LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Rams are about to embark on a season with Super Bowl expectations, powered by a list of star players that has only grown this offseason with the additions of Myles Garrett and Trent McDuffie.

Read more OHA reopens study of KITV purchase after vote shift

But to achieve the heights they want to get to in Matthew Stafford’s 18th season and return to another Super Bowl hosted at SoFi Stadium, the Rams will need more than just those big names producing. They’ll also need a couple of younger players to help curb the aging effect on offense and make opponents pay when they sell out to game-plan around Los Angeles’ stars.

With training camp starting next month, here are the three Rams players with the best chances of breaking out.

Terrance Ferguson

A year ago, the Rams had a rare first-round pick and then decided to trade it away. They moved back into the second round to select Alabama’s Ty Simpson, who later became their quarterback of the future, and took a tight end mostly with the future in mind. Ferguson struggled to see the field much early on last season, as he caught just one pass in the first six games. He needed to learn a complex playbook and improve the blocking technique he rarely used at Oregon. The development of his 6-foot-5, 252-pound frame to handle defensive ends would have to be an offseason project.

Down the stretch, however, Ferguson showed plenty of the athletic skills that attracted the Rams in the first place. From Week 7 on, Ferguson caught 10 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns. He finished with an average of 21 yards per catch on 11 receptions, which would have ranked second in the NFL if he had the volume to qualify. Obviously, the numbers will change when he does see high volume and the focus of opposing defenses that would follow, but those seam-stretching plays out of two- and three-tight-end sets were a glimpse into an offense the Rams are planning to build out even more this season.

Ferguson essentially took Tutu Atwell’s role as the speed wide receiver down the stretch last season, and the Rams did little to replace Atwell this offseason, drafting only Miami’s CJ Daniels in the sixth round. A big reason for that is the excitement around Ferguson. The Rams hope an offseason of work in an NFL strength program, rather than training for drills at the NFL Scouting Combine, can catch Ferguson up enough physically to build on the 39 percent snap share he posted last season.

If it works, the expectation is that Ferguson will lead this year’s tight ends in catches, yards and touchdowns while also ranking third on the team behind Puka Nacua and Davante Adams in those categories, making him essentially a TE1 and a WR3. And if he’s not quite developed enough physically, the Rams can still find playing time and effective roles for him by doubling down on the use of two- and three-tight-end sets, which they led the league with last season.

Blake Corum

Corum provides a model for the Year 2 jump the Rams are hoping for from Ferguson. Los Angeles drafted Corum in the third round in 2024, after a dominant career at Michigan, but he had a hard time seeing the field much as a rookie in Sean McVay’s complex playbook. He finished with just 58 carries for 207 yards and no touchdowns in 2024, and given that he averaged 3.6 yards per carry, it was reasonable to have some questions.

Read more Hilo Pride parade and festival on Saturday

But then last year happened. Corum saw a giant leap in volume and efficiency, finishing with 145 carries for 746 yards and six touchdowns on 5.1 yards per carry. Even more encouraging than the final line was the progression. Over the final six regular-season games, or right as the Rams were leaning into more two- and three-tight-end sets, Corum racked up 405 yards and five touchdowns on 6.4 yards per carry. Corum fit in nicely as a speed rusher with great vision behind a cohesive Rams offensive line, as his 3.5 rushing yards before contact per carry ranked first in the NFL among rushers with at least 100 attempts. But he also forced 27 missed or broken tackles, and he was lethal on outside runs, averaging 6.9 yards per carry on 30 attempts, according to Sports Info Solutions.

Corum isn’t the pass protector or receiver that Kyren Williams is, and he might never be, but he continues to make strides in those areas to earn more playing time in an offense that wants to blur the run and the pass as much as the Rams do. Williams should continue to outsnap Corum because of his third-down skills, but the rushing attempts should look much more like a 50-50 split, with Williams offering consistency and short-yardage skills, and Corum bringing an explosive element on drives after Williams has worn down the defense. If he can stay healthy, Corum could push for his first 1,000-yard rushing season this year, even with Williams’ presence.

Kam Kitchens

Los Angeles boasted one of the younger defenses in the league last season and saw that youth and lack of playoff experience bite it in the postseason. The Rams have since loaded up on proven veterans, from Garrett, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, at edge rusher to McDuffie, a two-time All-Pro cornerback, and cornerback Jaylen Watson, a two-time Super Bowl champion. The idea is to let these players add a flavor of star power to the defense, but it’s also to take attention away from them to allow younger players to thrive.

Kinchens could be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the juice the Rams added to the pass rush and coverage spots. A third-round pick out of Miami in 2024, Kinchens had a version of a rookie breakout with four interceptions, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a defensive score in 2024. He saw his playing time jump from 46 percent of the snaps as a rookie to 75 percent last season, but the production didn’t quite follow, as he finished with two interceptions. Kinchens was left too often to be the eraser for all the mistakes at outside cornerback, where slender and younger players became targets for physical receivers and stretch run plays. As such, the Rams decreased Kinchens’ playing time down the stretch to lean on physical and experienced safeties such as Quentin Lake and Kam Curl to stop the bleeding.

The environment is simply different this season. McDuffie and Watson add not just physical coverage players to the two outside spots but also elite run defenders. Their additions can give Kinchens and the Rams coaching staff the confidence to deploy the free safety more in ways that play to his strengths, which are his coverage instincts and ball skills. And with the arrival of Garrett, the reigning all-time single-season sack leader, Kinchens should be able to play downhill on tips and overthrows from distressed quarterbacks, which can help him get back to the turnover creation that made him exciting as a rookie.

Kinchens is 23. With more than 1,300 snaps under his belt, a leap is realistic at a position that grows mentally as much as physically and helped produce breakout seasons for Lake and Curl just last season.

Read more Former Kona man sentenced for slaying, dismembering girlfriend in Arkansas

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.