The Los Angeles Rams’ 2-3 start has already put a spotlight on what could come next, and one area that keeps standing out is wide receiver. With the season off to a rough beginning and expectations sitting high, it would hardly be a shock if the Rams start hunting for help before the trade deadline.
That search has already led them to an interesting name from Baltimore. In a recent Bleacher Report piece, Gary Davenport pointed to Ravens receiver Rashod Bateman as the best fit for Los Angeles.
"In Los Angeles, Bateman could slide even farther down the depth chart. But he could be highly valuable to the Rams if the injury bug gets Puka Nacua again. He'd also be a move for the future-Davante Adams isn't getting any younger, and Bateman's 2027 salary is reasonable," Davenport wrote.
Bateman would make sense for a Rams team looking for another receiver who can help right away while also offering some future upside. The 26-year-old has already shown he can be a meaningful contributor at the NFL level, which is part of what makes him such a logical trade candidate.
Through five games this season with Baltimore, Bateman has one touchdown, 16 catches and 233 receiving yards. His strongest year so far came in 2024, when he set career highs with nine touchdowns and 756 receiving yards. Those numbers are enough to make him a worthwhile gamble for a Rams team that could use another weapon in the passing game.
In Other News...
Rams Face A Familiar Threat To Stafford And The Offense
The Rams next trip into the NFC West brings more than a divisional opponent. When they line up against the Cardinals, Sean McVay will be facing Mike LaFleur for the first time as a head coach on the other sideline, a familiar face from McVays own staff and part of a coaching tree that has shaped plenty of recent Rams football. The connection runs deeper than just one meeting, with McVay, LaFleur and Matt LaFleur all tied together through years of shared ideas and overlapping success, while Matthew Stafford has also had a front-row seat to how that family of coaches works.
For the Rams, the matchup is another reminder that the league keeps circling back to relationships as much as schemes. McVay has spoken highly of Mike LaFleurs impact, and Stafford has too, which makes this one feel a little different than a standard division game. Theres still the usual stake of a divisional test, but theres also the added layer of two coaches who know each other well and an offense trying to stay ahead of a defense that has seen plenty of the same concepts from the same coaching line. [Read more 🡒]
Rams Special Teams Problem Has Become Impossible To Ignore
The Rams have spent enough time trying to patch the issue that it is no longer possible to call it a one-week hiccup. Their special teams have been a problem all season, and the numbers have reflected it in ugly fashion, with the unit sitting last in several key categories. Los Angeles has already started to address it by moving on from kicker Harrison Mevis and bringing in cornerback Damarion Williams to help the coverage units, but the fixes so far have only underscored how deep the concern runs.
Bubba Ventrone now has a unit under the microscope, and the pressure is not just on the players trying to make tackles and flip field position. Les Snead has shown a willingness to keep adjusting the roster when something is not working, and special teams may be headed for more of that scrutiny if the Rams do not clean things up soon. For a team trying to stay sharp everywhere else, this phase of the game has become the one area it can least afford to keep ignoring. [Read more 🡒]
Rams Get A Timely Break As Their Biggest Weakness Gets Tested
The Rams head into their meeting with Arizona with one of the more uncomfortable numbers on their early-season ledger, a run defense that has been pushed near the bottom of the league. For a team that has worked to stabilize the back end, the front has been the clearer weak spot, even as the pass defense has shown real progress by holding up better than it did a season ago and getting after quarterbacks with more consistency.
Arizonas injury report offers Los Angeles a little breathing room in a game that could have forced that issue immediately. Rookie running back Jeremiyah Love has been ruled out with an ankle injury, which takes away a key element of the Cardinals ground game and changes the way the Rams have to prepare for a matchup that was already going to put their run fits under the microscope. [Read more 🡒]