As free agency marches on and rosters begin to take shape for the coming year, Fox Sports radio host and former NFL wide receiver James Jones has pegged the Los Angeles Rams as a top-three team in the NFC after they signed his former Green Bay Packers teammate Davante Adams to a two-year, $46 million deal on Sunday.
James Jones Ranks Rams’ Skill Position Group Top 5 in the NFL
“I am putting [the Rams] at No. 3 right now. I don’t know what those other teams are going to be. I don’t know what Detroit’s going to be, I don’t know what the Packers are going to be, I don’t know what the [Minnesota] Vikings are going to be,” he said on his show “The Facility.”
“This year, with Davante Adams over there with Puka Nacua, I’m putting them as the No. 3 team right now in the NFC walking into the season. Getting with Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay, the type of route runner … and playmaker Davante Adams is, it is going to be problems for defenses trying to slow this offense down.”
The addition of Adams bulks up QB Matt Stafford’s weapon-laden offense, which already boasts a pair of All-Pros in Nacua and running back Kyren Williams.
Asked by Emmanuel Acho if the Rams now have a top-five skill position group in the league, Jones continued.
“I don’t know if it’s too many better duos than Davante Adams, who is an extremely good route runner and [yards] after catch, and then you’ve got Puka Nacua who can beat you deep, who can catch a screen, who can go to the house. And, with the run game and with Matthew Stafford, you’ve got to put them up there with being a top-five [group] for sure.”
Jones went on to speculate that Cooper Kupp might stick around as well, but recent messaging from Rams GM Les Snead, head coach Sean McVay and Kupp himself makes it tough to imagine the 2021 Offensive Player of the Year as a Ram in 2025.
So, with Kupp all but out of the door in the aftermath of a fairly quiet 2024 season, the Rams were in desperate need of a second receiver to take some of the defensive attention away from Nacua.
Enter Adams, who, despite being 32 years old and closing out his 11th NFL campaign, had a more than solid season last year, racking up 85 catches for 1,063 yards and 12 touchdowns between his brief tenures with the Las Vegas Raiders and New York Jets.
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Adding Adams to a skill group that ranked 11th overall in PFSN’s Offense+ metric last season should certainly strike fear in the hearts of fellow NFC contenders, especially when you consider that, despite having just the 24th-rated defense in PFSN’s Defense+ rankings at 69.9 (D+), the Rams’ Defense+ score jumped to a 74.0 (C) in the postseason.
The Rams also boast 2024 Defensive Rookie of the Year Jared Verse and finalist Braden Fiske in their front seven, and PFSN’s latest mock draft expects the front office to use their first two draft picks on defensive players.
Of course, lots can change between now and the regular season, but if Adams can maintain his form from the 2024 season, the Rams have a chance to be one of the strongest teams in the NFC once again.