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It’s beginning to look a lot like football. LA Rams training camp is open and everyone on the roster (except for Terrell Lewis) is there.
What about Brewer or Hoecht?
AgamemnonLA Rams Hard Knocks EP01 | LA Rams Talk
•Aug 12, 2020This is the second time in four years the LA Rams have been featured on HBO’s Hard Knocks. And boy, what a difference four years makes. This was an interesting episode for several reasons, but I’d have to say that just having football back has to be the best part. I even got into the LA Chargers, Anthony Lynn and Joey Bosa. Yes, the pandemic is doing strange things to people.
My initial thoughts are that the two real MVPs on the Rams are Senior Director of Medicine and Performance, Reggie Scott and Director of Football Operations, Sophie Harlan. Both are responsible for implementing all COVID-19 compliance measures – basically safeguarding all players and staff. Make no mistake, this is a feat of monumental proportions.
Another takeaway is how much Sean McVay has loosened up and is showing his funny, personable side. From wearing the face shield to playing pool basketball with his dog and joking around about the port-o-potty, the 34-year old is showing why players respond so well to him.
Two cornerbacks, Jalen Ramsey and Donte Deayon made impressions for two very different reasons. Deayon, a 2016 UDFA out of Boise State joked with Aaron Donald about his workout and then went on a funny rant about the locker rooms. Deayon is exactly the type of entertainment we love.
As for Ramsey, he left a virtual interview because he grew frustrated with questions about his contract. He has a point. Ramsey can answer the same question the same way so many times. My belief is that he, his agent and the Rams all know when the contract will happen and for how much and he can’t discuss it.
As for the players on the field, I noticed that Goff was taking snaps behind an offensive line consisting of Andrew Whitworth, Austin Corbett, Austin Blythe, David Edwards and Rob Havenstein. I’m not sure if the omission of Joe Noteboom is due to injury or that Edwards is ahead of him on the depth chart.
All in all, it was a fun episode and I look forward to seeing more action on the field.
AgamemnonHow do the LA Rams Replace Dante Fowler & Clay Matthews? | LA Rams Talk
The LA Rams defensive front had a great 2019 with 50 sacks (4th in the NFL) and 177 QB pressures (3rd). However, they lose pass-rushing specialist, Dante Fowler and veteran linebacker, Clay Matthews. Both players accounted for 11.5 and eight sacks respectively. Even former Rams inside linebacker, Cory Littleton had 3.5 sacks. All told, the Rams need to replace 23 of the 50 sacks. Who will do that?
New defensive coordinator, Brandon Staley will have his work cut out for him in matching last year’s production, especially with unproven players, a free agent, a rookie and a rotational guy. I’m looking at third-year outside linebacker, Ogbonnia “Obo” Orowonkwo to get a massive increase in snaps and make some noise in the range of 7-9 sacks.
Obo, a fifth-round pick in the 2018 draft out of Oklahoma was sidelined most of his first two seasons with the Rams before flashing towards the end of last year. Rams fans have high hopes for Obo who managed 1.5 sacks on a paltry 117 defensive snaps last year (145 special teams snaps). If you project his sacks over 940 snaps – the same as Dante Fowler, Obo could have 13.5 sacks in 2020.
That’s the best case scenario as it doesn’t appear likely that he’ll get all of the snaps vacated by Fowler. Those snaps most likely will go to free agent, Leonard Floyd. Floyd, the ninth overall pick by the Bears in 2016 who had nearly an identical snap count to Fowler. Floyd had only three sacks, but racked up 26 pressures – two fewer than Matthews. Let’s hope Floyd’s reunion with Staley unlocks his pass rushing potential.
Then there’s Rams veteran, Samson Ebukam who has the second most sacks on the Rams roster at 4.5. Ebukam was also a rotational pass-rusher with 571 defensive snaps – or 51 percent. Along with Obo, Ebukam will benefit with the departure of Matthews and his 623 snaps.
That leaves us with rookie Terrell Lewis who most likely will start the season slow due to his limited playing time at Alabama, injury history and late arrival to camp. Others in the mix are Jachai Polite and Justin Lawler.
AgamemnonLA Rams Final 53-Man Roster & Practice Squad | LA Rams Talk
t’s September 6th, which means the LA Rams have trimmed their roster to 53 players and assembled their 16-man practice squad. It’s bittersweet in the sense that we welcome new faces to the team, however, we say goodbye to a few as well.
At first, the Rams trimmed down to 52 players, but then immediately signed former Denver Bronco ILB/OLB Justin Hollins off of waivers. As soon as the Rams signed Hollins, they poached RB Raymond Calais Jr. from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad. Calais Jr., a seventh round pick by the Bucs was relegated to the practice squad after Tampa Bay signed Leonard Fournette.
Calais Jr. joins running backs, Malcolm Brown, Cam Akers, Darrell Henderson and Xavier Jones on the active roster. That’s a lot of running backs to keep on the 53-man roster, but Henderson is dealing with a hamstring injury and Calais Jr. can also return kicks (averaged 28.5 yards per return in college) or serve as a gunner on special teams.
Hollins was a 2019 fifth-round pick out of Oregon and spent time with Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley. Staley helped convert Hollins from an outside linebacker to the inside and lobbied hard for the Rams to sign Hollins when he became available during the waiver process. Hollins is 6′ 5″, weighs 248 pounds and runs a 4.50 40. Expect Hollins to get lots of reps once he acclimates.
There were a few surprises, especially when it came to selecting a kicker. Seventh-round pick, Samuel Sloman won the job over two more-experienced kickers due to his accuracy and leg strength. Apparently, Sloman saved his best for last and impressed coaches with his booming kick-offs.
Other notable surprises were DE, Eric Banks and offensive lineman, Coleman Shelton. Banks didn’t post impressive college numbers, but has a history with Rams defensive line coach Eric Henderson who coached Banks in college. Like Banks, Shelton didn’t receive any buzz during training camp and is one of 10 offensive lineman to make the active roster. Shelton can play all five positions on the line which is why the Rams kept him.
Hard Knocks star and Rams seventh-round pick, Clay Johnston did not make the cut and chose to sign with the Caroline Panthers who employ his dad and college coach.
In terms of the practice squad, the Rams kept QB Bryce Perkins, WR JJ Koski, TE Kendall Blanton, OL Cohl Cabral and Jamil Demby, LBs Christian Rozenboom, Daniel Bituli, Natrez Patrick and Derrick Moncrief, DTs Michael Hoecht and Marquise Copeland, DBs JuJu Hughes, Tyrique McGee and Dont’e Deayon and DE Jonah Williams.
Agamemnon
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