Cooper Kupp's mark of 6,329 yards through 6 seasons is the 8th-most ever for a player who wasn't drafted in the first round.
1-AB (86 games)
2-Ochocinco (92 g)
3-Hilton (94 g)
4-Alworth (68 g)
5-Tyreek (91 g)
6-Boldin (80 g)
7-Gary Clark (90 g)
8-Kupp (80 games)

— TurfShowTimes (@TurfShowTimes) June 28, 2023

zn wrote:

His disappointments and McVay’s impatience were an assault on Goff’s confidence.

There we go. Someone actually said it.

A handful of NFL players, including Colts’ cornerback and kick returner Isaiah Rodgers, are expected to receive season-long suspensions this week for allegedly gambling, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/7hPaqJOQlN

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 28, 2023

Avila is ready to start over again with the Rams

BY KAMRAN NIA

• https://thesportingtribune.com/avila-is-ready-to-start-over-again-with-the-rams

LOS ANGELES — Texas has been Steve Avila’s only home for the first 23 years of his life. He was born and raised in Dallas. Then, he went to Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth, Texas, for college.

At TCU, Avila was a captain for their football team, leading them to the College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship in 2023, losing to Georgia.

Avila loves the Dallas-Fort Worth area, as he relishes the tasty Mexican food and diverse culture. But after staying in the same place his whole life, he is ready to embrace his new home, Los Angeles.

After the Los Angeles Rams drafted Avila with pick No. 36 in the 2023 NFL Draft, he arrived in Los Angeles on May 12. And as Avila met his teammates and learned his way around the facilities, he understood he was starting fresh with the Rams, like when he was a freshman in college. So now, he is looking to build respect and make a difference, as he has done on his previous teams.

“I [was] talking to the other rookies like, ‘dude, we are just freshmen again,” Avila said. “Yeah, that’s really what it is. But I’ve always found a way to gain the respect of my teammates, which leads to more of a leadership role. And that’s something that I plan to do here.”

And Avila has already gained the respect of one NFL veteran, former-Rams offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth.

“I love the pick of the kid out of TCU. I think that they’ve got some young linemen now that have played, and they’ll be more experienced,” said Whitworth on the Rich Eisen show.

Even before being drafted by the Rams, Avila left a positive impression with the team. His only contact with them was when he met with special assistant to the general manager/analyst Andy Sugurman to review film, and he almost undoubtedly left a good impression, as the Rams drafted him soon after.

However, with respect comes pressure to perform well. With a 5-12 record last year following a Super Bowl win, some fans hope the Rams return to the playoffs next season. And that process now includes Avila.

Avila has played every position on the offensive line despite being primarily an interior lineman, and he is willing to play wherever he is called upon. That flexibility could be valuable for a Rams offensive line that struggled with injuries last season; Joseph Noteboom, Brandon Allen, and numerous others missed time.

Despite high expectations from people like legends like Whitworth, fans, and others, Avila does not let the pressure get to him.

“I kind of had the mindset of whatever is gonna happen is gonna happen,” Avila said. “I mean, it’s already written, and I just want to do my best to not have any regrets going into the future, whether that’s watching extra film or doing things extra. So that pressure kind of alleviate itself, like it kind of goes away.”

As Avila looks to become a leader on the Rams, he also wants to connect with the Rams community in other ways, as many team leaders do. One way he will do so is by learning Spanish.

When Avila joined the team, he felt, as one of a few Latinx players in the NFL, that he let down his Latinx fans because he did not know Spanish.

“The Rams have a very heavy Hispanic community. They’re all excited because being a Hispanic person in the NFL is rare. But like when I got here, and everybody’s all excited. I let people down because I was don’t speak Spanish,” Avila said.

Furthering Avila’s disappointment was finding out that his teammate, defensive lineman Kobie Turner can speak Spanish, and he does not.

“Kobie Turner, who’s also on the team, he speaks Spanish. And it made me mad. I was like, ‘Alright, man, I gotta get all my stuff,” Avila said.

Avila tried learning Spanish in 2021 but quit because it felt like schoolwork. However, now he has made a promise that he will learn the language by one year from now. He will try to complete the lofty goal using language learning apps like Duolingo.

Over the next few months, Avila will continue integrating with the team as he prepares for his rookie season. Training camp begins on July 29, and he will prepare for his first game on August 12 when the Rams play the Los Angeles Chargers in the preseason.

The Rams didn’t exactly improve as a team this offseason, but they did get better at 4 different positions https://t.co/lz8jlUl38Z

— Rams Wire (@TheRamsWire) June 27, 2023

I’d rank the top @RamsNFL RBs of all-time as:
1. Eric Dickerson
2. Marshall Faulk
3. Steven Jackson
4. Lawrence McCutcheon
5. Dick Bass
6. Todd Gurley
7. Jerome Bettis
8. Jim Bertlesen
9. Jon Arnett
10. Wendell Tyler

— LI Sports Fan (@LIsportsfans) June 26, 2023

wv wrote:

The last time the Rams used their top pick for an Interior Olineman was — last year. Bruss. Ok, well, they are stocking up, arent they. w v

You’ve gotten me thinking aloud about a lot of things related to the OL.

One thing I did point out above about all that is that a couple of times, the McV/Snead Rams had first picks in the 3rd round, and it’s kind of counter-intuitive to assume first picks are in round 3. So we don’t quite register Noteboom and Bruss as “first picks.”

We usually think of first picks as 2nd or 1st rounders, and on that the Rams have actually been historically a disaster–bad 1st round OL picks far outnumber good ones. Since 66 (which is as far back as I went this time) the Rams have picked 8 OL in round 1 and only 2 of them really worked out (Mack and Pace). Though to be fair, Barron was just a lazy underachiever and not genuinely “bad,” and Brostek was fairly good but too injured up to be a stable player. Schad, Robinson, and Smith, in contrast, are among the worst picks in all Rams drafting history.

In terms of the recent OL workings, the McV/Snead Rams build the OL the same way the Vermeil Rams did–they aggressively use every single method of player acquisition simultaneously. High-end free agents (Timmerman, Whitworth), bargain free agents and “ronin” ie. other teams’ cuts (McCollum, Shelton), higher draft picks (Pace, Avila), lower draft picks (Miller, Edwards and Anchrum), UDFAs (Nutten, Jackson), and crafty trades (recently Corbett). So the McV/Snead Rams are always stocking up, actually. Then again, we’ve never seen an OL injury epidemic like 2022, though it was close to that bad in  2007 and 2011 and 2012. The silver thread woven into the dark injury hurricane of 2022 was that a whole bunch of OL got a chance to play in 2022, so that the Rams actually have a list of experienced players to build with in 2023. If Jackson works out as predicted, for example, they will have possibly gotten a starting LOT as a UDFA, which is a major find.

The Rams rebuilt their secondary this offseason but PFF isn’t confident in the new group, dropping LA to the bottom of its 2023 rankings https://t.co/9XBnRmydBm

— Rams Wire (@TheRamsWire) June 24, 2023

from [link above]

It’s a completely remodeled secondary, one that isn’t necessarily better than last year’s unit. In fact, Pro Football Focus thinks it’s considerably worse. PFF released its secondary rankings for the upcoming season and the Rams were lower than any other team: 32nd in the NFL. They were ninth in PFF’s rankings last year, for comparison.

When a team sells out to win the Super Bowl like the Rams did, roster overhaul will inevitably happen. And that is what we’re seeing in this secondary right now.

Kendrick graded as the second-worst cornerback in the league last year at 43.7 and returns to the Rams as their most experienced starter, as he played 483 snaps in 2022. L.A. spent two Day 3 picks on the secondary this year, but 2023 will be tough to watch from a once formidable unit.

This is the second time PFF has ranked a Rams position group as the worst in the league, also putting their linebackers 32nd.

wv wrote:

they can finish in that 9-7 zone.

It’s hard to adjust to the 17 game schedule, ain’t it. (Friendly tease, not a taunt.)

One thing I notice about the McV Rams. Look at all the players who made some noise and did some things with the Rams, eventually became FAs who walked and…then did nothing.

I just think they might be a bit bigger than the sum of their parts.

Who did the Rams have on offense when they had their best seasons? Gurley–till the knee. Woods, who then didn’t do anything after leaving. Kupp. The McV Rams were never as loaded as the Bruce, Holt, Faulk Rams.

But still they are 46/18 in years with a relatively healthy OL, and that includes 2 super bowl appearances. In the other  2 years they are 14/19. Now of course that’s not some kind of written in stone, sure-thing formula because there are variables such as having Whitworth before and finding a new LOT now.

Anyway. One of the things they’re doing with the OL in 23 is bulking up the interior, not only to give the running game more juice, but to give Stafford a pocket to step up in. I think if relatively healthy the Rams are about a 10 win team, maybe more.

Rodrigue…from the 6/23 post in this thread: OTAs … w/ a good re-cap article (posted 6/23)

Ranking my favorite offensive line combinations, from the left side to the right:

• Alaric Jackson, Tremayne Anchrum Jr., Coleman Shelton, Steve Avila, Rob Havenstein

• Jackson, Anchrum, Brian Allen, Avila, Havenstein

• Jackson, Avila, Shelton, Logan Bruss, Havenstein

• Joe Noteboom, Jackson, Shelton, Avila, Havenstein

Bruss also got some reps at right tackle, where he played multiple games in college. Something to watch!

***

The Rams have plenty to sort out before the season begins, including a handful of positions on offense.

My best guess as to who will be part of the starting offense come Week 1 https://t.co/X6XjMSBRVj

— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) June 22, 2023

Left tackle: Joe Noteboom

The offensive line is where things get really interesting, beginning with left tackle. Noteboom will need to not only stay healthy this year, but he’ll have to hold off Alaric Jackson for the starting job, regardless of his larger salary. Sean McVay has said every spot on this team will be earned so Noteboom won’t be handed the starting spot just because he has a sizable contract. Still, I think he’ll win the battle in camp.

Left guard: Steve Avila

Avila has already been working with the first-team offense so the Rams are trying to get him integrated rather quickly. He has the ability to play any of the three interior positions, which gives him a good chance to start somewhere in the middle. If Avila plays well enough in training camp and the preseason, he should be able to hold off either Noteboom or Jackson, as well as Coleman Shelton, Tremayne Anchrum Jr. and the other guards competing for playing time.

Center: Coleman Shelton

The Rams are by no means committed to Brian Allen as their starting center. In fact, they might be leaning more toward Shelton at this point. They’ve rotated their centers throughout the offseason, giving Shelton first-team reps in place of Allen. Shelton is a bigger blocker, which helps in the run game, and that has been evidenced when he’s filled in for Allen in the past. This is one of the most intriguing position battles of the year for L.A.

Right guard: Logan Bruss

Bruss missed his entire rookie year and the Rams are probably itching to get a look at their top pick from the 2022 draft. He’ll have to earn his starting spot, beating out the likes of Anchrum, Jackson and others, but I think he’ll get the job done and show the Rams what they liked so much about him in the draft last year.

Right tackle: Rob Havenstein

The only position on the offensive line that’s not up for grabs is right tackle. Havenstein is going to be the starter there, as he has been for years, and there’s absolutely no reason to think any of the Rams’ other linemen will beat him out or even get a chance to compete for his job.