Five Most Underrated Rams Players in the McVay Era

In 2017, Sean McVay took charge of the Los Angeles Rams, and in the nine years since, he has had many talented game-changing players join his roster. Here are five of the most underrated contributors over that time.

1. Von Miller. Like Terrell Suggs' Super Bowl ring with the Chiefs, not many talk about what Miller did in Los Angeles outside of Southern California. Until Jared Verse, Miller was the best EDGE player in the McVay era and in the 12 games played, he recorded nine sacks and 45 total tackles.

This was after Miller missed the entire 2020 season with a dislocated peroneal tendon and was traded from Denver without much warning. He sacked Joe Burrow twice in Super Bowl LVI.

2. Marcus Peters. When the Rams added Peters, Sam Shields, and Aqib Talib to the defensive secondary in 2018, they brought a new attitude to Wade Phillips' defense, an attitude that they wouldn't be defeated through the air.

Peters was the best of the trio that gave the Rams' defensive line enough aerial coverage to repeatedly cause havoc in the backfield. The problem is that Peters had even better success once he was traded to Baltimore, as the Rams chose to add Jalen Ramsey in 2019.

3. Samson Ebukam. Ebukam nearly defeated NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes by himself back in the Rams-Chiefs legendary Monday Night Football game in 2018, but in his four seasons with the franchise, he was a solid contributor whose efforts helped Aaron Donald win three Defensive Player of the Year awards.

4. Van Jefferson. It's hard to make an impact in a wide receiver room that has Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, and Odell Beckham Jr, but Van Jefferson was simply that player. Jefferson's play when Woods went down with a season-ending injury helped the team secure the NFC West, giving Beckham Jr enough time to get acquainted in order for him to show out in the playoffs.

Jefferson contributed to the Rams' victory in Super Bowl LVI and caught the game-winning touchdown from Baker Mayfield over the Raiders, helping Mayfield rebound his career.

5. C.J. Anderson. When Todd Gurley started to suffer health issues towards the end of the 2018 season and into the 2019 NFC playoffs, there were massive concerns about the Rams ability to compete for the Super Bowl.

That was until Anderson, who spent weeks on his couch outside of a six-day stint with the Raiders in which he didn't play in a game, was signed by the Rams and ran for 299 in the final two games of the season. In the playoffs, Anderson remained excellent as he and Gurley ran the Rams to victory over the Dallas Cowboys before leading the Rams' rushing attack in a victorious effort in the 2019 NFC Championship Game.

Who's on your list?