After Matthew Stafford won MVP before Super Bowl LX in the Bay Area and announced he’d be returning to play for the Los Angeles Rams in 2026, general manager Les Snead and head coach Sean McVay promised they’d do everything in their power to help their quarterback win a second ring.
Through the first few hours of the new NFL season, the Rams’ brain trust has delivered on its promise and then some, agreeing to two major deals already to bolster a L.A. secondary that was its Achilles’ heel in 2025.
They saw how strong the Kansas City Chiefs’ secondary was and decided they’d like that, taking their two top cornerbacks, Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson.
The Rams were widely expected to take a cornerback with their upcoming No. 13 pick in the NFL Draft, which they acquired from the Atlanta Falcons the previous year.
But with McDuffie and Watson, along with the re-signing of Kamren Curl, the Rams have taken care of their secondary before the NFL Draft.
That means there is a clear path for the Rams to truly help Stafford in 2026 by grabbing a young, dynamic receiver who can make an unstoppable trio alongside Puka Nacua and Davante Adams.
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The 2026 NFL Draft has one of the deepest wide receiver classes in recent memory, and there are three or four wideouts who could become superstars in the right environment.
There’s a trio, though, expected to be selected in the first half of the first round: Makai Lemon (USC), Jordyn Tyson (Arizona State), and Carnell Tate (Ohio State).
While the Rams are most linked to Lemon, keeping him in Los Angeles and pairing him with Nacua for a fearsome one-two punch that could become the best in football, Tyson and Tate are also strong options if they’re on the table when they are up to pick.
A dark horse for No. 13, if the Rams don’t trade back, could be another type of pass catcher: Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq at tight end, who turned heads by breaking the record for fastest player in his position’s history at the recent NFL Scouting Combine.
Although the Rams have multiple tight ends, including Terrance Ferguson, who they drafted from Oregon last year in the second round, McVay has revolutionized how to use tight ends in the NFL.
His 13-personnel grouping, which has one wide receiver on the field with three tight ends, created chaos for defenses all season. Sadiq, who feels like a hybrid between wideout and tight end, could be the perfect weapon for McVay and Stafford.
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