The Rams have loaded up for 2026, and that kind of talent surge changes the conversation fast. Chris Shula’s defense has added Myles Garrett, Aaron Donald, Trent McDuffie, and Jaylen Watson, while the offense - last season’s top unit - brings back everyone who played in the NFC Championship Game.
That sounds like a dream setup, but it also creates a simple problem: there are only so many stats to go around. More weapons, more competition, and a higher standard can mean fewer eye-popping numbers for players who were already producing at a high level.
That doesn’t have to be a bad thing. In fact, several Rams could take a step back statistically and still be major reasons this team wins.
Here are five players who might regress a bit and still matter plenty.
Colby Parkinson is a good place to start. He blew past expectations last season, catching nearly 77 percent of his targets and finishing with 408 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.
That was easily the best season of his career. But repeating that kind of output in 2026 may be tough.
The Rams have five tight ends on the roster, and Terrance Ferguson has reportedly made major strides in camp. LA targeted tight ends 150 times last season, and it’s hard to see that volume climbing.
If Ferguson earns more work, Parkinson is the most likely player to lose touches.
Byron Young also fits the profile of a player who can still help even if the numbers dip. He has improved every year, and 2025 brought 12 sacks and 82 tackles.
Still, the defense around him has changed in a big way. With better coverage and more pressure coming from elsewhere, offenses should be forced into quicker throws and more misdirection.
That means fewer clean chances for Young to chase sacks. He also won’t be racing Jared Verse to the quarterback anymore.
Instead, he’ll be sharing the pass-rush stage with Garrett and Donald, who figure to command a bigger slice of the sack production than the 7.5 Verse had last season.
Puka Nacua may be the most obvious candidate for a statistical dip simply because of how much the offense leaned on him last year. He was targeted 166 times in 16 games, with two of those games shortened by injuries, and he turned that workload into nearly 78 percent catches and over 1,715 yards.
That kind of usage is hard to sustain when the Rams have more help around him. Davante Adams has already been described as uncoverable in joint scrimmages, and his 52.6 catch rate from last season should improve.
As Adams becomes more dependable, the offense won’t need to revolve around Nacua quite as heavily.
Myles Garrett could also see his raw totals come down, even though he’s in a much better situation. With the 2025 Cleveland Browns, he posted 60 tackles and 23 sacks while essentially wrecking games by himself.
Now he’s part of a deeper front with Donald and Young around him. Offenses will likely throw everything they can at Garrett and live with their chances elsewhere.
That could keep him from matching that historic sack number, but if he lands near his career average of 14, the Rams will take it.
Then there’s Matthew Stafford, who put together his best all-around season in 2025. He threw a career-high 46 touchdown passes, piled up 4,707 passing yards - his fourth-highest total - and had just eight interceptions, his fewest in a full 17-game season.
But defenses were caught off guard by what the Rams were doing last year, and that won’t be the case now. The good news for Stafford is that he may not need to carry as much.
With a stronger defense, the Rams should have more chances to play from ahead and lean on the run game to control the clock. That would mean fewer passing attempts and fewer of the high-wire throws that defined some of his biggest moments.
A drop in production can sound like a warning sign, but for this Rams team, it may just be the cost of having more answers. Sean McVay has built a culture where the whole operation matters more than any one stat line.
And it’s unlikely all five of these players will actually slide at once. The bigger point is simpler: when a roster is this loaded, somebody is always ready to make the play that counts.
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By early September, the Rams had terminated his contract with an injury settlement, closing the book on a signing that never really got going. The team has not said what injury McPhearson is dealing with or how the settlement was structured, leaving one more layer of uncertainty around a defensive back group that is trying to settle in before Week 1. [Read more 🡒]
Puka Nacua Nears Rams Return With Big Questions Still Hanging
Puka Nacua appears to be on track to return for the Rams game against the 49ers next week, a welcome development for a team that has missed one of its most dynamic receivers. Sean McVay said Nacua has made progress while recovering from a core muscle injury, and the expectation around the building is that he should be available again soon.
Nacuas on-field comeback, though, comes with bigger questions still hanging over the situation. He remains involved in a civil lawsuit alleging off-field misconduct and is also waiting on possible NFL discipline, even as he has spoken publicly about spending the offseason focused on self-improvement and mental health support. For the Rams, it leaves his return to football paired with a layer of uncertainty that could linger well beyond next week. [Read more 🡒]