Rams Remain Underestimated Entering 2025

According to CBS Sports' Cody Benjamin, the Rams are the NFL's most vulnerable division winner, despite adding Davante Adams, Poona Ford, and several premier college players to a championship level roster.

With all due respect to Benjamin, a knowledgeable writer and analyst but he's wrong.

It's hard to understand how the Rams are ranked number one when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are ranked at sixth, giving them more security to retain their title than the Rams, Eagles, and Ravens.

"The South used to be something of a laughingstock, always open to whichever measly team wanted to seize it," wrote Benjamin. "Lost in that once-firm notion is the fact the Buccaneers have now owned the division for the better part of a half-decade. Maybe the Atlanta Falcons will finally make noise, but that's dependent on Michael Penix Jr. elevating their young weapons. The Carolina Panthers may or may not have improved Bryce Young's help to a meaningful degree. And the New Orleans Saints, though veteran-laden, are starting fresh at coach and quarterback."

This was a Buccaneers team that needed a late-season meltdown from the Atlanta Falcons and fourth-quarter heroics from Baker Mayfield in the season finale to win the division. The Falcons are here, and the Carolina Panthers are coming as Bryce Young looks happy, is playing healthy, and is producing.

The Houston Texans at 4 is also a surprise. Yes, Houston did win the AFC South for the past two years, but let's not forget how rough their season was. In the meantime, the Jacksonville Jaguars and James Gladstone have put together a roster ready to compete with a premier defensive line, a grossly underrated secondary, breakout star Brian Thomas Jr, and Heisman winner Travis Hunter.

"The Texans have quietly outlasted a bad division in each of DeMeco Ryans' first two seasons atop the staff. Regardless of C.J. Stroud's trajectory, Ryans could have an elite defense, which still makes Houston a favorite over the Indianapolis Colts, who are betting on a savior emerging from an iffy quarterback competition; and the Tennessee Titans, who are starting over under center. The Jacksonville Jaguars could be much better, though, if Trevor Lawrence flourishes under the direction of Liam Coen, feeding new weapons like Travis Hunter."

In the AFC South, the Titans just added Cam Ward via the first overall pick, and no one really knows what the Colts will have in store for fans.

The Rams should not be number one. Eight divisions, eight champions, and yet in 2024, the Rams were one of four teams to wrap up the division before week 18. Do with that what you will.