The Rams' Biggest X-Factor Heading into the Season

The Rams' Clear X-Factor

Ben Solak of ESPN recently listed on X-factor from every team in the league. He named Davante Adams as the Rams'.

"Much of the Rams' offensive success hinges on the health of quarterback Matthew Stafford, who is fighting a bad back (as well as Father Time), and offensive tackle Alaric Jackson, who missed most of training camp because of blood clots," Solak said.

"Even in the worlds in which Jackson and Stafford are available for much of the season, a Cooper Kupp-size void appears in the offense for the first time in Sean McVay's tenure as coach. But the Rams chose to move on from Kupp, who has really slowed down in recent seasons, and replace him with a stylistically different wide receiver in Adams.

"Adams is more often used in isolation on the outside than Kupp ever was and excels as a go-ball receiver -- a role the Rams haven't filled in years. If Adams benefits from the easy separation offered by McVay's magic and brings an additional layer of matchup danger for opposing defenses, then even Jimmy Garoppolo could excel under center. But Adams also is 33, and for as technical and timeless as his game is, he cannot go the way of Kupp by failing to produce on McVay's yards-after-catch-oriented opportunities."

After training camp, McVay noted that while he and the Rams will miss Kupp, and others, he is excited to have Adams on board. McVay hopes Adams and the Rams' offense will grow into one of the league's best.

“The good thing is you get a player like [Wide Receiver] Davante [Adams] in. We'll miss both those guys. They were great teammates and great contributors. I love both of those guys for what they were to the locker room. You guys [media] obviously know the experience with Cooper and how much I love him. [Robinson] ‘D-Rob’ was such a breath of fresh air. He was so fun to be around the last couple of years. We'll definitely miss those guys," McVay said. 

"On a positive, I'm really encouraged by the improvement from a lot of guys you've seen from year one to year two. You look at [Wide Receiver] Xavier Smith, you look at [Wide Receiver] Jordan Whittington, and you look at the improvement of even [Wide Receiver] Puka [Nacua] going from year two to year three, and [Wide Receiver] Tutu Atwell getting another year of experience has been awesome. Then you bring in somebody like Davante Adams, and he's been awesome. We’re continuing to figure that out, and that's a positive thing for us.

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