Recent Forum Topics › Forums › The Rams Huddle › the FS battle…Bryant, Alexander, etc.
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June 10, 2016 at 10:50 am #45811
znModeratorRams safety Christian Bryant aims to follow Rodney McLeod’s path
Nick Wagoner
OXNARD, Calif. — Of the many observers in NFL free agency this year, Los Angeles Rams safety Christian Bryant might have been among the most interested.
First, Bryant considers fellow safety Rodney McLeod a friend, and as McLeod approached his first taste of unrestricted free agency, Bryant wanted the best for him. But Bryant also had personal reasons to monitor McLeod’s status.
Bryant spent the past two years recovering from an ankle injury and working his way from the practice squad to special-teams contributor on the active roster. With dreams of contributing on defense, Bryant was also well aware that if McLeod departed, it could open doors that were previously closed.
When McLeod signed a five-year, $37 million deal with the Philadelphia Eagles, those doors came swinging open.
“I was watching it, I was watching the whole free-agent process to be honest with you, just to see what types of moves would be made,” Bryant said. “But I’m happy for Rod. He’s a hard-working guy. Over these past two seasons that I’ve been with him, I’ve seen him work hard nonstop and he’s been a good example for me. Just to see him go on and get that big contract, it’s a blessing for him but it’s opening new doors for me every day. I’ve just got to try to continue to do what I’m doing, making strides and taking steps forward every single day.”
The goal, of course, is for Bryant to take the ultimate step and claim the job McLeod left behind. That might seem like a long shot from the outside, but the same was once true of McLeod — a former undrafted rookie who slowly worked his way to the starting job and, eventually, a lucrative free-agent contract.
After allowing McLeod to depart, the Rams showed little urgency to find an outside replacement. They visited with veteran safeties Dashon Goldson and Donte Whitner, both of whom remain available, but for now coach Jeff Fisher and Co. seem intent on letting in-house options Bryant and Cody Davis attempt to stake a claim to the job.
“It’s a good group,” Fisher said. “Christian Bryant is coming on, really taking advantage of this opportunity. Cody understands the position; he’s got some game experience. We’ve got a couple young guys that we’ll have to look at in a game, when things are live and they are in a pressure situation.”
That’s an opportunity Bryant is excited to embrace as he and Davis have been rotating with the first-team defense during organized team activities.
“Competition in an organization is always good because each player always finds some way to get better,” Bryant said. “It’s a friendly competition but at the end of the day, this is our job so I’m looking to make all the right plays on the field to make that next step in my career and get on the field with the 1’s and stay there.”
That Bryant is even in position to compete for the starting free safety job is proof that he’s taken plenty of steps forward since he landed with the Rams. In his final college season at Ohio State, Bryant suffered a broken ankle against Wisconsin. The injury cost him most of the 2013 season and he wasn’t healed enough to show what he could do during the pre-draft process.
Bryant’s draft stock tumbled before the Rams took a chance on him in the seventh round with pick No. 241 overall in the 2014 NFL draft. Bryant was unable to get to full strength during the preseason and make a run at a roster spot, eventually landing on the practice squad where he stayed for the season. When he returned last season, there weren’t many expectations for him to contribute but he began to feel more comfortable.
The lingering effects of the ankle injury also stuck with Bryant, who says he only started feeling back to his old self this offseason. With bounce back in his step, Bryant attempted anything possible to work on his game and body, regularly attending Pilates, hot yoga and martial arts classes during the offseason.
“When I first came in, I was still struggling with my ankle and it was bothering me a lot,” Bryant said. “But at that time, it was really a point in my life where I was trying to build my self esteem and my mentality back up because that was probably one of the hardest moments of my life just to bounce back from this and just believe again that I can play at a high level and sustain it. I think I’ve come far from there and right now I am doing all the right things and I feel like my confidence is at an all-time high right now.”
On a defense dotted with first-round picks, it would be understandable if Bryant wondered whether a former seventh-round pick would get a fair shake when it comes to competing for a starting position. But coordinator Gregg Williams has long believed the NFL is a production business and won’t hesitate to put the best players on the field.
For evidence that his opportunity has truly arrived, Bryant need only look to the man he’s hoping to replace.
“If you go in and do the right things, show your worth, prove that you have the skills and mindset of a competitor always on the field and you just show the coaches that you are always ready and able to compete at the highest level, there’s always room for guys like that,” Bryant said. “That’s with a high drafted guy or not a draft pick. There’s always a competition when you get in the NFL. Anything that you did in college doesn’t matter at this level. You have always got to prove yourself every day.”
June 10, 2016 at 12:48 pm #45826znModeratorfrom off the net
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max
Christian Bryant picks off Goff. Go to the 2:35 mark to see it, OSU at Cal, 2013…
June 15, 2016 at 11:24 am #46196znModeratorVincent Bonsignore @DailyNewsVinny
#Rams might still sign a safety, but I’m told development/OTA work of Maurice Alexander, Cody Davis and Christian Bryant very encourgingJune 15, 2016 at 12:57 pm #46205
AgamemnonParticipantI always thought Alexander would replace what Barron did, now that Barron is a LB.
Then some other player would be McCleod’s replacement.
AgamemnonJune 15, 2016 at 2:20 pm #46212znModeratoroff the net from HellRam
I’ve long been in the Mo at FS camp….from a frame size point of view he appears like a SS. Then when you watch him play and he moves like a FS. MO has tremendous speed and range for his size.
It was never gonna be McDonald at FS, TJ is the definition of a box safety. Even at his current position McDonald has been a liability in coverage, he’s been great at everything else however.
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ME: then after I posted that I saw this:
I always thought Alexander would replace what Barron did, now that Barron is a LB.
Then some other player would be McCleod’s replacement.
I wasn’t doing a “refute posting.” Just by accident then the thread just has 2 different early views of the FS situation. And I like that.
June 15, 2016 at 2:40 pm #46213AgamemnonParticipantI wasn’t doing a “refute posting.” Just by accident then the thread just has 2 different early views of the FS situation. And I like that.
It could turn out that way. I was thinking, Barron was rotated in on passing downs as sort of a hybrid lb/s. Then Ogletree got hurt and he replaced him. Now Ogletree is the mlb. Barron is the wslb. So, Alexander, who is sort of a copy of Barron, goes to his old hybrid role and we still need a fs. Or, they might not choose that and just go with only replacing McCleod.
Or, Alexander is the starting fs and when they go to the “big nickel”, he rotates down into Barron’s old role? The we still need a player to fill the fs role.
AgamemnonJune 15, 2016 at 4:14 pm #46222znModeratorThe we still need a player to fill the fs role.
Bryant or Davis.
June 15, 2016 at 6:20 pm #46240
InvaderRamModeratorsounds like there’s a really good competition going on there.
if not for that injury i’m thinking bryant would a been a mid round pick. so i don’t see him as a seventh round talent even though that’s where he went.
wondering right now if bryant and alexander could be the future starting safeties when mcdonald is up for free agency.
June 15, 2016 at 6:47 pm #46244znModeratorwondering right now if bryant and alexander could be the future starting safeties when mcdonald is up for free agency.
That’s a possibility…with Randolph behind them? …Here’s another article (I bet there will be more):
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Maurice Alexander making Rams’ draft gamble look good
Vincent Bonsignore, Los Angeles Daily News
OXNARD — The impetus for the bonds that connect players and coaches sometimes have varied and blurry starting points. The one that will forever link Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and safety Maurice Alexander couldn’t be any clearer.
Williams is the primary reason Alexander is with the Rams, having fought hard on his behalf during the 2014 draft while most of the NFL saw a raw, risky prospect.
“He supported me,” Alexander said, the appreciation obvious.
The gratitude Alexander has returned is the work he’s put in to develop into a potential starter.
It’s almost inconceivable to think about it while watching Alexander fly around the Rams’ practice field Tuesday, but two years ago it took all of Williams’ instincts, vision and projection to see in Alexander what so many were missing.
Tapping into intuition honed over 20 years of coaching — and maybe even a little bit of imagination — Williams saw past the present and into the future. The image that emerged was a raw Utah State prospect developing into an eventual NFL starting safety.
So Williams went to bat for Alexander in the Rams’ draft room, essentially promising everyone with any sort of draft input they’d have an angry coach if Alexander eluded their grasp.
If you’ve spent any time at all observing and listening to Williams on a practice field, he’s equal parts motivator, agitator, comedian, philosopher and mad scientist. In other words, not exactly someone you want on your bad side.
Which probably explains why the Rams drafted Alexander in the fourth round in 2014 when so many others saw him as a sixth- or seventh-rounder, at best.
“That was the beginning for me,” Alexander said.
It was also the foundation upon which Williams and the Rams would take little more than speed, toughness and athletic ability and construct an NFL-caliber safety.
The project is essentially complete, with Alexander making a compelling case for himself as a starter with a strong performance during OTA’s.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder is competing with Cody Davis and Christian Bryant to replace Rodney McLeod, who moved on to the Philadelphia Eagles as a free agent.
But with T.J. McDonald out of OTA’s dealing with legal issues, all three have been mixing and matching in the back end of the Rams defense and making strong impressions.
Alexander has been a standout.
“He’s having a really, really, really good camp,” Williams said.
It’s everything Williams envisioned for Alexander two years ago, although he knew it was going to be an extensive project.
“You want to talk about somebody’s head spinning,” is how Williams described the beginning of Alexander’s development.
Alexander played just one year of safety and only two years of Division I football prior to joining the Rams. Making the transition from college to the NFL is difficult enough, but doing so while essentially learning a new position, terminology, responsibility and nuance made it even more challenging.
“He couldn’t discuss football from a secondary standpoint, and he was just paralyzed with all the information and the speed of the game of the National Football League in the secondary,” Williams said.
It also didn’t help Alexander suffered a knee injury during OTA’s his rookie year that slowed him down in training camp.
Understanding the difficulties, Alexander set up personal yard-markers for himself measured in days and stretched out across a football field.
The objective was clear.
“I set a goal to be better every single year,” Alexander said.
He played in nine games as a rookie and made four tackles. While many wondered if the Rams invested too high a pick in Alexander, behind the scenes he was making strides.
By his second year, positional knowledge began catching up with the physical skills. He was getting on the field more frequently, and Williams was growing more confident not only in structuring specific schemes to capitalize on Alexander’s skills, but also his ability to carry them out.
“I invented packages for him last year, because of how well he was doing, to get him more playing time,” Williams said.
And when McDonald was lost in December to a shoulder injury, Alexander replaced him as a starter and responded with 27 tackles and two sacks.
“That was fun,” he said.
Alexander approached this offseason knowing McLeod’s departure opened a starting job. He’s attacking the opportunity as if it were a quarterback and he was on a safety blitz.
“It’s been a great OTA for me, I’ve been learning and it’s a blessing to get an opportunity to be with the (first team),” he said. “It’s been a great process.”
Alexander’s confidence and performance, compared to two years ago, are almost startling to Williams.
“Right now, he is light years ahead of where he was when he first came in,” Williams said.
It took intuition and imagination, but it’s everything Williams saw in Alexander when he looked beyond the present and into the future.
June 18, 2016 at 1:21 pm #46499znModeratorAlexander hopes to replace McLeod at free safety
OXNARD, Calif. — Two of the biggest Los Angeles Rams shoes to fill from last season were also among the most vocal. When starting safety Rodney McLeod left for the Philadelphia Eagles as a free agent, he took more than his hard hitting and ball-hawking skills with him.
It also meant the quarterback of the back end of the Rams’ defense and one of its most vocal leaders needed to be replaced.
A few years ago you would have been hard-pressed to think Maurice Alexander would have the skill set, let alone vocal chords, to be the man the Rams entrusted with that responsibility.
Back then he was an essentially football neophyte that Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams literally had to construct from the ground up. Alexander was basically new to the defensive back position, having played just one year at safety at Utah State, and wasn’t ready to make the transition to the NFL.
But with the backing of Williams, who championed Alexander’s cause in the 2014 draft and basically demanded his bosses pick him, the 6-foot-1, 220-pounder has developed into someone the Rams are growing more and more comfortable with as the potential replacement for McLeod.
Alexander, in turn, has backed up that conviction with a solid performance thus far in Organized Team Activities. So much so that it’s hard not to imagine him as one of the starting safeties to open the season.
“It’s been a great OTA for me, I’ve been learning and a blessing to get an opportunity to be with the (first team),” he said. “It’s been a great process.”For Alexander, it’s payback for Williams’ support two years ago when the veteran coordinator stuck his neck out for him even though, by all accounts, Alexander was far from a finished product or sure thing.
“That was the beginning for me. Greg showed a lot of interest in me, and I set a goal to be better every single year,” Alexander said. “To get better every single time I’m out there. That’s what I’ve been doing.”
Alexander started five games last year at strong safety in place of injured starter T.J. McDonald and finished with 27 tackles and two sacks, and though he projects more at that position than at the free safety position McLeod manned, Williams and the Rams’ defensive staff have been creative with the defensive backs so it’s not a stretch to believe Alexander can’t make the transition.
He’s competing with Cody Davis and Christian Bryant for the spot opposite McDonald, although with McDonald out of OTAs dealing with legal issues, all three are getting chances to mix and match between the two safety spots.
One of them will have to replace McLeod, though. And Alexander hopes he gets the call.
If so, he says McLeod deserves some of the credit.
“I love Rodney, he’s a great player and a great teammate and he left great footprints behind,” Alexander said. “And that’s why I’m a better player now, because of someone like him looking out for me. I’m a player the coaches can trust right now.”
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