What do we really know about the 2023 LA Rams today?

Okay, let's all put down our pencils and be truthfully honest. What we don't know about the 2023 LA Rams far outweighs what we do know about the team at the moment. From a purely practical standpoint, the LA Rams roster is 50 percent filled today. While we have talked about that the LA Rams will likely enter the 2023 NFL Draft with more than 40 roster vacancies, what that boils down to comes down to this: We really have no way of knowing much about the team yet.

If an NFL team's roster is a 90 piece jigsaw puzzle, half of the pieces are missing. That is not just 45 players who will show up for training camp and then be sent packing. Of the players who have not yet arrived to the LA Rams roster, at least eight unknown players will make the team's active 53-man roster. And beyond that, 16 additional players will sign to the teams 2023 practice squad.

Rams roster has yet to sign 33 percent of 2023's players

That's 24 players, at a minimum, who are not yet on the LA Rams' radar. The reason why there is so much discussion about the LA Rams' willingness to idle just 45 players on the roster through the first week of April 2023 is simply due to the fact that it's a bit unprecedented. Even at this early stage, many NFL teams, 12 to be exact, are within 20 players of a full NFL roster. All but four NFL teams are within 30 players of the full 90-player training camp roster. The LA Rams are the only team to exceed 33 vacancies.

While there are specific rules and guidelines in place to give all 32 NFL teams an even playing field in terms of contact and training players, there are no limits to a coaching staff recognizing and pre-scheming the type of offense and defense that will optimize the specific talents and skillsets of players who are know to be on the team.

The LA Rams coaching staff has no such advanced knowledge. As we have pointed out, the team has 24 players who will be part of their 2023 roster who are as of yet unknown. Of course, that assumes that all 45 players currently under contract will make the 53-man roster for 2023. To be honest, even that is unlikely, as more than a handful of players under contract for 2023 have yet to contribute meaningful snaps to the team. So what do we know? Here are three facts that we know about the LA Rams roster and the 2023 NFL season:

Fact III: The LA Rams roster will be quite a work in process

The Rams roster is a hot topic right now because, quite frankly, there are far fewer knowns about the Rams' potential 2023 players than any other team in the NFL right now. And much of the coverage is not so much a monologue of here's "what we know," type of process. Rather, even the most knowledgeable of Rams beat reports are stumped right now over what the final 90-player roster will look like upon its completion.

That opens the door for vast amounts of speculation, of dialogue, and of discourse. While some fans engage others in forums and on social media in anger, there are more and more fans who truly have begun to engage in insightful dialogue. As a result, the excitement for the Rams 2023 NFL season has begun to seem more and more optimistic.

Rams roster has great opportunities for individual performances

No, I'm not suggesting that the team will rebound to a 10-7 or better record this season. But I am growing more and more optimistic about the players on this roster. For example, will the team have a true WR2 who can help keep the defensive pressure off WR Cooper Kupp? Can the LA Rams offensive line form a formidable sea wall to keep the rising tide of defensive pressure off veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford? Can running back Cam Akers be the first Rams rusher to put up 1000+ yards this season, a feat that was last accomplished by RB Todd Gurley in 2018?

The more I discuss the LA Rams upcoming season, the more I believe that individual performances of key returning players may be better than expected.

On the flip side of that record, I fear that the Rams overall performance in terms of the rankings of offense, defense, and special teams' units may be a bit underwhelming this season. After all, half of the team has yet to make introductions with the team. And even if the team is unusually successful at selecting rookies in the 2023 NFL Draft, the team will still likely swing and miss with three rookie additions.

Fact II: The Rams rookies will be vital to the team's success

It's hard to believe that just two years after the LA Rams hoisted the Lombardi Trophy as victors of Super Bowl LVI, we are discussing a rebuild of the Rams roster. But ironically, that is where we find the LA Rams to be. After all, this is a team that struggled with an unfathomable number of injuries. Not only did those injuries ravage the Rams roster last season, but the need to sign healthy players cut very deeply into the financial reserves.

The Rams roster will enter the 2023 NFL season with an active roster made up of 53 players, and a practice squad made up of 16 players. That means that this team will rely upon at least 24 rookies to compete in 2023. But should unforeseen injuries impact the Rams roster, sidelining veterans for significant periods of time, the Rams dependency on rookies will increase even higher.

Rams roster rookies will have a huge say-so this year

Is that a bad thing? I'm not so sure in light of the current scenario that is unfolding for the LA Rams so far. If the team is truly aiming to compete in 2024, then their roster may benefit significantly from overloading on rookies in 2023. Not only will the team have a solid group of inexpensive players returning for next year, but there will inevitably be countless lessons learned, both good and bad, about the Rams draft experience from the 2023 NFL Draft.

Those lessons can quickly be applied to the team's 2024 NFL Draft, and hopefully will result in improved success at gleaning and selecting rookie contributors in 2024. The alternative is that the Rams learn nothing and face a blind monkey throwing darts at the dart board scenario in terms of draft success. I don't believe that will be the case whatsoever.

Hopefully, the Rams roster will allow for playing opportunities for rookies in 2023. I would not be the least bit surprised with the Rams giving significant playing time to as many as six rookies this year. That's a pretty large group of players, and will be a huge contributor to how successful the Rams are in 2023.

Fact I: The LA Rams performance in 2023 will be inconsistent

With so many rookies projected to the LA Rams roster and playing in 2023, there is a significantly higher risk of inconsistent play. We know from all professional sports that the greater the number of rookie players on a team, the streakier that team becomes. That means that the Rams could win consecutive games, only to stumble and lose consecutive games.

Of course, if the LA Rams potential in the 2023 NFL season is not better than eight wins or fewer, than the team is not harmed in the least by consecutive losses. Sure, it will be disheartening and quite frustrating, but if the Rams see their current strategy in terms of a two-year process, than losses in 2023 only help to improve their odds of success in 2023.

That will happen from multiple factors. The first reason is that the Rams picks in the 2024 NFL Draft will be optimized with a poor record. That is not to say that the team is outright trying to lose games in 2023. But rather if the team focuses upon 2024 to make their next playoff push, then losses in 2023 are simply considered as collateral damage.

Rams 2023 season is a key to 2024 success

Other factors that improve in 2024 with an underwhelming 2023 NFL season include the teams 2024 schedule. The Rams historically have bounced back rather quickly after a tough season thanks to the next year's schedule being less competitive. Also, the Rams should benefit from not losing significant number of coaches to other NFL teams if the team struggles for their second consecutive season.

While we have yet to see the LA Rams 2023 NFL schedule on a weekly basis, we do know that in addition to the NFC West Divisional opponents and a third-place NFL team schedule, the Rams are slated to face the competitive AFC North and NFC East in 2023. In 2022, the AFC North teams finished with a combined record of 38-29, and the NFC East teams finished with a combined record of 43-23-2. Combined, it appears that the Rams will face teams that boast 2022 records of 81-52-2. That is quite a challenge for a roster that is robustly populated with rookies.

The LA Rams must face these accomplished teams with a significant number players who are not even on the roster. That makes it difficult to gauge how well the team's chances are at this point in time. But it is not premature to allow the Rams leeway to struggle as all of the new faces learn to compete at the NFL level and coordinate/communicate with so many new teammates.

What do we really know about the 2023 LA Rams today? We know enough not to set high expectations for this team, to expect a huge import of rookies to the team's initial 90-man roster, and to look for plenty of developing stories throughout the 2023 NFL season. Is that enough to whet your curiosity? It works for me. Let's see what happens . . .