Using the 1st pic above,

I like the primary blue the best (middle/3rd from left)

That one ranks the highest. The next 2 are okay, 2nd tier, I have no objection.

I like the whites 2nd best (1st on left)

I like the white jersey/yellow pants 3rd (4th from left)

The next 2 have problems.

I like the yellow jersey/white pants the least of all of them. It just looks wrong.

The black looks okay, it’s just that black feels wrong.

…

Myles Garrett? Puka Nacua? Ranking the 10 most essential Rams with camp set to open

Nate Atkins

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7461723/2026/07/23/rams-myles-garrett-puka-nacua-matthew-stafford/?unlocked_article_code=1.z1A.gx8f.kgPC_vttbHT-&source=emp_shared_article&smid=ta-ios-share

WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. — Training camp is just about here, and with it will come the start of a “Super Bowl or bust” season for the Los Angeles Rams.

They have one of the most loaded rosters in the NFL, an experienced and connected group fresh off a narrow loss in the NFC Championship Game. They’ve made the biggest splashes of any team this offseason, with two trades for All-Pro defenders. They have star power, but they also have more reliance on some of those stars than others.

Here, we’re ranking the top 10 most essential Rams to this season’s success. It’s a subjective list and a subjective process, but to get there, we’re asking two questions about each player on this year’s roster:

1. What does the team’s ceiling become if this player reaches his?
2. How much of a setback will it be if this player has to miss a month of games?

Value is a different conversation than best, of course. It factors in positional importance, depth at that position, value to specific schemes, proven ability, age and demonstrated upside.

10. Kyren Williams, RB
This one will be up for debate because of the great players left off the list and the fact that Williams arguably has the best backup behind him of any of these options in Blake Corum, not to mention another intriguing option in Jarquez Hunter. He also doesn’t play a premium position.

But to understand the scheme Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford have built together, you have to appreciate what Williams brings perhaps better than any other player at his position in the sport. His ability to identify and stonewall blitzers in pass protection makes him essential to keeping his quarterback safe from the most vicious and hard-to-escape hits, and allows Stafford’s superpowers to come to life.

Add his consistency and durability with three straight seasons of at least 1,100 rushing yards, his steady receiving skills that have been a bit underutilized with the talent at wideout and his presence as one of the team’s biggest leaders, and it’s hard to envision the Rams’ offense operating the same way without him.

9. Kevin Dotson, RG
Here’s another player at a non-premium position cracking the top 10. But if you watched the Rams last season with and without Dotson, it shouldn’t come as a surprise.

On pure ability, Dotson is the best offensive lineman on the roster. I had an opposing defensive coach say he scared him far more than any of their other starters up front. That’s because Dotson is massive at 6-foot-4, 330 pounds, which lets him not only operate in good coordination in the Rams’ zone blocking schemes but also reach the second level and put linebackers and safeties in the dirt. Some of Los Angeles’ most explosive runs come when Dotson pulls this off. He’s a huge reason why Coleman Shelton and Warren McClendon Jr. have fit in nicely in that run scheme.

But what elevates him here is his ability to protect the pocket so nicely for a 38-year-old quarterback who doesn’t have the mobility to escape internal pressure. Dotson has allowed just nine sacks in six career seasons. Last year, teams generated a sack against Dotson on just 0.6 percent of pass rushing snaps, according to Sports Info Solutions.

8. Warren McClendon Jr., RT
Now, we are moving on to the positions that typically reserve the most value in this league. Given the state of Stafford’s back and age, both tackles are almost a must for a list like this, and McClendon has shown enough to be more than just a man filling a spot.

McClendon broke out last season after replacing Rob Havenstein. He started 13 games between the regular season and postseason and impressed in the run game, allowing it to get better and better by the week. His best value came in pass protection, where he played 383 snaps and gave up just two sacks.

It was an incredible find for a team that needed to protect Stafford at all costs, and it’s all the more valuable now with Havenstein retired and no one remotely proven to step in if McClendon goes down.

7. Davante Adams, WR
The players so far on this list have had something in common: protecting Stafford. Now comes one who is more about maximizing the veteran quarterback.

Adams arrived a year ago as a replacement for Cooper Kupp, and it wasn’t always a smooth transition. Consistent production and durability were both concerns, but the highs were impossible to ignore. Adams played 14 games and led the NFL with 14 receiving touchdowns. He and Stafford found a red zone cheat code around midseason, allowing Adams to score 11 times in the final eight games.

Adams finished with 789 yards, his fewest since 2015. He battled lingering lower-body injuries and is now 33. So the concerns exist, but that’s also why he’s incredibly important to keep on the field. The Rams struggled on third downs and in the red zone until they found this connection at midseason, and the attention on Puka Nacua will be too difficult to work through if Adams isn’t out there and the Rams are relying on what they have behind him, which is among the least proven depth on the roster.

6. Quentin Lake, DB
If you asked anyone around the Rams defense early last season who the most valuable defender was, Lake’s name consistently came up. When he went down at midseason, his value became all the more clear.

As a versatile, tough, communicative defensive back, Lake embodies everything defensive coordinator Chris Shula wants from his dime-heavy scheme. As the captain of the secondary, Lake bounced from nickel cornerback to free safety to strong safety, making it difficult early on for opponents to diagnose his alignment and role. When he missed six games to an elbow dislocation, a secondary light on investments at outside cornerback saw immediate regression, and so did the run defense.

Lake’s late-season return didn’t quite spark a total turnaround. He was just one player for offenses to account for with easy options to throw to outside. This spring’s cornerback overhaul is partly about forcing quarterbacks to throw Lake’s way more, where the Rams believe he has far more potential than his one career interception demonstrates. (He did finish with 10 passes defensed in 10 games.)

After all, the Rams believed so much in him that they gave him a three-year, $38.3 million extension the moment he came back from injured reserve last season.

5. Trent McDuffie, CB
Here comes the first blockbuster addition of the offseason. Of the Rams’ three new added starters, none of them has the ability to offer the upgrade that McDuffie does, given his All-Pro ability at a premium position that killed the Rams down the stretch last season.

McDuffie will primarily play outside cornerback, which is what enabled him to sign a four-year deal for $31 million per season, the largest deal ever for a cornerback. But his versatility was just as intriguing to the Rams, as he can also bounce inside and offer even better play at nickel, given his instincts, communication and toughness at 5-foot-11, 193 pounds.

That’s Lake’s position to start, but McDuffie is what will allow Lake to move around. Those two are this high on the list for the ways they’ll maximize each other.

4. Puka Nacua, WR
This top four forms its own tier. That’s why it can feel too low to have Nacua here, but that’s just how many stars the Rams have at the top of their roster.

Nacua was a 1B to Jaxon Smith-Njigba as the best receiver in the game last season. He led the NFL with 129 catches and 107.2 receiving yards per game. He plays the kind of high-volume, yards-after-contact style that McVay loves as the engine of his offense, and he managed to play 19 games despite all those vicious hits. He’s as consistent as sunrise and sunset —he’s averaged 95.3 receiving yards per game through his first three seasons, an all-time NFL mark.

Losing Nacua for any stretch of time would be brutal, as the Rams simply don’t have anyone who profiles anywhere near his volume or consistency in moving the chains and defeating zone coverages. If that happens, Los Angeles would have to lean on the run game and throwing to tight ends a bunch, which is slightly better than the alternatives for the top two names on this list.

3. Myles Garrett, Edge
The Rams pulled off a trade for the best defensive player in the NFL this offseason, and arguably the best single talent at any position. Garrett has won two of the past three Defensive Player of the Year awards, including last season, when he set the single-season record with 23 sacks. With six straight seasons of at least 12 sacks, Garrett is the closest player the current game has to what Aaron Donald was at his peak.

That makes him critical to the Rams’ ceiling, as the last time they hoisted the Lombardi Trophy came with Donald wrecking the end of back-to-back games. Compared to other players on a star-studded defense, none of them have the singular dominance that Garrett can provide regardless of an opponent’s scheme.

All that’s keeping him from the top two spots is that the floor of this defense still seems rather high with an elite secondary and Byron Young, Kobie Turner and Josaiah Stewart to play along the edges. It could still be a top-10 unit without Garrett, which is something we can’t say about the two players ranked above him.

2. Alaric Jackson, LT
A third offensive lineman cracks this top 10, which says everything about what this list is ultimately building toward. Outside of the quarterback position, no spot is more critical than the one protecting his blindside — and that importance goes up a notch when the quarterback is 38, confined to the pocket and managing a degenerative back issue.

Jackson has carved out a very solid career after going undrafted, as he’s settled in as the full-time left tackle the Rams needed after Andrew Whitworth’s retirement. He’s balanced between the run and pass games, and that lets the Rams deploy more of their tight end assistance to help younger players on the right side.

Jackson has yet to make a Pro Bowl, so placing him above Garrett and McDuffie might be a bit curious. But that’s what his position means to this operation. It’s also about what’s behind him. If Jackson were to miss time — a real possibility as he’s facing a potential second suspension under the league’s personal conduct policy — the Rams would turn to either a 36-year-old entrenched backup in David Quessenberry or a third-round rookie in Keagen Trost, who spent his college career at right tackle.

It’s notable that the one game Jackson missed last season led to an offensive meltdown against the Atlanta Falcons.

1. Matthew Stafford, QB
The top spot here is no surprise. The biggest acquisition the Rams made toward their 2026 Super Bowl goals wasn’t Garrett or McDuffie, but rather the announcement from Stafford that he was returning for an 18th NFL season, this time fresh off his first MVP award.

Stafford has long been elite, but last season he took his game to another level by leading the NFL with 4,707 passing yards and 46 touchdowns (to just eight interceptions). He holds the keys to everything McVay wants to do with the offense and then some, as his ability to read and adjust pre-snap and then throw off-platform, no-look or into tight windows is something few other passers can match.

Moreover, if Stafford were to miss time, the most important position could fall onto either Stetson Bennett or rookie Ty Simpson. The entire identity of the Rams offense would change in a single snap, which is why he has to be No. 1 on this list.

Honorable mention: Byron Young, linebacker; Kam Curl, safety; Nate Landman, linebacker; Kobie Turner, defensive lineman; Jaylen Watson, cornerback

No. 53 on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2026…@RamsNFL WR Davante Adams! @NFLFilms pic.twitter.com/6w5nL5EEnm

— NFL (@NFL) July 23, 2026

AARON DONALD 2018 EVERY SACK (AND TKL, QB HIT, TFL, FF, FR) ⬇️⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/CkeiDFZxsw

— betz (@adaptskill) July 22, 2026

from Alabama writer: Ty Simpson has far more upside than people realize: https://www.turfshowtimes.com/los-angeles-rams-analysis/144109/ty-simpson-alabama-writer-interview-rams?utm_campaign=dhtwitter&utm_content=%3Cmedia_url%3E&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

Brent Taylor is a writer at the SB Nation’s Alabama blog Roll Bama Roll and he’s been through the entire Simpson experience over the last four seasons, from being one of the more unheralded five-star QB recruits of his time, to finally getting his shot to start three years later, until his body was nearly coming apart at the seams by the end.

I asked Brent about what it was like, from the fan’s experience, to track Simpson from recruit, to competing for the most important job on the team, to his one season as the starter.

“There was a large contingent of Alabama fans who really wanted to see Simpson in early 2023 when Jalen Milroe first won that job (me included). It went kind of weirdly… ”

As well as if he’s surprised that Simpson went 13th overall and what the quarterback’s greatest strength and greatest weakness will be going into the most important job on the Rams.

“It’s something that you just don’t see from college QBs often these days…”

Here’s what he had to tell me about Simpson, then and now.

Q: What was the feeling among fans when Ty Simpson committed as a recruit in 2022? Where does he rank among Saban’s QB recruits all-time?

TAYLOR: Simpson was relatively under-the-radar for a 5-star QB recruit. Cade Klubnik and Drew Allar were the big two that year, and Simpson, despite a #29 overall ranking, was a guy that was coming from a small school in Tennessee, and it just didn’t really draw the hype you usually get from a 5-star passer. Still, there were a lot of high expectations for him, despite most of us knowing he was a guy that would likely take a couple of years to adjust to college speed (he made a LOT of hay in high school just running read options, scrambling around, and being a better athlete than everyone on the field).

As far as where he fit in the All-Time Saban recruit rankings, there was Blake Barnett in 2015 (major bust), Tua Tagovailoa in 2017, and #1 overall recruit Bryce Young in 2020 that all out-ranked him in terms of recruiting rankings and fan expectations. You could also throw in current Ohio State QB Julian Sayin on that list on a technicality, since he did sign with Nick Saban…. he just also transferred a month later when Saban retired. All that to say, Simpson wasn’t some chump that managed to have a solid senior season, he was always someone who we thought could/should be elite.

Q: The elephant in the room for me is spending three years on the bench, including two behind Jalen Milroe, who was a solid college quarterback but not someone that most of us remember being Tim Tebow or Cam Newton in college. What was the feeling there when Simpson spent 2 years behind Milroe and why didn’t he transfer?

TAYLOR: The short answer is that it was a weird situation, and it was compounded by Ty Simpson reportedly (and through his own admission later) struggling with confidence and emotions, and that led to him just not being ready.

The very long answer:

There was a large contingent of Alabama fans who really wanted to see Simpson in early 2023 when Jalen Milroe first won that job (me included). It went kind of weirdly… Nick Saban always loved to start the most veteran QB at the beginning of the season opener when there was a QB battle, then rotate through the game until he picked a starter in a week or two. Well, game 1 that year, Milroe scored on nearly every possession against some scrub school, then the Tide just played kill-the-clock when Simpson came in. The next week, the Tide played Texas and got behind early, and Saban just said later that he felt like Alabama was close and didn’t want to kill continuity.

Week 3 was the tipping point, when Alabama played South Florida in a torrential downpour. Saban decided before the game that Milroe wasn’t cutting it and that Simpson and transfer veteran QB Tyler Buchner would both get a shot. Well, Buchner was an abject disaster and the Tide was LOSING to USF when Simpson got the shot to take over and win. He did just that, completing a few downfield passes and ultimately leading a couple of scoring drives. He also got sacked like 7 times.

At the time, I personally thought that Simpson showed enough in those horrific playing conditions that I thought he should be given a second look at getting playing time over Milroe. However, Saban didn’t see things that way, and we had Milroe the rest of the way. Ultimately, I think it was more about Milroe’s X-factor as a runner (the Alabama offense was struggling to pass and to run….. But they just kept scoring because Milroe could house it from 50 yards out on any given play).

2024 rolls around, and Alabama now has Kalen Deboer.

Milroe was pretty much the key voice in the offseason supporting the new coach and giving it his all to keep the roster together and team morale up. With that level of leadership in circumstances where the entire roster could have just…left… It only made sense to stick with Milroe. Still, as 2024 wore on and the Alabama offense got worse and worse, we were pretty much all calling for Ty Simpson to get a shot. Again, I think the combination of loyalty and Milroe’s ability to run when nothing else was working is what kept that change from ever happening. I also don’t think that Milroe would have kept that starting job if he had tried to come back in 2025 rather than going to the NFL.

For what it’s worth, Simpson has spoken candidly about his frustration with those years and that it would have made all the sense in the world to transfer. Ultimately, he’s just kept saying that he loved Alabama and wanted nothing more than to leave a legacy there, rather than being viewed as a guy who left when things were hard. And I think that personality is something that the Rams valued highly.

Q: What’s Simpson’s super power, the trait that will make him successful in the NFL? And what’s his Achilles heel, the one thing that could stop him from ever becoming a starter?

TAYLOR: His best trait is how good he is coverage processing, accuracy in the intermediate areas, and a willingness to trust those two things and just let the ball rip. It’s something that you just don’t see from college QBs often these days now that college offenses are all so focused on pre-snap decisions and one-read passes.

The trait that might doom him? Pocket awareness and subsequent injury concerns. When we first saw him on the field a few years ago, he was nearly oblivious to his offensive linemen getting beat or edge blitzes. He improved in his year as a starter, but his internal clock still runs way too long and he’s way too trusting of his OL (and don’t get it twisted, Alabama’s OL was atrocious last year). He takes way too many sacks from behind as he hangs in the pocket absolutely forever. On one hand, it was nice to have a QB who wasn’t a happy feet scrambler after 4 years of Bryce Young and Jalen Milroe. On the other, I did a lot of screaming at Ty to just DO SOMETHING. Throw in NFL defenders that he can’t just outrun like he did pretty often in college, and he could wind up spending a whole season on his back if his team doesn’t have a good OL. Fortunately, the Rams do.

Q: I know that DeBoer hasn’t named a starter yet, but generally speaking do you think the Crimson Tide is getting an upgrade compared to last season with Simpson? This is something that matters to me when the QB being compared to his a mid-first round pick.

TAYLOR: This one’s tough. At the end of last season, the offense has ground to a halt for Alabama. Part of it was the fact that the Tide had one of the NCAA’s worst rushing offenses. Part was that Simpson had a combination of a messed up shoulder, gastritis, and ultimately some broken ribs. It was clear he wasn’t the same player he was earlier in the year, but no one would admit just how broken he was at the end (again, back to taking WAY too many sacks getting blindsided). I think any QB Alabama puts in will be better than the broken corpse of Simpson that we saw at the end of last season.

But if we’re talking about early-to-mid season Simpson, then Alabama will most likely downgrade.

Veteran Austin Mack is a solid enough guy who filled in admirably last year when Simpson broke his ribs, but I think it’ll be a steep drop off if he wins the job. The caveat is that Alabama also has 2nd-year man Keelon Russell waiting in the wings, and Russell is the Tide’s highest-ever recruit – edging out Bryce Young, Andre Smith, and Julio Jones. So Russell is the kind of guy who we’ll be even more excited about than Simpson. But he’s also got potential to be in the Young/Tagovailoa stratosphere, or maybe even beyond it, so I wouldn’t put that as a knock on Simpson, and even with that crazy potential, Russell still won’t be able to match the NFL-level offensive playbook command that we got from Simpson.

Q: Okay, let’s get down to brass tacks. Were you surprised that the Rams drafted Simpson as early as they did and will it prove to be a good pick?

TAYLOR: I wasn’t particularly shocked. There had been enough leaks that I had already been thinking that the Rams would be the team. The fit just made sense – he’s got a lot of Jared Goff tendencies, for better or worse, and getting to be a succession plan on a team that runs a lot of middle-of-field passing concepts just felt right. I think in a more normal draft that wasn’t devoid of QBs he was the kind of guy that would have gone at the end of the 1st or early second with someone trading up, but I think he was always in the bucket of a guy that only good teams were going to draft (and the Rams just happened to be a good team picking high). He’s not a creative playmaker under pressure that bad teams will look at to be a franchise-saver. Instead, he’s a more methodical passer who has really high production upside IF he’s on a team with solid blocking.

I think he’s a bit of a risky pick for the Rams and I won’t be shocked if he fails out of the league…. BUT I also understand the thinking, think it’s a good fit, and I think that Simpson’s upside in the right system is much higher than the general populace gives him credit for.

from PFF, Ranking the most valuable non-first-round NFL Draft picks since 2016: https://www.pff.com/news/ranking-the-most-valuable-non-first-round-nfl-draft-picks-since-2016?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dhtwitter&utm_content=null

5. WR Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams
Pick 179 in 2023

For the bulk of recent drafts, the Rams’ strategy to eschew first-round picks meant that the team needed to hit on late-round choices. It did more than simply that by nabbing Nacua in the fifth round.

Over the last three seasons, Nacua’s play has left him impossible to count out. The BYU alum leads the league in PFF receiving grade (95.6) and contested catches (56) while finishing second in first downs gained (224). Nacua has become a beacon of efficiency with a ludicrous 3.16 yards per route run in his career, fueled by a relentless motor — as reflected in his career average of 5.9 yards after the catch per reception.

Nacua may not possess the elite athleticism or route-running of some other top-tier receivers, but his all-around game puts him at or near the top of the positional rankings. For Los Angeles to have located that type of profile at Pick 179 is naturally worthy of recognition. Nacua’s shorter career has him a little lower on this list, but he should climb it in due time.

Ryan Paganetti@RyanPaganetti
Want to know where NFL defense is going? Follow the Super Bowl champions.

Three of the past five finished No. 1 in showing two high rate on 1st and 10 in the first half:

2021 Rams: Raheem Morris
2024 Eagles: Vic Fangio
2025 Seahawks: Mike Macdonald

The two high revolution is not going anywhere.

David Crockett@dcrockett17
you gotta have some dogs on the first two levels to *stay* in two high.

Doug Farrar@NFL_DougFarrar
One reason I think we’re seeing upticks in under-center snaps and heavy personnel — force at least one of those safeties out of place.

Ben’s Johnson@iambensjohnson
Thats why 13 is making a big surge, its a great style of offense against two high safeties

Grok
The exchange illustrates the NFL’s ongoing schematic arms race where pass-oriented two-high coverages prompt traditional run-heavy adjustments to create mismatches on early downs.

Actually could not be more fitting that I “had a pressure plan” and executed it with a HOT on my first Arena completion!!! Always my strong suit!!! https://t.co/SQqb6MC0A1

— Kurt Warner (@kurt13warner) July 21, 2026

"My understanding is that Aaron Donald is getting in football shape right now..

It's gonna be a while before we hear a final decision on when he's coming back..

He's in his own pre training camp routine"@AdamSchefter #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/sOoNtUmTgz

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) July 21, 2026

from Albert Breer, https://www.si.com/nfl/albert-breer-biggest-storylines-nfl-training-camp#inline-text-90

…

Aaron Donald

Is Aaron Donald ready to roll? The Rams’ legend is training now as if he’s going to play and has told people that if he thinks he can be himself on Sundays, he’ll go through with what would be a borderline unprecedented return to the NFL.

So what would stop him at this point?

The first thing is pretty obvious—the bar for Donald to be himself is about as high as any player at his position in the sport’s history. To get to a point where he feels like the guy who obliterated NFL linemen and protection schemes for a decade isn’t as simple as flipping a switch, no matter what sort of shape he has kept himself in over his two years out of the NFL.

The second is a little more nuanced. Donald was very happy in retirement, and never ruminated to those in the organization that he wanted to come back. In other words, this isn’t a guy who has had some enormous struggle adjusting to civilian life. The 10-time Pro Bowler is a happy retiree, by all accounts, which is to say the idea of going back to that life isn’t something he’ll view as a failure.

That said, we all see where this is going. He has been working out—and testing himself—at the team’s facility (as TMZ’s spies revealed last week). The way things are set up with a deep, balanced, loaded defensive front will allow for tremendous flexibility in his deployment. The chance to compete for a championship with a team that went to the mat with the world-champion Seahawks in the NFC title game is there. So is the chance to play next to Myles Garrett.

The Rams, for their part, haven’t pushed. They’ve told him they’d love to have him. But they want the decision to be the 35-year-old Donald’s and Donald’s alone. And they’ll be judicious in how they work him back in, should he return. Having Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske, Poona Ford and Tyler Davis, among others, at defensive tackle would allow for Donald to be managed through camp, and in games, as he gets his sea legs back.

Of course, the flip side of that is that Donald has never been a guy who’s done anything halfway. He’ll want to earn what he gets, yes, but he won’t be the one putting the governor on how much he practices or plays—and that’s where the Rams will have to find the balance between what Donald wants and what’s best for him and the team.

But all things considered? This has a chance to be a great, unique story. The closest comp I could come up with for it, in any sport, was Michael Jordan coming back with the Wizards three years after retiring from the Bulls. We covered the Eric Weddle parallels last month, and while that will inform the organization to some degree in how to handle this, that was a guy returning for a max of four games in an emergency situation.

This is much different than that—or really anything I can think of.

Which is what makes it so damn interesting.

Rams have 2 on a list of the top 15

***

NFL Stats@NFL_Stats
Most career receiving yards:

Jerry Rice – 22,895
Larry Fitzgerald – 17,492
Terrell Owens – 15,934
Randy Moss – 15,292
Isaac Bruce – 15,208
Tony Gonzalez – 15,127
Tim Brown – 14,934
Steve Smith Sr – 14,731
Marvin Harrison – 14,580
Reggie Wayne – 14,185
Andre Johnson – 14,185
James Lofton – 14,004
Cris Carter – 13,899
Anquan Boldin – 13,779
Henry Ellard – 13,777

Warren Sharp@SharpFootball
Comeback Kings:

best QBs when losing in the 2nd half
*2025 regular season, ranked by EPA/dropback

1. Matthew Stafford (+0.45)
2. Jordan Love (+0.31)
3. Bo Nix (+0.28)
4. Josh Allen (+0.28)
5. Caleb Williams (+0.27)
6. Brock Purdy (+0.22)
7. Patrick Mahomes (+0.22)
8. Drake Maye (+0.20)
9. Mac Jones (+0.17)
10. Dak Prescott (+0.16)
11. Baker Mayfield (+0.16)
12. Bryce Young (+0.14)
13. Sam Darnold (+0.13)
14. Tyler Shough (+0.10)
15. Justin Fields (+0.10)
16. Aaron Rodgers (+0.09)
17. Geno Smith (+0.07)
18. Michael Penix Jr. (+0.06)
19. Lamar Jackson (+0.06)
20. Jacoby Brissett (+0.04)
21. Jared Goff (+0.04)
22. Trevor Lawrence (+0.03)
23. Justin Herbert (+0.02)
24. Jalen Hurts (+0.01)
25. Jaxson Dart (0.00)
26. Daniel Jones (-0.03)
27. Marcus Mariota (-0.05)
28. Joe Burrow (-0.05)
29. Tua Tagovailoa (-0.06)
30. Spencer Rattler (-0.06)
31. Kirk Cousins (-0.12)
32. Joe Flacco (-0.13)
33. Cam Ward (-0.19)
34. C.J. Stroud (-0.25)
35. Shedeur Sanders (-0.31)
36. J.J. McCarthy (-0.40)

from https://theramswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/rams/2026/07/20/rams-quentin-lake-player-rankings-2026-important/90979866007/?taid=6a5e1c54acbde00001576075&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=twitter

Quentin Lake

Lake has been the Rams’ primary slot defender over the last couple of years, and while that certainly seems like his best position, he could move around a bit more in 2026. That’s because Los Angeles acquired Trent McDuffie from the Chiefs, and he’s excellent in the slot, too.

It’s a good problem to have, deciding who to play where. But it’s something the Rams must work through with two quality slot corners on the roster now. Last year, Lake played 535 snaps in the slot and only 129 as a deep safety, by far the widest discrepancy of his young career so far.

This coming season, the gap between those two positions could be much narrower – though Lake is still expected to play most of his snaps in the slot. While he may lack some pure speed, his short-area quickness and awareness make him a perfect fit for the “star” position where he has the size to match up with tight ends and the coverage skills to man-up slot receivers.

…

When Lake was injured, his absence was certainly felt, particularly when it came to stopping the run. He’s underrated in that aspect, earning the 20th-best run defense grade of any safety in the NFL last season, according to PFF. He also had a missed tackle rate of 11.2%, which ranked in the top 30 at his position
…