It’s officially Week 1, with the Rams hosting the Bills on Thursday night in the 2022 NFL season opener. It’s as good a matchup as the league could’ve hoped for, and despite being underdogs, the Rams are ready to defend their title.
They’ve put together their first unofficial depth chart of the regular season, which doesn’t have too many surprising listings on it. However, there are still three positions with co-starters: running back, outside linebacker and strong safety.
Here’s a breakdown of the depth chart on offense, defense and special teams.
Offense
The offense is essentially set, but there are two spots to keep an eye on: WR3 and running back.
Van Jefferson may not be available on Thursday night as he continues to recover from offseason knee surgery, so it’ll likely be Ben Skowronek or Tutu Atwell – or a combination of the two – replacing him.
At running back, Cam Akers and Darrell Henderson Jr. are still listed as co-starters, just as they were at the start of the preseason. I still expect to see more of Akers on early downs, but both will get opportunities.
And unfortunately for fans hoping to see Lance McCutcheon, he’s buried as the No. 7 receiver, likely meaning he’ll be in a redshirt year as Les Snead indicated.
At right guard and center, no backups are listed, but that’s because it’s likely a domino effect. If Brian Allen goes down, Coleman Shelton would step in at center, which would then lead to Tremayne Anchrum Jr. taking over at guard.
Defense
The defense has two positions with co-starters: outside linebacker and safety. Justin Hollins and Terrell Lewis are co-starters on the edge opposite Leonard Floyd. It remains to be seen who will get the first reps on defense, but Hollins seems like the better pick for that role, with Lewis rotating in as a situational pass rusher.
At strong safety, Taylor Rapp and Jordan Fuller are co-starters. That’s a big surprise because most assumed Fuller would be the starting safety for the third straight year. Nick Scott is in line to start, and it should be next to Fuller, but Week 1 will tell us which safety the coaching staff favors: Rapp or Fuller?
There are no real surprises on defense otherwise. Cobie Durant and Derion Kendrick are both still behind Robert Rochell and David Long Jr., but fans should still expect to see them on the field at points this year.
Special teams
Brandon Powell appears in line to return both kickoffs and punts this year, with Kupp backing him up on punts and Kyren Williams doing so in the kickoff game.
Riley Dixon will be the punter and holder for Matt Gay, with Matthew Orzech being the long snapper again.
