Last minute thoughts: Rams have concerns to start year, can quell with win

Rams are relying on Tre White and Cobie Durant at corner with Darious Williams out

The Los Angeles Rams haven’t exactly portrayed a sense of preparation and strength in the week leading up to their season opener against the Detroit Lions on Sunday Night Football.

LA introduced three major questions on their own volition: (1) moving Steve Avila back to his rookie position of left guard and shifting Jonah Jackson inside to center, (2) trading former team captain and start MLB Ernest Jones to the Tennessee Titans in a mid-round draft pick swap, and (3) announcing starting RB and offensive focal point Kyren Williams will be the team’s primary punt returner. It also remains to be see whether RT Rob Havenstein will be able to play in this game or if Warren McClendon will start in his place. While the Rams may have been aware of some of this info longer than a week, it still is fair to wonder whether this was truly their plan all along or if they felt last minute changes leading up to kickoff were necessary.

But those weren’t the only question that came to light this week. While it seemed Darious Williams was working towards a clean bill of health in time to start the regular season, the Rams instead added the veteran to injured reserve and he’ll be required to sit out for at least the first four games. Individually the Williams injury doesn’t seem like much to be worried about; however, that leaves LA starting veteran Tre White and third-year corner Cobie Durant on the outside. White has had his fair share of injury concerns over the last few seasons and it remains to be seen how much he has left in the tank after recent Achilles and ACL injuries. It’s been a while since we’ve seen him play at a high level.

In the short-term the bigger concern at corner is probably Durant, who impressed at times as a rookie in 2022 before being asked to switch positions to the slot last season and taking a step back in his career. The Rams can’t just bank on a change back to his original position to jumpstart Durant’s career. Over the four games that Williams is slated to miss, LA will face the likes of Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Marvin Harrison, Jr., Michael Wilson, Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, and Keenan Allen. That’s a steep task for an older corner that likely no longer has the ability to keep up with some of these receivers athletically, and others in this list are adept route runners that would challenge even the most technical, savvy corners.

We look at the Rams making the playoffs last year in what should have been a rebuilding season and then expect they will return in 2024. At this current moment, does this feel like a team that is built to compete with the best of the NFL? Can this version of the Rams make a push for a championship this season?

There certainly are a lot of questions surrounding this year’s team, but the Rams can quell those concerns on Sunday Night Football by taking down one of the most talented rosters in all the NFL in the Lions.

We’ll forget all about Ernest Jones if Matthew Stafford makes fireworks with Puka Nacua, Cooper Kupp, and Demarcus Robinson from the job and the offense picks up where it left off last season. There will be no concerns with who’s returning punts if Kyren Williams looks like the same player that broke out last year—and LA may even be two deep this season after adding Blake Corum in the draft.

So while the last week seems to have put the Rams on shaky ground before a highly anticipated playoff rematch, all it takes is a strong showing on Sunday night to steady the boat and put most of those concerns to rest. That’ll be easier said than done against a talented Detroit team in what should be a rowdy environment at Ford Field. If you want to be considered amongst the best, you have to beat the best—and the Rams have an opportunity to do just that to start the season.

We’ll find out what this year’s Rams team is made of soon enough.