It’s not breaking news when you hear that a major publication thinks the Los Angeles Rams will be very good again in 2026. After all, they were arguably the best team in the NFL for much of the 2025 season, and more than a few fans and analysts considered the NFC Championship Game to be last season’s “true” Super Bowl.
Can the sequel be at least as good as the original? At least one metric used at The Athletic believes so.
Writer Austin Mock used a model called xMOV, or expected margin of victory,
to rank each roster in the NFL as of today. The model incorporates several factors, as outlined in the original piece (gift link here), notably including positional value. That makes sense for an extra push behind the Rams ranking, considered the reigning league MVP is coming back under center for Los Angeles.
The Rams-specific details:
Although I didn’t love their draft (and they couldn’t overtake the Seahawks last year), I think the Rams have the best roster in football. It starts with the quarterback, of course, and Matthew Stafford is still playing at an elite level despite nearing retirement. The Rams also have the NFL’s best receivers room, led by Puka Nacua, plus a top-five interior offensive line, defensive line and cornerbacks room.
That’s quality up and down the roster, both young players and veterans. There are some concerns at offensive tackle, but the rest of the roster is top-notch.
Obviously, that’s lofty praise, but it’s hard to debate much of it. When you’ve got the reigning MVP, you get the hype that comes along with it. Depth may not be perfect at wide receiver, but Nacua plus Davante Adams, whose style was always built to age well, is still on the short list of the best wide receiver duos in the game today.
Les Snead and co. have done a great job building up the defensive line in recent years, and adding Trent McDuffie and Jaylon Watson from the Kansas City Chiefs this offseason will do wonders for the secondary.
As for the rest of the rankings from Austin Mock and The Athletic, the Seahawks come in second overall, with the Eagles, Packers and 49ers are the only other NFC teams within shouting distance of the Rams. That’s an interesting breakdown given how much stronger the NFC was than the AFC on balance last season, though the positional value weight certainly comes into play here when you consider Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes and the glut of other stellar quarterbacks still calling the AFC home.
The Rams’ spot atop this particular ranking corresponds to their status as Super Bowl favorites, too, at least according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Again, none of this should surprise anyone. And it still doesn’t “matter” until the season starts and the Rams take the field in pursuit of another Super Bowl title. Still, it’s just as apparent as ever that the hype and expectations for this team are going to be sky high in 2026.
