Cooper Kupp had a rough opening half vs. the New Orleans Saints, with a few drops in the end zone and miscommunication with Matthew Stafford. But the Los Angeles Rams still went into the locker room up double digits Thursday night.
Last season, the Rams probably would have been down by 10 points, searching for their first touchdown and in need of healthy offensive linemen.
But these Rams are different from the 5–12 team from last season. They’re also drastically different from the 3–6 squad earlier this year. The Rams (8–7) are rolling behind a red-hot offense and an underrated defense, as they defeated the Saints, 30–22, to get one step closer to returning to the postseason.
Sean McVay’s 2023 team is winning and scoring often for a multitude of reasons, including a revamped offensive line that has remained mostly healthy this season. (They had 12 different offensive line combinations in the first 13 games last season.)
But Stafford is playing like an MVP candidate—and defensive coordinator Raheem Morris will gain head-coaching attention in the offseason—primarily because of a sensational 2023 draft class that’s led by wide receiver Puka Nacua, Stafford’s new No. 1 target. L.A.’s offense took off after McVay made Nacua and second-year running back Kyren Williams the focal points of the offense, a unit that has scored 27 points or more in five consecutive games.
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With Drew Brees sitting in a suite with Saints owner Gayle Benson at SoFi Stadium, I remembered how vital the 2017 New Orleans draft class was during the final years of Brees’s career. Alvin Kamara, Marshon Lattimore, Ryan Ramczyk, Marcus Williams, Trey Hendrickson and Alex Anzalone (Yeah, that draft class was loaded) helped Brees and then-coach Sean Payton gain a few more cracks at winning a second Super Bowl in New Orleans. They came up short, but they made the playoffs in 2017 after a three-year drought, and advanced to the postseason for four consecutive seasons before Brees retired after the ’20 campaign.
The Rams’ 2023 draft class could have that type of impact to possibly give Stafford, Kupp, McVay and Aaron Donald more opportunities to win a second Super Bowl in Los Angeles.
Along with Nacua, offensive guard Steve Avila, edge rusher Byron Young, defensive tackle Kobie Turner, and punter Ethan Evans have contributed as rookie starters this season. Even Davis Allen, a fifth-round pick, filled in admirably for Tyler Higbee when the veteran tight end missed the shootout against the Ravens two weeks ago.
The Rams’ opening drive Thursday was a perfect example of the immediate impact the rookies have provided in this second act for Stafford and McVay. Avila, the 2023 second-round pick, created running lanes for Williams, while Nacua, a ’23 fifth-round pick, quickly got open for Stafford. Nacua ended the night with nine catches for 164 yards and a touchdown and would probably be the front-runner for Offensive Rookie of the Year if it weren’t for Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud.
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With a balanced attack, McVay had the luxury of calling a variety of plays—14 to be exact on the opening touchdown drive that started on the Saints’ 5-yard line and ate nearly eight minutes off the clock. Four different pass-catchers caught at least one pass that went for 10 yards or more on the drive that ended with a two-yard touchdown reception from Nacua on fourth-and-goal.
Ol’ reliable Kupp could have closed the sensational opening drive, but dropped a pass in the end zone. He had a second drop in the end zone that led to the Rams taking a 10–0 advantage after a 20-yard field goal from Lucas Havrisik—another rookie, who went undrafted out of Arizona.
In Kupp’s defense, the two drops weren’t easy catches to make, especially the first one, with an awkward angle. But that’s what makes these new-look Rams dangerous offensively. The 2021 Offensive Player of the Year doesn’t need to do the heavy lifting, which was the case last season before Kupp had a season-ending ankle injury.
The 2022 Rams were boring and predictable as a one-man show with Kupp. The ’23 Rams are far from boring, with the trio of Kupp, Nacua and Williams, and many other options for Stafford, who has played as well as any other quarterback in the league the past month. Demarcus Robinson, the former Chiefs and Ravens wide receiver, has stepped up as a reliable third option for Stafford. Robinson feasted Thursday night, with Nacua and Kupp getting the bulk of the attention.
These Rams might be a top-five offense in the NFL, a development that transpired after the 3–6 start. But let’s not overlook the work Morris has done with an inexperienced defense that was labeled as “Aaron Donald and a bunch of nobodies.”
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Turner, a third-round pick, had a critical sack on fourth down during the first half against the Saints. Young, also a third-round selection, has provided consistent pressure, along with Michael Hoecht, a 2020 undrafted free agent that moved from defensive tackle to edge rusher last season. There’s also linebacker Ernest Jones and safety Jordan Fuller—two defenders who made notable plays Thursday night. And add cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon to the list of quality, bargain free-agent finds for GM Les Snead, who should be in the mix for Executive of the Year. Offensive guard Kevin Dotson is another impactful newcomer—the veteran was acquired in a trade with the Steelers.
Snead kept calling this a retooling year, not a rebuild year after the Rams parted with Jalen Ramsey, Bobby Wagner, Leonard Floyd and many other notable veterans in the offseason. The Rams paid the tab on the salary-cap debt they accumulated to win the 2021 Super Bowl. Now they’re armed with $43 million in cap space next year, according to Overthecap.com.
These Rams are a year ahead of schedule thanks to an impactful 2023 draft class, and appear capable of making noise in the NFC postseason as a wild-card team. Once the postseason arrives, not many teams will want to face a team that has Super Bowl experience with a new crop of stars.
