:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/67026512/usa_today_12032620.0.jpg)
You will rarely see Jared Goff and Aaron Donald together but when you do, like in the above picture where they are admiring their win the NFC Championship a year and a half ago, you realize it’s because they are both so important to the success of the LA Rams. You also voted Goff and Donald as the most important players on their respective sides of the ball.
What happens when they and everyone else go head-to-head?
You voted on the top-10 most important players to the Rams 2020 defense and these were the results:
1. Aaron Donald
2. Jalen Ramsey
3. John Johnson
4. Michael Brockers
5. Leonard Floyd
6. A’Shawn Robinson
7. Taylor Rapp
8. Terrell Lewis
9. Troy Hill
10. Samson Ebukam
Next we turned to the offense and after some more voting the top-10 looks like this:
1. Jared Goff
2. Andrew Whitworth
3. Cooper Kupp
4. Robert Woods
5. Cam Akers
6. Tyler Higbee
7. Rob Havenstein
8. Austin Blythe
9. Austin Corbett
10. Bobby Evans
Evans barely beat out Josh Reynolds for the 10-spot but in either case, guys in the 10-spot aren’t going to be considered for the overall top-10 anyway. Who would make an overall top-10? And is it going to be more heavily weighted to one side than the other? Let’s find out.
You are voting for the player who you think is the least expendable and the most important to Sean McVay and the plan for the 2020 Rams. This is not necessarily “most talented” or “most important position” — this is weighing how good the player is, how good his backup is, and how important that position is to McVay and the coaching staff and balancing all of that to determine which guys you’d protect first if you could.
EDIT: I forgot to include punter Johnny Hekker on this list as an option. He is the only special teamer who I’d consider for the top-10 and I do think he needs to be included. So if there’s an outcry for Johnny Hekker in the top-10, let it be known with some “Other” votes in poll 10 and the comments section.
I think given the voting there are only two reasonable answers for number one.
Poll
Who is the most important player to the 2020 Rams?
I can open it up a little more for numbers two, three, and four.
Poll
Who is the 2nd-most important player to the 2020 Rams?
This poll is closed
-
20%
Jared Goff
(40 votes) -
52%
Aaron Donald
(104 votes) -
10%
Jalen Ramsey
(20 votes) -
17%
Andrew Whitworth
(34 votes)
Maybe I’m tipping a hand here but you’d just have to be a fool to not have Donald in the top-two.
Poll
Who is the 3rd-most important player to the 2020 Rams?
This poll is closed
-
5%
Jared Goff
(10 votes) -
44%
Jalen Ramsey
(83 votes) -
49%
Andrew Whitworth
(92 votes)
Similarly, Goff has to be somewhere in the top-3, but maybe if you’re more of a fan of offense or defense you could be leaning towards one of the next options on that side of the ball by now.
Poll
Who is the 4th-most important player to the 2020 Rams?
This poll is closed
-
36%
Jalen Ramsey
(66 votes) -
22%
Andrew Whitworth
(40 votes) -
33%
Cooper Kupp
(60 votes) -
7%
John Johnson
(13 votes)
I’ll open it up even more.
Poll
Who is the 5th-most important player to the 2020 Rams?
This poll is closed
-
8%
Jalen Ramsey
(14 votes) -
5%
Andrew Whitworth
(9 votes) -
34%
Cooper Kupp
(59 votes) -
5%
John Johnson
(10 votes) -
17%
Robert Woods
(29 votes) -
25%
Cam Akers
(43 votes) -
1%
Michael Brockers
(2 votes) -
1%
Other
(3 votes)
Last time I’ll put these top two names here but they should be long gone...
Poll
Who is the 6th-most important player to the 2020 Rams?
This poll is closed
-
3%
Jalen Ramsey
(5 votes) -
3%
Andrew Whitworth
(5 votes) -
18%
Cooper Kupp
(29 votes) -
13%
John Johnson
(21 votes) -
27%
Robert Woods
(42 votes) -
24%
Cam Akers
(37 votes) -
5%
Michael Brockers
(8 votes) -
4%
Other
(7 votes)
Not even gonna do an other on this next one ...
Poll
Who is the 7th-most important player to the 2020 Rams?
This poll is closed
-
6%
Cooper Kupp
(9 votes) -
10%
John Johnson
(14 votes) -
27%
Robert Woods
(39 votes) -
17%
Cam Akers
(24 votes) -
10%
Michael Brockers
(15 votes) -
15%
Tyler Higbee
(21 votes) -
12%
Leonard Floyd
(18 votes)
OK, some of those names clearly have to be gone by now, so let’s simplify again ...
Poll
Who is the 8th-most important player to the 2020 Rams?
This poll is closed
-
6%
Cam Akers
(9 votes) -
11%
Michael Brockers
(17 votes) -
19%
Tyler Higbee
(28 votes) -
9%
Leonard Floyd
(14 votes) -
15%
A’Shawn Robinson
(22 votes) -
36%
Rob Havenstein
(52 votes)
Getting in some deep cut answers now ...
Poll
Who is the 9th-most important player to the 2020 Rams?
This poll is closed
-
6%
Cam Akers
(9 votes) -
6%
Michael Brockers
(9 votes) -
9%
Tyler Higbee
(13 votes) -
9%
Leonard Floyd
(13 votes) -
8%
A’Shawn Robinson
(11 votes) -
28%
Rob Havenstein
(39 votes) -
14%
Taylor Rapp
(19 votes) -
16%
Austin Blythe
(22 votes)
Finally.
Poll
Who is the 10th-most important player to the 2020 Rams?
This poll is closed
-
5%
Cam Akers
(8 votes) -
4%
Michael Brockers
(6 votes) -
14%
Tyler Higbee
(20 votes) -
12%
Leonard Floyd
(17 votes) -
4%
A’Shawn Robinson
(6 votes) -
11%
Rob Havenstein
(16 votes) -
19%
Taylor Rapp
(26 votes) -
17%
Austin Blythe
(23 votes) -
9%
Other
(13 votes)