It is always tough to defend a Super Bowl title, but few reigning champions have collapsed as spectacularly as the Rams did in 2022. They struggled out of the gate, before getting even worse as injuries robbed them of key players on both sides of the ball. They finished the season 5-12, marking the first losing season of the Sean McVay era.
Roster changes
Selling the farm for a Super Bowl has caught up with the Rams. They entered the offseason in a tricky cap spot and had to move on from a number of notable names as a result. The defense was particularly impacted, with starters including Bobby Wagner, Leonard Floyd, Taylor Rapp, and Nick Scott all moving on in free agency. Jalen Ramsey was also traded away to the Dolphins.
With a whopping $74 million in dead money, the Rams didn’t really have any money to replace these departures. They signed a handful of players, though all of them will earn less than $1.5 million per season. The one notable addition is safety John Johnson. Johnson was cut after a couple of underwhelming years in Cleveland and he will be hopeful of recapturing the form he showed in his first spell with the Rams.
Coaching situation
Despite some uncertainty surrounding his future in coaching, Sean McVay is back in LA for another year. 2023 will mark his seventh year as the head coach of the Rams. Much of his staff returned too, though there have been a few notable hires.
A name to keep an eye on is former Jets offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur. LaFleur’s time in New Jersey was marred by issues at quarterback, but he is a good offensive mind who knows McVay’s system well. On the defensive side of the ball there is continuity, with Raheem Morris returning as the team’s defensive coordinator for a third season.
2023 NFL Draft
| Pick | Player |
| 2.36 | Steve Avila – IOL, TCU |
| 3.77 | Byron Young – EDGE, Tennessee |
| 3.89 | Kobie Turner – IDL, Wake Forest |
| 4.128 | Stetson Bennett – QB, Georgia |
| 5.161 | Nick Hampton – EDGE, Appalachian State |
| 5.174 | Warren McClendon – OT, Georgia |
| 5.175 | Davis Allen – TE, Clemson |
| 5.177 | Puka Nacua – WR, BYU |
| 6.182 | Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson – CB, TCU |
| 6.189 | Ochaun Mathis – EDGE, Nebraska |
| 6.215 | Zach Evans – RB, Ole Miss |
Once again the Rams did not have a first round pick, but despite that fact they did pretty well. Steve Avila was a smart pick and adds talent to an offensive line that was often a liability last season. They also got a potential bargain in the fourth round with Kobie Turner, as well as some potentially interesting contributors later on. The likes of Puka Nacua, Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson and Zach Evans could all feature for this team as rookies.
Offense
The Rams offense fell off a cliff in 2022, not least because of a tonne of injuries. The Rams ranked second in adjusted games lost according to Football Outsiders, second only to the Denver Broncos. Both Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp missed a bunch of time, with a revolving door along the offensive line too as several players battled injuries. Things are unlikely to be that bad again, and that can only help the offense.
They do also still have some exciting pieces on offense, with a very good duo in Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp and one of the game’s best play callers in Sean McVay. Stafford and Kupp are both now in their 30s, but before injuries hit last season they were still incredibly productive. Prior to Kupp’s injury in Week 10 he ranked fourth in receiving yards and sixth in yards per route run. If they can both stay healthy then this offense can take a big jump.
The worry is going to be their offensive line. The addition of Steve Avila should certainly help, as should some positive regression in terms of injury luck. Nevertheless, this still appears to be one of the weaker units in the NFL on paper. A shaky offensive line is never good, least of all when they are protecting for an aging quarterback coming off an injury-shortened season. Can Sean McVay get creative and find a way to mitigate this? Only time will tell.
Defense
If you are looking for a frontrunner for the worst defense in the NFL this season, it is difficult not to pick the Rams. This is a unit that already had its issues in 2022, finishing 21st in weighted DVOA. It has now been gutted by veteran departures, leaving a depth chart that is largely made up of rookies and career backups.
This is painfully apparent in the trenches. Aaron Donald is still in town, but outside of him the team has nothing. The Rams ranked 28th in pressure rate last season and that is likely to get even worse this year with the departure of Leonard Floyd. As things stand their two starting edge rushers are rookie third round pick Byron Young and Michael Hoecht. Hoecht has spent the bulk of his three year career as a special teamer for the Rams. Behind them their options are a 2022 seventh rounder in Daniel Hardy and a 2022 UDFA in Keir Thomas.
If this group can’t generate pressure it is going to put a tonne of pressure on a secondary which has plenty of question marks of its own. Ahkello Witherspoon is solid enough but is coming off an injury-plagued 2022 season that saw him play just four games. Their other projected starter in Derion Kendrick was very poor as a rookie, allowing a passer rating of 114.5. Things are a little better at safety, but not enough to make you think this unit can be consistently impactful against the pass. It could be a long year for this defense.
Prediction
2023 feels like it will be a rough season for the Rams. Things should certainly be better on offense if Stafford and Kupp are back on the field, but with a threadbare defense that lacks talent at every level, will it even matter? The offense should prevent them from completely bottoming out, but this isn’t a team that will compete for anything this year.
