Often overlooked, the Los Angeles Rams' receiving tandem of Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp has been one of the most formidable duos in the NFL for quite some time.
Now there's DeSean Jackson added to the WR corps. And rookie Tutu Atwell has potential. Second-season running back Cam Akers showed plenty of promise as a rookie. And, of course, there's new quarterback Matthew Stafford.
In some ways, the Rams are revamped. In all ways on offense, Woods sees the roster as "loaded' and it has him and his teammates talking and thinking about a return to the Super Bowl.
“Whatever weapons [the team adds] -- running backs, receivers, quarterbacks -- we’ve got a team goal, we’re trying to win a Super Bowl,” Woods said, via the Los Angeles Daily News' Kevin Modesti. “We’ve got a loaded team. We’re bringing in receivers [who] bring explosiveness to our offense.”
As organized team activities are underway, Stafford is still learning the offense, many of the other newbies are surely still getting acclimated and Woods is admittedly uncertain about the final product, but it hardly dampens his ambitions.
“I’m still trying to figure out what it will look like,” said Woods, who finished 64 yards shy of his third straight 1,000-yard season last year. “But it’s exciting to see all the pieces.”
While all those pieces might well still need to be put in place, the potential is obvious and enticing.
Stafford replaces Jared Goff and brings with him a resume that boasts eight 4,000-yard passing seasons, including 2020's 4,084.
Jackson, like Woods a Southern California high school product, returns home and though he's long been an injury risk, he's always been one of the game's best big-play receivers. Atwell adds speed and, along with Jackson, a deep-threat element, and of course Kupp remains. Like Woods, Kupp has quietly been outstanding, having tallied 90-plus receptions in each of the last two seasons.
Van Jefferson is also expected to have an increased role after a rather quiet rookie year.
“We’re going to be coming at them with a lot of speed, a lot of weapons in our rotation," Woods said.
Of course, Stafford is the largest inclusion and likely to be the biggest key to the Rams reaching greater heights than last season's NFC Divisional Round finish.
“Great touch, great quarterback, great addition to our offense,” Woods said.
The 29-year-old Woods, a veteran of eight seasons, realizes that no matter what the level of excitement is, it must be tapered by where we are on the calendar. It's May, there's much to do still and plenty of offseason ahead before the 2021 campaign arrives.
Still, all that experience includes a Super Bowl trip and Woods knows what it takes to get there and, at the least, right now knows the potential is there for something super in SoCal.
“At this point, it’s obviously just talk and goals and potential. But we’re a loaded team. We have all the parts, we have all the pieces to get where we need to go," Woods said. "Now the work takes place.”