Stephen A. Smith has declared the Los Angeles Rams an NFL super team, and the reason is straight out of a quarterback’s worst nightmare: Myles Garrett on one edge and Aaron Donald on the other. The Rams pulled off two blockbuster moves in the same offseason. They traded for Garrett, who is coming off an NFL-record 23-sack season, and they convinced Donald to end his retirement after more than two years away from football.
Donald made his intentions clear when asked if he could still play at an elite level. “Yes. Do I feel like I can still be myself? 100%.
If I didn’t feel like that, I wouldn’t be here,” he said. Smith did not hedge when discussing the Rams’ title chances. “You damn right they are,” Smith said. “I mean, as far as I’m concerned, it was the worst-kept secret.
The brother is back. ”
Smith pointed to the terror awaiting every opposing quarterback forced to face both Donald and Garrett. “When you talk about Myles Garrett on one end and Aaron Donald on the other, I’m just imagining the fright night that occurs in every quarterback that lines up behind center,” Smith said. “And you look to your left, and you look to your right, and one of those brothers are coming your way.
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The numbers behind that pairing are staggering. Garrett and Donald combine for 13 first-team All-Pro selections and five Defensive Player of the Year awards. No defense in NFL history has ever had that much individual recognition on the same defensive line. Donald was a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, an eight-time first-team All-Pro selection, and a Super Bowl champion before stepping away.
His return at 35 years old after a 750-day layoff has only one precedent in NFL history: Deion Sanders. Smith dismissed concerns about Donald’s time away. “I don’t give a damn that he’s been off the last 2 years. The bottom line is he is Aaron Donald,” Smith said.
“His B+ game, his B game is an A+ game for 90% of the damn league playing his position. ”
The Rams were already considered Super Bowl favorites before Donald came back. Matthew Stafford enters the season as the reigning league MVP. Puka Nacua is back with something to prove.
Davante Adams gives Stafford another elite weapon. Kyren Williams is in the lineup, and Sean McVay remains the head coach. The front office did not stop there. Los Angeles traded for Trent McDuffie, one of the top cornerbacks in football, and signed his former Kansas City teammate Jaylen Watson.
Then came the Garrett trade, followed by the Donald return. The Rams finished last season as arguably the best team in football. A controversial Thursday night loss in Seattle, where Zach Charbonnet recovered a two-point conversion in the end zone that nobody initially realized was live, ended up deciding the NFC West and who would host the NFC Championship game. Since that defeat, the Rams addressed their weaknesses aggressively.
Adding to the stakes, Super Bowl LXI will be played at SoFi Stadium, the Rams’ home field. If they earn home-field advantage, they would have the rare opportunity to play for a championship in their own building. Smith dismissed any excuses. “The only possible excuse for the Rams not winning the Super Bowl is health,” Smith said.
“If you say that anybody with sense that the Los Angeles Rams from top to bottom into the playoffs healthy, all right, their main players healthy, there is no reason that the Los Angeles Rams shouldn’t be walking away with the Super Bowl championship. ”
Not everyone is ready to hand them the trophy. Myles Garrett has missed about two weeks of practice due to knee swelling. Donald’s conditioning after a long layoff remains an open question.
The NFL season is a 17-game grind, and injuries can derail even the most talented rosters. “There is a long time between August 31st and January 31st,” one analyst noted. “A long time and a lot that happens. ”
Comparisons have already been drawn to Tom Brady signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a move that immediately made that team a Super Bowl favorite before it delivered.
The expectation level in Los Angeles now mirrors that moment. Smith believes another Super Bowl title would reshape how Stafford is remembered. “If the brother wins a Super Bowl, we got to have a different conversation about some of the all-time great quarterbacks in NFL history and where he ranks,” Smith said. The Rams organization currently features multiple future Hall of Famers.
A second title under McVay could put him in Canton, and general manager Les Snead could also earn Hall of Fame consideration. Smith framed the team as fully loaded from top to bottom. “You talk about a team fully loaded from top to bottom, executives, coach, on down to the players,” Smith said. There are parallels to past super teams that fell short, including the 2011 Philadelphia Eagles, but the Rams enter this season with a stronger recent record and a more complete roster.
Donald gave the reasoning behind his decision to return. “Do I feel like I can play at a high level? Yes. Do I feel like I can still be myself?
100%. If I didn’t feel like that, I wouldn’t be here,” he said. The central question hanging over Los Angeles is whether Donald can still be Donald. If the answer is even close to yes, the Rams become something the league has almost never seen.
The front office attacked every weakness. Elite youth, veteran greatness, an MVP quarterback, and a Super Bowl-winning coach all came together in one offseason. Smith had one final warning for the rest of the league. “Lord, lord, I just feel sorry for the quarterbacks.
Even when you don’t get sacked, getting hit by them brothers is a different thing,” he said.
