How many of LA Rams recent standouts will get larger role in 2023?

Out of necessity is pretty much a catch-all phrase for the LA Rams right now. Out of necessity can be used to describe the sudden shockingly effective performance that LA Rams former defensive lineman Michael Hoecht is putting on as an outside linebacker. That same catchphrase can cover the eye-popping two QB sack debut of IDL Larrell Murchison. It can describe the impressive performance of WR Tutu Atwell, the Mayfield Miracle, and numerous other unexpected but impressive performances by a number of LA Rams’ unfamiliar faces.

But what of 2023? How much of these impressive 2022 late-season performances will carry over to the 2023 NFL season? Or conversely, how many of these players who are stepping up for the team in 2022 will be buried once more on the depth chart when the 2023 NFL season arrives?

After all, with few exceptions, many of these players who are stepping up in such a huge way now are not even under contract with the LA Rams for the 2023 NFL season. Based on the team’s frugality of the past, it’s unlikely that many of these players who are showing up in big ways this season will find that their best offer to play football next season will come from the LA Rams.

The Rams roster offers no guarantees to younger players

But of the players who are under contract with the LA Rams, there is no certainty over their future either. We’ve witnessed this season how decisions over who to start in games have not always aligned with what we see as the best players currently available on the roster.  But what happens when injured starters return and can suit up to play in 2023?

Will WR Tutu Atwell get targetted with Cooper Kupp, Allen Robinson, and Ben Skowronek suiting up and on the football field? For that matter, will he even get offensive snaps in that scenario? What of defensive standouts like Michael Hoecht and Larrell Murchison? Will the Rams take chances on younger options if the roster boasts veterans with long-standing NFL experience next season?

Even as players suit up now to try to attract interest from NFL teams who may be bidding for their services with contract offers in the offseason, there are no guarantees. Even players who will return to the Rams roster in 2023 have no assurances that how well they perform now will result in larger roles on the team next year.

But, in the absence of any assurances, it’s all these players have control over.