Ramblin Fan's first look at the 2023 LA Rams depth chart

There was no way to anticipate how the LA Rams roster would be constructed for the 2023 NFL season. The composition of any NFL team roster relies heavily upon certainty, then competition, then opportunity. By certainly, we mean how accurate are expectations for a specific player? It's a given that LA Rams Cooper Kupp is WR1 for the 2023 season. But who lines up on the Rams' depth chart behind him?

If you cannot ensure certainty, then you maximize competition. For an NFL team, you simply add athletic players at that uncertain position on the roster and let the best man win. When the LA Rams had no idea who would be their placekicker for the 2020 NFL season, the Rams signed K Lirim Hajrullahu from the CFL, K Austin MacGinnis from the XFL, and drafted K Sam Sloman from Miami of Ohio. The Rams created competition for their starting role.

What all of this translates into is a depth chart that has plenty of current questions that must await future answers. Of course, that lends itself to Outland's LA Rams' projected depth chart. Outland does a pretty good job of updating their depth chart with roster changes, but I wanted to amend its depth chart somewhat. I don't know that the Rams will add Oklahoma State safety Jason Taylor to their kickoff and punt return units (he had 1 kickoff return for a 48-yard touchdown at Oklahoma State). So here is my first pass LA Rams depth chart:

Special Teams depth (5)

Where does the Rams roster stand right now? That's a very good question. one that must wait for a meaningful answer. On special teams, the only thing that is truly certain is that nothing is truly certain.

1. Punter (1) - Ethan Evans
2. Kickers (2) - Christopher Dunn, Tanner Brown
3. Long Snapper (1) - Alex Ward
4. KR/PR (1) - Xavier Smith

With the LA Rams entering the 2023 NFL Draft with no clear special team specialists, there was a lot of pressure to not only add players to each position, but to add talented players at those positions. I have never mastered the ability to look at a rookie's draft profile and see 'clear Pro Bowler' from the description, but I do believe that ST Coordinator Chase Blackburn has a pretty good eye for talent.

We'll cover this in far more depth going forward. The only competition seems to be set up between Oklahoma State kicker Tanner Brown and NC State kicker Christopher Dunn. But this could be a heated competition, as both have some great writeups about them.

The Rams drafted Wingate punter Ethan Evans, and while I knew nothing about his NCAA career, a mid-draft crash course boning up on the Rams new punter left me feeling very optimistic.

I know very little about the LA Rams' new long snapper Alex Ward, but he is their default starter at LS, so look for a feature on him in the coming weeks. As for the Rams' final special team specialist, I'm quite certain that the Rams will have extensive competition, but the rookie to keep an eye on is Florida A&M WR Xavier Smith, who has extensive punt and kick return experience from college.