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May 4, 2018 at 3:58 pm #85896AgamemnonParticipant
Rams sign Oklahoma State DB Ramon Richards as UDFA
Rams sign Oklahoma State DB Ramon Richards as UDFA
By: Cameron DaSilva | 2 hours ago
The Los Angeles Rams announced another undrafted free agent signing on Friday, adding Oklahoma State defensive back Ramon Richards. That brings the Rams’ UDFA total to eight.
#LARams add undrafted free agent Ramon Richards
Read 📰 » https://t.co/fD4w40kg7c pic.twitter.com/YJpg8GaJ2u
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) May 4, 2018
Richards stayed all four years at Oklahoma State, playing 45 games in that span. He picked off 10 passes (two touchdowns), had 23 passes defensed and recorded 183 total tackles. from 2014-16, he played cornerback, but he transitioned to safety last season.
Richards gives the Rams added depth and position flexibility in the secondary, which is something Wade Phillips clearly likes.
May 4, 2018 at 4:02 pm #85897AgamemnonParticipantRams Sign UDFA DB Ramon Richards
Posted 2 hours ago
Myles Simmons Rams Insider @MylesASimmons
Los Angeles has added another defensive back to its roster, signing college free agent Ramon Richards.
Richards played in 45 games in his four years at Oklahoma State, recording 10 interceptions, a par of defensive touchdowns, and 10.5 tackles for loss. Per his Oklahoma State bio, Richards is a converted high school quarterback who turned into a leader for the program’s defense.
Listed at 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds, Richards began his collegiate career as a cornerback, but converted to a safety in his senior season. He recorded 62 total tackles — 5.0 for loss — with a pair of interceptions and 11 passes defensed in 2017.
Richards will wear No. 47 for Los Angeles.
The Rams have now officially signed eight undrafted free agents:
LaQuvionte Gonzalez | WR | Southeastern
Ricky Jeune | WR | Georgia Tech
Jeremiah Kolone | G | San Jose State
Curtis Mikell | DB | Southern Miss
Steven Mitchell | WR | USC
McKay Murphy | DT | Weber State
Ramon Richards | DB | Oklahoma State
Tegray Scales | LB | IndianaI have more guys than this, but maybe they are just invitees or something? Whatever. We will find out sometime. 😉
00 Luis Perez CF18 invitee -QB
00 Codey McElroy CF18 -TE
00 Tyrell Maxwell CF18 -RB00 Dalton Keene CF18 -DT
00 Chucky Williams CF18 -S
00 Steven Parker CF18 -S
00 Afolabi Laguda CF18 -S- This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by Agamemnon.
May 14, 2018 at 12:32 am #86137znModeratorRams Signing Rice OLB Brian Womac https://t.co/cW5lQcOc0g pic.twitter.com/lck5KbsMs3
— NFLTradeRumors.co (@nfltrade_rumors) May 14, 2018
Brian Womac from Rice.
OLB/edge
Height: 6020
Weight: 235==
==
http://draftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=128489&draftyear=2018&genpos=DE
2017 CONFERENCE USA FOOTBALL FIRST TEAM (COACHES): DL – Brian Womac, Sr., Rice,…Womac set a school record with 22 tackles for loss and leads C-USA in tackles for a loss and sacks heading into bowl action. He recorded at least on tackle for loss in each game and ranks third nationally with 21 solo tackles for losses while his 109 yards lost ranks second. He is tied for fourth nationally with 82 yards lost on sacks while his 10 solo sacks are tied for sixth and his 10 total sacks are tied for eighth. – Rice Football
May 14, 2018 at 5:56 pm #86152znModeratorhttps://www.footballoutsiders.com/four-downs/2018/four-downs-nfc-west-0
Notable Undrafted Free Agents:
Indiana inside linebacker Tegray Scales is lacking in both size and speed, but he makes up for it with fantastic instincts and a penchant for taking optimal angles to the ballcarrier, resulting in 36 TFLs and 13 sacks over the last two seasons. The Rams are a little thin inside with Alec Ogletree gone and Mark Barron not yet healthy, so Scales has a great shot at making the 53-man roster. So, too, does Colorado safety Afolabi Laguda, a solid tackler who could be an instant contributor on special teams.
Quarterback Luis Perez of Texas A&M-Commerce won the Harlon Hill trophy — the Division II equivalent of the Heisman — and led the Lions to a national championship last season, putting up gaudy numbers against limited competition. USC receiver Steve Mitchell can be a big-play threat with blazing speed, but three knee injuries in college mean he has spent more time in the rehab room than in the lineup. Steven Parker out of Oklahoma has experience at both safety and nickel corner, though he needs to improve his tackling if he wants to stick on special teams.
May 14, 2018 at 11:44 pm #86163znModeratorRams Sign Six College Free Agents, Waive Thompson
Myles Simmons
In the initial period following the 2018 draft, Los Angeles signed seven undrafted free agents to bolster the team’s roster through the duration of the offseason. And heading into Phase 3 of the program, the Rams have officially added six more college free agents to their roster.
Additionally, Los Angeles has waived outside linebacker Carlos Thompson with an injury designation. Thompson played three games in 2017, starting the Week 17 contest against the 49ers. He recorded a total of three tackles during the season, including one for loss.
The athletes below will join LaQuvionte Gonzalez, Ricky Jeune, Jeremiah Kolone, Steven Mitchell, McKay Murphy, Ramon Richards, and Tegray Scales — along with the club’s 11 drafted players — as part of Los Angeles’ 2018 rookie class.
Nick Holley | RB | Kent State
Holley split his time between quarterback and running back at Kent State, though he suffered season-ending injuries in his last three seasons with the program. He began 2017 as the starting quarterback for the Golden Flashes, but tore his ACL in September. In Holley’s junior year, however, he rushed for 920 yards on 195 carries with 10 touchdowns, also making 13 receptions for 135 yards with two touchdowns in 2016.
Afolabi Laguda | S | Colorado
The free safety never missed a game in his time at Colorado, starting in 26 of 38 contests. Throughout his career, Laguda recorded 171 tackles, 11 pass deflections, four forced fumbles and two interceptions — becoming known for his aggressive style of play and impressive pass coverage.
Codey McElroy | TE | Southeastern Oklahoma State
A former minor league baseball player in the Atlanta Braves farm system, McElroy then walked on at Oklahoma State as a basketball player, before making the transition to football. The 6-foot-6, 255 pound tight end finished his only season at SEOSU with 14 receptions for 173 receiving yards.
Steven Parker | S | Oklahoma
Parker will join former teammate Ogbonnia Okoronkwo in Los Angeles this offseason. The Oklahoma product was a second-team all conference selection as a senior, compiling 63 tackles and six pass breakups. Plus he had an all-around productive career in Norman, playing in 50 games for the Sooners as a significant contributor on both defense and special teams.
Luis Perez | QB | Texas A&M-Commerce
Perez earned the Harlon Hill Trophy in 2017 as the best player in the nation for Division II, completing 70.6 percent of his passes for 5,001 yards with 46 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. His strong play helped lead Texas A&M-Commerce to its first national championship since 1972 last season.
Brian Womac | DE | Rice
Womac set a program record with 22 tackles for loss as a senior in 2017. His 10.0 sacks also led Conference USA last season. In all, Womac recorded 40.0 tackles for loss and 17.0 sacks in his four years at Rice.
May 15, 2018 at 1:25 pm #86173znModeratorCROMWELL21 sez
Bizarre story on Rams roster
Rams signed Nick Holley, a QB with two knee injuries as a RB, to a UDFA contract out of Kent State University.
His twin brother, a safety at the same college, acquitted of kidnapping charges in the spring of 2017 and a UDFA last year was also in Rams camp and may eventually be signed. (He had a tryout last year with the Vikings and played in the spring league)
I’m told that Whitmer HS Grad Nick Holley will sign with the LA Rams. It’s a typical 3-year deal for an undrafted free agent. Would expect him to be used as a change of pace back. He’s on his way to sign now.
— Jordan Strack (@JordanStrack) May 14, 2018
May 16, 2018 at 12:04 am #86202znModeratorRams becoming a destination team even for undrafted free agents
Joe Curley
The call never came for Tegray Scales.
But that doesn’t mean the Indiana linebacker’s phone didn’t ring during last month’s NFL Draft.
“Midway through the sixth round, I started to get calls from everybody saying, ‘I thought you would have been picked up by now,’ ” Scales said.
By the time the seventh round ended, it was clear the scenario had flipped. Rather than Scales waiting to be picked by an NFL team, the second-team All-Big Ten selection was going to be able to choose his own NFL destination as an undrafted free agent.
“I definitely talked to more than half the teams,” Scales said. “Calls start coming in and I was missing calls because I was talking to one team and another team was calling. My agent was talking to them, as well.”
With more than half the NFL to choose from, including his hometown Cincinnati Bengals, Scales decided to join the Los Angeles Rams.
“I just felt like it was the best fit,” Scales said on Tuesday, when the Rams unveiled their 2018 draft class at Cal Lutheran. “I like what’s going on here. They’re contenders for a championship, building up as a top team and I just want to be a part of it.”
“I was expecting to get drafted. … (But I’m) still blessed with this opportunity. I’m here. I can make the most of it.”
That he chose the Rams is another sign that he franchise, just two years after moving to the Conejo Valley, is becoming a destination for NFL players, whether it is at the top or bottom of the roster.
“We got a lot of the guys that we targeted,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said. “That goes back to just being able to have those guys targeted from the beginning, when you’re able to start making calls and have that communication, that contact occur. They felt good about the situation they were coming into.”
It was easier for the Rams to attract a free agent at a position like linebacker, considering the Rams had turned over three of their four starters at the position in the offseason and haven’t brought in any big-name free agents to fill the holes.
“I would say you do have a better chance to acquiring some top-level free agents at some of those spots where maybe you don’t have as much depth, based on a way that an agent perceives it,” McVay said. “It’s smart for these agents to look at it and be realistic about it.
“If you are a spot where there’s a lot of depth … it’s probably not going to be the most ideal place to go and try to make a football team.”
Although Scales said he didn’t necessarily look at the depth chart before making his decision.
“I didn’t really get into all that stuff,” Scales said. “I just knew they had some good players here, some veterans on the defense that I would like to learn from.”
At 6-foot, 230 pounds with a 4.77-second 40-yard dash time, Scales wasn’t quite big or fast enough to be drafted.
But his instinctive playmaking ability, which he used to pile up 13 sacks and 36 tackles for loss over his final two years at Indiana, made him a sought-after free agent.
“I’m not the biggest or strongest, but I’m instinctive, I’m scrappy and I make plays,” Scales said.
Scales is just one interesting undrafted free agent on a 90-man roster that now has an influx of 28 rookies, 11 draft picks and 17 free agents.
Others included 6-6, 225-pound tight end Cody McElroy, who played baseball at Texas and in the Atlanta Braves system and basketball for Oklahoma State before picking up football for the first time since middle school at Southeast Oklahoma State.
McVay called him a “a priority free agent.”
“I think you look at just the athleticism and you just see him in person, the size is impressive,” McVay said. “Not a lot of football experience, but a lot of upside that you’ve seen.”
The Rams also added former USC receiver Steven Mitchell, who was healthy as a senior after a series of knee injuries as a Trojan.
“Anytime you’re looking at a receiver, you want to see guys that have the ability to separate, aggressive hands attacking the football,” McVay said. “You look at the production that he’s had. He’s a guy that does have some of those traits and those characteristics that you’re looking for, that we feel like will translate.”
Texas A&M-Commerce quarterback Luis Perez, who, like McElroy, did not play varsity football in high school, earned a spot on the team over the weekend at the Rams’ tryout camp.
“Everybody that I’ve talked to really can’t say enough about the human being,” McVay said. “But then when you just watch him in terms of natural base, balance, body position to deliver the ball, he earned the right to be able to be on this team.”
While Scales is walking into a good situation at linebacker, Weber State defensive lineman McKay Murphy turned down three other teams to join a depth chart that includes perhaps the two best players in NFL at his position, in Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh.
“I actually just got off the phone with my buddy and he asked me the exact same question,” Murphy said. “Some people could look at it as a huge obstacle, but I look at it as an amazing opportunity to learn from two of the best, to see how they operate.
“Some people could back down from the opportunity. But I see it as an opportunity to learn.”
Murphy is the third son of former major League baseball star Dale Murphy to sign with an NFL team. His brother Shawn, a guard, was drafted by Miami in 2008. His brother Jake, a tight end, was an undrafted free agent who played for four teams.
“I stopped playing baseball after eighth grade,” he said. “Basketball had too much running. Baseball wasn’t enough. So football was a happy medium in between. I was just always drawn more to the physicality of football.”
May 16, 2018 at 2:42 am #86204znModeratorJoe Curley@vcsjoecurley
The Rams have been awarded RB Larry Rose on waivers from Tennessee, the team announces. Rookie out of New Mexico State who signed with Titans as a UDFA and was cut after their rookie camp last week.—
May 16, 2018 at 3:18 am #86205AgamemnonParticipantMay 16, 2018 at 4:12 am #86206AgamemnonParticipantMay 16, 2018 at 4:17 am #86207AgamemnonParticipantMay 16, 2018 at 10:48 am #86214znModeratorCorbin sez
N.M. State fan.
WOW can’t believe we landed Rose. Never thought Rose would land with us. I will say this, that 3rd running back spot is going to be a hell of a warzone area. There is a potential that Brown might be cut with our RB from Tenn. joining the team.
Rose:
49 TD’s and 3k yards as a senior in HS
2017 Season Stats: 187 rushing attempts, 949 yards (5 ypc), 10 TDs; 55 receptions, 522 yards, 2 TDs
College career stats:
Att 770 Rush yds 4558 avg. 5.9 td’s 37
rec 133 Yds. 1157 avg. 8.7 td’s 5Rose is shifty, fast, very good hands he’s smaller so not the best blocker but as a 3rd down back more than likely he’ll be coming out the backfield.
Helped lead us to first first bowl game in 57 years in 2017.
May 16, 2018 at 1:23 pm #86222znModeratorhttps://draftnastymagazine.com/tag/curtis-mikell/
Curtis Mikell 5’8 170 CB-Senior
The diminutive Mikell has always overcome his size with zeal and fire. Additionally, he’s adept at climbing the ball to fend-off potential catch opportunities down the field for bigger opponents. In this game, he used his bail technique to keep vision on the quarterback before going up to deflect a post pattern away from the Wildcats 6’3, 214-pound sophomore WR Tavin Richardson. His vision came up big when mid-pointing a seam route from the outside-in to nearly pick off another pass when in three-deep zone. He also showed the ability to turn-and-run on a go route when in off-man coverage versus one of Kentucky’s faster wideouts in Isaiah Epps. His tackling stood out when defending smoke screens to the Kentucky wide receivers.
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