Does Kupp's absence open door for 3 LA Rams underestimated weapons in Week 1?

If you believe everything that is said about the LA Rams this year, particularly after the news of Rams star WR sitting out Week 1, you may already be turning your attention to the 2024 NFL Draft and sizing up rookie quarterbacks who could be the draft next year. But don't give up on the LA Rams just yet.

Week 1 for the LA Rams is never a bad week for LA Rams football. Prior to the 2022 NFL season opening drubbing at the hands of the Buffalo Bills, the LA Rams under head coach Sean Mcvay had never lost a season opener. Even now, after the 2022 loss, the Rams are 5-1 out of the gates.

So the Rams are not very unfamiliar with showing up ready to play early in the season.

Still, the absence of an offensive weapon at the elite level of LA Rams WR Cooper Kupp is simply far too great to ignore. At a minimum, Kupp's absence will force the Rams offense to reroute their game planning through other offensive players, like veteran TE Tyler Higbee. At a maximum, the Rams' passing attack will be ineffective, and the Rams will become completely one-dimensional.

But where there is life, there is hope. And there is plenty of life in the LA Rams to start the 2023 NFL season. The greatest challenge facing the LA Rams this season is the uncertainty. But it's that very uncertainty that can be leveraged into a huge advantage for the LA Rams in Week 1.

The Seattle Seahawks are a NFC West Divisional rival of the LA Rams. Because these two teams play two games per season, both teams are very familiar with one another. But there is the rub after all. Are the Seahawks familiar with THIS version of the LA Rams?

The Rams hinted at attacking the 2023 NFL season with new strategies. Could the absence of WR Cooper Kupp accelerate those changes? If so, who might be stepping out of the shadows of the Rams offense to shoulder the yolk in the season opener? We have three names worth mentioning:

3 LA Rams underestimated weapons who could have big games in Week 1

1. Weapon III: Rookie TE Davis Allen
2. Weapon II: Rookie WR Puka Nacua
3. Weapon I: RB Cam Akers