Truth is..... We don't know.

[Loyal]

I'm not as confident that as the season goes inexperience decreases in significance for all our young players. Some will take big hits in confidence and I'm sure some will hit that proverbial rookie wall since the NFL season is way more grinding than college. Sure some will rise, but I don't think we'll see those real fruits of labor until next year.

You withdrawin' your support of me, ya bastid!? ~ Hummel

 

[El Chapo Jr]

And we'll have even more available CAP in 2024 if we unload Noteboom before the trade deadline. I don't see it costing us draft capital, Snead should be able to wrangle a 6'th rounder as compensation.
jmo.

I pray you're right on that. I'd love to be wrong here.

 

[El Chapo Jr]

You withdrawin' your support of me, ya bastid!? ~ Hummel

Your last name is too close to Hummer for me to be comfortable that you won't suck
-El Chapo Jr aka another dirty jokester

 

[TexasRam]

The OL will be good enough for the offense to carry the team in the early games. RB, TE and especially WR depth looks very good. OL depth is as good as it's been in years. Thomas is sneaky good and can play both OG and OT positions. McClendon isn't a great OT but he's "good enough" for now as a rookie playing backup RT. But his blocking shows why I think he's destined to play RG with Thomas or Noteboom taking over for Havenstein at some point, i.e. probably next year. With Shelton, they have a quality backup or starter at center or RG. I'm not worried about the OL because I see them only getting better as the season wears on.

RB is a strength of this team with Akers, Williams, Evans, and Freeman with Rivers on the PS. WR is very deep with Kupp, Jefferson, Nacua, Atwell, Skowronek, and Smith with some of the other rookies who have flashed on the PS. TE continues to shine with Higbee, Hopkins, Long, and Davis. At QB we have a healthy Stafford and a quality QB2 in Bennett with Rypien on the PS. Why people discount this team with this offense is a head shaker IMO.

On defense, its anchor remains Donald, with Young who has all the traits you look for in an elite edge playing beside him. Turner is a real sleeper in the middle. He could be another Gaines type NT. Light for a NT but with exceptional quickness and a nonstop motor. Hoecht should be poised for a good season now that he understands his new position. The secondary looks very good with Durant, Tomlinson, Rochell, and Witherspoon playing CB. Now add in Fuller, Lake, Yeast, and Taylor they have a solid but inexperienced roster. If the starting D gels quickly, this could be a very good season. If not then the offense IMO is good enough to carry them through the early part of the schedule. With a mid-season break, this team could very well finish strong. Once in the post season we have seen anything is possible.

There is good reason for optimism. This team is downgraded for inexperience but they can't say it doesn't have talent. As the season goes on that inexperience decreases in significance.

Your yearly prediction that the Rams are going to move on from Havenstein will eventually become true.

Not because he wasn't ever any good but simply because he will one day get old and you will have been Johhny on the spot with your yearly reminder that the Rams are about to move on from him.

 

[Allen2McVay]

Your yearly prediction that the Rams are going to move on from Havenstein will eventually become true.

Not because he wasn't ever any good but simply because he will one day get old and you will have been Johhny on the spot with your yearly reminder that the Rams are about to move on from him.

Old-Not-Dead's annual prediction that Rob Havenstein will soon be gone, has convinced me that Havenstein will play Right Tackle for the Rams until he is fifty years old.

 

[dang]

Final cut down to 53 in 9 days.

For this year for the first time I’m More interested in other team cuts than the Rams. Gotta believe Rams will pick up a couple players.

 

[dang]

Old-Not-Dead's annual prediction that Rob Havenstein will soon be gone, has convinced me that Havenstein will play Right Tackle for the Rams until he is fifty years old.

Havenstein is literally #45 on the list of Rams players to contemplate his foreseeable future with the Rams.

 

[raised_fisT]

I'm worried that the team will fall into a deficit early and then spend the rest of the game pressing to try and play catch-up.
Sure-fire way to overexert our skill guys and sustain injury. Not to mention that our offense will become 1 dimensional like we have seen before. We are going to really need the coaches to coach these guys up and the players to find that extra gear.

 

[Riverumbbq]

I'm worried that the team will fall into a deficit early and then spend the rest of the game pressing to try and play catch-up.
Sure-fire way to overexert our skill guys and sustain injury. Not to mention that our offense will become 1 dimensional like we have seen before. We are going to really need the coaches to coach these guys up and the players to find that extra gear.

Can McVay control his inclination for flinging the ball around and rely more on the rush to better control the clock ?

 

[thirteen28]

I'm not all that worried about it as my expectations for this season were lowered greatly during the bloodbath of our free agent period. Gaining experience and preparing for 2024 are my chief goals.

Ditto. I have no expectations of Super Bowl, playoffs, or even winning record. I just want to see growth with our inexperienced guys getting a lot of solid in-game reps. I think the O can keep us competitive, but we have enough holes in our D that we're going to lose some when our O plays well.

Also, if McVay has to adjust his approach because of the inexperience to running a possession offense through the ground game at times, he'll grow too.

Let's go to school and spend 2023 getting ready for 2024.

 

[Tano]

Question is, do they adjust their roster to try and contend? Or do they sacrifice a chance at more wins by playing 1st and 2nd year players more? One example is the corners. We know Durant is a starter. I'm guessing Witherspoon is the other starter. He's got experience.

But Tomlinson is looking damn good right now. If they make him the starter and he turns out that good, a year of experience paired with Durant could give them a couple really good corners for the next few years. But its likely Tomlinson will make mistakes when veteran QB's and WR's throw wrinkles at him he wasn't ready for. Wrinkles that Witherspoon has seen.

Do you go ahead and let Tomlinson get that needed experience? And let him learn by his mistakes? Or do you sacrifice his development in favor of the more experienced guy? A guy who's only on a one year contract.

The same with John Johnson. And Fuller. They have the experience at the safety spots. But both of them will be free agents next offseason. Yeast and Lake, who could use the experience, each have 3 years left. Do you sit Johnson and Fuller in order to let the young guys play and learn from their mistakes? Or do you go with the guys who have seen more and might help them win more than the youngsters would?

You bring up a good point

Tomlinson I think will be our nickle back and Raheem plays a ton of nickle back IIRC

As to the safeties, I could see Johnson as the Strong Safety and Fuller as the Free Safety and Lake/Yeast being the 3rd safety.

Get them some experience while keeping them fresh for the entire season.

Plus there will always be injuries.

 

[Ramstien]

The thing I am the most interested in watching this year is the play of the OL and Jackson in particular. I adhere to the philosophy that games are won and lost up front.

 

[fanotodd]

The thing I am the most interested in watching this year is the play of the OL and Jackson in particular. I adhere to the philosophy that games are won and lost up front.

That’s certainly where the Rams will be losing them—in the trenches. I know you mentioned the OL (over which I have my reservations to temper my optimism), but that DL has been getting pushed around and soundly beaten by vanilla offenses and backups.

 

[Ramstien]

That’s certainly where the Rams will be losing them—in the trenches. I know you mentioned the OL (over which I have my reservations to temper my optimism), but that DL has been getting pushed around and soundly beaten by vanilla offenses and backups.

You must consider that when Donald is on the field, he changes things considerably.

 

[dang]

You must consider that when Donald is on the field, he changes things considerably.

Gaines. Even at less than 100% is a big loss.

 

[RhodyRams]

 

[Faceplant]

Sean has already said that this year is a "let your nuts hang" type of deal. Not sure exactly what he means, but I'm guessing there will be all kinds of new offensive creations and gadget plays to try and keep defenses off balance. Will it WORK? IMO only to an extent.

I feel like this is the year the Rams repeat. 5-12.

 

[PARAM]

We are seeing that we don't have a lot of depth. This is what happens when a team is gutted as a salary cap correction. Most of our replacements are rookies to very inexperienced players. It's easy to see why we are being forecasted as not being so good. I personally think our offense will be fine but our defense will be terrible since all young players gotta take their lumps while learning.

I'm not seeing that. We have Donald (10th yr), Johnson and Witherspoon (7th), Fuller, Murchison and Copeland (4th), Jones, B. Brown, J. Williams and Rochell (3rd season). We're young at CB and Edge. But with guys like Durant, Kendrick and Tomlinson, there's talent to be tapped. Edge is extremely young though.

Gaines didn't see a lot of snaps and then he was a force. Same with Nick Scott.

And you can call it depth, despite the inexperience. By midseason that will change and our depth may be a positive.

 

[BriansRams]

It's preseason and everyone is forecasting this record or that record for us. We've seen ëxperts "rank" us anywhere from worst roster in the league to sleeper team of the year. And w/ McVay playing mostly guys who won't be in our final 53, we have trouble of understanding what we are seeing. I myself, have a tendency to see the glass as half full at worst. We have a nasty looking schedule, but I think our youth works in our favor because we don't know we're supposed to lose. Seattle eeked out tight wins against a beat up team last year but their no world beaters. Frisco looks tough on paper but has more question marks @ QB than Dangerfield has one liners. Philly has lost a lot on defense. They have up and comers but are they strong enough to replace last year's team. The Chowboys and the Giants have flaws they have to work through. (As all teams do at this point.....) And who knows where the first major injury will change the course of the NFL schedule, The Ravens have a habit of playing down to teams outside of their division. The Browns, Steelers, and Packers all have problems to work through. And the Saints are the .... Saints. Who knows what you get when you play them. Talk about Jeckel and Hyde. The Commodes and the Cards both have (perceived....) problems on offense.

So what happens when Donald, Stafford, Kupp, Jones, Akers, Atwell, Jefferson and Higbee actually hit the field. I really don't have a clue. I don't think we're not as far of removed from our Suoper bowl winning roster. But it's on paper, We don't know how our offensive line will gel. (or not.....). And our secondary is mostly unproven. Not to mention some of Morris' defensive schemes don't always fit the personell on the field. And our worst nightmare would be we can't stop the run and teams simply play keep away and our offense has to step outside it's game plan to create chances to keep up.

So let's buckle up and prepare for a wild ride. We really don't know at this point. And won't find out till at least midway through the season......

Just my 2 cents,,,,,,,

But but but...I do know at this point!
Have you not seen the thread I started where I guarantee a superbowl appearance?
And I'm not even kidding. It's guaranteed.

 

[snackdaddy]

We've all got our opinions. Some positive. Some not so positive. I'll have to admit I'm leaning to the not so positive. I can't know for sure at this point. But the red flags are more than I'm comfortable with. Mainly on defense. But the offense is still a question mark.

We have an elite receiver and a good quarterback. But lets be real. What has our WR2 and RB1 proven at this point? All we have is "They could have their break out year". The fact is, it hasn't happened so far. Will it? Who knows?

The line is the key to the offense. It will go as they go. Right now I have no idea if they will be good enough. Its not like they've proven themselves. Aside from Havenstein and an injury prone Allen, who has a lot of NFL experience? Shelton? Is he considered a good lineman? Or a JAG?

I can say "Well, they're gonna be good. Just give em time". But honestly, there is no recent history on them to say they will or won't. My gut says its gonna be a difficult season. Maybe not as bad as last season. But I don't expect us to challenge for a playoff spot.

I feel like they're not looking at this season as one to contend. Its a season to prepare for the next year and beyond. Fortunately, my gut has been wrong plenty times before. So anything can happen.