Coach Mcvay, you changed my life forever man. Grateful I had that experience wit u, single handedly changed my life. Love and miss them boys over there , can’t wait to whooop u and coach Rah this year 😂😂😂😂😂

— Odell Beckham Jr (@obj) August 5, 2023

Stetson Bennett high key slinging it at Rams camp. Making plays, looking like QB2 after Stafford.

pic.twitter.com/CNG2tgTVEe

— Billy (@Billyhottakes) August 2, 2023

from https://theramswire.usatoday.com/lists/rams-training-camp-takeaways-notes-practice-thursday/

Timarcus Davis getting first-team reps

The Rams don’t typically share video clips from practice that show who’s working with what unit, but in the brief snippets of Durant’s pass breakups, you can see a handful of players working with the starters – including undrafted rookie cornerback Timarcus Davis. That’s an unexpected development, and while it doesn’t mean he’s on track to start, it’s certainly worth noting.

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Prospect Info

• POS CB
• HEIGHT 5-11
• WEIGHT 165
• COLLEGE Arizona State Sun Devils

from https://www.turfshowtimes.com/2023/5/17/23709061/rams-undrafted-free-agents-cornerbacks-preview

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Athletic, versatile corner who projects best to playing downhill in zone coverage, but can be sticky in press/man outside where he can leverage the sideline. Originally signed by Baylor back in 2017 and came out west in 2018. Had his ups and downs with the Sun Devils, earning 13 starts in 36 games. For his career, he totaled 95 tackles, three interceptions, and 13 passes broken up. Davis was a regular participant on special teams, on both coverage and kick block units.

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Was set to be the ASU starter in 2022 but a bruised knee kept him out of the latter part of camp, the season opener and limited him in Week 2. The season also brought in a new defensive coordinator, defensive backs coach, a crop of new recruits and four secondary transfers through the portal. The new scheme was primarily man coverage and Davis had struggles adjusting inside, being too handsy.

The new staff wanted a cross-trained and rotational secondary. Although Davis would only get four starts in his final year, the good news was getting experience at slot corner and safety, as well as his normal outside corner duties.

At his Pro Day, Davis stood out in some categories and overall, showed plus athleticism. He measured in at 5’ 11” 180 lbs. with 9 3/4” hands and 30 5/8” arms. He clocked an adequate 4.52 forty, and 10 reps on the bench. A very good 4.12 shuttle was followed by stellar numbers in the 3Cone (6.65), vertical (41”), and long jump (11’ 2”).

Physical run defender is a very good tackler with good form and drive through ball carriers. Plays well from both press and looking at the action. When in off man plays in a trail position and leaves too much space for receivers to make breaks. Shows good zone skills, quick to read/react, burst to the ball, and tough enough to bang with tight ends.

Solid special teams contributor who was behind really good players early in his Sun Devil days and just didn’t put it together as a senior. Not a great amount of film, but plays pretty well in what there is. Blocked a couple kicks and as a gunner, broke down and made tackles, not just running right past the action.

from * https://theramswire.usatoday.com/lists/rams-training-camp-takeaways-notes-practice-thursday/

Interior of O-line may be taking shape

According to LAFB, Tremayne Anchrum Jr. and Steve Avila “seem to be locking down the guard spots.” That’s hardly surprising, given Avila’s draft pedigree and Anchrum’s strong standing with the coaching staff. Also, Brian Allen got all the first-team reps on Thursday, according to LAFB, but Coleman Shelton has also had practices where he got all the first-team reps.

from https://www.turfshowtimes.com/2023/8/4/23820837/sean-mcvay-rams-49ers-josh-mcdaniels-head-coach

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McVay said that his interview with the 49ers went so well because he was riding high with confidence after nailing his talk with L.A. Rams owner Stan Kroenke, general manager Les Snead, and COO Kevin Demoff and that San Francisco owner Jed York told him he was one of three finalists.

“Jed York told me I’m either hiring you, Kyle Shanahan, or Josh McDaniels. He’s like “Wow, this is really impressive.” That went well and the Rams ended up hearing how well that (interview with the 49ers) had gone. Well, Kyle was still playing (the Falcons were in the playoffs and he couldn’t be hired until they were eliminated) so they couldn’t meet with him again…I don’t know if they had connected with Josh or not. The very next day, the Rams flew me back to go have dinner and then I never left L.A.”

…
McVay also made it clear that though he seriously contemplated retirement after the 2022 season that he is no longer thinking in that direction. McVay noted that he is very interested in being a part of the media one day but that it is not in the “near future” anymore. The Rams head coach sounded aware of the fact that nobody knows what’s going to happen this season with so many uncertainties on the roster and that “there’s more competition on our team than there’s ever been since the first year in 2017.”

So even if L.A. does have another underwhelming season, McVay sounds ready to be a part of a “reset” that takes multiple years and that he won’t question his commitment to being a football coach any time soon. On the struggles of 2022, McVay said “I wasn’t the best version of myself,” but that he learned more from going 5-12 than he did from winning the Super Bowl.

Streaming now on @thepivot YouTube channel.. Head coach #SeanMcVay of the @RamsNFL has a new approach to this season. Gotta let ‘em hang!!!

Tap in now for more of this dope interview at the link below: https://t.co/Qt9UXf3DUF pic.twitter.com/YcG8QMZ7Fm

— Fred Taylor (@FredTaylorMade) August 4, 2023

10 Observations from the Rams’ fourth open 2023 training camp practice: A back-and-forth day of game-like situational work

Aug 03

Stu Jackson

* https://www.therams.com/news/10-observations-rams-fourth-2023-open-training-camp-practice-game-like

IRVINE, Calif. – Thursday’s open practice at 2023 Training Camp presented by UNIFY Financial Credit Union featured the most extensive work on game-like situations yet, with plays made in those settings by both the offense and the defense.

Here are 10 things that stood out from the session:

1) Kupp a non-participant: After leaving Tuesday’s practice with a hamstring injury, Kupp was not dressed out for Thursday’s practice. However, he was still very much involved, spending as much time as possible coaching up the group alongside wide receivers coach Eric Yarber.

2) Skowronek returns: Ben Skowronek was on the field again after missing Tuesday’s practice with back soreness.

3) Competitive 1-on-1s: This portion of practice perhaps set the back-and-forth tone for the rest of the evening. Quarterback Matthew Stafford connected with wide receiver Van Jefferson with defensive back Cobie Durant in coverage, but Durant bounced back a few plays later with a pass breakup of his own. Tutu Atwell caught a deep touchdown pass from Stafford with defensive back Robert Rochell in coverage, then a short touchdown pass from Stafford with defensive back Tre Tomlinson in coverage. Rochell bounced back not long after with a pass breakup on a Stetson Bennett pass for wide receiver Puka Nacua; Tomlinson likewise by deflecting a Stafford deep pass down the sideline intended for Jefferson.

4) Offense threatens, until defense comes up big in redzone: One of the best series during situational team drills came when Stafford rifled three-straight completions to Jefferson, Atwell and Nacua to get the offense into opponent territory, only for the drive to later end with a near-interception by linebacker Christian Rozeboom near the goal line to prevent the offense from scoring.

5) Denied by Durant: Durant also had an impressive pass breakup during 11-on-11 work, deflecting a Stafford pass intended for Nakua near the sideline. However, arguably his best one of the day was a leaping-backward pass breakup where he full extended his right arm to prevent a deep Stafford completion to wide receiver Austin Trammell.

6) Denied by Taylor: Rookie defensive back Jason Taylor II likewise came up with a timely pass breakup of his own, denying a Bennett pass intended for Demarcus Robinson in the endzone during team drills that fired up Los Angeles’ defensive backs on the sideline.

7) Going up: Tight end Tyler Higbee had one of the best catches of the day when he hauled in a jump ball on a Stafford pass during redzone work for a touchdown.

8) Good day for Hopkins: Tight end Brycen Hopkins made plays across all facets of situational work Thursday. Besides making a nice catch on an intermediate pass from Stafford during team drills, he also was on the receiving end of a Bennett pass that picked up a good chunk of yardage and helped move the ball a 2-minute drill. That same series, he hauled in a shorter pass to keep the drive moving. In redzone work, he caught a touchdown pass from quarterback Brett Rypien.

9) Akers, Williams find the endzone: Running backs Cam Akers and Kyren Williams both scored touchdowns during redzone work, Akers while bouncing to the outside and Williams while punching it in up the middle.

10) Jonah in the backfield: Defensive end Jonah Williams’ penetration to blow up a run play at one point during team drills was so good that it drew cheers from his teammates and defensive line coach/run game coordinator Eric Henderson.

Rampage2K-

8/4

it was a beautiful day with temps very mild low humidity and a nice breeze, unlike other years where it was hot and muggy….
The Rams have two fields and mix it up on which one they will have the live scrimmage, so you have to guess correctly to get a good spot….but knowing this, I did some recon and good some good info from a nice young lady who was setting up the video opps. She told me what field it would be on and I was on my way to snag a good spot.

Had a great upclose view in the corner of the endzone that they usually use and had some great looks at the action…

All in all, it was a pretty good energized practice, sometimes a little bit too much, as McVay stopped it 3/4 into the live scrimmage and pulled whole team to middle of the field and I’m guessing it was a “calm the eff down!” speech before they continued with the scrimmage.

OL was
Noteboom LT
Avila LG
1 Allen 2 Shelton at C
Anchrum RG
Havs RT

Allen and Shelton were rotation but the others were set as the 1’s

DB’s look very good, tons of energy and some very sticky coverage

Stafford looks very healthy and just whipping that ball

Kupp was out there coaching up

Akers looks like a new man, he was ripped and just much bigger looking

Evans looks like a carbon copy of Akers

Puka was getting a ton of targets

Atwell looked like a new man also, put on some muscle and was catching everything thrown to him….could be breakout year for him

Donald still just a game wrecker…the rookie is getting some good reps going against that monster

Young looks the part

Hopkins looks like he wants some playing time this year

Bennett is small, but has a gun.

Cobie is a flat out playmaker

Tre is bigger that his stats and looked good

Sko had a great catch for a first down

VJ is going to be pushed by some really good looking prospects in DeMarcus, Puka, Johnson etc…

Lake looks like our starting S along with Fuller

Not a whole lot as there is too much to take in in such a short period of time, but it was a great time!!!

Love the energy this young team has this year

The Rams are moving Quentin Lake around, even plugging him in as a linebacker in dime packages. That should allow him, Jordan Fuller and Russ Yeast to play a bunch of snaps together this year https://t.co/CzG1LntkIb

— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) August 4, 2023

We're through five practices at Rams training camp. Here are some notes and observations https://t.co/GTjdX9s231

— Adam Grosbard (@AdamGrosbard) August 1, 2023

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[link above]

Rams camp through 5 practices: New strategy for Aaron Donald, battle for WR3, more

Rams coach Sean McVay has sent double- and triple-teams toward Donald more than in previous summers, which is what the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year can expect from opponents

By ADAM GROSBARD

IRVINE — The Rams had their fifth day of training camp on Monday, and their first in full pads. Here’s a look at what we’ve learned through the first week of camp as the team prepares for 2023:

NEW BUT FAMILIAR LOOKS FOR DONALD

Defensive tackle Aaron Donald finally found himself with a clean look during 11-on-11s, going up one-on-one against fourth-year tackle Alaric Jackson. But before the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year could pull a move out of his bag of tricks, tight end Tyler Higbee came pulling in to reinforce Jackson on the run block.

It’s been a lot of this for Donald in training camp this year as the Rams coach Sean McVay has slid protection against the 10-year veteran and sent double- and triple-teams his way more than in previous summers.

“I was kind of mad because you want to be able to work different things. But it’s realistic so I appreciate him doing that for me, allowing me to make my job hard at practice and making me study a little longer at night,” Donald said. “So it isn’t going to do nothing but make me better.”

Donald has faced extra blockers throughout his career. But there’s reason to expect more such looks this season. As veterans such as A’Shawn Robinson, Greg Gaines and Michael Brockers have found new teams over the past few seasons, it leaves Donald as an even more glaring matchup for opposing offenses to plan for.

“It’s what we would do if we played him, too,” McVay said. “What happens is if you don’t [replicate that approach at practice], you get very unrealistic looks for some of the things that he’s able to do for his teammates and his side of the ball.”

BATTLE FOR THIRD WIDE RECEIVER

Cooper Kupp and Van Jefferson entered camp as the unquestioned top targets for quarterback Matthew Stafford, but there are several options angling to join them in the starting 11.

Fifth-round selection Puka Nacua has been a contender early in the camp. He’s gotten consistent snaps with the first team during 11-on-11s and has made some impressive plays, like a breadbasket catch in the end zone courtesy of a nicely thrown ball by Stetson Bennett IV.

But what’s impressed coaches and teammates most is Nacua’s early grasp of the playbook.

“This is my job now. It’s the best thing in the world, I get to wake up and do nothing but football,” Nacua said. “When I get the opportunity to run with the ones, to understand where Matthew wants me to be and understanding the timing of the play because it’s not like everything’s about being full speed. You gotta be at a certain spot at a certain time.”

Fourth-year receiver Tutu Atwell has also gotten some chances with the first team, including Monday as Jefferson received a rest day.

But one of the standouts of camp has been veteran free-agent signing Demarcus Robinson. Every day he’s seemed to make at least one highlight play, through contact or in the air. After one end-zone catch on Monday, he got a big high-five from McVay.

“It’s not too big for him,” McVay said. “He’s just got a good look in his eye. He’s got a good swagger. You can just see the way that he even just moves around the field, he’s got confidence. He’s one of those guys that wants the ball.”

QUICK HITS

• Bennett received the majority of the first-team work on Monday as Stafford had a scheduled day off. The fourth-round pick has had his moments in camp, particularly while on the run or throwing deep, but he has struggled with maintaining his arm strength when throwing in the pocket.

• The Rams have two ongoing position battles along the offensive line. Jackson is competing with veteran Joe Noteboom at left tackle while Brian Allen and Coleman Shelton have traded first-team reps at center.

• Rookie defensive back Tyon Davis had one of the top plays of the first day in pads, delivering a walloping hit to running back Zach Evans and forcing a fumble.

• Cornerback Derion Kendrick is day-to-day with a sore hamstring, with McVay saying he could come back this week or be held out until next.

Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
Individuals looking crisper/more focused on offense today. Must have had a good couple walkthroughs after some issues earlier this week.

Jordan Fuller, Russ Yeast and Quentin Lake are getting into a groove with each other in the secondary. I asked DC Raheem Morris about Lake moving around a lot in camp and he confirmed he’s working on both safety spots, and dime linebacker.

TurfShowTimes@TurfShowTimes
Raheem Morris mentioned that Quentin Lake has been playing some linebacker. It is a huge position of need after all.

Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
Not in my opinion – it’s a normal subpackage in this system but you saw a lot of injuries/guys who weren’t able to do it previously and then you also had the benefit of Ramsey at star

Dime LB in a subpackage in this defense is not the same position as a “base” LB, if that is helpful.

On offense it all depends on the OL but then they have a long list of holdover players with experience on that OL. That’s the silver thread in the middle of the 2022 OL injury hurricane. They do not lack for OL players (and adding Avila is a big plus, literally and figuratively).

On defense I think some are mistaking “don’t know yet” for “they have nothing.” When we don’t know yet we don’t know yet, and that’s not the same thing as authentic pessimism. I think odds are a lot of the guys we don’t know about yet will actually work out and stick.

The D depends on a lot of developed 2nd through 4th year players. We don’t yet know how much talent that amounts to. It all depends on guys like Hoecht and Copeland etc. Most if not all of the new starters have been in the system and know the coaches.

From the looks of things it will not only be a re-tooled defensive rosters but also a new strategic approach. In the off-season Rodrigue reported that Morris and the Rams staff were (direct quote) “sick to death” of constantly facing quick ball control passing. They strategically shifted away from a team built around Donald and Ramsey to being a team whose front 7 is more aggressive and quicker.

From what I can tell right now, it’s really only 1 rookie who might start (Young). We know Fuller will start at safety though I have no idea who the other safety will be–most likely a 2nd year guy. I will just do the other 9, though warning–I haven’t researched this in any thorough way and am just doing it off the top of my head. The rest are all 2nd through 4th year players, the main candidates being Hoecht, Copeland, Brown, Rozeboom (I think), Durant, Kendrick. Of those that’s 3 2nd year players (4 if you count my unnamed 2nd safety) and 3 3rd-4th year players. That’s along with the previous starters–Donald, Jones, and Fuller. So they could have possibly 1 rookie, mixed in with 3 former starters, and 7 2nd through 4th year new starters.

Having said that, it might be hard to name “starters” are every position for a while. Odds are they will do a lot of rotating, so at some positions the “starter” just may be situational. Like (just a wild guess) Young and Hardy sharing a spot and rotating.

How about 2001 as a comparison? The main reason for the defensive re-tooling in 2001 was the complete collapse of the defense in 2000. in 99 the Rams D was 4th in points and 6th in yards, in 2000 they were 31st in points and 23rd in yards, in 2001 they were 7th in points and 3rd in yards. So what they did in 2001 worked.

In terms of the additions, the 2001 D started 4 free agents/trades, 2 rookies, and 6 carry over players (counting Little so making it 12). Of the carry overs, 3 had been starters previously.The 2023 D will start: no FAS, at most one rookie, 3 previous starters, and 7 2nd to 4th year carry overs who had not started previously (though many of them played previously). They don’t have the veteran FAs 2001 did, but unlike 2001 it’s not a new defensive system.

Is that a lot of turnover? Yes. But it’s also a lot of players who know the system and coaches. I could see a situation where they start out at 1 level then cohere during the season and take it up a notch. Not promising a top 5 defense in 23 but it could be a lot better than the more pessimistic accounts tend to think it will be.

Conclusion: I doubt the changes in 23 will be as dramatic as in 2001 (of course), but I also am betting it won’t be as bad as some are predicting.