camp week 2 (starting 8/2)

A week into Rams training camp, who is rising, who is falling and who remains a question as practices heat up?

https://theathletic.com/2743452/2021/08/02/a-week-into-rams-training-camp-who-is-rising-who-is-falling-and-who-remains-a-question-as-practices-heat-up/?source=emp_shared_article

IRVINE, Calif. — We’re a week into Rams training camp, and the so-called “dog days”, (defensive line coach Eric Henderson may instead refer to them as “dawg days” in accordance with his group’s “Dawg Work” mantra) a.k.a. the longest, and perhaps the most brutal, stretch of camp is approaching.

A first week spent onboarding players culminated into a hyper-competitive red zone period on Saturday, in which the first-team offense faced the first-team defense. That level of competition had been rare up to that point, because the Rams mostly played first-team against second-team and vice versa during 11-on-11s and seven-on-sevens the first few days, in order to get crucial install reps for the first-team while also getting the second-team valuable experience.

Through the week, and especially during that red zone period on Saturday, several players stood out while some have struggled to make an impact — and some are on the cusp of rising, or falling, to either side. This weekly camp and preseason series won’t really focus on the star players — but will hope to highlight the players who could either break out as the year goes on, break into larger roles or who could fall behind or even miss the roster entirely.

Rising
Jordan Fuller and Terrell Burgess

Outside of perennial starters such as Jalen Ramsey, Aaron Donald, Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods and Matthew Stafford, the Rams’ two second-year safeties have perhaps had the most impressive camp of anybody to this point. Not only did Fuller secure the “green dot” (he will call defensive plays as communicated by new defensive coordinator Raheem Morris), but Kupp mentioned he had done some “freaky” things in the spring and some coaches and teammates pointed toward some plays he could have made in camp — if contact were allowed.

Burgess is coming off a season-ending ankle injury suffered in his rookie year, and looks back to 100 percent. One telling moment: He stretched out and reached to tip away a pass during team periods last week, landing on one foot — demonstrating confidence in his ankle via the jump itself and the plant back down. My sense so far is that Burgess will be an all-around puzzle piece for the Rams’ secondary (a bit like Troy Hill was last season, except Burgess can also play three-down safety if needed). He can play in the nickel when Ramsey is on the outside, and move into safety or be used as an extra defensive back when Ramsey is in the nickel (the “Star”, as the Rams call it). He may also be a key player for any of the extra-DBs packages the Rams favor. This may not mean he will technically be “the starter” — kind of an antiquated term when we’re talking about what the Rams do with their defensive backs, anyway, because they’re mostly in their sub packages — but he’ll probably get as many, if not more, snaps than the other safeties (with the exception of Fuller, who can be expected to remain on the field for the entire game), and because the Rams are moving Ramsey around, the ball will probably come Burgess’ way a lot. If he keeps playing the way he has been, the Rams will want to get him on the field as much as possible, and in a variety of ways.

David Long Jr.

Speaking of Ramsey’s movement, by the way, it appears so far that Long will be the guy on the outside when Ramsey does move inside (formerly Hill’s job), as expected. Head coach Sean McVay has now mentioned Long twice when discussing players whose progress he is pleased with this offseason.

Justin Hollins

McVay also name-dropped Hollins in his opening press conference, so naturally he’s been a player to watch. Interestingly, Hollins — who has the length of frame prioritized by Morris — has been right in the mix at outside linebacker in both a second-team and a first-team rotation (opposite Leonard Floyd). That’s not to take anything away from talented second-year outside linebacker Terrell Lewis, of course — but we know that Lewis may have to be on a “pitch count” of some sort because of the recurring knee issues he faced last year, so getting Hollins into a productive rotation could be the right formula.

Darrell Henderson, Xavier Jones and Jake Funk

Henderson is looking healthy and explosive in camp, which is great news for the Rams because he wasn’t fully healthy in the spring — and they need him more than ever, with second-year back Cam Akers out for the season (Achilles). Second-year former undrafted free agent Xavier Jones and seventh-round rookie Jake Funk have been rotating in with Henderson, who is clearly the established lead back — but here’s the thing: Jones and Funk are also getting some work with the first-team offense (and certainly are with the second team, too).

To me, this points to everything McVay has basically been broadcasting in capital letters since the Akers news came out: Henderson is the lead back, yes. He’s a talented player, too, and he’ll be used in the run and the passing game. But the Rams have to keep him healthy, because in years past he has had injury issues and has not been a “workhorse” back since high school. So right now, their best option (if they’re sticking with the current players on the roster), is to go with a “committee” of sorts, in that Henderson will still get the lead share of snaps, but there will also be a rotation in complement to him so that he can alleviate some of the workload on his body. That, to me, is why the younger guys are getting worked into things so early and often — not only do the Rams have to see if they can handle it, but they also need them to be ready to get live snaps and they need to establish what the best carry-share will be, depending on the situation and opponent.

Trishton Jackson

With Tutu Atwell spending substantial time on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, the Rams clearly called upon Jackson to take over his reps during practice and installation periods. It’s a great opportunity for Jackson, who has taken advantage of that time and secured some good catches in drilling periods. Jackson, a former undrafted free agent whose length and speed intrigued the Rams out of Syracuse, will be a player to watch throughout the Rams’ joint practices and in the preseason. I’m not sure how many receivers the team will keep this spring, especially with rookie tight end Jacob Harris offering numbers help as both a receiver and a tight end, but coaches have to be impressed with both Jackson’s availability, and his ability so far.

Tutu Atwell (Reserve/COVID-19)

First and foremost, the hope is that Atwell can recover and healthily re-join teammates once his 10-day isolation period is over. However, it’s going to be really tough sledding for the rookie receiver, who the Rams drafted in the second round in the spring, because he’ll have missed so much time in the crucial early days of camp. The Rams also wanted Atwell to gain about six pounds in camp, so his current situation becomes compounded by that task as well. There’s no way Atwell won’t make the 53-man roster, but it’s hard to see him contributing substantial snaps unless he can catch up at a rapid pace through the preseason.

Bobby Brown III, Robert Rochell (injury)

I hate to put these guys here because of course, it’s not their fault they both suffered injuries. Brown III will have surgery this week to repair an injured UCL (thumb) and is expected to return in at least some capacity within the week of the procedure, while Rochell needs wrist surgery and his timeline is currently unknown (though he’s scheduled to have the procedure on Monday). Rochell especially was impressing in the first few days of camp, and had a couple of pass breakups in 11-on-11s and seven-on-sevens against the first-team offense.

Both players — both fourth-round picks in the spring — were not expected to start right away for the Rams, but both will be valuable depth in position groups where depth is very much in question.

Brian Allen

Sure, let’s call head coach Sean McVay’s marking of the center position as a “competition” a bit of gamesmanship — because I’ve only watched Austin Corbett take first-team snaps to this point, so it’s not really a competition between him and Allen, the Rams’ fourth-round pick in 2018. Allen seems to have the second-team center spot locked down so far, and could also rep in at right guard as he did in the spring.

Might mean something, might not

• Reserve quarterback Devlin “Duck” Hodges has taken some of his drill reps ahead of fellow reserve quarterback Bryce Perkins. These guys will be really fun to watch through the preseason, based on how they’re throwing so far and working well in newly implemented off-schedule and play-action drills.

• Harris (who is recovering from a procedure to fix a core injury, a source told The Athletic last week) was able to work back into some individual drills and light installation or competitive work. Something I found notable: Harris lined up in the last spot during individuals, which is common for a player who is not at the back of the depth chart but who is going at partial speed for injury reasons. But while a backup quarterback would normally throw that rep to Harris in that lineup, the Rams had Stafford switch back in to make the throw.

Linebackers

There have not been many surprises with the inside linebackers to this point, which is to be expected considering all of the live minutes Micah Kiser, Kenny Young and Troy Reeder got last year. My sense is that Ernest Jones — who impressed the first week — will lobby for more reps as camp continues and that Travin Howard could help the Rams’ numbers when roster cutdown time comes, because he could perhaps also be utilized in an emergency in some of their extra defensive back packages.

Taylor Rapp and Nick Scott

Rapp seems so far to be the player who could start alongside Fuller when the Rams are in their base defense (we can assume based on last season that they’re going to be in sub packages quite a bit that will either remove a linebacker and add defensive backs, or keep both linebackers and add a defensive back, so that could change the rotation for Rapp). Will Rapp be a player the Rams feel they can also move in and out of the box? So far, he’s seemed to play consistently and certainly has experience in the defense — as does Scott, who really impressed coaches last season when he was called upon to fill in for injured players. These two will merit keeping an eye on as the pads go on. If the Rams plan to use Burgess in a variety of ways as a versatile puzzle-piece player, they may need Rapp (and Scott as depth) to step up as “base” options opposite Fuller.

Interior defensive line

When the pads finally do go on (for real this time), it’s very possible that some young players begin to differentiate themselves from each other along the defensive line. So far, my eye is on Eric Banks, the former undrafted free agent who I saw repping into the second-team rotation at times last week. All of the younger guys have put in extra pre-practice work with assistant defensive line coach Marcus Dixon, including Banks, Michael Hoecht, Marquise Copeland, Jonah Williams, George Silvanic and of course, Earnest Brown IV.

Special teams

If there’s indeed a “competition” happening here at punter, it’ll heat up once the joint practices and preseason games begin. Kickers, punters and yes, long snappers will get meaningful reps throughout that time in “live” scenarios — where so far, those chances have been few and far between. Meanwhile, new coordinator Joe DeCamillis and assistant Dwayne Stukes are certainly bringing energy to the unit — the kind of energy I can often hear from all the way over on the opposite field.