It’s expected to be a rough season for the Los Angeles Rams in 2023. They could even have trouble improving on their 5-12 record from last year after losing Jalen Ramsey, Bobby Wagner and a host of others.
But expectations are only that: expectations. We won’t truly know how the Rams look until they take the field against the Seahawks in Week 1, and it’s a long season so even if they struggle in the opener, they’ll have plenty of time to turn things around.
Buy Rams TicketsWith this being the first week of the season, Touchdown Wire’s Jarrett Bailey released his initial power rankings for Week 1 and there are only three teams lower than the Rams: the Cardinals (32nd), Raiders (31st) and Buccaneers (30th). Los Angeles comes in at No. 29, one spot behind the Anthony Richardson-led Colts.
The Rams have three players that the common fan has heard of, and one of them (Cooper Kupp) is hurt and his status for Week 1 is up in the air. I don’t care how good a coach Sean McVay is. It didn’t do anything for them in 2022, and it won’t get them very far this year. They are relying on several unproven players to start and heavily contribute to put any sort of faith in them being a good football team.
Cooper Kupp’s hamstring injury is a real concern when it comes to his Week 1 status, to the point where the Rams sent him to Minnesota to see a specialist, hopefully helping him find out what caused him to aggravate the injury last week. Matthew Stafford and Aaron Donald are both healthy, but the offense took a huge hit with Kupp likely to miss the opener.
The Rams have the depth to overcome Kupp’s injury and tread water until he returns, but if he misses significant time, Los Angeles will be in serious trouble.
