You might conclude that the Los Angeles Rams would be fully set in terms of starting roles, roster slots, and depth after fighting to the NFC Championship Game last season. But the team added some surprisingly talented rookies in the 2026 NFL draft. So talented, in fact, that multiple veterans may have to fend off teammates to preserve their starting roles and/or playing time.
That's not an accident. That's the law of the jungle in the NFL. And it's that very competitive nature of LA's training camp that ensures the best of the best earn starting roles. Just to reflect on past camp battles, it was the neck-and-neck competition between centers Brian Allen and Coleman Shelton that allowed Allen to slide in as a starter mid-season.
Ultimately, the team is buoyed on the backs of competition. Alaric Jackson earned a starting role at left tackle. Omar Speights found a starting role at inside linebacker. Kyren Williams earned the starting role at running back. And even Puka Nacua earned the starting role at wide receiver.
4 Rams who shockingly find themselves in the fight for their NFL lives
1. Center Coleman Shelton
Even as the focus of the 2026 NFL Draft pulled fans and analysts to the quarterback room, the rip tide is pulling starting center Coleman Shelton into heated competition for his starting center role. It's not that Shelton cannot do the job. It's just that he is a smaller, more athletic offensive townhouse surrounded by skyscrapers.
Shelton successfully fended off competition from both Beaux Limmer and Dylan McMahon in 2025. But now, in the last year of his contract, the team has to be eying his eventual replacement. Add in the fact that Shelton is 30 years old, and Shelton still commands a mastery over run blocking. But he showed cracks in his armor at pass blocking in 2025. With so much riding on keeping veteran Matthew Stafford healthy in 2026, Shelton's role should be up for grabs.
2. Backup quarterback Stetson Bennett
The LA Rams favor veterans over rookies, so it's unlikely that the team will simply stuff rookie quarterback Ty Simpson into the primary backup role in training camp. And it could mean that Stetson Bennett sits out the preseason, as the ipso facto primary backup quarterback. But the depth chart will be ripe for shaking up throughout the season, and it will likely feature Simpson beating out Bennett at some point in time.
LA made a significant investment in Simpson and must follow through. Couple that with the fact that Bennett's contract expires at the end of this season, and it's not too difficult to predict the future of the quarterback room.
3. Tight end Tyler Higbee, Terrance Ferguson, Davis Allen (pick one)
Rookie tight end Max Klare was selected in the draft despite a tight end room that was already stuffed with contributors. While fans have witnessed this in the past, typically resulting in the rookie sitting out a season, there is something about Klare that screams potential production as a rookie.
He is a big wide receiver, a guy known for running precise routes, catching footballs in a vise-like grip, and piling up yards after the catch. And the fact is that he can catch footballs, something that Terrance Ferguson struggled to do in 2025. Klare has a full field of competition at the tight end position. But he only needs to leapfrog over one to see playing time in 2026.
He should be able to pull that off if giving even a small chance to compete.
4. Right tackle Warren McClendon Jr.
Warren McClendon Jr. provided a sturdy wall on the right side of the offensive line after veteran right tackle Rob Havenstein fell to injury last season. And it was that proficiency that positions McClendon as the default starter in 2026. But the team cannot ignore the lesson learned from Joe Noteboom's struggles at starting in the past.
Rookie offensive tackle Keagen Trost appears more like a future starting offensive lineman than a developmental project. Even with an irresistible background with experience at all five offensive linemen positions, his true calling card is his snarling domination at the line of scrimmage.
If McClendon stumbles, Trost is there to take over.
Of course, the team re-signed veteran right tackle David Quessenberry. And he will be a factor in the depth chart. And the team fended off a medical condition that kept veteran left tackle Alaric Jackson on ice throughout last season's training camp.
Still, the greatest risk lies at right tackle, and Keagen Trost is a rookie insurance policy. Will he show up to claim a spotlight in training camp? That's what fans are eager to find out.
As always, thanks for reading.
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