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Predicting the St. Louis Rams’ 10-Man Practice Squad
by Patrick Karraker
With the St. Louis Rams having made their initial cuts to reach the 53-man roster limit on Saturday, it’s now time for the team to start thinking about who will be on their 10-man practice squad. This group could definitely fluctuate throughout the week, because head coach Jeff Fisher made it clear in his press conference on Saturday that the team will be looking to upgrade via the waiver wire, which would lead to additional players being released.
Obviously, the guy who many people want to see join this group is recently-released defensive end Michael Sam. It doesn’t look like that’s going to happen, however. First of all, you’d think there would be a decent chance that Sam will be claimed on waivers due to the fact that he performed so well in the preseason. Even if he doesn’t make the roster, however, it didn’t sound like Fisher was too enthusiastic about bringing Sam back to the squad at his presser. Fisher specifically mentioned needs at the quarterback, linebacker, and defensive back spots. Since the Rams have nine healthy defensive linemen, it’s probably not overly necessary to have a tenth around for practice purposes.
Here are the ten players who seem to be most likely to end up on the Rams’ practice squad:
QB Garrett Gilbert
Ideally, the Rams should get a scout team quarterback behind Shaun Hill and Austin Davis. Fisher stressed Saturday that he doesn’t find it absolutely necessary to have a third QB, but since the team invested a draft pick in him, they might as well continue developing Gilbert while also lessening the workload for their primary signal-callers. Gilbert is a guy who has at least a decent amount of knowledge of the system and would be ready to step in on the active roster should Hill or Davis get injured.
WR Austin Franklin
Franklin showed some flashes in the early preseason, and with the Rams having given him a signing bonus when picking him up as an undrafted rookie out of New Mexico State earlier this year, so they probably want to continue to try to make that investment work out. Along with that, they could use some extra receivers for practice since Stedman Bailey is away from the facility while suspended for a PED violation.
WR Emory Blake
Blake is another guy that the Rams have placed an emphasis on developing over the past year or so, and he’s got enough talent to become a contributor at some point. He probably has a good chance to earn a spot on the practice squad with Bailey suspended.
OL Mitchell Van Dyk
Van Dyk was a seventh-rounder in this year’s draft and can play both tackle and guard, so he seems like a guy worth developing. At 6-foot-7 and just under 300 pounds, he’s a guy who could become more powerful with extended work in an NFL weight room.
OL Brandon Washington
Washington is the wild card of this group. The guard/tackle has been on the Rams’ practice squad for two years, so keeping him on the practice squad would be somewhat of a difficult process. Because of his status as a third-year practice squad player, he’s allowed to be on the squad whenever the Rams have 53 players on their active roster. If they don’t, however, Washington has to be released, which means that he’d have to be procedurally removed and re-signed every time they make a move. The Rams obviously respected Washington enough as a player to keep him around until today, but it’s debatable if they see him as a good enough player to make it worth going through these tedious regulations.
OL Travis Bond
Bond flashed some nice ability during the preseason, and though he struggled in the preseason finale against the Miami Dolphins, he’s probably a guy worth developing. With the Rams already short on offensive linemen without Barrett Jones and factoring in that center Scott Wells has rarely practiced during the regular season in years past, they may need three offensive linemen on their practice squad to be able to have a full contingent for practice.
LB Etienne Sabino
Sabino, James Laurinaitis‘s former backup at Ohio State, was very impressive in the preseason finale and may be rewarded with a practice squad spot because of it. He has the versatility to play both middle and outside linebacker, which is important for a team that is so short at both positions.
LB Phillip Steward
Steward didn’t make a big enough impact during the preseason to earn a 53-man roster spot, but he seems likely to stick on the practice squad. First of all, Steward is firmly entrenched in the system since he’s been around since April of last year, and he’s consistently gotten work with the second-teamers in practice this summer. If the Rams don’t find a better backup option on waivers, Steward may be the next man up should any of the linebackers on the Rams’ initial 53-man roster go down with an injury.
CB Greg Reid
Fisher went out of his way to mention a need for depth at the cornerback position on Saturday. Reid, an undrafted rookie who was impressive this preseason, is likely to be part of the practice squad and provide the protection that the Rams need in the defensive backfield. In addition, he can also serve as an emergency alternative to Tavon Austin as a punt returner if the second-year receiver gets hurt.
S Christian Bryant
Bryant, a seventh-rounder out of Ohio State, struggled to return from an ankle injury that had sidelined him dating back to his senior year. He performed well in the last preseason game, but it wasn’t enough to force the Rams’ hand and keep him on the active roster. He should be a quality developmental player on the practice squad and an emergency backup behind the Rams’ primary four safeties.
Players who were cut on Friday and Saturday clear waivers at 11 AM Central Time tomorrow, after which teams can begin assembling their practice squads for the 2014 season
Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.
The rules for the practice squad are quite confusing, so here’s a quick rundown. Players are eligible if they do not have an accrued year of NFL experience (which means they are on the active roster for at least six games). If they have an accrued season, they are still practice squad eligible if they were on the 46-man active gameday roster for fewer than nine regular season games during their accrued season(s).
Players are allowed to be on the same team’s practice squad for two seasons. They can spend a third season on the practice squad if the team has 53 players on the active roster at all times. Basically, this means that the player would have to be procedurally released every time the team made a roster move and then re-signed.
Here’s the list of Rams who have practice squad eligibility, including the list of players who have the conditional third-year eligiblity. It’s important to note that all of these players must clear waivers before they can be assigned to the practice squad, so obviously you can’t expect to see early-round draft picks, or maybe even a talented later pick like Michael Sam, get passed over by every team in the league and make it to the squad.
Practice Squad Eligible Players: S Maurice Alexander, TE Alex Bayer, WR Emory Blake, OG Travis Bond, DE Kourtnei Brown, S Christian Bryant, CB Jarrid Bryant, DT Matt Conrath, P Bobby Cowan, S Avery Cunningham, TE Justice Cunningham, S Matt Daniels, OT R.J. Dill, DT Aaron Donald, WR Austin Franklin, CB E.J. Gaines, QB Garrett Gilbert, DT Deantre Harlan, WR Jordan Harris, LB Aaron Hill, OT Sean Hooey, LS Jorgen Hus, C Barrett Jones, FB Kadeem Jones, CB Lamarcus Joyner, RB Tre Mason, LB Johnny Millard, WR T.J. Moe, OL D.J. Morrell, CB Greg Reid, C Demetrius Rhaney, CB Marcus Roberson, OT Greg Robinson, LB Etienne Sabino, DE Michael Sam, LB Pat Schiller, TE Brad Smelley, LB Phillip Steward, RB Trey Watts, DL Ethan Westbrooks, CB Darren Woodard, OL Mitchell Van Dyk, WR Justin Veltung
Third-Year Eligible: DE Sammy Brown, OG Brandon Washington, LB Lawrence WilsonThe expansion of the practice squad could have effects on how the Rams compose their roster. They theoretically could accommodate players from every position group on the squad, and if they wanted to go lineman-heavy on the practice squad, they could avoid having to place second-year offensive lineman Barrett Jones on injured-reserve as he recovers from back surgery which could keep him out into the regular season. In addition, they could choose to put rookie center Demetrius Rhaney, who is expected to miss four to six weeks with a bone bruise, on the practice squad and give him time to recover, as opposed to placing him on injured reserve and saving him for next season.
Also, the expansion gives the team plenty of roster room to have a third quarterback, presumably rookie Garrett Gilbert. Even if they don’t keep him on the 53-man roster, they could attempt to sneak Gilbert through to the practice squad and keep him around as the scout team quarterback, easing the workload of veteran second-stringer Shaun Hill. The roster limits obviously were too much of a constraint in the early part of 2013, as they only kept Sam Bradford and backup Kellen Clemens on the 53-man roster and had no QB on the practice squad. After Bradford’s season-ending injury, the club re-signed the previously released Austin Davis and signed veteran Brady Quinn, but shortly after, Quinn suffered a season-ending injury and was never replaced.
Most importantly, the Rams have built up a wealth of talented but raw depth at several positions (wide receiver, cornerback, and defensive end) and have depth concerns at several others (running back, offensive line, and linebacker), so this setup will allow them to both develop the players who have legitimate changes of developing into impact NFL players while also providing themselves with insurance policies at the positions they need protection at. Guys like wide receivers Austin Franklin and Emory Blake and cornerbacks Greg Reid and Marcus Roberson, who previously may have been competing for a single practice squad spot at their position, now have a shot at gaining a spot even if their competition has one as well.
AgamemnonCoachO wrote:
CoachO knew Roberson had made the roster YESTERDAY. And from what I have been told, they didn’t make the final decision on Sam until right up to the deadline. They were fielding trade offers, mainly on Westbrooks, and a few on Sam but in the end, didn’t get what they thought was good value.
They have a preliminary Practice Squad list already in place, they had that as early as yesterday. Obviously, it is a fluid list, and includes more than 10 names. Who ends up on it will depend on who clears waivers, and if any of these players get offers from other teams to join their PS.
Again, some interesting choices as to who they want to keep.
Also, as Fisher has come out and said, they will be “monitoring” the QB and LB situation, and are likely to add a veteran if it makes sense. So the roster thant gets turned in on Tuesday is likely to be different from what you see now.,
The reason they still have 5 TEs, is because the guy they wanted to keep is now not healthy enough for week one. And they were not going to offer him an injury settlement to release him. Read into that whatever you want to.
AgamemnonAnd they were not going to offer him an injury settlement to release him. Read into that whatever you want to.
That’s obviously Cunningham.
But how does that work.
Why would releasing him injured after week 1 be different from releasing him before.
The way I read Coach O, they were going to keep Cunningham and release Bayer. But, since they want 4 active TEs?, they have 5 now, at least for the time being. So, a waived/injured deal was not part of their thinking, in this case.
Agamemnon
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