The Los Angeles Rams announced their eight team captains for the upcoming 2023 season.
The team captains are as follows: quarterback Matthew Stafford, wide receiver Cooper Kupp, offensive lineman Rob Havenstein, tight end Tyler Higbee, defensive tackle Aaron Donald, defensive back Jordan Fuller, linebacker Ernest Jones and wide receiver Ben Skowronek.
Team captains are voted on by the players as is custom every season.
Donald leads the Rams with six captain nods which makes sense as he is the longest tenured player on the team. Kupp is the next player with the most captain nominations with four.
Stafford has been named a captain all three years since joining the organization. Meanwhile, Havenstein earned captain honors for a second consecutive year as he is the veteran of the offensive line room.
Like Havenstein, Fuller was also named a captain for the second time though his first nomination came in the 2021 season.
Meanwhile, Higbee, Jones and Skowronek are entering their first seasons as team captains.
On first glance, it looks like the players prioritized the individuals that have been with the team the longest. Los Angeles selected 14 rookies in the 2023 NFL Draft and signed 26 undrafted free agents, so there are a lot of new faces that are turning toward the more experienced players.
Even the captains look young on paper as Los Angeles will be led by Fuller, Jones and Skowronek who all are still on the rookie-scale contracts.
The number of years a player has spent in the league shouldn’t matter as much as long as they exemplify the qualities and traits of a true leader. By all accounts, the team captains that were chosen are capable of leading the roster and make for worthy candidates.
The captains will have to navigate a fair share of turbulence during the 2023 season as the Rams rebuild the program. However, the organization’s strong culture should be able to hold them down and keep them focused on the bigger picture.
Sean McVay calls blowout loss to Broncos a humbling night
Los Angeles went winless during the preseason, losing to the Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders and Denver Broncos. However, the loss to Denver was particularly painful as they were blown out 41-0.
The Rams are facing a difficult regular season with all the new faces they have to integrate and even Sean McVay had to admit that getting blown out by the Broncos was a humbling night for him and the team.
