THOUSAND OAKS — There have been enough unexpected heroes in Super Bowl history that the NFL could honor them with a short Walk of (Overnight) Fame.

If any Ram plays that role in Sunday’s Super Bowl against the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium, he might properly be termed an unlikely hero – but not quite unexpected.

The Rams have come to expect less-well-known players to step up in big moments this season.

On a team recognized for its stars, at least nine offensive and defensive starters and key kicking unit players in the Super Bowl will be mid- to late-round draft picks, undrafted prospects, and discards from other squads.

“The shallow story would be the free agents, the stars,” Rams general manager Les Snead said this week. “We couldn’t do what we do without those (other) type of players, whether they were drafted early, mid, late, signed as college free agents, claimed off waivers, being their best when the best was required.”

The latest is Kendall Blanton, the tight end who came to the Rams as an undrafted rookie in 2019 and was little used before catching his first NFL touchdown pass in the playoff victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a career-high five passes for 57 yards in the NFC championship game win against the San Francisco 49ers.

Suddenly, Blanton is a Super Bowl starter, with Tyler Higbee out because of a knee injury sustained in the first half of the 49ers game.

“Everybody says the clichéd thing, you’re one play away (from being in the game),” Blanton said of a backup’s mindset. “I take that to heart and (prepare) like I’m one play away.”

If you want to get a Ram talking, ask about unsung and unlikely heroes and start your recorder.

Just thinking about the defensive secondary, which has often played without one or more of its stars, cornerback Jalen Ramsey lauded a long list of spot starters.

“I think about Dont’e Deayon, how he stepped in. David Long, how he was in and out of the rotation, and he caught his stride and has been playing well. Robert Rochell did that as well as a rookie,” Ramsey said.

He mentioned Eric Weddle, a star and a surprise contributor at the same time, coming out of a two-year retirement to help the depleted safeties corps in the playoffs.

“(Then there’s) Nick Scott’s role elevating to being our starting safety for the Super Bowl, from being thought of as a special teams guy,” Ramsey went on.

The defense has relied the most on “next man up” heroics.

Scott, a seventh-round draft pick in 2019, has started five regular-season playoff games and has three interceptions, including the last ever against recently retired Tom Brady.

Travin Howard, the linebacker picked in the seventh round in 2018, had the interception against Jimmy Garoppolo that sealed the Rams’ NFC title.

Greg Gaines (La Habra High), a 2019 fourth-rounder who got his chance after nose tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day’s midseason injury, made what Coach Sean McVay called the play of the game when he teamed with safety Taylor Rapp to throw a Baltimore Ravens ballcarrier for a 2-yard loss inside the Rams’ 5-yard line and force a field goal in a late-season win.

Undrafted defensive tackle Marquise Copeland, a practice squad member for the first half of this season, made the most out-of-nowhere interception of the season when he picked off the Arizona Cardinals’ Kyler Murray in the opening round of the playoffs.

Is there a reason these things happen for the Rams?

“I think we all just are always tapped in,” said starting cornerback Darious Williams, himself an undrafted player who was claimed on waivers. “If one man goes down, the next man’s up, and he knows his job.”

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Of such moments are local folk heroes made.

Or national folk heroes, if they do it in the Super Bowl.

Think of Green Bay Packers receiver Max McGee in the first Super Bowl, Washington’s Timmy Smith with 204 yards rushing in his first career start, Oakland’s Rod Martin with three interceptions, the New York Giants’ David Tyree making his heady reception off the bench. And St. Louis Rams linebacker Mike Jones, never a star except for one tackle that won a championship.

If that happens for an L.A. Rams player on Sunday, it won’t be a surprise, and you might even say it figured.