Rising stocks of these 3 Rams newbies may play huge role in Week 1 outcome

Okay, here we go. Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season is upon us, but you are more apprehensive about the LA Rams chances than confident. And that's perfectly normal. After all, this has not been smooth sailing so far. Not only has the team 'minor' injuries had a significant impact on benching key contributors throughout training camp and the preseason, but two players are suspended for two weeks.

Not the best scenario to start an NFL season.

But there are many positive developments to discuss right out of the games as well. This team is coming off a better-than-expected 2023 NFL season, and the team has upgraded or gotten deeper in many key positions. At this time one year ago, the team was viewed as a rebuilding team. HC Sean McVay nearly stepped away from the game. WR Cooper Kupp was fighting through injuries. Perhaps most concerning was the fact that this team had onboarded 15 rookies to the 53-man Rams roster.

This year, the Rams have once more embraced rookies, and have taken a path of young players securing key roles on the team. So who are these young and fearless players? Let's meet a few:

(1) - Rookie ILB Omar Speights

While undrafted former LSU rookie ILB Omar Speights may only fill a special teams role in Week 1, I don't think he will stay off the field for the defense for very long. While he ran a vanilla defense throughout the 2024 preseason, he had a legitimate veteran presence for the Rams. He put up 13 tackles and earned a phenomenal 90.6 preseason grade from Pro Football Focus.

Speights was undrafted, which is a bit of a surprise considering how dominating his play has been from what little the fans were able to see from him. But 2024 was a rookie class that was very deep at the position, so much so that the front office was comfortable addressing the inside linebacker position after the 2024 NFL Draft had concluded.

Speights has been far better than expected. Of course, the same can be said of teammate rookie ILB Elias Neal. Both played very well in preseason.

Speights was always in position, made physical tackles, and had command of diagnosing the offense while directing the defense around him. If he only contributes on special teams in Week 1, look for him to make huge tackles. Veteran ILB Troy Reeder may open Week 1 as the starter, but look for Omar Speights to finish the season as the starter.