As the offseason progressed for the Los Angeles Rams, from trading Jalen Ramsey to cutting Bobby Wagner and Leonard Floyd, to not making any notable free agent additions until finally showing up to camp this week with a roster than is half-full of rookies, the “tanking!” crowd has only found more followers in the last six months. Right or wrong, that is no less the case for Sean McVay’s Rams entering 2023 training camp.

One of the most prominent voices of the offseason though has not been McVay or Les Snead or any of the players. It’s been team COO Kevin Demoff and in an appearance this week with ESPN Los Angeles, he let it be known that the Rams are not tanking. Or at least he let it be known that he’s letting it be known that the Rams are not tanking.

Anyone who thinks we’re tanking doesn’t know Sean McVay, Les Snead, Stan Kroenke, and I include myself in that.

Demoff said that tanking “doesn’t work” and though he stopped short of saying teams like the Dolphins and Texans tanked recently—before essentially still saying that—he said that they still didn’t get the number one pick despite their best efforts.

I fundamentally don’t believe tanking works, right? You can look at teams that notably tried to tanks, maybe the Dolp-I don’t think anyone in the NFL actually tries to tank. The teams perceived not to be good, the Dolphins that year, the Texans last year, none of them wound up with the first pick. The Browns did and have nothing to show for it. At the end of the day, there’s no way to tangibly tell coaches and players that you’re not trying to win.

You don’t have to tank in the NFL to have success. Sure it’s great to get a transcendent QB if that’s what Caleb Williams winds up being. But we just won a Super Bowl with Matthew Stafford.

Demoff, Snead, and McVay have towed the same line all offseason and sure enough, Matthew Stafford, Aaron Donald, and Cooper Kupp showed up for work on Tuesday.

But Demoff went onto say that the team had calls about trading Stafford and that the team didn’t receive any package that made those talks serious. However, he went onto say that it took him 10 tries to get Ramsey away from the Jaguars and six tries to get Von Miller away from the Broncos. Is Demoff hinting at something?

Are the Rams tanking? Fundamentally, the answer might be no. Realistically, we’ll see how the next two months go.

Can Donald and Stafford return to form? (ESPN)

Biggest question: Who can help Aaron Donald rush the passer?

Player with the most to prove: Joe Noteboom, LT

Training camp is a success if ... there are tough decisions on cut-down day

The influx of rookies set to take part in training camp, which includes 14 draft picks and more than 20 undrafted free agents, underscores how dramatically the Rams have reshaped their roster this offseason. Ideally, all of these newcomers are battling for roster spots after strong performances in workouts and preseason games.

Rams coach Sean McVay, wife Veronika are expecting first child (LA Times)

Coach Sean McVay said Tuesday that he and his wife, Veronika, are expecting the birth of a baby boy in late October.

“It’s a blessing,” McVay said as players reported for training camp at a Newport Beach hotel. “You talk about really having a purpose … when you bring a child into this world, that’s one of the coolest things I’ve witnessed from some of my closest friends, is watching just the way, man, how that changes people in all the best ways.”

Sean McVay’s epic, 2-word reaction to Vegas’ Rams disrespect in win total line (Clutch Points)

“Oh man,” McVay said upon the 6.5 win realization.

‘F*** Privacy,’ But ...’ Why’d Rams’ Matthew Stafford Say ‘No’ to Netflix ‘Quarterback’? (Rams Digest)

“They approached Matthew last year for this show, he turned it down,” Kelly Stafford said on her podcast, via Turf Show Times. “We’ve said no to quite a few approaches on reality TV shows. You guys know how private my husband is. You know how I’m not private, f***, I have a podcast explaining my entire life. ...

“Not my cup of tea because I don’t want to expose my girls in that way. But Quarterback is different. He didn’t do it for a couple reasons. He’s private, he also didn’t want to put his teammates through it. ... He’s like ‘I don’t want my teammates to deal with cameras in the locker room. Here, there, whatever.’ Which I respect. I love that he thinks of those things.”

Top questions, roster projections for all 32 teams (ESPN)

How quickly can the rookie class adjust to the NFL?

It isn’t an understatement to say the Rams are starting over, with nearly half of their training camp roster consisting of rookies. There could be major first-year contributions at nearly every position on the roster, even if rookie quarterback Stetson Bennett ends up as the backup to Matthew Stafford. The need for immediate returns on the defensive line and at edge rusher is especially glaring. How they acclimate will determine whether the Rams are frisky upstarts or in the mix to draft first overall in 2024.

Question for Fans: When will you know that the Rams are or are not tanking?

Let us know in the comments.