Omar Speights will enter Rams camp seeking to avoid nearly singular fate

Very few of the Los Angeles Rams' returning starters will face much competition for their current jobs. Linebacker Omar Speights is one of them. 

That's despite starting 26 games in two Rams seasons as a capable, if not always reliable cog. If Los Angeles is truly serious about chasing a Super Bowl, however, they'll need to explore potential upgrades in response to Speights' coverage lapses and overall inconsistency. 

During training camp, Speights will give everything he's got to avoid being among the few of last season's starters - Speights could be the only one aside from cornerback Emmanuel Forbes - to lose his spot on the depth chart. 

Speights must fend off feisty competition

Naturally, Forbes slides to the bench to make way for Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson, who replace him and Cobie Durant at the corners. No shame in that. 

At tight end, Tyler Higbee could conceivably cede a significant share of snaps to Terrance Ferguson as a second starter alongside Colby Parkinson, in part to ensure that Higbee stays healthy, but that would require a monster summer from Ferguson. That doesn't feel like anything to bank on. 

Speights, meanwhile, will be fending off a pack of less proven players nipping at his heels, including Shaun Dolac and undrafted rookie Nikhai Hill-Green. The latter's coverage skills, in particular, make him an intriguing candidate to swipe Speights' role. 

To be sure, Speights, a former UDFA himself, remains the favorite for the second starting spot at inside linebacker alongside Nate Landman. What feels clear is that he will have to prove himself yet again. Fresh slate. No handouts. Earn the role. 

He is plenty familiar with that challenge after fighting his way onto the roster and into the starting lineup as an overlooked rookie out of LSU. After starting 10 of 17 games in 2024, he started all 16 he played last season. 

Off-ball linebacker does, however, remain one of the roster's few weak spots, if not the weakest overall. Landman is a quality starter. Speights can do the job, but the Rams need to see a bit more consistency. While Speights' coverage stats actually improved last year - statistically, in fact, he performed well - the eye test did not always match the numbers. 

Even if he does not retain a starting spot, Speights should still be a regular rotational piece in a thin group. Obviously, that's not ideal from his point of view. Being the only benched starter aside from Forbes, who was replaced by elite talent rather than would-be fringe players like Dolac or Hill-Green, isn't the kind of distinction he'd like to own.

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