NFC West “Super Team”: How many Rams would make it today?

The NFC west has always been a fairly competitive division. While some teams you can easily mark a “W” on the calendar, the divisional games have always felt like anyone could win despite their records. I believe this is due to the fact that each team in the west really seem to dislike each other and keep genuine rivalries going year after year.

The Los Angeles Rams hate the San Francisco 49ers and they hate LA.

Aaron Donald once told NFL Network he has “no love” for San Francisco. “I don’t like the Niners at all. They don’t like us.” Donald continued “No love at all towards them guys. I really dislike them.”

Deebo Samuel, wide receiver for the 49ers, also added “I hate the Rams with a passion” when being interviewed on Kevin Hart’s Podcast.

Seattle has always had trouble with Los Angeles even in years where, competitively, Seattle was probably the stronger team. From 2014-2016 the Rams were 4-1 against Seattle. During that time period Seattle won the division twice (finishing second in 2015) while the Rams finished in last or third each of the three years. Each time these teams face you never know what you’re going to get and it has made for an intense rivalry, including some sideline skirmishes.

Even with Arizona already being crowned “worst team in the league” by most analysts for 2023, my guess is they still take most of their divisional games to the wire this season.

On top strong rivalries, each team sports players at the top of their respected positions. From Aaron Donald to Christian McCaffery to Bobby Wagner, there are already some first ballot Hall of Famers on each roster.

Not taking into account the salary cap, and only using current players, I thought it would be interesting to see what an NFC west only team would look like.

Offense:

QB1: Matthew Stafford, LAR

RB1: Christian McCaffery, SF

RB2: Kenneth Walker, SEA

FB1: Kyle Juszczyk, SF

WR1: Cooper Kupp, LAR

WR2: Deebo Samuel, SF

WR3: D.K. Metcalf, SEA

WR4: Brandon Aiyuk, SF

TE1: George Kittle, SF

TE2: Noah Fant, SEA

LT: Trent Williams, SF

LG: Aaron Banks, SF

C: Evan Brown, SEA

RG: Coleman Shelton, LAR

RT: Rob Havenstein, LAR

Defense:

DT1: Aaron Donald, LAR

DT2: Javon Hargrove, SF

LE: Zaven Collins, ARZ

RE: Nick Bosa, SF

LOLB: Dre Greenlaw, SF

MLB1: Fred Warner, SF

MLB2: Bobby Wagner, SEA

ROLB: Jordyn Brooks, SEA

CB1: Tariq Woolen, SEA

CB2: Charvarius Ward, SF

CB3: Devon Witherspoon (R), SEA

FS: Budda Baker, ARZ

SS: Talanoa Hufanga, SF

I know some people would disagree with Stafford being the best quarterback available but Geno Smith just had his first full season as the starter since 2016, Brock Purdy is coming back from major shoulder surgery, and Kyler Murray is coming off ACL surgery that could effect his mobility along with questionable leadership. Stafford, also coming off injury, is surprisingly the most stable and experienced option of the group besides Smith.

Stafford is only one season removed from a Super Bowl title, almost 5,000 yards passing and 41 touchdowns. If he has a full bill of health, he is the best option out of the four.

Photo by Harry How/Getty Images

Wide receiver is the strongest group of the NFC west and it was genuinely hard to only pick four as the likes of Tyler Lockett, Van Jefferson and Marquise Brown were left off the list.

Offensive line and defensive line get pretty thin once you got past the starts in Trent Williams, Rob Havenstein, Nick Bosa and Aaron Donald.

Middle linebacker was another strong position and it felt wrong leaving a player like Rams’ Ernest Jones off the list. However, most would agree San Francisco’s Fred Warner is probably the best at the position right now and Wagner was teaching Jones last year in his single season with LA, so I put him ahead.

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While Witherspoon is still a rookie, he looked like the best cornerback in the draft this year. Since LA’s corners are still proving themselves and Arizona has no big names in the defensive backfield besides Budda Baker, Witherspoon gets the nod as the third corner behind Ward and Woolen.

Hufanga looks like a carbon copy of Troy Polamalu, and is a young, up and coming safety. Jordan Fuller, with his veteran experience, could also be slotted at strong safety.

Please let us know what changes you think would make for the strongest NFC west team in the comments below!