Rams snap counts: Rookie offensive linemen get long looks vs. Raiders

Rams snap counts: Rookie offensive linemen get long looks vs. Raiders

By: Cameron DaSilva | 12 minutes ago

For the second week in a row, the Los Angeles Rams opted to rest their starters. They came away with a 19-15 win over the Oakland Raiders on Saturday, but it was a sloppy game that featured basic play calls on both sides of the ball.

That was largely because of the fact that these two teams open the season against each other in Week 1, so neither coach wanted to tip his hand when it came to scheme, formations or audibles.

That gave backups increased playing time yet again, which showed on film and in the snap counts. On offense, rookies Joseph Noteboom, Jamil Demby and Brian Allen played the most snaps of anyone, all holding up well against Oakland’s defensive line.

Temarrick Hemingway also played significant snaps (62 percent) as he continues to return from a broken leg suffered last year, a good sign that he’s completely healthy. At wide receiver, Fred Brown led the way with 40 snaps, but he hardly took advantage of the playing time. He dropped three passes and only had two receptions for 9 yards on seven targets.

Defensively, the rookies continued to steal the show. Besides Taurean Nixon, five of the top six players in snaps were rookies. Sebastian Joseph-Day led the way with 38 snaps played and he looked good the majority of the time, picking up where he left off last week.

Micah Kiser and Tegray Scales continue to get the majority of snaps at linebacker as the Rams sort through the position with Mark Barron injured and Cory Littleton resting. They’re moving toward making the final roster, particularly Kiser. Scales is still on the bubble, but the amount of playing time he’s gotten works in his favor.

It’s worth noting that Travin Howard has yet to play a single snap for the Rams despite being a 2018 draft pick. He can play safety and linebacker, so it’s strange that Sean McVay and Wade Phillips wouldn’t give him any playing time thus far.