Rams 1st unofficial depth chart holds unexpected surprises worth discussing

Tight End

Starter: Colby Parkinson

Backups: Davis Allen

Others in line: Hunter Long, Nikola Kalinic, Miller Forristall

Injured: Tyler Higbee (ACL - IR/PUP)

I was mildly suprised by this configuration. On my scorecard, I had veteran TE Colby Parkinson narrowly ahead of second-year TE Davis Allen, and veteran TE Hunter Long further ahead. As it now stands, the Rams will not keep four tight ends on this roster when Tyler Higbee is healthy enough to return to the active roster. That places Miller Forristall, Nikola Kalinic, and Hunter Long on the roster bubble.

But if both Colby Parkinson and Davis Allen continue to shine brightly in competition, that could complicate the Rams timetable for Tyler Higbee's return as well.

Of course, if this holds true, then you may see plenty of Hunter Long in preseason competition, and I expect that will feed into his role and skillset for the Rams.

Offensive Tackle

Starters: Alaric Jackson, Rob Havenstein

Backups: Joe Noteboom, Warren McClendon

Next in line: Blake Larson, A.J. Acuri, K.T. Leveston, MATT KASKEY, CONOR MCDERMOTT

The LA Rams offensive tackle situation is a bit chaotic right now. With the team incurring injuries with Alaric Jackson (ankle), Rob Havenstein (foot/ankle), Warren McClendon (ankle), and KT Leveston (ankle), the team had to turn to the NFL Free Agency market to bring in enough bodies to play the position. Both McClendon and Leveston suffered injuries in the joint practice with the Los Angeles Chargers. So it was a timely matter to get new and healthy offensive tackles on board now.

The fact that the team must turn around new two new offensive tackles and get them up to speed almost instantly will likely not happen in time to get good results in time to compete against the Dallas Cowboys. What may happen this week is the Rams using Matt Kaskey and Conor McDermott in roles for the teams first preseason game, while sending Noteboom and the best option to face the Cowboys in a joint scrimmage setting.

The Rams know that Alaric Jackson and Rob Havenstein will start this season, and swing tackle Joe Noteboom is as close to a lock as there is on this roster. But that fourth position, one more backup tackle slot, is very much up for grabs right now. I suspect that even considering his injury and toughing it out against the Chargers, Warren McClendon's performance against the Chargers opened the window for another player to claim that spot.

There continues to be some level of concern that injuries to both Alaric Jackson and Rob Havenstein are stubborn and fans are beginning to be concerned that they may not be ready to suit up for Week 1. Those are only unconfirmed fears at this point. As you can see, the Rams' injuries to four offensive tackles necessitated the team's quick action to bolster the roster, and not due to some unstated lack of recovery by injured players.