The Los Angeles Rams are the defending NFC Champions. They have also won the NFC West over the past two seasons. They are the team to beat, and the rest of the division will be looking to knock them off their perch.
NFL Total Access recently asked which NFC West team is most likely to do just that. Which division opponent will be the biggest threat to the Rams in 2019?
Steve Wyche picked the San Francisco 49ers.
Why did the NFL Network reporter pick a team which had just four wins last season? For one, the 49ers will be getting Jimmy Garoppolo back, which Wyche believes will allow head coach Kyle Shanahan to run his offense the way he intended to last season before losing his starting quarterback for the season.
That's not to say there aren't any weaknesses on offense. While the 49ers spent a second-round pick on Dante Pettis last year and added Jordan Matthews this offseason, the wide receiver group remains a work in progress.
Wyche does like the addition of running back Tevin Coleman, who joins a group that already included Jerick McKinnon and Matt Breida. He also discussed how the team is poised to improve defensively.
"We know Tevin Coleman with his old running back coach, Bobby Turner, who was fantastic in Atlanta, they're going to try to possess the ball and get it to George Kittle when they've got some scoring opportunities," Wyche said. "But defensively, they've got a lot more speed now, adding a Kwon Alexander to go with Fred Warner in the middle of the field ... If they get the pass rusher, if they [draft] Nick Bosa to add to Dee Ford, DeForest Buckner there in the middle ... They're just trying to build themselves like the Rams built themselves with that pressure up front to start things off to help relieve things in the back end."
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