A pessimist’s guide to the 2024 Los Angeles Rams

The Los Angeles Rams bounced back to win 10 games in 2023 and returned to the playoffs following a bitterly disappointing 2022 season. They still have an outstanding quarterback in Matthew Stafford (when healthy), a great head coach (Sean McVay) and some intriguing talent across the roster. 

But there are still some reasons for pessimism going into the 2024 season.

Here are a few of them. 

You cannot replace Aaron Donald

How do you replace a future Hall of Famer and one of the single greatest defensive players to ever step onto an NFL field?

You don’t.

That is the harsh reality the Rams are facing this season following the retirement of defensive tackle Aaron Donald. Even though they have another rising star in the middle of their defense in Kobie Turner, Donald’s absence is still going to be felt in all phases of their defense. Whether it be against the run, in the pass rush or just occupying blockers and commanding double and triple teams, everybody on the Rams defense is going to be worse without Donald there. That is a problem. 

Matthew Stafford is another year older

Stafford showed in 2023 that he can still play at an extremely high level when healthy and can be a playoff-caliber quarterback.

At some point, however, Father Time is going to come calling and Stafford’s play is going to start slowing down. Will that be this season? Stafford is going to be 36 during the upcoming campaign and has taken quite a few hits throughout his career. The Rams do have a solid veteran backup in Jimmy Garoppalo, who has shown that he can win games in the NFL, but that is still a big drop off from Stafford is they were to need him. 

The secondary is better, but is it good enough?

The Rams’ secondary was a huge Achilles heel in 2023, especially as it related to the cornerback position following the team’s trade of Jalen Ramsey to the Miami Dolphins.

They worked hard to address that area this offseason with the free-agent signings of veterans Darious Williams and Tre’Davious White. 

On paper, those look like solid upgrades. And in the case of White a potentially significant upgrade if he can stay healthy and play like he did at his peak in Buffalo. But there is no guarantee that will happen as he has appeared in just 21 games over the past three seasons and only 10 games over the past two seasons. 

The Rams were only 20th against the pass during the 2023 season and have to be better if they are going to compete in the NFC.