Los Angeles

Rams

Right tackle Rob Havenstein (ankle) is listed as questionable. Nacua suffered a knee injury early in camp but returned to practice before the end of the offseason. He practiced in full all three days this week before being cleared from the injury report. Nacua appears to be fully past the knee injury, locking him in as a low-end fantasy WR1 for the first week of the season. Though the Nacua versus Cooper Kupp debate raged all summer, a potential shootout with the Lions is a great spot for both wideouts to put up big numbers.

Williams has been dealing with a hamstring injury since late July and will now miss at least the season’s first four games. The Rams’ secondary has been dealt some serious blows this offseason, including the loss of Derion Kendrick, who suffered a torn ACL in camp. Williams started all 17 games he appeared in last season, totaling four interceptions while breaking up 19 passes with the Jaguars. He’ll be eligible to return in Week 5 when the Rams host the Packers.

Nacua looks to have mostly recovered from a knee injury he suffered in camp. The Rams were expecting to have him ready for Week 1 and he returned to practice last week. While still on the injury report, Nacua logged a full practice for the first official practice of the week, indicating he will be clear for Week 1 against the Lions. Though competing for targets with Cooper Kupp, Nacua profiles as a low-end WR1 heading into the season.

The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue followed up with McVay on the matter, reporting via social media that McVay said “Corum may possibly return kicks.” The news comes after McVay announced the team’s lead RB, Kyren Williams, will also return punts this year. Williams’ punt return announcement initially led to speculation regarding his rushing and receiving workload but Corum’s kick return news muddies the waters. It may indicate that McVay is simply focusing on getting the ball to his most talented playmakers whenever possible.

McVay is presumably saying Nacua will “be ready to roll” for Week 1 when his team will take on the Lions to kick off the season. Nacua has been dealing with a knee injury throughout much of camp but returned to practice earlier this week and was practicing in full on Thursday. After totaling 105 receptions for 1,486 yards and six touchdowns last season, Nacua has set the bar high for this upcoming season. He profiles as a low-end WR1/high-end WR2 when Cooper Kupp is healthy, but would have top-five fantasy upside if Kupp were ever to miss time.

Shrader was a star for the University of Missouri in his final year, but went unselected and signed with the 49ers shortly after the draft. The 5-foot-8, 202-pound tailback will provide depth and could compete with Ronnie Rivers for the third tailback spot; but most likely contributes on special teams.

McVay told reporters on Tuesday that Williams will be the Rams’ punt returner. It’s not necessarily a new job for Williams, who returned three punts for 21 yards last season, but it’s interesting that he was named the punt returner with Tutu Atwell and Xavier Smith also in the mix. This also shows the Rams having confidence in Blake Corum and Ronnie Rivers to spell Williams, indicating he may not be a complete workhorse for 2024. Fantasy managers are likely uneasy hearing this news, but Williams is a mid-to-late range RB1. Corum is cemented as a valuable backfield backup with the potential to see major usage this season.

It’s a quiet list for a team that already made half of its cuts earlier Tuesday.

The veteran linebacker is now on his way to Tennessee just days after it was reported that the Rams granted Jones permission to seek a trade. Jones has played in 47 career games since being drafted by the Rams in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft. He’s totaled 100-plus tackles in each of his last two seasons and tallied a career-high 4.5 sacks last season while also racking up 14 TFLs and breaking up six passes. Jones is in the final year of his rookie contract and is seeking a new deal, which played a role in his seeking a trade. It’s possible the Titans will ink Jones to a new deal in the coming days as they continue to revamp their defense in their first year under head coach Brian Callahan. In addition to Jones, the Titans also received a 2026 sixth-round pick in the exchange.

This means Higbee will miss at least the first four games of the season. The Rams never bothered to feign during camp that Higbee was close to a return. It could be closer to mid-season before we begin to hear about him ramping up football activities. Free agent addition Colby Parkinson seems like the best pass-catching bet during Higbee’s absence, though Davis Allen remains on the roster.