One Question For Three Best Players on Rams Roster

Critiques are a part of sports and life. They come in all shapes and forms, intending to want improvement from someone or something. It is everywhere in sports, especially football where improvement is always wanted and needed with each respective franchise.

The Los Angeles Rams are certainly a team that can improve despite 20 wins in two years and emerging as championship contenders heading into training camp this month. The three best players on the roster are fairly easy to identify, and while they are great at their respective positions, one critical question must be asked ahead of the season.

These questions are meant to encourage the player to show growth in one area, no matter where they are in their careers, and these three individuals are certainly at different, yet crucial stages of their careers.

Will Puka Nacua emerge as a Tier 1 wide receiver?

It has been incredible to watch the production Nacua puts up each week when healthy. He is among the best wide receivers in the game, but likely just a hair out of the elite tier that features a combination of Justin Jefferson, A.J. Brown, and Ja'Marr Chase.

Nacua missed five games due to injury last season, but was on pace for staggering numbers had he not missed time early in the season. That is the key to his success this season. If Nacua can play in most or all 17 games in 2025, it wouldn't surprise anyone if he is in the discussion for NFL WR1 by the end of the year.

Can Matthew Stafford maintain elite play late in his career?

For 16 years, Stafford has been among the best quarterbacks in the game, always within the five to 12 range as a passer dating back to his early days with the Detroit Lions. Now in Los Angeles and with a Super Bowl ring, Stafford has been one of the clutch performers of this era of signal-callers and showed no signs of slowing down last season when he took the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles to the wire.

However, it is fair to ask how much left he has in the tank and whether he can maintain his health in 2025. It wasn't long ago when an elbow injury sidelined him for most of the 2022 season (aka, the Baker Mayfield Rams era). It is fair to ask if Stafford will continue playing at a high level in his age-37 season.

Will Jared Verse emerge as a top NFL pass rusher?

While Verse didn't have the most productive season for a defensive rookie of the year recipient (just four sacks and two more in the postseason), he was still a game-wrecker with his consistent pressures and lethal power and explosiveness against opposing tackles. Entering 2025, expectations for the second-year player out of Florida State are sky-high.

Verse has a chance to evolve into one of the top overall edge rushers in the NFL if his production increases drastically. However, all top players in their rookie contracts have different ways of progression, and Verse is no guarantee to quadruple his stat line from last season. Time will tell if the former first-round selection becomes an elite player at his position.