LA Rams inactives list for Week 1 game against the Detroit Lions

The rematch is on. The wait is over. The Los Angeles Rams will travel to face the Detroit Lions in a rematch of the Wild Card Round of the 2024 NFL Playoffs. If you recall, that game ended in favor of the Detroit Lions by one point, with a final score of Detroit Lions 24 Los Angeles Rams 23.

While the original hope for this one was for a healthy Rams roster to take it to their hosts, the Detroit Lions, the team is already battling an injury epidemic that has taken two defensive backs and will likely take both starting offensive tackles off the board for the Rams. And as you know, the Lions have a pretty fierce defensive front, including solid pass rushers led by DE Aiden Hutchison.

Projected inactives list for Rams in Week 1

• OT Rob Havenstein
• ILB Elias Neal;
• OLB Brennan Jackson
• RB Cody Schrader
• DE Desjuan Johnson

Yikes. Starting right tackle Rob Havenstein won't suit up for this one? While that certainly sinks the Rams chances of victory for Week 1, it may be a wise move to allow the veteran to heal up fully before stepping onto the football field.

The Rams have to stay heavy in both their secondary and their offensive line depth. As it now stands, one more injury could force the team to scramble to patch up the roster. With the team likely to feature the tandem of both Kyren Williams and Blake Corum in the backfield, there seems to be little work for the team' fourth RB Cody Schrader. So too, the depth at inside and outside linebackers allow the team to sit both rookies Elias Neal and Brennan Jackson in Week 1. And finally, the team must make room for added OL depth, leading to the team to sit DE Desjuan Johnson for Week 1.

So why are we projecting Rob Havenstein as a Week 1 inactive? Fox Sports NFL Insider Jay Glazer is reporting that the Rams have ruled Rob Havenstein as OUT for this one.

That is a huge blow to the Rams, forcing the team to start both backup offensive tackles in this game. But if you followed the breadcrumbs, the team hinted at ruling Rob Havenstein OUT for Week 1 as soon as the team activated OT AJ Arcuri from the practice squad for Week 1.

If the Rams offense adjusts accordingly, throwing shorter passes, and power sweeps to tire out pass rushers, they could still take command of this game. They simply cannot run deep routes without helping out their tackles in pass blocking.

If I were calling this game, which I am not, this is a perfect time to unload leaning heavily into the 12-personnel offensive packages. Just Sayin'.

Inactives list for Lions in Week 1

• S Ifeatu Melifonwu
• S Loren Strickland
• OT Giovanni Manu
• LB Trevor Nowaske
• LB James Houston
• DT DJ Reader
• OT Colby Sorsdal

The Lions are as healthy as any team in the NFL for Week 1. But they have a bit of a injury issues that they are dealing with at the safety position. But the Lions have two healthy starters in Kerby Joseph, Brian Branch, and Brandon Joseph, so there is little chance of this roster depth becoming a factor for the Lions roster in this one.

Despite facing the Lions on the road, and with a less than healthy roster, I still like the Rams chances in this one. Perhaps that is why my 5 bold [predictions for the LA Rams in Week 1 are especially bold.

Because the Rams activated AJ Arcuri off their practice squad for Week 1, the team has to name six players as inactives for Week 1. As noted, we will update this list as soon as both teams name their inactive players for Week 1. Typically, that happens approximately 90 minutes before gametime.

As always, thanks for reading.