The Rams’ roster has holes at several key positions, ones they’ll need to fill.
The first week of free agency was somewhat difficult for Rams fans to swallow, considering the losses the team suffered. Gone are Michael Brockers, Cory Littleton and Dante Fowler, while the team also moved on from Nickell Robey-Coleman, Todd Gurley and Clay Matthews.
They did sign A’Shawn Robinson and Leonard Floyd, but the Rams still have a lot of work to do this offseason when it comes to roster-building. There are holes all over the roster, even if some of those voids are at reserve roles.
Here are the team’s top needs after its recent moves to begin the offseason.
Kicker
Greg Zuerlein is still a free agent and there doesn’t seem to be much progress being made on that front. This “need” obviously gets eliminated immediately if Zuerlein is re-signed, but for now, the Rams don’t have a single kicker on the roster. Finding quality kickers isn’t easy, either, seeing how much turnover there is at the position across the league.
Inside linebacker
The loss of Cory Littleton really hurt the Rams defense as a whole. He was a do-it-all player who could stop the run, drop into coverage or blitz up the middle. Replacing him will be extremely difficult, and the Rams don’t exactly have any great internal options at linebacker. Micah Kiser, Kenny Young and Travin Howard will all get chances at the starting jobs, but they’ll all need to fight just to make the roster, too.
Safety
Eric Weddle retired and Marqui Christian signed with the Jets, leaving the Rams very thin at safety. They don’t need a starter thanks to John Johnson and Taylor Rapp, but they lack quality backups. Either signing a veteran or drafting a true free safety on Day 2 or 3 would greatly help this unit, rather than potentially being one injury away from Nick Scott or Jake Gervase starting.
Edge rusher
Leonard Floyd isn’t going to solve any of the Rams’ pass-rushing problems, nor is he likely to replicate the production of Dante Fowler Jr. from last season. On the other side, it’s currently a race between Ogbonnia Okoronkwo and Samson Ebukam. Both possess potential, but neither should make the Rams feel great about being starters. Outside linebacker could be the Rams’ first targeted position in the draft.
Running back
The Rams cut Todd Gurley last week, opening up a hole at the top of the running back depth chart. Darrell Henderson is the likeliest candidate to replace him, but Los Angeles shouldn’t go into the season with just Henderson and Malcolm Brown in the backfield. Finding talented backs on Day 3 of the draft isn’t an impossible task, while the free-agent market is rich with quality veterans, too.
Guard/center
To be clear, the Rams don’t lack depth at guard or center. They have David Edwards, Austin Blythe, Austin Corbett, Joseph Noteboom and Brian Allen all under contract and any of them could wind up being starters. What Los Angeles doesn’t have is an unquestioned starter at any of those spots – someone they can feel good about playing for the next few seasons. If the Rams address the interior of their O-line at this point, it’ll likely be early in the draft in hopes of finding a surefire starter.
