7 LA Rams players returning in 2023 who you may have forgotten

The LA Rams may be a team whose next major stop is the 2023 NFL Draft, but this is still a team with a Pro Bowl game worth of talent. On offense, the team returns QB Matthew Stafford, WRs Cooper Kupp, Allen Robinson, and Van Jefferson. While it remains to be seen how the offense will address the offensive line and running backs in the off-season, I think there is a pretty potent core of players coming back next season.

On defense, the Rams will welcome back DL Aaron Donald, OLB Leonard Floyd, ILBs Bobby Wagner and Ernest Jones, and DB Jalen Ramsey.  While there are those who continue to scream for the outright firing of DC Raheem Morris, there is not a team in the NFL who would not be thrilled to welcome the Rams’ returning defensive veterans to their own roster.

But with all of the shuffle and chaos with the Rams’ roster this season, it would be easy to slip on a few of the Rams players who are returning as not-yet-tested underlings. The young guys may have had minimal action this season, but they may yet earn significant playing time either as a starter or rotational player in 2023. Who are we talking about? I can think of seven players off the top of my head:

VII: IOL Tremayne Anchrum Jr.

The horrid luck of the LA Rams offensive line injury epidemic certainly hit veteran interior offensive lineman Tremayne Anchrum Jr. hard this season. These have now been two consecutive season-ending injuries for the young interior offensive lineman, and both have derailed the chance to see what he can do as a key contributor on the offensive line.  Is that an indication of being injury prone?

I’m not so sure I’d go that far. His first injury was an ACL, and his second injury was a freak broken leg. I know that some fans, particularly those who have already made up their minds that the LA Rams offensive line has no talented players, want the team to cut anyone who has not put up a Pro Bowl performance for the Rams. In the case of Tremayne Anchrum Jr., I think it would be a huge mistake not only to welcome him back but to give him a real chance at competing for and winning a starting offensive guard position for the Rams offensive line in 2023.

When he has had his opportunities, he has made the most of them. He stood out in joint scrimmages in 2021 with his teammate Alaric Jackson. And he looked great in the Rams 2022 preseason games.  He has had zero luck when the time comes for his chance to play live offensive snaps for the Rams. But hopefully, the third time is a charm and he will have a breakout season in 2023.