Are LA Rams WRs ready for the 2023 NFL season after the draft?
By Bret Stuter
When the LA Rams began to prune their roster in preparation for the 2023 NFL season, one of the annoying narratives that formed and actually gained some traction among some NFL talking heads is the belief that one of the friction points between the LA Rams organization and head coach Sean McVay was the lack of investment in the Rams offense.
When I first heard that notion, I found it difficult not to laugh and scoff at the notion. The LA Rams have seldom done without any offensive weapon that has a chance of working out for the Rams offense. It was never so much as the Rams not pouring resources into offensive weapons. Rathe the Rams have not done so wisely.
That, and the fact that so very many players were sidelined with injuries in the 2022 NFL season is what has brought the LA Rams to enter the 2023 NFL Draft with 44 players, not much money to spend, and just 11 draft picks.
Can Puka Nacua move the needle?
The LA Rams did add to the number of draft picks, emerging with 14 rookies to help out their 2023 NFL season. One rookie who the Rams draft keyed on is BYU rookie wide receiver Puka Nacua with the 177th pick in Round 5 of the 2023 NFL Draft. But is that enough for the 2023 NFL season?
It's unlikely that Nacua will compete for a WR2 or WR3 role on the LA Rams offense in 2023. Those roles are likely to fall to veteran wide receivers Van Johnson and Ben Skowronek respectively. As far as the LA Rams depth chart, I cannot see Nacua usurping WR Tutu Atwell's spot on the Rams depth chart.
But I can see rookie WR Puka Nacua's presence on the Rams roster as a bit more than an inconvenient complication for WR Austin Trammel and Lance McCutcheon this season. If Nacua does well enough in training camp, and the Rams opt to go with six wide receivers on the final 53-man roster, then either McCutcheon or Trammel may be waived with the intention of signing on the Rams practice squad.
Nacua may not get regular playing time, but I do think that he has a chance to make a contribution on the Rams offense this season. How much of a contribution? I'll try to determine that when the Rams full 90-man roster is assembled and training camp gets underway.
Are LA Rams WRs ready for the 2023 NFL season after the draft? I think this group is just as ready as a year ago, perhaps moreso.