With Week 1 right around the corner, the Los Angeles Rams have their initial 53-man roster and practice squad set. They’ll still do some tinkering in the next week, as they have already, but the depth chart is certainly taking shape as the regular season approaches.
The Rams haven’t yet released an unofficial depth chart and probably won’t until next week, but it’s not hard to project how it looks at the moment. The starting lineup is just about set and the coaching staff knows who the primary backups will be, likely having an idea of which 48 players will be active on game day.
Here is our best projection of the depth chart on offense, defense and special teams as of now. (Note: rookies are in italics)
Offense
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |
| QB | Matthew Stafford | Stetson Bennett | ||
| RB | Kyren Williams | Blake Corum | Ronnie Rivers | Cody Schrader |
| WR1 | Cooper Kupp | Tutu Atwell | ||
| WR2 | Puka Nacua | Jordan Whittington | ||
| WR3 | Demarcus Robinson | Tyler Johnson | ||
| TE | Colby Parkinson | Davis Allen | Hunter Long | |
| LT | Joe Noteboom | Warren McClendon Jr. | ||
| LG | Jonah Jackson | Logan Bruss | ||
| C | Steve Avila | Beaux Limmer | ||
| RG | Kevin Dotson | Logan Bruss | ||
| RT | Rob Havenstein | Warren McClendon Jr. |
No surprises on offense. Two players, Jimmy Garoppolo and Alaric Jackson, are missing from the depth chart because they’re serving two-game suspensions, so they’re not technically on the active roster and can’t practice until Week 3. Garoppolo will take Bennett’s place as the backup QB and Jackson is expected to be the starting left tackle when he returns.
Williams is the starting running back despite Corum’s strong summer, and the top three receivers appear set. That could change if Whittington gets opportunities early and plays well.
Along the offensive line, Havenstein’s status for Week 1 is in question so if he misses the game, McClendon is expected to fill in at right tackle.
Defense
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |
| DE | Braden Fiske | Desjuan Johnson | |
| NT | Bobby Brown III | Tyler Davis | |
| DT | Kobie Turner | Neville Gallimore | |
| OLB | Jared Verse | Michael Hoecht | Brennan Jackson |
| ILB | Christian Rozeboom | Jake Hummel | Elias Neal |
| ILB | Troy Reeder | Omar Speights | |
| OLB | Byron Young | Nick Hampton | |
| CB | Darious Williams | Cobie Durant | Charles Woods |
| S | John Johnson III | Kamren Kinchens | |
| S | Kamren Curl | Jaylen McCollough | |
| NB | Quentin Lake | Cobie Durant | Russ Yeast |
| CB | Tre’Davious White | Josh Wallace |
There shouldn’t be any question about the starting defensive line, with Fiske, Turned and Brown leading the way. They all sat out the preseason and are on track to be big parts of the defense – quite literally.
At edge rusher, the top three of Young, Verse and Hoecht are likely to rotate snaps depending on the situation, but Young and Verse should get the majority of the playing time.
Inside linebacker is where there are some serious questions and concerns. We don’t yet know who will replace Ernest Jones as the middle linebacker on all three downs, but Rozeboom seems like the most natural fit. Speights is the wild card because he had a great summer and has already been declared someone who will be active on game days.
In the secondary, Williams and White are the projected starters at outside cornerback, with Lake manning the slot as the “star” defender. Durant could also mix in at that spot when the Rams don’t need as much size, but he’s also capable of playing outside.
The safety group is extremely deep and while we know Curl will be one starter, it’ll be either Johnson or Kinchens starting at the other spot. Lake and Yeast can both play traditional safety roles, too, but they’re more of slot defenders now.
Special teams
| 1st | |
| K | Joshua Karty |
| P | Ethan Evans |
| LS | Alex Ward |
| KR | Cody Schrader |
| PR | Kyren Williams |
The kicker, punter and long snapper are all set in stone, but the return specialists have some wiggle room. Sean McVay shockingly said Williams will return punts, but that was before the team claimed Schrader, who returned kickoffs for the 49ers this preseason.
If the Rams feel good about him on kick returns, he could contribute as the punt returner, too.