Despite a recent Super Bowl appearance, many are discounting an underrating the Los Angeles Rams this season. The Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints, Seattle Seahawks, as well as some other teams are becoming media and fan favorites. Below are the five Los Angeles Rams that are being most underrated by the rest of the NFL.
1. QB Jared Goff
This one is easy. Jared Goff is not only the most underrated Rams player, but the most underrated quarterback in the NFL. Former NFL quarterback Chris Simms who now hosts the Simms and Lefkoe podcast ranked his top-40 quarterbacks and Goff came it an No. 19.
Chris Simms’ Top 40 QBs: Is No. 19 too low for Jared Goff? | Chris Simms… https://t.co/GTKXbILsLi via @YouTube. 19th best lmaoooo man this is trash @CSimmsQB . Whole list loses creditability.
— Keiyon Monroe (@ramsfanatic81) June 13, 2019
Goff threw for almost 4,700 yards last season with 32 touchdowns to just 12 interceptions. He led the Rams to the Super Bowl while coming back from 13-0 down in one of the most hostile environments to play in. Goff out-dueled Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, Drew Brees, Kirk Cousins, and Russell Wilson.
There’s a recency bias with Goff’s most recent game being his Super Bowl performance and then the fact the media will not put his rookie year behind him. However, Goff is a top-10 quarterback in this league (He’s QB9 for me).
2. RT Rob Havenstein
Havenstein is nothing but solid. He may not be the flashiest player or the best right tackle in the NFL, but he gets the job done. Havenstein had the highest run blocking grade on Pro Football Focus last season as he was the only player with a grade above 80 in that category. Overall he was the third best tackle in the NFL.
The Rams got a bargain when the extended the former Wisconsin tackle for only $8M-year. He has yet to make a pro bowl or be named All-Pro, but it’s not because his level of play hasn’t been there.
3. S John Johnson
John Johnson is a star in the making and it’s amazing that he didn’t make the pro bowl last season. He was the sixth-rated safety according to Pro Football Focus and in just his third year, he’s going to be a player that the Rams try to lock up long-term.
With Aaron Donald headlining the Rams defense and Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib in the secondary, Johnson doesn’t get a lot of attention. However, it’s only a matter of time before he does end up getting the recognition he’s earned.
4. Corey Littleton
Corey Littleton is not only underrated by the NFL, but he’s underrated by Rams fans. Littleton came to the team as an undrafted free agent and worked his way from special teams into a full-time starting role.
There were plenty of times last season when Rams fans criticized Littleton despite moving to a full-time role for the first time in his career. All the former undrafted free agent did was produce.
He finished as the seventh highest graded linebacker according to Pro Football Focus in coverage and had the ninth highest tackling grade. He’s far from perfect, but you can do a lot worse than Corey Littleton.
5. Robert Woods
Like Jared Goff’s rookie season, Robert Woods may never live down his time in Buffalo with bad quarterback play and bad offensive coaching. Woods isn’t flashy, but he does everything very well. Brandin Cooks and Cooper Kupp will get all of the attention because of their flashy plays and media hype, but Woods deserves that as well.
He had a career-year in 2018 and was one of the few Rams who showed up and played well in the Super Bowl. He has yet to make a pro bowl, but there’s little doubt that signing in Los Angeles and being one of McVay’s first free agent signings ended up being a great move for both sides.
About Post Author
