The Los Angeles Rams are out of room and out of excuses. With the NFL trade deadline passed and no reinforcements coming, the team now has to lean on CJ Daniels and Max Klare because it does not have any other options.
That is where the search for Klare comes in. He was drafted in the second round, and that kind of investment makes his name matter now, not later. The Rams have already lost Puka Nacua, Davante Adams, Terrance Ferguson and Jordan Whittington from the top of the receiving depth chart they opened the year with, and the offense is left to sort itself out with an unknown cast.
The numbers are what make this feel immediate. LA's passing game has not worked for most of this year, and the Rams will have to try to right the ship while facing at least the next few games with almost no margin for error. After Arizona Cardinals and rookie quarterback Carson Beck, the schedule tightens again with Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers waiting in line.
Even if it looks different simply for the sake of change, it is hard to imagine the Rams being worse than Tutu Atwell and Konata Mumpfield have been at the top level of the rotation. That is the uncomfortable truth pushing Daniels and Klare toward real snaps. If CJ Daniels cannot make an impact, the Rams are already toast against stiffer competition, and the next few weeks could turn into a survival test rather than a development plan.
That is the friction inside the move. A redshirt year sounds ideal in a vacuum, and the Rams have long favored patience when developing players. This time is different. LA has loaded its roster with superstars in hopes of winning a Super Bowl, and it can no longer afford to keep Max Klare on the sidelines if he really does have the most natural talent of any pass catcher left. Asking Daniels and Klare to be the difference may be an impossible task, but they might be the only ones even remotely up to it. The Rams need to survive at least the next three weeks, and that leaves little choice about who plays and who waits.
