide receivers coach, working with returning receivers coach Eric Yarber, who is returning for his tenth season, this time as an assistant wide receivers coach/ senior offensive assistant.

Promotions and Returns

Kliff Kingsbury has been named as assistant head coach, replacing Aubrey Pleasant. Nate Scheelhaase has officially been named as offensive coordinator, replacing Mike LaFleur. Scheelhaase’s former job as the pass game coordinator was not reassigned officially, but quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone was named assistant coordinator.

Rob Calabrese has been named wide receivers coach, advancing into the top job after serving in an assistant role last season. Eric Yarber, who held the role for the last nine seasons, has taken a step back.

Super Bowl LVI champion Brian Allen has been named an assistant offensive line coach. Allen assisted with the team last season.

On defense, Jimmy Lake returns, this time taking over for Aubrey Pleasant as defensive passing game coordinator/ DBs coach. Lake was an assistant last season.

Departures

Aubrey Pleasant, who was the Rams assistant head coach, is no longer with the team, as per the Rams’ announcement.

Mike Harris, who helped coach the secondary, is no longer with the team. Special Teams Coordinator Ben Kotwica and assistant Matthew Harper, as expected, have departed.

New Hires

As mentioned above, Kliff Kingsbury is now a member of the Rams’ staff, giving Sean McVay his first former NFL head coach as an assistant head coach ever.

Former Syracuse defensive coordinator Robert Wright has joined the offensive staff as a senior defensive analyst, giving the Rams’ offensive minds insight on up and coming defensive trends.

Mike Hunter, former Ohio State assistant, is the Rams’ assistant defensive backs coach. It is assumed Hunter will fill in for the role Mike Harris had in 2025.

Bubba Ventrone will be the Rams’ new Special Teams Coordinator, a role he enjoyed with the Cleveland Browns last season, and Kyle Hoke will be joining him as an assistant.

DoJ cases against protesters keep collapsing as officers’ lies are exposed in court
String of embarrassing defeats for prosecutors as experts condemn DoJ effort to cast people as ‘violent perpetrators’

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/21/doj-protesters-federal-agents-cases?fbclid=IwY2xjawQI275leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeAsiAaB4itwWTvUlS8NBaMtwuib-ZsEWRc9OmTSaQT6ZUOcelY6C19KXABGI_aem_qbuax7Gyu8EZMRuO_IFH8A

Department of Justice prosecutors across the US have suffered a string of embarrassing defeats in their aggressive pursuit of criminal cases against people accused of “assaulting” and “impeding” federal officers.

In recent months, the federal government has relentlessly prosecuted protesters, government critics, immigrants and others arrested during immigration operations, often accusing them of physically attacking officers or interfering with their duties.

But many of those cases have recently been dismissed or ended in not guilty verdicts.

In several high-profile cases, the prosecutions fell apart because they relied on statements by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers that had no supporting evidence or in some instances were proven by video footage to be blatantly false.

Criminal defense lawyers said it was unusual for federal prosecutors to pursue a high volume of charges over minor clashes with law enforcement, and that it was extraordinary to see the DoJ lose case after case across jurisdictions.

Still, the costs for defendants, even if ultimately exonerated, have been enormous, with many having their mugshots blasted by the government and some forced to languish in jail or have criminal charges hang over them for weeks and months.

‘Casting victims as perpetrators’

The most recent significant fumble came from Minneapolis prosecutors, who last week dismissed felony assault charges they had filed against two Venezuelan men accused of “violently beating” an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer “with weapons” on 14 January.

In a press release issued after their arrest, the DHS had described the men as “violent criminal illegal aliens”. The department said officers were conducting a targeted traffic stop to detain an undocumented man from Venezuela, and as he “began to resist and violently assault the officer”, two other men came out of a nearby apartment and “attacked the law enforcement officer with a snow shovel and broom handle”. The officer shot one of them in the leg.

Two of the men were arrested and charged, with a 16 January affidavit providing a vivid account of them attacking an officer identified as ERO 1, referring to ICE’s enforcement and removal operations. But on 12 February, prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss both men’s cases, saying: “Newly discovered evidence in this matter is materially inconsistent with the allegations in the complaint affidavit.”

The motion, which a judge granted, sought to have the cases dismissed “with prejudice”, meaning the government could not re-file charges.

ICE director Todd Lyons said ICE and the DoJ had opened an investigation into the case after videos revealed “sworn testimony provided by two separate officers appears to have made untruthful statements”, marking a rare acknowledgement of possible wrongdoing by DHS officials.

“It is very unusual for the government to move to dismiss its own case with prejudice,” Frederick Goetz, a lawyer for one of the men, said in an interview. He praised the government for launching investigations: “If you make false statements to a federal agent, that is a crime.”

Goetz said there were other similar cases stemming from the DHS’s “Operation Metro Surge” in the Minneapolis-St Paul region: “Anecdotally, you see a pattern: there are unreasonable uses of force by ICE agents and border patrol. You immediately have stories perpetuated to justify that force: ‘The officer was being attacked. This was an ambush.’ All of that spin is to cast the victims as violent perpetrators. Then the story falls apart once you get the facts.”

He said it would be difficult to undo the reputational harm done to his client: “The allegation that he was a violent criminal who attacked a federal officer with a broom – that image and association is going to live for ever on the internet. It traveled all the way to Venezuela. It’s absolutely not who he is.”

Goetz, a federal criminal defense lawyer in Minnesota for nearly 40 years, said the high volume of similar charges tied to Trump’s immigration crackdown had further consequences. It was overwhelming the federal courts in the state, diverting resources from the traditional work of federal prosecutors, such as complex fraud, drug and gang matters: “Public safety has not been served by these rash of cases.”

The case is one of several in Minnesota that has fallen apart. Earlier this year, Minnesota federal prosecutors dropped assault charges against a man, who was accused of ramming his car into agents during an immigration operation. The DoJ presented no witnesses to establish probable cause.

And on Tuesday, a judge dismissed with prejudice federal assault charges filed against a Minneapolis man accused of “tackling” an ICE agent on 15 December. The judge, Donovan Frank, noted the ICE officer was not injured and called the allegations “vague and contradictory”. Federal officers had reviewed multiple videos of the events, and, “None saw a ‘tackle’ or other kind of assault,” Frank said.

Prosecutors sought to have his case dismissed without prejudice, allowing them to later re-charge him. But the judge rejected that request, citing the defendant’s arguments that “future prosecution may be politically motivated” – a claim that, the judge noted, the government had not contested.

In Chicago, of 92 people arrested for assaulting or impeding officers last fall, 74 cases have resulted in no charges; in 13 cases, charges were filed and dismissed; and five charged cases were still pending, a recent investigation by Fox 9, a Minneapolis-based station, showed. As of the end of January, there have been no convictions.

In LA, the federal public defenders have won all six cases filed against ICE protesters that have gone to trial since June, the LA Times recently reported. Fewer than 1% of federal criminal defendants were acquitted across the US in fiscal year 2024, with US prosecutors traditionally having a roughly 90% conviction rate, the paper noted.

Juries have also issued not guilty verdicts for people accused of assaulting ICE or similar charges in Louisville, Kentucky, Seattle and Washington DC.

“That losing streak is really unheard of,” said LA-based defense lawyer Katherine McBroom. She represented Jonathon Redondo-Rosales, an LA protester who spent six months in jail until a federal judge dismissed his case with prejudice last week.

Redondo-Rosales was accused of assaulting an officer with a cloth hat. The judge noted discrepancies in the government’s account and that the alleged victim, an officer identified as ZC, had previously failed to disclose he was convicted of harassment. The DHS said last week the officer was under investigation.

McBroom said it appeared prosecutors were aware their case was weak as they downgraded charges from a felony to a misdemeanor, then repeatedly tried to negotiate pleas with increasingly favorable terms for her client: “The efforts to settle seemed desperate. It seemed like there was a concerted effort to prevent this from going to trial, because, while I can’t get into their heads, I don’t think they were confident in the case. It would take integrity to do the right thing and say we got this wrong. But they didn’t do that.”

After footage was submitted in court clearly demonstrating Redondo-Rosales had not hit the officer in the face with a “closed fist”, as the officer initially claimed, McBroom said she was shocked prosecutors continued to pursue a plea that would land her client a conviction: “We’re both looking at the video. How on earth are we interpreting it so differently?”

Ciaran McEvoy, a spokesperson for the US attorney’s office in Los Angeles, did not respond to questions about the specific cases, but shared data indicating that as of Friday, his office had filed charges against 103 people for assaulting or impeding federal officers or related allegations since last year. In addition to the six people acquitted at trial, 25 of those cases ended in dismissals and another 25 defendants pleaded guilty. The rest were pending.

Prosecutors have appealed against two of the dismissals, including in Redondo-Rosales’s case.

Representatives of the other US attorney’s offices and DoJ did not respond to detailed inquiries about the cases. Natalie Baldassarre, a DoJ spokesperson, said in an email the justice department would “continue to seek the most serious available charges against any individual who puts federal agents in harm’s way”.

“We will not tolerate any violence directed toward our brave law enforcement officials who are working tirelessly to keep Americans safe,” the statement continued. “Those who attack law enforcement will be held fully accountable for their actions, despite the best efforts of activist liberal judges who would rather see violent criminals walk free.”

The DHS did not respond to inquiries, and the White House declined to comment.

McBroom said the government was silencing free speech through a prosecution that depended on multiple officials repeating false statements. “There’s a level of terror to this, in that he was being held in jail for exercising his first amendment rights, and it was a collaborative effort to hide the truth that was keeping him in custody. It’s terrifying.”