It's becoming clear at camp that Rams must answer these 5 burning questions

(4) - Can Rams sort out the depth at inside linebacker?

The Rams may not have invested enough into the inside linebacker position to expect All-Pro levels of production from the group, but the team has invested a significant amount of attention and players to rework the position to the new specifications of DC Chris Shula. So what's the challenge? Like a child trying to order an ice cream cone at Baskin Robbins, this defense has never had so many quality options before.

So, where to start? Let's start with our first projected Rams depth chart for the ILB position, and then discuss the competition between various players.

• LILB - Nate Landman | Omar Speights | Elias Neal
• RILB - Pooh Paul Jr. | Shaun Dolac | Troy Reeder | Tony Fields II

Intriguing? Here's why the Rams depth chart will emerge from training camp like this. Let's start with the keystone position, the run-stuffer. You may think that the Rams view veteran ILB Nate Landman in a dead heat with last year's starter, Omar Speights. I don't see it as neck and neck at all. And it starts with their size and power.

While Omar Speights is a powerful 6-foot-1, 228-pound inside linebacker who proved he can stuff the run last season, the team has to like the upside of a more experienced 6-foot-3, 235-pound veteran inside linebacker in Nate Landman. The Rams have not hesitated to turn over the keys to this defense to Landman, and have not hesitated to express praise at how he has run the defense so far. But when the pads go on, that is when the more powerful Landman will separate himself from his teammates.

The other starting role gets sticky. I know in my head and heart that the Rams want to give the other staring inside linebacker position to veteran ILB Troy Reeder, but two thoughts prevent me from reflecting that in my depth chart. The first thought is the recollection of how both Reeder and Rozeboom seemed to be routinely pancaked in 2024. That type of sight is hard to forget.

The second thought was discussed in a recent article and was based on how Rams LB Coach Greg Williams described his top linebackers so far through minicamp. I created a table of the key points from Coach Williams' comments, as shown below:

• Nate Landman - Landman transitioning "seamlessly" into the Rams' defense
• Pooh Paul Jr. - Paul's aggressiveness impresses: "He's a football guy"
• Omar Speights - Omar Speights is "the definition of preparation and professionalism"
• Troy Reeder - Troy Reeder provides "a comfort level"
• Shaun Dolac - Shaun Dolac "could teach you the defense right now"

I just don't translate the endorsement for veteran Troy Reeder as 'That's my starter for 2025.' I can't even translate it into a 'he's made the roster,' comment. We'll know more when the team competes in preseason games. For now, I expect the team to sit ILBs Nate Landman and rookie Pooh Paul Jr. in preseason games. The fans will still get thrills to see undrafted rookie ILB Shaun Dolac run the defense, and that is something that I am especially looking forward to.

Finally, the team cannot simply send Landman and Speights onto the football field together and hope for the best. The Rams have to wisely pair up their linebackers. The optimal configuration I see for the 2025 season is matching Landman with rookie Pooh Paul Jr. That is subject to change, but it's what I am going with for now.

(3) - Will Rams adopt a running-back-by-committee strategy in 2025?

The Rams need to engineer a far more effective rushing effort in 2025. Not only was the Rams ground assault sub-par for a team competing in the NFL Playoffs, but this team has plenty of talent in the running back room that seemed to be squandered last season. And that is a problem.

The team carried four healthy running backs on the roster last season but never introduced more than one running back on any given play. That automatically sets the efficiency in the running back room to just 25 percent. But it gets worse. The Rams fixated on just one of the four running backs in 2024. See if you can detect who that might have been:

• RB Blake Corum | 58 carries | 207 yards | 0 TDs | 14.6 % carries | 12.9 % yards
• RB Ronnie Rivers | 22 carries | 99 yards | 0 TDs | 5.5 % carries | 6.2 % yards
• RB Cody Schrader | 1 carry | 3 yards | 0 TDs | 0.8 % carries | 0.2 % yards
• RB Kyren Williams | 316 carries | 1,299 yards | 14 TDs | 80.0 % carries | 80.8 % yards

Can you see the problem? The Rams retained four running backs on the roster but ran starting RB Kyren Williams into the ground. That strategy creates three problems: First and foremost, the lopsided workload distribution burns out the team's top running back, creating unnecessary fatigue and exposing him to an unnecessarily high risk of injury.

Worse yet, when Williams falls to injury or needs a rest in a hotly contested game, who do you send in? The lack of work keeps other running backs from attaining the proficiency and consistency needed to develop into a viable NFL starter. And it makes no sense to keep adding players to the running back room if the plan is to sit them on the bench.

The Rams roster is up to six running backs for the 2025 NFL season. By my calculations, the team should part ways with half that many, or three running backs. But that still leaves three runners to share the workload. And with the likes of Kyren Williams, Blake Corum, and Jarques Hunter are ideally suited for a running-back-by-committee approach.

The team effectively deployed a balanced distribution of carries in 2020, when the team packaged the rushing of rookie RB Cam Akers, change of pace RB Darrell Henderson, and power RB Malcolm Brown to put up over 2000 rushing yards. For comparison's sake, the Rams only rushed for 1,785 yards in 2024.

With Kyren Williams, Blake Corum, and Jarquez Hunter, the team can prove to be a much more effective rushing offense by doing a far better job of balancing out the workload and involving a larger number of players. It may not make sense, but it gets proven results.