LA Rams: Will there or won’t there be competition for starting punter?

Retraction

Despite the pledge to compete at each and every spot on the roster, once the evidence was assembled and the logic was presented back to the LA Rams regarding any plans to create competition at the punter position, the Rams head coach Sean McVay retracted his earlier pledge to create competition everywhere.

While he agreed with McVay, Snead pointed out that training camp is filled with competition by its very nature.  And by hinting at such, Snead was leaving the door open for any future decisions to go either way.

So here we are, trying to gauge the potential of the LA Rams roster, and trying to understand what roster decisions have yet to be made, and which roster positions are still undecided. As popular as punter Johnny Hekker might be with the entire fanbase of the LA Rams, I am not convinced that he is an automatic starter in 2021. Loyalty? I get it. Hekker has done great things for the Rams over the years.

Still, Jared Goff is gone because good enough is no longer good enough at quarterback. Austin Blythe is gone because good enough is no longer good enough at the offensive center. Michael Brockers is gone because good enough is no longer good enough at defensive lineman. Johnny Hekker was ranked 21st out of 32 punters in the NFL in 2020. Is that good enough for the LA Rams? Good enough wasn’t good enough for three other veterans who were very loyal to the team.  This could be a very intriguing developing story throughout this training camp.