Rams Depth Chart Released! Big Takeaways, Has Stetson Bennett Won Backup QB Job, Position Battles

the Rams released their first depth chart of the 2023 season and we're breaking it all down we have big takeaways and everything you need to know that's coming up next unlocked on Rams on Rams your daily Los Angeles Rams podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day all right [Music] what is up ramley and welcome to another episode of lockdown Rams your daily podcast covering your Los Angeles Rams free and available wherever you get your podcast locked on Rams part of lockdown podcast Network your team every day we're also available over on YouTube so if you haven't yet be sure to subscribe to the locked on Rams YouTube channel hit that subscribe button hit that notification Bell hit that like button and let us know what is your reaction to the first depth chart of the Season what are your big takeaways my name is Doug McCain you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram at DMACC underscore La I've been covering LA Sports for over a decade the Lakers for outside the Dodgers for Dodgers Nation now I'm covering the Rams four locked on and as always I'm joined by the Rams preh happened post game show host for the Rams flagship radio station ESPN 710 La is Andrew's eighth season covering the team the people's champ Mr Travis Rogers you can follow him on Twitter at Travis Rogers and we got a jam-packed show for you today later how serious should we take these training camp reports baseball we've seen in years past and and we're going over the depth chart on the defensive side of the ball the offensive side of the ball my first takeaway Travis man look at all these names is we must lead the league in juniors in seconds and thirds and forwards you got Tremaine anchor Junior Warren McClendon Jr Ryan Smith Jr Jason Taylor the second Rashad Torres the second John Johnson III Richard lecount the third Bobby Brown the third Ernest Brown the fourth I mean it's good we have to lead the league in that category Trav it sounds like a country club and you got all these guys that are uh you know Mainline guys that are coming down in their thirds and fourths and descendants of uh royalty or whatever but yeah no look they're uh there are a lot of guys with some numbers after their names I hope that there are some guys that have a lot of stats after their names after the first few weeks in there picking up tackles and fumble recoveries and interceptions and touchdowns yeah a little country clubs they do wear Rams Royal so it kind of makes some sense there but for sure yeah look at this depth chart not too many surprises but really I mean the first thing that kind of sticks out to me is we've heard this aggressive rookie youth movement and you look at the depth chart only three rookie starters with Avila and Youngs who got a villa at the left guard spot you got Young At The Edge spot and Kobe Turner is listed as the co-starter with Bobby Brown so yeah as we enter the season we've heard about all these rookies in first and second year players but really to get things started not too many rookies winning the jobs early on no not not too many guys that are going to start at least from the beginning of the season right that this is something that I think is pretty typical in the NFL unless you're a pretty high first round draft pick or you have a position of incredible need you're not incredibly anxious to throw a green player in there a guy that's never played in the NFL that I had a chance to talk with puka nakua yesterday after uh practice at Rams camp and just listening to these young guys talk you can tell they're trying to figure it out as they go he was telling a story of when he was in one of the huddles at the early party training camp and Matthew Stafford ripped off the play call and he looked at Van Jefferson is like I don't understand a word of what he just said and that's fine in training camp that that that's cool but that can't happen during the regular season and you know because guys are going to get blown up guys are going to get hurt plays are going to get busted interceptions fumbles tackles all these things are going to happen so that the early part of this is filled up with uh veteran guys or at least guys by Ram standards or veteran guys is not a huge surprise yeah and it feels like that's one of the number one things for these rookies is physically a lot of these guys can get it done but it's just cramming the information the complexity of these systems and once that becomes second nature then really the sky's the limit but yeah I think one of the big takeaways for me when you look at the depth chart was looking at the Special Teams we understand that yeah they only have one punch or one kicker when you do that but he's gonna be right there returning punts so that's good to see him really getting a roll early on even if he's not one of the top three receivers that he's going to be in the mix in some capacity as his rookie year begins but another thing I'm looking at too is five positions where we have two players at the same spot at the depth chart right you got Joe noboom and allery Jackson co-starters to the left tackle spots that clearly is still a battle that needs to be won you got Stetson Bennett and Brett Ripon so I'm gonna start right there too when you look at kind of specific battles I mean stats invented there's been a lot of talkies lighting it up during training camp he's making great throws back shoulder Fades he's understanding the offense but Brett ripping those there yesterday this is a guy that definitely has a command of the offense he brings that veteran presence as a backup I believe they're going to go with two quarterbacks but what are your thoughts on that right there I mean it feels like it still needs to be won yeah look this is one of these things that you hope you never get an answer to this question you hope you never have to find out which of those two guys is the better player I'll go back to last season when we were talking about John Wolford and Bryce Perkins and which of those two guys may be the better option in the event that Matthew Stafford goes down and you know wolford's a little bit more experienced Perkins may be a little bit more dynamic as an athlete able to do some more things turns out neither one of them were any good you know that once your starter goes down you got all sorts of problems and I think that that's probably something similar that you would see if Matthew Stafford indeed missed more time Stetson Bennett is small he's just a small guy like we were we were down at one end of the field and trading Camp yesterday doing our our show and the Rams were starting their offense on the far end of the field you would lose you know if Bennett weren't wearing his is Red Rams you know quarterback don't hit me Jersey you would lose track of him he's just really hard to see behind all those bodies and offensive and defensive lineman so I would imagine that that's a challenge but ripping a little bit more experience like you mentioned but again these guys are backups for a reason you might be able to get through a week or two or maybe even a month if you got to play your second guy but uh if you're into that for any extended period of time you got real problems I think Bennett will have the inside track simply because they they used a relatively high draft pick on him he's got a pedigree of winning of being around you know good football players and good football teams so maybe that gives him a little bit of a of an inside line but uh hopefully we never have to find out the answer to that question exactly in a perfect world we don't see any of these guys this year unless they're up 40 unless they they're getting some mop up time right but yeah I think that stood out to me too I saw Stetson Bennett yesterday not the biggest guy and he's always getting mentored by Matthew Stafford who is every inch of six foot three looks like the prototypical perfect size for the quarterback but he was making some really nice throws over the middle he does have that touch he does bring that Dynamic where you can see him getting some yards on the ground as well so yeah I think at the end of the day the best thing for this team is to have just two quarterbacks you have Stetson Bennett who I think is groomed to be the future backup quarterback with a potential chance at least getting an opportunity maybe to start one day I don't necessarily see that but still I think their best served by going with two guys use that roster spot for another position that needs some depth and another thing really stood out to me Travis was 2-2 Atwell I mean with Cooper cup out of course he said the wide receiver three spot over bent scaronic and the big question is is the light turning on this year Ford 2-2 Atwell I mean has you improved as a blocker I mean is he improving I saw him catch some really nice crossers over the middle some contested catches and I think for him he can't be a one-trick pony has to be more Dynamic if he's truly going to carve out a role for this offense yeah I think you put your finger right on it that you know watching him at practice these last few days he he gets balls thrown his way he makes plays and he can absolutely fly we know all of these things to be true that they the very small handfuls of a handful of plays that he's made at the NFL level have been big ones right he he's kind of that home run hitter that you and I talked about earlier in the week the everydayers will certainly remember that but he's got to be able to play football it can't just be a I'm going to run as fast as I can and see if I can get behind the defense and hopefully we hit uh you know a 60-yard play once a month it can't be that it has to be something more sustainable more consistent and certainly something more reliable um I'm skeptical I I look I would love to be proven wrong I would love to see him have a big impact on this offense I hope that it happens for him but you know this is the this is the show me here this is his third year in the league this is when you got to step up and it can't be theoretical anymore it's got to be real and so far with him it hasn't been yeah I think that people need to get past the Creed Humphrey thing because they're not going to have a Freaky Friday moment right or these gonna change places and he's gonna become Creed Humphrey and 212 no that's not happening Ram's face okay they have who they have you can't look at him like that you just have to try to get the best version you can with him at this stage and I do think though look I mean physically we understand that he's limited right he's not the biggest guy not the strongest guy his first year played eight games didn't have a catch also was behind Cub Woods Jefferson DeSean Jackson before suffering That season ending injury last year though I mean a couple things to like I mean 13 games four starts 18 grabs for 298 yards had one receiving TD one rushing TD but 16.6 yards per session that's what I'm looking at if he has that ability to get big chunk yardage to get explosives that's gonna be the dynamic that he brings but also you need to see him learn that Z learn that X because you have to be dynamic in this offense if you want to stay on the field for an extended period of time well you look at the guys that have had success in this on this team at that position right you're talking about Cooper cup has had a great deal of success you're talking about Robert Woods has had a great deal of success a player like Odell Beckham Jr in the very brief time that he was here had a great deal of success van Jefferson maybe a little bit less so but what are all these things what are all these guys have come Brandon Cooks is another good example they can do different things they don't just do one thing they do lots of different things like you're talking about you can play the X the Y and the Z and you can move them all around it makes it very difficult to match up that can run the entire route tree which makes it very difficult to defend 2-2 Atwell is a straight line guy run down the field and see what happens and hopefully he's added some more elements to his game it looks good in the preseason or I should say in the the training camp part of the preseason um show me you know I I'm a big show me guy that's cool I like practice I like training camp those are all interesting moments but I I'm gonna need to see it when guys are trying to knock your head off and guys are trying to defend you and then I'll be a believer yeah and Stafford did say he's doing a great job that he's the master of the offense so maybe he's the master of the Rams house I mean so we'll see if that continues to progress but we have more takeaways from the first depth chart of the Season leading up to the Rams first preseason game against the Chargers this Saturday's six o'clock Pacific at Sofi stadium so we got more takeaways that's coming up next unlocked on Rams all 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your podcast locked on Rams part of lockdown podcast Network your team every day and a special shout out to our everyday listeners we appreciate you listening to every episode Watching every episode and you should be in every listener too join the club membership is free and you'll know everything you need to know about your Los Angeles Rams but Travis here in our second segment we're going to continue to unpack this first depth chart continue to give you our takeaways another one Steve Avila starting at left guard Tremaine anchor Jr starting at Right Guard I think this one was pretty much a foregone conclusion with Avila their first pick the 36th pick the fifth pick and the second round he's gone all the reps with the ones that to me that was a shoe-in yeah and it looks like they got that pick right you know and I don't mean to to throw you know cold water on Logan brust from a year ago he got hurt he was a little unlucky but if you're already talking about a position change in your second year in the league where he goes from inside to outside to back up Rob Haven sign it leads you to believe that maybe they're trying to figure out what what's going on there but with Avila obviously this is a guy that they're gonna put in there you know watching him at practice the last few days he's just a monster he is just a big athletic dude that could move really well I think that they got a very good player there you cross your fingers knock on wood uh that he stays healthy and is able to develop because I I think you're right DMACC I think that they got that pick right I think that they've got a guy that's going to be a big part of what they do up front and like you and I have discussed endlessly since we we've been doing this heading in to the 2023 season if that offensive line is better I'm not even talking about it needs to be great I'm just saying it needs to be better than it was a year ago then the Rams are already light years ahead of where they were and Avila is a big part of that he looks really good I'm excited to see him yeah I think that's what really stood out to me yesterday that's why I had my eyes on is this guy is steady he is solid I mean he's a guy who didn't allow a sack in at TC right he's gonna bring that stability there's a story that he talks about where he actually was so big they got thrown off a roller coaster at Six Flags when he was in high school well this offensive line it was a roller coaster last year he's gonna bring some stability to that so I'm absolutely all in on Steven Villa I agree it was the best pick for them in that spot I think that he's fully realizing that potential early on also a lot of communication I noticed between mcvate and evil yesterday that says a lot as well you mentioned Logan bruss he was listed as the right tackle and this comes after McVeigh said they were going to move him there so you got McLendon as a backup at the guard spot so yeah I think Logan brush I mean you need a swing tackle makes sense we know that's havenstein's spot but really the big questions to me on the defensive side of the football I think the number one thing I'm looking at is they just don't know how their defensive line is gonna look yeah Marquis Copeland got Ernest Brown IV they're listed as the starters at defensive end with Brown the third and Kobe Turner listed as the co-starters at The Tackle Spot so yeah to me that's where really there's a lot of position battles need to be won during preseason during training camps during those joint practices it's gonna be very interesting to see who fills those roles when they open up against Seattle I think this is the most interesting and potentially most problematic part of this team going into this season is the defense and look Sean McVeigh is an offensive minded head coach Sean McVeigh is going to find ways to you know within reason we saw what happened last year when you don't have an offense or an offensive line in your quarterback wide receiver and everybody else go down there's only so much you can do but he's an offensive minded coach they're going to find a way to get the ball on the end zone to move the ball of score points the question is can you stop someone and this is where raheen Morris comes in he's done a really good job he's an incredibly talented defensive coordinator I think it's only a matter of time until he gets another crack at being a head coach in this league uh I think it probably should have happened already but in the meantime he's got to coach up a bunch of guys with not much experience and maybe not a a pedigree of high-level performance like going through the names that you just mentioned DMACC the defense is basically Aaron Donald John Johnson and let's figure it out from there you've got and I don't mean that in a bad way I mean that in I don't know way that these are guys that are really haven't played a lot there's some guys have been around a little bit like Fuller and whatnot but they have not been in the middle of this over and over and over again like guys like Jalen Ramsey and Bobby Wagner and Aaron Donald and you know uh Darius Williams going back a few years ago just guys that you knew what they were going to give you week in and week out that's not what this defense is yeah I agree lots of big question marks and I think when you look at Copeland and you look at this Rams team last year Asian Robinson of course a great run Defender then you're going to need him to step up as a run Defender he definitely had his moments last year he got valuable experience playing 15 games made nine starts recorded 31 tackles two tfls a couple quarterback hits and a sack so those are all career highs they brought him back they signed him to be a starter right they signed up to that one year deal so they're hoping he's a starter but Kobe Turner at 288 pounds versus Bobby Brown III I mean you look at that nose Tackle Spot it's a big weight difference there Kobe Turner is someone I think they're very high on you've heard Aaron Donald speak highly of him you've heard him being compared to Aaron Donald which I don't love anyone being compared to ball to the greatest defensive player ever but Bobby Brown the third I mean every little step he takes of course is going to be big this year for this Rams team but how do you feel about that position battle right there and just kind of that Outlook of that part of the depth chart I just want to point out for people that may not have been paying close enough attention that's both a Lindsay Lohan and a new addition reference in the same show so well done there uh that's very very exciting I I agree with you that and can we just look okay I need two seconds to stop comparing new guys to the greatest guys that have ever done anything I don't care what it is don't call somebody the next Pedro Martinez don't call somebody the next Aaron Donald don't call somebody the next uh you know LeBron James can we not do that ever please it just all it does is set someone up to be a disappointment because if the if the comparison is oh you know who he reminds me of Aaron Donald he's gonna fail because there are no other Aaron Donalds there's a reason that we talk about Aaron Donald the way that we do it's because he's Aaron Donald there nobody was saying Oh Aaron Donald no no no he's one of one so we need to stop doing that with Kobe Turner and anyone else that comes in that has some some high level ability that that being said um they need to get better up front that Aaron Donald as good as he is he's gonna need some help there you're going to need some other guys up there you're talking about like you you were mentioning DMACC the the weight disparities and things there this is going to be something that they figure out on the Fly I think that this is why for the first time in the Sean McVay era the preseason games or exhibition games or whatever we're calling them are important or at least interesting because what works better in those games might actually be the guys that you see at the beginning of the season I know that there's no schematics I know that you're not scheming to stop the opposing offense and and everything else that goes into a regular season game but just being able to play you know basic rudimentary football can you do that well I I'm very excited to see what that looks like especially up front on both sides of the ball defensive and offensive sides of the ball uh come Saturday night yeah exactly and just kind of getting back to your comparison take with Aaron Donald yeah of course it's unfair for sure I think really when it comes to a roll though yeah there's some role projections there where he could play a similar role right what he does along that line he does have the physical tools to have a similar impact of everything break right as far as just kind of what he does on the football field he's fast he's quick he's strong so yeah there's that and also Brown we saw some limited action of course played in five games and five stars made nine tackles one coming for a loss so kind of to your point you just don't know what you don't know with these guys I mean at this point it's really a blank canvas along with that Aaron Donald's a guaranteed starter guaranteed guy that's going to go in there but other than that guys have to step up we got more takeaways though for this depth chart coming up Travis there's still more to get into but if something else though no I'm just thinking that you know it's it cuts both ways right because it's exciting that you don't know because okay let's see what it is maybe it's great maybe there's some real talent in there that is about to get Unleashed but it's just such a different experience from the Rams teams the last few years where you knew exactly what you were getting from these there was no mystery in what Bobby Ragnar was going to be there's no mystery in what Jalen Ramsey's gonna be and the good side of that was you just knew they were going to be great this is I don't know I don't know what Kobe turn is going I don't know what Byron Young's gonna look like I don't know and it's it's intriguing it's exciting and hopefully you know when we're doing this a year from now it's like okay those guys were great their rookie year let's see how much better they can become yeah it's always enticing to take that mystery box over the 50 bucks but sometimes like I'll take the 50 bucks right so it definitely is exciting but you definitely you look at the odds of all these guys hitting it's unlikely but the good thing is a lot of raw town I mean yesterday just physically I mean Byron young man that guy's a specimen man that guy is yolks I mean you got the anytime you have the 3D tattoo the one that pops out I'm not messing with you okay he's got the three and it pops out the by and you got the hoop earring I'm telling I think this guy has a potential to be a star but we've got more takeaways from the Rams first depth chart of the season that's coming up next unlocked on Rams and welcome back to lockdown Rams thank you for making locked on Ram's your first listen every single weekday free and available wherever you get your podcast locked on Rams part of locked on podcast Network your team every day now Travis here in our third segment we're gonna continue to break down the first depth chart of the season and we've been talking a lot about the safeties of late and you look at the depth chart right now and you got yeast starting over Quinton Lake alongside Jordan Fuller at safety I will say that this probably is going to change because yesterday I saw John Johnson he didn't even have his helmet yet so I expect this to change very quickly yeah I think so too I think the addition of John Johnson obviously throws a a big Wrinkle in there they I don't think you're bringing him in here not to play I think if some of these younger players demonstrate that they're ready to go that maybe Johnson falls into more of a supporting role ultimately but I think he's probably in there and again this is not unlike the the front set this is not unlike your linebacking crew the defensive uh backs both safeties and corners good luck you know let's figure it out let's see what happens next it doesn't mean that they can't play it means that we don't know yet um we'll see we'll see what Darian Kendrick looks like we'll see what Kobe Durant looks like we'll see what Robert Rochelle looks like we'll see what these guys that have been around the block a time or two now that there's no more number five back there that's going to take a whole bunch of pressure off of a lot of people they're kind of on in this on their own let's go see what happens let's go see what it looks like against some you know whether it's Geno Smith in week one or whether it's a 49er team in week two let's go see what it looks like because much like most of this team on that side of the ball it's nothing but unknown it's not bad unknowns just unknowns yeah and I just fully expect when they update this Dev chart he's going to be right there John Johnson and they brought him in there to start I mean look if the other guys step up it's a good problem to have it means that you guys have turned a corner you can keep them fresh you can rotate them in and out you see some three safety looks but we know what he can bring when he's at its best when he's optimized in this system so I'm very excited about that and then also too look at the cornerbacks right you got Duran you got kendrickella Witherspoon they're the starting quarterbacks Kendrick currently is out with the hamstring injury but you look at that group right there I think a Keller Witherspoon is one of the big wild cards if you can get 2021 a Keller Witherspoon that's gonna go a long way to solidifying this secondary he's got experience right like you like you just said that this is somebody that has played in the league and it's I know it's cliched and I know that you probably hear it from your your favorite podcasts and your radio shows and and television and everything else but this is not a league for new guys it's it's just so hard and the players are so good and the coaches are so good that if you have a weakness they're going to find it and they're going to kill you because of it this is what this league is that one of my favorite Expressions that I've learned from the NFL guys that I've worked with over the last several years is that the early part of the Season they're going to test your rules let's just see if you know what you're supposed to do and if you do now we're gonna have to scheme and find some ways to get you to lean in one way or the other but if you don't know your basic rules buckle up because you're just going to get fed a steady die to that ball coming your way and I and I think that's where a guy like Witherspoon can really make a difference because he just knows life in the NFL you know the speed of it and hopefully he can kind of impart some of that knowledge to some of the younger guys yeah I love that because that really is the difference between the college and the pros it's just being able to get it done at this level everyone's more athletic everyone's bigger and stronger and just really the consistency that's what really stands out between an NFL practice and a college practice in the NFL all these guys they're their own trainers they're their own coaches they're their own business managers and strategists right all these guys kind of realize that so yeah agree 100 and yeah also another Takeaway on the defensive side Byron young like we just talked about he comes in as a starting outside linebacker alongside Michael Hoyt with Nick Hampton and Daniel Hardy working on the second team right now I think they're all going to get reps but to me this is the position where I look at early in the preseason how do these guys perform how are they performing in training camp in these joint practices because if not after making that deal for John Johnson if an edge rusher becomes available at an affordable price that might be the spot to look at yeah and these are the guys that I think have the opportunity to make the biggest impact first because Aaron it's not going to happen during the preseason because Aaron Donald's not going to play but whoever is opposite side of Aaron Donald has an opportunity to really get going early because guys are going to get singled up because a rookies and B Aaron Donald's on the other side and we're not going to leave him by himself so there's a real opportunity to make some metaphorical money and get some attention and go to work there uh young I think is obviously at the top of that list somebody that could really Feast on that but once that season starts and Aaron Donald the number 99 is out there doing what he does I think you're going to see some real opportunities uh in those positions simply because of of Aaron Donald's presence yeah 100 no question about it then you got that Center Spot too I mean you got Brian Allen you got Coleman Shelton that's gonna be one to watch as well I mean they're both on the first line but they're not rotating that position right that's completely a competition I think that one Brian Allen's gonna win that job because you can't really see him as a guy has optionality and versatility you're not going to see him playing the guard position where he's Shelton you can but if he beats him out during training camp that tells you they want to go with the best five guys if that's the case there's a possibility but I'm hoping that you get a big bounce back gear from Brian Allen we see the guy we saw in 2021 I I hope so too because we know that he's good enough to do the job I think if you're looking for Silver Linings here it just shows that they do have a little bit of depth for the first time in a minute that there is that if Shelton is your guy or I should say if Alan is your guy at Center well now you have Coleman shelter who not only is is a competent backup at the center position but he can play both guard spots as well if either of those two guys gets a little bump or a bruise or needs to miss some time you can put him in there and it's not like uh oh you know we are head water over our head at the very beginning this is something that's playing a lot of NFL football and has proven to be pretty competent player yeah no doubt about it and I think that's a great point it's like yeah you look at this roster on paper you do see some depth at certain positions and we're going to continue to break down this depth chart might even spend some time on it tomorrow because there's a lot to unpack with this one but that's gonna do over this episode of lockdown Rams my name is Doug McCain you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram at DMACC underscore LA and you can follow the people's champ Mr Travis Rogers on Twitter at Travis Rogers and until next time whose house is locked on Ram's house