As analysts debate who will make Sean McVay’s initial 53-man roster for the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, the most important baseline for expectations is what fans of the team actually believe. The short answer is that almost every player you think will make the roster probably will, and there are few players left off of it that will make you feel sick to your stomach.
The 2026 Rams are very much a team about their starting lineup, and not necessarily the practice squad.
On Monday, I posted a 53-man
roster creator that allows fans to make their own Rams roster. Over 200 of you responded — and once I deleted the rosters that made glaring omissions that will not happen (like leaving off Matthew Stafford, which 10 of you did) — there were over 160 left to analyze. Here are the results:
Consensus Rams 53-man roster
Quarterbacks — 3
- Matthew Stafford — 100% (% of rosters he was on)
- Ty Simpson — 100%
- Stetson Bennett IV — 81.6%
Running backs — 3
- Kyren Williams — 100%
- Blake Corum — 100%
- Jarquez Hunter — 84.7%
Wide receivers — 6
- Davante Adams — 100%
- Puka Nacua — 100%
- Jordan Whittington — 98.8%
- Konata Mumpfield — 98.2%
- CJ Daniels — 96.9%
- Xavier Smith — 79.8%
Tight ends — 5
- Terrance Ferguson — 100%
- Max Klare — 100%
- Tyler Higbee — 99.4%
- Colby Parkinson — 98.2%
- Davis Allen — 94.5%
Offensive line — 9
- Alaric Jackson — 100%
- Steve Avila — 100%
- Coleman Shelton — 100%
- Kevin Dotson — 100%
- Warren McClendon Jr. — 100%
- Keagen Trost — 95.7%
- Beaux Limmer — 95.1%
- Justin Dedich — 90.2%
- David Quessenberry — 77.9%
Defensive line — 7
- Braden Fiske — 100%
- Poona Ford — 100%
- Kobie Turner — 100%
- Tyler Davis — 88.3%
- Desjuan Johnson — 85.3%
- Ty Hamilton — 66.9%
- Tim Keenan III — 55.2%
Edge rushers — 4
- Myles Garrett — 100%
- Josaiah Stewart — 100%
- Byron Young — 100%
- Wesley Bailey — 76.7%
Linebackers — 4
- Nate Landman — 100%
- Omar Speights — 99.4%
- Shaun Dolac — 98.2%
- Grant Stuard — 86.5%
Cornerbacks — 5
- Trent McDuffie — 100%
- Jaylen Watson — 100%
- Emmanuel Forbes Jr. — 99.4%
- Josh Wallace — 85.9%
- Cam Lampkin — 65.0%
Safeties — 4
- Kam Curl — 100%
- Kamren Kinchens — 100%
- Quentin Lake — 100%
- Jaylen McCollough — 90.2%
Specialists — 3
- Harrison Mevis — 100%
- Ethan Evans — 100%
- Joe Cardona — 100%
Biggest Surprise: DT Tim Keenan III
Keenan was the guy right on the bubble, just getting in over Ronnie Rivers. It does seem pretty obvious to me that Rivers will make the roster, and that most fans just don’t like the idea of keeping an old(er) running back who doesn’t offer the upside of Jarquez Hunter. But maybe McVay is just pulling the wool over our eyes.
Closest on the Bubble: RB Ronnie Rivers
Rivers wasn’t that close. Just 45.7% of rosters. Here are the top players left off:
- Rivers, 45.7%
- Austin Blaske, 36.8%
- Dean Connors, 35.6%
- AJ Arcuri, 28.8%
- AZ Hamilton, 22.1%
There wasn’t that much of a push to get other players onto the 53-man roster other than the ones who made it. Of those who did try to get their favorites on, they did really silly things to fudge the numbers that just won’t fly.
Certain rosters were excluded for the following reasons:
- Only had 7 OL
- Didn’t include Joe Cardona
- Left off Matthew Stafford
- Left off Ty Simpson
- Left off Trent McDuffie
- Left off Kevin Dotson
- Left off Myles Garrett
- Only had 3 CBs
- Only had 2 EDGE
- Only had 2 LB
- Left off Max Klare, Warren McClendon, Coleman Shelton, Jaylen Watson, Nate Landman, Kobie Turner, Quentin Lake, Kam Kinchens
Good try. It was actually fun to delete these rosters from counting. And I was being fair. I didn’t delete rosters that omitted players who are obviously making the roster, like Jordan Whittington and Keagen Trost for example, just the ones that had ridiculous omissions.
Players outside the consensus 53
Quarterback
- Matthew Caldwell — 0%
Running backs
- Ronnie Rivers — 45.4%
- Dean Connors — 35.6%
- Jordan Waters — 4.9%
Wide receivers
- Brennan Presley — 14.1%
- Tyler Scott — 3.7%
- Tru Edwards — 1.2%
- Alex Bachman — 1.2%
Tight ends
- Dan Villari — 1.8%
- Mark Redman — 0.6%
- Rohan Jones — 0%
Offensive line
- Austin Blaske — 36.8%
- AJ Arcuri — 28.8%
- Dylan McMahon — 14.1%
- Wyatt Bowles — 8.0%
- Bill Murray — 6.1%
- Blake Hance — 4.3%
- Bryce Henderson — 1.8%
Defensive line
- Larrell Murchison — 16.0%
- Bill Norton — 4.9%
- Jaxson Moi — 0%
Edge rushers
- Keir Thomas II — 2.5%
- Tomon Fox — 1.2%
- Devean Deal — 1.2%
- Darryl Peterson III — 1.2%
- Payton Zdroik — 0%
Linebackers
- Nikhai Hill-Green — 8.6%
- Elias Neal — 7.4%
- Monty Rice — 1.2%
Cornerbacks
- Al’zillion Hamilton — 22.1%
- Nick Andersen — 11.0%
- Steven Gilmore — 2.5%
- Zech McPhearson — 1.8%
- Alex Johnson — 1.2%
- Nyzier Fourqurean — 1.2%
Safeties
- Alex Cook — 10.4%
- Tanner Ingle — 8.0%
- Daniel Rickert — 0.6%
- Nate Valcarcel — 0.6%
Which ones surprise you? Did you have one of these players on your roster? Make your case in the comments!
