During the 2026 NFL offseason, the Los Angeles Rams have operated with the urgency of a team that believes its Super Bowl window is open right now.
ESPN’s Matt Bowen provided another measure of how dramatically that approach changed the roster.
Bowen ranked three Rams among his 50 NFL newcomers expected to make the biggest Year 1 impact in 2026.
Myles Garrett landed at No. 1, Trent McDuffie checked in at No. 3 and Jaylen Watson came in at No. 18.
That gives Los Angeles two of the first three players on the list and three inside the top 18.
ESPN also noted that a Rams acquisition has topped Bowen’s annual ranking for the second consecutive year.
Bowen stripped away contract value, trade compensation and draft capital and ranked the newcomers solely by their expected impact on the field.
Los Angeles paid a steep price to overhaul its defense, though ESPN’s ranking suggests the return could justify the investment.
ESPN Puts 2 Rams Additions Inside Top 3
GettyLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JULY 27: Head coach Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams talks with Myles Garrett #95 during the Los Angeles Rams Training Camp at Loyola Marymount University on July 27, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
Garrett owns the top spot after a 2025 season that made the price of acquiring him easier to understand.
The reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year set the league’s single-season sack record with 23 in his final season in Cleveland.
Bowen called Garrett a “game wrecker” whose presence should also improve the Rams’ secondary.
Los Angeles paid accordingly.
The Rams sent Jared Verse and three premium draft picks to Cleveland for Garrett: a 2027 first-rounder, 2028 second-rounder and 2029 third-rounder.
Jared Verse had made the Pro Bowl in each of his first two seasons, leaving the Rams to exchange one of the NFL’s best young edge defenders for the league’s premier veteran pass rusher.
McDuffie gives Los Angeles another top-three newcomer at a position that needed an upgrade.
The Rams acquired him from Kansas City for the No. 29 overall pick, 2026 fifth- and sixth-round selections and a 2027 third-rounder.
They followed by signing him to a four-year, $124 million extension that made him the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback at the time.
Bowen projected McDuffie to work primarily on the perimeter and described him as “sticky against quick routes,” while pointing to his ability to carry receivers vertically.
Those traits will give defensive coordinator Chris Shula significantly more flexibility in coverage.
Third Rams Addition Lands Inside Top 20
GettyWOODLAND HILLS, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 2: Trent McDuffie #22 of the Los Angeles Rams listens to head coach Sean McVay during organized team activities workout at Rams Village at the Warner Center on June 2, 2026 in Woodland Hills, California. (Photo by Kevin Terrell/Getty Images)
Watson’s No. 18 placement completes an ESPN ranking dominated by the Rams’ defensive overhaul.
Los Angeles signed the former Kansas City cornerback to a three-year deal in March, reuniting him with McDuffie. Bowen projects Watson as the boundary corner opposite McDuffie, where his length can show up in press coverage and his route awareness can translate in zone.
The recognition follows another strong assessment from Bowen.
During ESPN’s free agency review in March, he selected the Watson signing as the best overall move of the opening wave, citing the fit between Watson’s physical coverage style and Shula’s defense.
The numbers add context to that optimism.
According to Next Gen Stats, Watson has forced tight-window throws on 30.4% of his targets since entering the NFL in 2022, the fifth-highest rate over that span.
The Rams now enter 2026 with Garrett attacking quarterbacks and McDuffie and Watson replacing the biggest questions in the secondary.
So, even though they were a 12-5 team that reached the NFC Championship Game last season, the grass somehow got greener.
For a roster built to win immediately, the expectations surrounding that defensive makeover are now every bit as aggressive as the moves that created it.
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