The Rams didn’t go 12-5 in the regular season because of just three players, but Aaron Donald, Cooper Kupp and Jalen Ramsey were major factors in the team’s success this year. All three were selected to the Pro Bowl after putting together impressive campaigns that slot each player among the best at their respective positions.
Pro Football Focus has graded Donald, Kupp and Ramsey all highly this season and it’s no surprise that they were each selected to the site’s All-Pro team. They were the only three Rams chosen, with Matthew Stafford being edged out by Tom Brady and Joe Burrow at quarterback, and Matt Gay coming up short behind Justin Tucker and Jake Elliott at kicker.
Kupp was an obvious choice at wide receiver, being selected alongside Davante Adams – which is how the Associated Press’s All-Pro selections are expected to go.
Kupp threatened a handful of single-season receiving records this year, finishing with 145 catches, 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns from 188 targets. Matthew Stafford’s impact on the Rams’ offense has had no greater effect than pouring gas on the kind of production Kupp was already capable of. He is the only receiver in the NFL to average over three yards per route run (3.12), a threshold typically reserved for Julio Jones in his prime. Kupp also produced one of the best catch rates in the league, bringing in 93.5% of catchable passes.
Donald was productive all season but he really came on in the second half of the season with some truly spectacular performances. PFF points out that he wasn’t the highest-graded interior defender at one point this season, but he had 34 pressures in a four-game span, which was more than the Falcons had as a team in that same stretch.
Ramsey and A.J. Terrell were selected as the All-Pro corners by PFF, deservingly so. Ramsey tied a career-high with four interceptions and set a new personal best with nine tackles for a loss, one more than he had in his previous five seasons combined.
Ramsey enjoyed his best season since his career year in Jacksonville back in 2017. He did so in a new role that saw him play in the slot far more than in the past in an attempt by the Rams to make it harder for opposing offenses to avoid one of their best defensive playmakers. Ramsey allowed 63.4% of passes thrown his way to be caught, but that figure is always higher for slot defenders, and he countered that with 16 forced incompletions and 17 defensive stops in coverage.
All three of these players should be selected as AP All-Pros when the teams are revealed in the coming weeks. They’ve been the best players at their positions and are a huge reason the Rams won the NFC West.
