5 thrilling developments already obvious at the 2024 LA Rams training camp

And we're back. It's the 2024 LA Rams training camp, a time when we learn whether all of the offseason optimism can withstand the first moments of reality set in. We all know the drill. Players expected to be early starters have no positive reports. The team's injuries impact key players. It's time to buckle your seats and kick back. The thrilling ride of another LA Rams season is underway.

There may be prescripted starters for the 2024 NFL season, but that does not mean that the LA Rams training camp is not packed to the brim with thrills and excitement for Rams fans. After all, this is not just a team that is loaded with talent. This is a team that has gone to great lengths to add a bit of duality to the Rams roster depth. You can see it everywhere on this team. For every Kyren Williams, there is a Blake Corum. For every Steve Avila, there is a Beaux Limmer. For every Byron Young-Kobie Turner duo, there is a Jared Verse-Braden Fiske duo.

And for every Matthew Stafford, there is a Jimmy Garoppolo.

The hope is that this team will never need to lean too heavily into the depth on this roster. But then there is the reality that we all must face. The Rams lost five games of WR Cooper Kupp, five games of RB Kyren Williams, two games of QB Matthew Stafford, and a host of minor injuries to other key starters on offense and defense.

So depth is not a luxury. It's a necessity.

But depth no longer means dilution and depletion. This is a team whose depth holds the promise of future NFL starters and stars. It's all too easy to notice the glitter and sparkles of new players, and ignore the contributions of veterans like DL/OLB Michael Hoecht or WR Demarcus Robinson. And for now, that is just fine.

But keep track of last season's dependable contributors. Don't lose sight of the fact that 2023 rookie OLB Byron Young and NT Kobie Turner led all NFL rookies in quarterback sacks. Even as DT Kobie Turner sits out early to nurse a groin injury, the team is looking for 10+ quarterback sacks out of him this year, and he will deliver.

The Rams training camp is more about making football introductions

What are writers saying about the Rams training camp so far?

The LA Rams have a lot of solid performers in the early stages of the 2024 Training Camp so far. One source of solid all-access information is the team's very own reporter, Stu Jackson. Jackson is a great source of information, because he does a great job of surveying the entire team while dropping little nuggets of key developments.

He lists 10 observations after Thursday, July 25, that are definitely worth checking out:

Senior NFL Yahoo Sports reporter Charles Robinson shared a series of Tweets on social media that give a superb summary of this Rams roster in training camp so far. While I have shared the last of a series below, they are all worth checking out.

Robinson is particularly very high on the versatility that this offense holds for 2024. This is not an either run or pass offense. Rather, as he points out, this is an offense that is loaded to do both. And that is welcome news indeed for fans who have been waiting for Coach McVay to get excited about running the football.

That day has arrived.

Of course, there are plenty of reports and perspectives flooding the internet over the 2024 LA Rams Training Camp, and that is great news for Rams fans. If you were starving for NFL articles and content, the days of feasting have arrived.

So what can I add? Here are my early five thrilling developments already obvious at the 2024 LA Rams training camp:

V: This is Ernest Jones defense

If you had to guess who would assume the reins of the defense on the football field in 2024, you would have hit the bullseye to guess veteran ILB Ernest Jones. While he is clearly one of the more senior continuous veterans on the defensive side of the football, he is also one of the most productive defenders on this roster.

When the team reset their defense in 2023, it was Ernest Jones who stood in front of the media and declared that the Rams would be better than expected on defense. Now, keep in mind that many NFL analysts had the Rams projected to be one of the worst defenses in the league one year ago. With the release of veteran OLB Leonard Floyd and the trade of veteran DB Jalen Ramsey, few expected this team to put up much resistance at all.

Veteran ILB Ernest Jones IV not only corrected them in press conferences. He went out and proved them wrong by putting up career-high numbers. His numbers were so good that many believed that he had a Pro Bowl season.

And he is already putting up indications that his fourth and final season under his rookie contract will be even better yet:

If the Rams are going to compete in the 2025 NFL Playoffs, Ernest Jones will need to put up career-high numbers once more. Not only is he prepared to do so, but he eagerly welcomes the chance. His 2023 statistics were exemplary, not just due to the fact that he put up 145 tackles, 4.5 quarterback sacks, 14 tackles for a loss, and broke up six passes. The most outstanding quality about his 2023 season is that he did all of that in just 15 games.

Ernest Jones is a savage and physically-formidable inside linebacker who is gnawing at the bit to get onto a football field and play to the best of his ability. We haven't seen it yet. But when we do, prepare to be amazed.

IV: RB Kyren Williams remains the featured rusher in this offense

It's only been one season since LA Rams running back Kyren Williams played just 12 games, and yet was the third-best running back in the NFL in 2023. But perhaps even more than that, it's far too easy to ignore the fact that he began the 2023 NFL season behind RB Cam Akers. And it was the fact that he was the presumed backup rusher that led to his starting the 2023 NFL season playing catchup.

Williams did not break the 100+ rushing yards plateau until Week 4. Prior to that, he put up 15 carries for 52 yards and two touchdowns in Week 1. 14 carries for 52 yards and one touchdown in Week 2, and 10 carries for 38 yards and no touchdowns in Week 3. In those first three weeks, he also caugh just eight of 19 targets for 77 yards and one touchdown.

He performed far better in his other nine games.

The point is that Williams had to gear up from being considered a change-of-pace running back to the feature running back instantly. And that type of transition takes time to achieve in the NFL. Fortunately, no similar type of transition is necessary for the team in 2024. Kyren Williams is the presumptive featured running back this year, and he will be ready for the workload.

And then there is the sheer depth and talent of the entire running back room While Kryen Williams did eventually get up to speed (pun intended) as the featured runner, he was unable to sustain the load and was injured for five weeks in the middle of the season. That should not happen in 2024, if for no other reason than the fact that the team boasts a similarly sized RB Blake Corum who can share the work this year.

While Williams remains the featured running back, the team has taken steps to ensure he remains healthy while not sacrificing any ground production in 2024.

III: Rams fans will love what Braden Fiske and Jared Verse add

There is seldom any experience in life that matches the experience. It could be the tempting brochure that lures you to a popular vacation spot, only to find that everyone on the planet has the same idea and arrives to crowd the area into a nightmare vacation. It could be the rave review of a restaurant that lands you making dinner reservations, only to find the food not to your liking and the cost of the meal far in excess of what you expected to pay.

It's almost impossible to match the experience promised by the brochure to real world experiences. But for the LA Rams and what we have read about the Seminoles defensive duo of Jared Verse and Braden Fiske, we may have the exception to the rule. They are already putting on a show that is better than the brochure.

Let's open with the sheer size of rookie outside linebacker Jared Verse. He arrived to the Rams roster standing 6-foot-4 and weighing 260 pounds. While that may be the case, he already appears to be a seasoned veteran as he takes the football field. Best of all, he is not built for bodybuilding competition. He is built to exude optimal power off the edge.

His partner, DL Braden Fiske, may not be getting similar reports. But so far in training camp, everyone who has seen him perform has exclaimed how easily he appears to be shooting around new center Steve Avila and getting penetration into the backfield. While some fear that Avila is struggling at his new role on the offensive line, Coach McVay continues to praise Avila so far.

So, perhaps Braden Fiske is simply that good?

Far too many analysts have downgraded the Rams defensive projections from the fact that this team has parted ways with elite contributors. But while that has been true in both 2023 and in 2024, why overlook the upside of what new players bring to the table? Both Fiske and Verse are already replicating the energy and thrills of Kobie Turner and Byron Young from 2023.

Perhaps they will replicate their production in 2024 as well.

And speaking of duos . . .

II: Rams may boast the best WR duo in the NFL

Forget the NFL preseason rankings that slot rookies in among the best players the NFL has to offer, long before they take a single NFL snap. The LA Rams boasts two elite receivers in Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp. Not because I say so. But because both Rams wide receivers have placed their names in lofty places in the NFL All-Time Receiver Record books in the past three seasons.

The NFL markets fresh faces to bolster their merchandise sales. But let's not kid ourselves and have the honest conversation. If veteran Cooper Kupp in healthy enough to play all 17 games in 2024, and if Puka Nacua can be even more productive in his second season, this pair of NFL wide receivers are not only on track for 1000+ yard seasons apiece, but could combine for 2500+ receiving yards in 2024.

And perhaps even combine for 3000+ receiving yards.

While we continue to see plenty of holdouts and trash-talking from rookies and veterans alike, the Rams wide receivers simply focus on improving their game, letting their on-field production do the talking for them, and remaining humble. I'm not the only one to notice, as Rams HC Sean McVay cites those very traits when praising WR Puka Nacua in a recent press conference.

It's easy to be blinded to the rest of the team's receivers if you focus on just Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua. But this is a team that boasts a very underestimated veteran in WR Demarcus Robinson, a deep threat in WR Tutu Atwell, and a versatile multi-role WR In rookie Jordan Whittington.

There is lots to love whenever the team turns to the passing game. And that is all thanks to this veteran:

I: Another Matthew Stafford Pro Bowl season?

It is almost an unbelievable fact that 15-year veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford has only earned Pro Bowl honors twice in his NFL career. Even more unbelievable is the fact that his second Pro Bowl season occurred in 2023. Those Pro Bowl honors were bestowed on Stafford despite:

• The fact that he played in only15 games
• The fact that he failed to pass for 4000+ yards for only the sixth time in his career
• The fact that he only completed 62.6 % of his passes (lowest since joining the Rams)
• The fact that he only mounted one 4th Qtr comeback

But there were underlying factors that let to Staffords robust production. He had a strong running game to fall back on, the team invested in the offensive line, and the offense had multiple weapons to use effectively.

Now, take all of those positive contributing factors, double them, and roll all of that into the 2024 NFL season.

Matthew Stafford is no rookie trying to prove to his coaching staff and teammates that he has the knowledge and ability to lead this offense. And yet, he is still out there, competing as effectively and fervently as though he was a rookie trying to earn the starting role. Early reports have Stafford already in mid-season form. That is not only encouraging news, but this offense needs to hit every mark every time this season.

Topping all 32 NFL offenses in terms of points scored per game is not an easy task. In truth, the last time this offense achieved such a lofty ranking was in 2017, HC Sean McVay's first season with the team. But this is not the same old script. This is an offense that is loaded to beat you on the ground and through the air.

And the offensive line was upgraded again.

That should be all it takes to keep Stafford healthy. And a healthy Stafford has all the tools to put up career-high numbers in 2024.

As always, thanks for reading. And stay tuned, as the team is rumored to be shopping for secondary help.

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