Breaking down the LA Rams roster and 2023 season in these 3 words

Who can best describe the LA Rams roster as it now stands, and in the process lay out the groundwork of realistic expectations for the 2023 NFL season? That's a very good question, because until the 2023 NFL Draft happened, the LA Rams were at less than 50 percent strength for their 90-man training camp roster. Even now, the Rams still have a number of open roster spots.

If you want to know why the LA Rams did not sign any veterans, you need only check out the recap of the Rams' financial situation by checking out Spotrac.com. The first site shows that after adding enough players to increase their roster to 72 players, the team has under $5 million of 2023 salary cap space to work with. The second site shows that the Rams focused heavily upon the after-draft market for rookie free agents because they could be signed to the roster for $750,000, an amount that would not trigger their 51-man salary cap limit.

But the Rams have over $12.5 million of drafted rookies in 14 players to absorb in the 51-man limit and will exchange that with $11 million of the lowest 14 players' salaries currently integrated into the calculation. So the Rams will enter the 2023 NFL season with next to nothing in terms of a buffer to add additional players in case this team incurs injuries and needs to reinforce the roster. Keep in mind that when the team pares down to 53 players, all 53 will factor into the Rams' 2023 salary cap calculation. We will discuss in the future how that could impact the team's roster decisions.

Rams roster is as good as it gets

For now, the point exists only to tamper expectations for the Rams to go on a midnight shopping run among the remaining NFL veteran free agents. After all of the pain of parting ways with veteran players who clearly had plenty to contribute to the team in the foreseeable future, I don't see the Rams negating all of that work for a chance to perhaps land an uncertain future for another NFL veteran player. Even to shop at the bottom shelf of veterans means that this team would need to push 2023 dollars into 2024 and beyond, something I believe the team is adamant about not doing.

So for now, let's just push all financial fretting aside, and retune to the task of extracting the most from the LA Rams' existing roster, or who the Rams have on the roster right now. Even as the team signs their unsigned players, the Rams may get awfully close to the salary cap limit for 53 players, but we'll save that conversation for a future date. Here are 3 keys to the Rams' 2023 NFL season.

1. Opportunity
2. Continuity
3. Durability

What we do know about the LA Rams team is the fact that the Rams are trying to get back to basics. So what does that mean for this team and the Rams' upcoming season? Let's break it down:

III: Durability

The greatest ability to possess in the NFL is availability. To amass that, players on the roster of any NFL team must exhibit significant durability. The LA Rams are not the first team in the history of the NFL to be obliterated with an unexplained yet unrelenting outbreak of injuries. But this could be the first team to step back, clear the roster of nearly all highly compensated and severable contracts with highly regarded veterans, and start over.

The durability problem arose before the Rams 2022 NFL season ever started. When the LA Rams opted to start both Joe Noteboom at left tackle and Brian Allen at center, the team was taking a chance that the tendency of both Noteboom and Allen to be healthier in 2022 than at any time in their NFL careers. That seemed pretty optimistic if just one player was expected to compete all season long.

2023 starters must be durable

Brian Allen played in just seven games for the LA Rams in 2022. Joe Noteboom played in just six games for the LA Rams in 2022. That means that the decision to start those two players cost the Rams 21 games. What could the Rams have done differently? If the Rams began the season prioritizing durability, then both players would have been slotted in as quality backup offensive linemen, and the Rams may have addressed the group with more intensity.

Even if the Rams had made a choice at just one starting offensive lineman position, the cascade effect on the overall group would have had a very positive effect. Will the Rams have a chance to remedy their durability concerns from 2022 this season? Drafting interior offensive lineman Steve Avila with the 36th overall pick was a huge step in the right direction. If he has the chance to be flanked by Alaric Jackson at left tackle and Coleman Shelton at center, the Rams offensive line will not only be more durable, but will thrive at both run blocking and pass protection this year.

II: Continuity

The problem that the LA Rams failed to successfully address throughout the 2022 NFL season, the problem behind the problem of injuries, is the problem of continuity. The Rams roster was not just battered by a constant stream of injuries, but even as the Rams front office scoured the NFL Waiver Wire, practice squads, and free agents to add suitable players to slide into compete for starting roles, the Rams stuck behind their third stringers who were not ready for the challenges.

Those mistakes in judgment forced the Rams to continue the turnstile of players into starting on the offensive line far too long and often. That is something that the Rams coaching staff must avoid this season. You know that you've taken your automobile to a bad mechanic when you notice a pattern of swapping parts with no signs of car problems getting fixed.

Swap parts or solve problems

Many of the Rams' challenges last season felt like a car in the hands of that bad mechanic. The Rams' roster swapped out a lot of players, but nothing seemed to fix the team. In fact, it only seemed to make the Rams worse over time. Of course, the Rams did hit big on some player substitutions. The Rams sent practically all of their outside linebackers packing in 2022 save veteran OLB Leonard Floyd and their rookies. Then, the team pivoted defensive lineman Michael Hoecht to play as an OLB, with solid results.

The Rams also claimed defensive lineman Larrell Murchison off waivers, only to be pleasantly surprised at his ability to generate pressure on the quarterback, even in the absence of Aaron Donald.

Now, the Rams pleasant surprises from one year ago have the chance to show up each week, and in the process develop the synergy and chemistry with teammates as they learn and grow together as a defense, offense, or special team's unit. While this team may struggle early, as long as the team can stay healthy, they will be playing at a far improved level by the final games of the season.

I: Opportunity

No matter how talented a rookie prospect may or may not be, their NFL career simply will never take off until they are given the opportunity to compete in live NFL action. For those NFL units that are dependent upon continuity, communication, chemistry, and coordination like an NFL offensive line or an NFL secondary, that can end an NFL career as quickly as start one.

The aspect about the 2022 NFL season that hasn't really gotten a great deal of focus is the fact that so many young players finally had the chance to compete. In some circumstances, the results were a bit underwhelming. But on tne other hand, there were some situations where the LA Rams learned a great deal about the younger players on the roster, and about the team overall.

Give me a chance

We witnessed just how much of an impact opportunity can make when the LA Rams finally played wide receiver Tutu Atwell after so many other receivers were assigned to Injured Reserve. Rather than appear like a deer in the headlights as was his rookie season, he was a determined and capable offensive weapon who was able to put up some yards, scored a touchdown, and proved that while he may never seize the career of center Creed Humphrey, he does have enough value to be given future opportunities in the Rams offense this season too.

Besides injury, the greatest concern I had with the LA Rams was the insistence to commit virtually every snap to the one or two players and expect that to fool defenses and generate positive yards on each play. If the Rams offense had any self-scouting to flag tendencies, those scouts need to be replaced. Until the Rams lost all of their primary offensive weapons to injuries, the offense was shamefully predictable.

The Rams added some quality talent to the Rams roster this offseason. My hope is that we do not have to wait for injuries to pile up before we see them get some action. In the end, preparing the team to compete in 2024 only begins with adding talented players. The real work happens now. Will these young additions be counted on to contribute this season? I hope so, as the future success of this team may very well depend on it.