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

III: Defensive end

If you haven’t noticed how well DE Jonah Williams is playing for the LA Rams, don’t fret. There have been an almost relentless number of injuries to the Rams’ defensive front, plus the sudden surge of DL/OLB Michael Hoecht in his new Edge rusher role.  But while all of those events have grabbed the headlines, Williams has been putting in the work and is getting pretty good at what he does.

In 233 defensive snaps, 13 games played (three solely on special teams), and three starts, Williams has 17 tackles and one quarterback hit, one quarterback pressure, and one quarterback knockdown so far. And he will have three more games to chalk up more. There is a great debate over whether the Rams will re-sign DL A’Shawn Robinson or DL Greg Gaines. But unless one or both is willing to give the Rams a pretty team-friendly discount, I can see the team committing to a larger role for Jonah Williams next season.

Williams signed with the LA Rams after the 2020 NFL Draft and has been another contributor from the ranks of the rookie free agents who continue to buoy this roster. At 6-foot-5 and 275-pounds, he is an ideal fit for the vacated role of ex-Rams Morgan Fox, and I expect him to make huge strides in that direction next season.

II: DT Larrell Murchinson

You may have missed the LA Rams claiming ex-Titans DT Larrell Murchison off the Tennessee Titans waiver wire, and that is certainly forgivable as he has yet to play for the Rams to date. But when he does suit up, you can bet that he will be noticed.

Larrell Murchison is not a net gain to the Rams roster per se, as he was pickup up after losing a promising young defensive lineman named Elijah Garcia from their practice squad to the Denver Broncos. This is Murchinson’s third NFL season, and he has primarily been a versatile plug-n-play rotational player so far for the Titans. He has lined up both as an interior defensive lineman and as a defensive end.

The LA Rams roster currently projects to shrink to four defensive linemen on the active roster for 2023, and Murchison is one of those players. With the Rams’ most senior defensive linemen of Aaron Donald, Bobby Brown III, and Jonah Williams, Murchison is an ideal reserve because he can slide in and play at virtually any position. While he is unlikely to have a Pro Bowl season, don’t underestimate the power of good coaching, and Rams DL coach Eric Henderson is the NFL’s best. Murchison should be able to be a stout rotational player for the Rams’ defensive line at a minimum.