The 2010s were quite an eventful decade for the Rams franchise. They played in two different cities, had the first overall pick twice, played in a Super Bowl, drafted a generational talent and a massive bust in the first round of the same draft, won two games in a season, hired a coach who produced a timeless meme, and hired another coach who changed how teams hire coaches in the NFL.
There were some incredible highs and some devastating lows. This list is no different. There are players on this list that would make anybody’s overall NFL All-Decade team, and there are players on this list that maybe shouldn’t have even been starting games in the NFL. The Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams of the 2010s were a rollercoaster ride. This list will give you a chance to relive it.
To select our All-Decade Team, we only considered what players did between the 2010 and 2019 seasons. For example, when considering Steven Jackson, we wouldn’t take into account his entire career with the Rams, just his three years playing for the team this decade.
Let’s get into it, starting with the offense.
Quarterback: Jared Goff (2016 – 2019)
Goff is the only real option here. In his three full seasons as the Rams starting quarterback, Goff threw for 13,130 yards while completing 63% of his passes. He tossed 82 touchdown passes against 35 interceptions and added five touchdowns on the ground. His rookie season may have been abysmal, but Goff bounced back with two very impressive seasons in 2017 and 2018. He was the first Rams quarterback to be selected to back-to-back Pro Bowls since Kurt Warner in 2000-2001.
Most importantly, he’s helped the team win football games – something the Rams’ other QBs from last decade struggled to do. The Rams have put together three straight winning seasons for the first time since the days of the Greatest Show on Turf. Goff played a significant role in leading the Rams to a 13-3 record and a Super Bowl appearance in 2018. He holds a 33-14 record as the Rams starting quarterback since 2017.
Goff left a lot to be desired in 2019, but his overall tenure with the Rams has been a success. Let’s hope he can return to form in 2020 and cement himself as the quarterback for next decade’s team.
Honorable Mention: Sam Bradford
Running back: Todd Gurley (2015-2019)
Gurley’s tenure with the Rams has been so impressive that a season where he put up over 1,000 total yards and 14 touchdowns was considered disappointing.
In his five seasons with the Rams, Gurley has been selected to three Pro Bowls and two All-Pro teams. He’s averaged over 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns per season. Gurley was an unstoppable force between 2017 and 2018, compiling just under 4,000 total yards and scoring 40 touchdowns. He’s tied with Marshall Faulk for the franchise’s most rushing touchdowns all-time.
Even though two of his five seasons with the Rams have been unmemorable, Gurley has cemented himself as yet another legendary Rams running back alongside Marshall Faulk, Eric Dickerson, and Steven Jackson.
Honorable Mention: Steven Jackson
Wide receiver: Robert Woods (2017-2019) & Cooper Kupp (2017-2019)
Here’s a list of Rams who lead the team in receiving yards between 2010 and 2016: Danny Amendola, Brandon Lloyd, Chris Givens, Jared Cook, and Kenny Britt. Other memorable pass-catchers from this stretch include Brandon Gibson, Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey, and Danario Alexander.
The point here is that the Rams were abysmal when it came to having quality pass-catchers during the first half of the decade. Kenny Britt was the only player who recorded a 1,000-yard season during that run, and he only surpassed the 1,000-yard mark on his final catch of the year. The additions of Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods in 2017 were a major breath of fresh air.
Woods has caught 232 passes for 3,134 yards and 13 touchdowns in his three seasons with the Rams. He became the first Ram to record back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons since Torry Holt. Cooper Kupp would have also likely joined that club this season had injuries not derailed his 2018 campaign. Still, Kupp has recorded a very respectable 2,596 yards and 21 touchdowns on 196 catches in his three years with the team.
Rams receivers have had four 1,000-yard seasons in the past two years. They recorded just one between 2008 and 2016. While Brandin Cooks did contribute one of those campaigns, Kupp and Woods have been here longer and were the catalysts for a resurgence in the Rams’ passing game. They earned this spot.
Honorable Mention: Kenny Britt
Flex: Steven Jackson (2010-2012)
Rather than attempt to slate in a third receiver or a fullback, we’ll award the fifth skill player spot to the Rams’ all-time leading rusher.
Jackson was at the tail end of his prime at the start of the decade, but his numbers in three eligible seasons were impressive nonetheless. He had 1,000 rushing yards in each of the three seasons and totaled 3,431 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns. He added another 1,037 yards as a receiver.
His final three seasons with the Rams capped off a run of eight straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons, a feat that will never get the respect it deserves. Jackson was playing behind abysmal offensive lines, getting handoffs from quarterbacks who were either made of glass or incapable of throwing an accurate pass, and playing for coaches who were not capable of running an efficient NFL offense. The Rams went 36-91-1 during this eight-year stretch. Had they been even a little better, Jackson might have found his way into the Hall of Fame. He certainly had the talent to do it.
Honorable Mentions: Kenny Britt, Tavon Austin, Danny Amendola
Tight end: Lance Kendricks (2011-2016)
Kendricks somehow feels like the obvious choice here despite the fact that he averaged just 355 yards and a hair under three touchdowns per year in his six seasons with the Rams.
Kendricks was fine. Had the pass-catchers around him been better, we’d probably remember him more fondly. He was a good blocker and a serviceable pass catcher. You could have done worse than Lance Kendricks at tight end. The Rams certainly have in the past.
That being said, the numbers are pretty brutal when you consider he’s the obvious choice. In 93 games as a Ram, Kendricks recorded over 50 yards in a game just eight times, with half of those coming in 2016. It’s even worse when you consider that if we called this list an “All-Century Team” and extended it back to 2000, he’s probably still the obvious choice at tight end.
Hopefully Tyler Higbee can save the Rams from being abysmal at the tight end spot in the coming years. His 734 yards in 2019 were, and this is not a joke, the most receiving yards by a Rams tight end in franchise history.
Honorable Mention: Tyler Higee. The other guy was disqualified from contention due to this.
Offensive tackle: Andrew Whitworth (2017-2019) and Rob Havenstein (2015-2019)
The signing of Andrew Whitworth sparked a renaissance in offensive line play for the Rams. For over a decade, the Rams watched multiple promising quarterbacks have their careers derailed due in part to abysmal protection up front. Les Snead wasn’t going to let that happen to Jared Goff (well, at least in 2017 he wasn’t).
Whitworth is the most talented offensive lineman the Rams have had since Orlando Pace. In fact, Pace and Whitworth are the only Rams offensive lineman to have been selected to an All-Pro team since 1990. Whitworth was one of the most important parts of the Rams’ turnaround in 2017.
Havenstein has started at right tackle for the Rams for the majority of the second half of the decade. While his play hasn’t been perfect, especially in 2019, he’s been solid in the tackle spot more often than not. He’s the only other choice for this spot.
There’s literally not another option. If we don’t go Havenstein here, we’re either starting Roger Saffold at two different positions or talking ourselves into Greg Robinson or Joe Barksdale. And if you think that’s bad, strap in. The rest of the offensive line group is not pretty.
Honorable Mention: Rodger Saffold
Offensive guard: Rodger Saffold (2010-2018) and Jamon Brown (2015-2018)
I know what you’re thinking: “Jamon [expletive] Brown?!?!” I promise I’ll explain the decision, but let’s start by talking about the longest-tenured Ram of the deace, Rodger Saffold.
Saffold aged like a fine wine during his time in horns. He was the best linemen the Rams had during the end of their St. Louis days, but struggled to stay on the field in certain years. His injury concerns were so bad that his contract agreement with the Oakland Raiders in 2014 was terminated due to a failed physical, which resulted in Saffold staying with the Rams.
It was as if fate forced Saffold to stay with the Rams. As soon as the Rams moved to Los Angeles, Saffold was magically healed of all injury ailments, and missed just one game due to injury in his final three years with the team. Saffold turned his game up another level once Whitworth joined the team in 2017 and earned himself a massive payday following the 2018 season.
Back to Jamon Brown. Here are a couple other options for the second guard spot: Harvey Dahl, Cody Whichmann, Adam Goldberg, and Jacob Bell. What do these four players have in common? All four were primary starters at guard for multiple seasons with the Rams, and all four careers ended as soon as they were cut by the Rams (Whichmann is still floating around, but has yet to play a regular season snap since leaving the Rams).
I cannot in good conscience give any of these guys a spot on this team, so we went with Brown for three primary reasons:
- Was a serviceable, starting-level offensive guard
- Was a starter for multiple seasons
- Was a part of the 2017 offensive line that turned the Rams around
Had Brown not been suspended to start the 2018 season, he might still be starting at guard for the Rams. He’s not an inspiring choice. He’s not even a good choice. He’s just what we have.
Honorable Mentions: Harvey Dahl, Austin Blythe
Center: Tim Barnes (2012-2016)
Your nominees for the Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams All-Decade Team starting center:
- Jason Brown (2010-2011)
- Scott Wells (2012-2014)
- Tim Barnes (2012-2016)
- John Sullivan (2017-2018)
Remember the time Tim Barnes literally won a game for us? That’s good enough for me here. I always felt like Barnes gave it his all on every snap. He was far from the most talented guy, but I do think he would have been able to be just as competent as Sullivan was if he got to play with Whitworth and the rest of those offensive lines.
Honorable Mentions: John Sullivan.
Don’t worry, guard and center are as painful as this list is going to get. Part 2 of the Rams All-Decade Team will feature defense and special teams and be released tomorrow.
