After going all-in on a youth movement in 2023, saying goodbye to key members of their Super Bowl roster in favor of finding the new, young cornerstones for the future, the Los Angeles Rams have a surprisingly deep roster made all the more impressive with new additions in free agency and the draft.

They brought back some old friends like Darious Williams, landed former All-Pros like Tre’Davious White, and even secured a player many considered one of the premier defensive players in the 2024 NFL draft in Jared Verse, a pick that should pay dividends both this fall and into the future. But when new players come in, old ones have to leave to make room on the 53-man roster, and while there’s still plenty of time to see how position battles shake out, this third-year running back, depth DT, and curious pass-catching option all feel like early cut candidates.

Three players who might not make the Los Angeles Rams’ roster.

Los Angeles Rams running back Ronnie Rivers (20) during OTAs at the team training facility at California Lutheran University.
May 28, 2024; Thousand Oaks, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams running back Ronnie Rivers (20) during OTAs at the team training facility at California Lutheran University. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

3. Ronnie Rivers

Heading into the 2023 NFL season, fans really didn’t know what to expect from Ronnie Rivers.

A second-year pro out of Fresno State who tallied all of nine carries and five receptions as a rookie, Rivers proved himself a favorite among the coaching staff, slotting in behind starter Kyren Williams while outlasting Day 3 draft picks Darrell Henderson and Cam Atkers, who ended up unemployed and on the Minnesota Vikings by the end of the season.

And yet, heading into 2024, the Rams have overhauled the position in a major way, drafting Blake Corum in the third round out of Michigan and signing Boston Scott from the Philadelphia Eagles as a hybrid rusher/return man.

Now granted, other than those three players, Rivers really doesn’t have competition at the position unless, of course, 2023 sixth-round pick Zach Evans really comes into his own and becomes a surprising star. Still, there are other ways to add players in the NFL, and if the Rams land someone they like or simply want to go light at the position, Rivers may find himself on the outside looking in heading into Week 1 and could end up being released mid-season if something better comes along.

2. Larrell Murchison

When the Rams landed Larrell Murchison via waivers in 2022, it felt like a low-risk signing that immediately paid dividends on Christmas Day, with the fifth-round pick of the Tennessee Titans logging two sacks in a huge win over the Denver Broncos.

Since then? Murchison has picked up exactly zero sacks and has looked like just a guy playing on the same defensive line as Aaron Donald.

Appearing in 15 games with just three starts for the Rams last season, Murchison ended up recording 16 combined tackles and a single tackle for loss over 252 defensive snaps. While that doesn’t seem like very good production, his shortcomings weren’t opportunity-based, as this was actually the first time Murchison recorded more than 250 snaps in a season and his first time passing 200 since 2021 in Tenessee.

Factor in the additions of Branden Fiske in the second round and Tyler Davis in the sixth, and it’s worth wondering if Murchison will even be a factor in 2024, let alone make the team on the 53-man roster even after re-signign with the team in free agency. If just one fringe player shows promise this summer or the front office lands another defensive lineman in free agency or on the waiver wire, it feels like Murchison is a natural cut candidate who could end up playing for Atlanta under former defensive coordinator Raheem Morris.

1. Tyler Johnson

Heading into the 2020 NFL draft, fans didn’t wonder if Tyler Johnson would get the draft but just how high he would go.

A two-time All-Big Ten player who left the University of Minnesota with the all-time records in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, the Minneapolis, native fell all the way to the fifth round due to “character concerns” but told Buccaneers reporters at the time that he wouldn’t let it hold him back, as he was instead going to use it to fuel his NFL come-up.

“Honestly, this may sound crazy, but I feel like I already have something to prove,” Tyler Johnson told reporters in 2020 via BucsGameday. “Once you make it to the next level, the highest level, you have to restart your entire journey. Nothing is guaranteed [and] nothing is given to you, so I’m just going to continue to go out here and work my tail off and help contribute winning to a great organization. And I’m going to have fun doing what I do – that’s pretty much what got me here. Why change now?”

Unfortunately, that didn’t work out for Johnson through the first four years of his professional career, appearing in just 34 games and logging just two receptions since 2022, both of which came for the Rams last season for a grand total of eight yards.

Could this be the season where Johnson figures it all out? Maybe, but with the team’s top-four wide receivers locked up in Puka Nacua, Cooper Kupp, Demarcus Robinson, and Tutu Atwell, plus rookie sixth-round pick Jordan Whittington added to the roster, one has to wonder if Johnson would even see the field in 2024 if he makes the team, let alone play a meaningful role. Unless something really interesting happens, it’s safe to say the “Curious Case of Tyler Johnson” will continue into the future.