NFL Insider Talks Rams, NFC West, and McVay-Shanahan Rivalry

However, the Rams and 49ers remain the favorites, prompting NFL Insider and Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer to ask who is the heavyweight in the NFC West.

"The Kyle Shanahan/Sean McVay rivalry, now in Year 9, has been a gift for everyone who follows the NFL," wrote Breer. "Not only are the two innovative in how they’ve built their offenses and teams—and producers of habitually entertaining, dynamic outfits—the stakes seem to be unendingly high out there."

"Between the two of them, we’ve seen four Super Bowl appearances and a championship, and each has been able to rebuild his roster on the fly and show real staying power."

"This year, for the Rams, there’s no Cooper Kupp. It’s been a year since Aaron Donald left, and two since Jalen Ramsey was dealt. In their places has come an exciting young core that’s reinvigorated not just the franchise’s future, but also the coach himself. And GM Les Snead and the brass is telling you where they are with Puka Nacua, Kyren Williams, Jared Verse, Byron Young, Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske et al., in adding a win-now piece like Davante Adams after making the playoffs the past two years while cleaning out the cap."

"Meanwhile, the 49ers are taking their cap medicine this year like the Rams did two years ago, with guys such as Samuel, Javon Hargrave, Leonard Floyd, Dre Greenlaw, Charvarius Ward, Talanoa Hufanga and Aaron Banks gone. The core is still strong­—a lot of teams would love to be building around Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk (when he gets back), Trent Williams, Nick Bosa and Fred Warner. But how far this team goes will ride on young players growing up like the Rams’ young guys did the past few years, and a decent bet that’ll happen based on the track record of GM John Lynch and Shanahan."

"Either way, it would be no surprise to see either or both of these teams still going in late January, so it’ll be fun to watch how that’s all coming along through the summer, with the Seahawks and Cardinals also (justifiably) expecting to take steps forward in the division."

This will be a defining season for both Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan. While McVay has been an excellent coach for the Rams, having only one title separates him from the very good and the elite, something Kyle Shanahan knows about, considering his father is one of the elites.

While McVay enters year five with Matthew Stafford, Shanahan is entering year four with Brock Purdy, a quarterback who has about 265 million reasons to believe the 49ers have faith in him.

Considering both men want to win, with McVay looking to join his grandfather on the mountain top of multiple Super Bowl winners and Shanahan looking to finally prove he indeed can do it, their approach to roster construction, game management and the race for the division will be one of the best stories of the 2025 NFL season.