LA Rams will lose WR Lance McCutcheon on practice squad

If the LA Rams cut undrafted rookie wide receiver Lance McCutcheon in hopes to slide him over to the team’s practice squad, they will lose him. No ifs and or buts. There it is, bold and bright and undeniable. So the question becomes, how important is it to the LA Rams organization to retain a young wide receiver who is determined to succeed in the NFL, and whose early performance suggests that he likely will?

While we suggest that it’s a great problem to have, NFL experience suggests that a move like this disturbs the balance of an NFL roster in ways that could result in a better team or a much worse team. Huh? Let’s walk this one through.

Just focusing on the LA Rams’ young receivers, players who we hope will perform well enough to start in their NFL careers, and perhaps more, we have a bit of surplus on the LA Rams roster right now. We have wide receivers Ben Skowronek, Tutu Atwell, Jacob Harris, and now, Lance McCutcheon. That’s a huge number of receivers to compete for limited roster spots.

And that’s where the pressure comes in. With a 53-player limit to the active roster, the Rams cannot overstock wide receivers, because any commitment to promising young wide receivers will come at the expense of talented young players at other positions that will find themselves on the Rams waiver wire due to the numbers game.

Rams roster Plinko

If the Rams carry eight wide receivers on the 53-man roster, where do they short the roster? Will the team go with two quarterbacks? Eight offensive linemen? Three inside linebackers? Five defensive linemen?

Decisions over who will remain on the roster are as much about where the team feels the need for depth as it is about the talent of the players who are in the discussion. Right now, Lance McCutcheon appears to be the hottest non-starting wide receiver on the LA Rams roster. Multiple NFL teams are eager to see who the Rams release to pare down to their 53-man limit and will be staking a claim to any waived receiver.

So it comes down to this. If the Rams hope to keep Lance McCutcheon on this roster, they will need to keep him on the roster. If they believe that they can slide him over to the practice squad, they will be utterly disappointed.