Sean McVay once again spoke highly of Cam Akers, saying he's going to be a "huge part" of the Rams this year and "central figure" in the offense https://t.co/Er3T7V8iAZ

— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) June 15, 2023

PFF still ranks Rams offensive line among worst groups heading into 2023 season. https://t.co/7Te1QuIO1p

— Blaine Grisak 💭 (@bgrisakTST) June 13, 2023

zn wrote:

Zooey wrote:

The ENTIRE West Virginia State Police department is under sexual misconduct investigation.

James Endicott@o76923

The saga of the West Virginia State Police is so over the top you’d dismiss a movie on it as unrealistic. A whistleblower sent a letter detailing cops robbing a casino, covering up a murder, drunken fight clubs, and affairs then the entire department tried to bury it.

.

Setting up cameras in the women’s changing room in order to peep on the Junior Trooper Academy is just the first part of it that is leaking from their cover up because there are so many victims willing to testify.

What to know about the West Virginia State Police scandal
As a dizzying number of allegations have emerged, here’s what you need to know.

• https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2023/04/03/wv-state-police-scandal-explained/

Public spats between high-ranking officials. Anonymous letters and lawsuit threats. A cast of characters longer than a blockbuster movie and a laundry list of allegations that seems to grow every day.

The scandal that has rocked the West Virginia State Police is shocking, complicated and confusing.

But with more investigations vowed – including a federal probe and numerous civil lawsuits – it’s clear that the scope of the allegations are far-reaching and may impact the state for years to come.

Here’s what we know and what we don’t.

What is being investigated?

Sometime last year, an anonymous letter was sent to the office of Gov. Jim Justice, alleging over a dozen incidents of misconduct within the State Police. It detailed drunken fights, office affairs, misspent funds, overtime theft, sexual assaults, and how a trooper had installed a hidden camera in the women’s locker room at the State Police Training Academy.

The letter worked its way through the state government like a slow-burning fuse. In the last few weeks, it has exploded. After the letter was sent to legislators and described by media outlets in mid-February, the governor confirmed several acts of misconduct among troopers. State Police Superintendent Jan Cahill has resigned under pressure from Justice. And State Police have arrested a trooper on domestic violence charges, which his attorney says are retaliation for speaking out.

Yet despite the revelations, critical elements of the sprawling scandal remain unknown. Most of the allegations in the letter have neither been publicly substantiated nor disproven. And Justice has not released the results of an initial investigation he said was completed over a week ago, despite vowing to be “one-thousand percent transparent.”

Meanwhile, Cahill has vigorously defended himself, saying he is “a fall guy” who was kept in the dark about the entire inquiry until Justice pressured him to resign.

Justice has spoken publicly and released the most information about three incidents:

An alleged theft by a state police trooper at the Mardi Gras Casino in Cross Lanes in 2021

Alleged video taping inside the women’s locker room at the State Police Academy in Institute.

The death of a man during an encounter with state police on Interstate 81 in the Eastern
Justice has provided the most information about an alleged theft of roughly $750 by a veteran state police officer at the Mardi Gras Casino.

A video released of the 2021 incident shows the man, who has not been identified, picking up an envelope off the chair of the slot machine.

The officer ultimately returned the money and hasn’t been charged with a crime. He resigned last month after the incident was brought to light.

Justice said that the officer should have been fired and accused Cahill, the superintendent at the time, of botching the investigation. Cahill has said he did not have the ability to fire the officer.

How did a camera get in the women’s locker room at the State Police Academy? How long was it there?

When Justice spoke to the media on March 20, he described how a state trooper had installed a camera in the women’s locker room at the State Police Training Academy in Institute. Justice said that when troopers discovered evidence of women being taped, they destroyed it.

Justice did not name the trooper in question, but said he was deceased. It’s also unclear when the taping began, when it stopped, whether there is any additional footage or whether any other troopers were involved.

Cahill told MetroNews that he was aware of only one woman who had been filmed and that she didn’t want there to be any further investigation.

But on March 23, Wheeling-based attorney Teresa Toriseva sent a letter to the State Police, notifying the agency that several women who used the locker room at the Academy intend to sue.

She said in an interview that she now has eight clients and that dozens more have contacted her office. She said that it’s not only state troopers who may have been videotaped but that police officers from agencies all across the state use the facility for training.

“In the last decade, any woman who was a police officer in West Virginia had to come through and now has to ask this question: Was I taped?” she said.

Toriseva says her clients feel violated by the possible videotaping but are still “proud of their service as law enforcement officers.”

How did a man die on I-81 after a struggle with police?

Edmond Exline, 45, died in February after a struggle with State Police troopers on I-81 in Berkeley County.

The death of Edmond Exline has also become part of the ongoing investigation. Exline died late Feb. 12 after a struggle with state troopers on I-81 near the Maryland border.

Details are sparse. The State Police have released little information. Even Exline’s family is still in the dark about what happened.

Sarah Hartman-Exline, Edmond Exline’s sister-in-law, said Maryland state troopers knocked on their door in Hagerstown, M.D, at about 2:30 a.m. They then informed her and her husband that Exline was dead.

She said she and her husband made more than 100 phone calls to the West Virginia State Police to gather details about Exline’s death. A trooper eventually told her that Exline, 45, was encountered by officers after a 911 caller reported an intoxicated man walking on the highway.

Exline’s family said he suffered from schizophrenia, which often caused him to act erratically.

Hartman-Exline said the trooper told her that a Taser was used on Exline, that numerous officers were involved, and that there was a five-minute window where the troopers didn’t respond to the dispatcher.

Both Justice and Cahill have watched the video and described it as unsettling.

“The audio concerned me right off the bat, the commands, the screaming,” Cahill said.

On March 2, Governor Justice’s Chief of Staff, Brian Abraham, sent a memo to Cahill asking for a trove of information, including text messages and emails from Cahill and 12 other members of the State Police. The request appears to be related to Exline’s death, as the date range begins the morning after the incident.

Justice said that prosecutors reviewing the case had asked him not to release the video but that he intends to do so in the future.

Meanwhile, Exline’s family is still mourning his death.

Brian Exline, Edmond’s brother, said his brother left behind one adult child. He described his brother as a genius with his hands, who “could literally take apart anything and put it back together.”

That included a 1962 Buick Skylark Convertible Edmond rebuilt with their father when the boys were young.

Who is the whistleblower?

No one has publicly confirmed that they are the whistleblower who wrote the anonymous letter. However, David Moye, the attorney for Sgt. Joseph Comer, has said State Police believe his client is the whistleblower.

Moye has not confirmed Comer wrote the letter, but that Comer reported similar concerns to State Police leaders. Moye also alleged that State Police retaliated against Comer when they arrested him on charges of domestic battery and felony strangulation on February 24.

In an interview with WSAZ News, he said that Comer had a State Police administrative hearing scheduled on the day he was arrested.

“I believe that they came as a smokescreen trying to prohibit him from testifying,” Moye said about the charges. He said that the charges stemmed from an incident in December and described them as being “absolutely false.”

What other State Police scandals have there been?

This is not the first scandal for the West Virginia State Police, which has been plagued by misconduct allegations over the decades.

One of the most notable cases of misconduct was the work of former forensic technician Fred Zain, estimated to have falsified evidence in 182 cases during the 80s and 90s. He was set to be retried on fraud charges related to testimony he gave in a criminal trial when he died from cancer in 2002.

In 1999, State Trooper Gary Messenger II was sentenced to seven years in prison for beating a McDowell County man who had complained about a party where state troopers were firing their guns at an American Legion hall in Welch.

Justice also confirmed in a press conference last week that the FBI is investigating allegations that a state trooper raped a woman in December 2021.

What happens next?

Justice has said that he directed interim State Police Superintendent Jack Chambers to investigate all allegations of wrongdoing alongside an investigation by the state Department of Homeland Security.

A special prosecutor from Grant County is investigating Exline’s death – and Justice has said that federal investigators are also involved in some elements of the State Police probe, although their focus is unclear.

There is no public timetable for any of the investigations, but Justice has indicated that investigators have continued to find evidence of wrongdoing.

“The more we dug, the more it stunk,” he said.

.@RamsNFL Stafford to Kupp in 2021 as good as a WB/WR Connection can get. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/YocSI5ta1B

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) June 11, 2023

Purity culture is so fvcked. pic.twitter.com/uQeh9cG9wn

— AskAubry 🦝 (@ask_aubry) June 10, 2023

InvaderRam wrote:

i’m excited about a lot of these rookie offensive players. nacua, avila, evans, even allen. i know they won’t all make it, but even if just two of them end up being solid contributors i’ll be happy. honestly i can even see three of these guys being contributors. excited for training camp to start.

I think all 4 will make it. The question is which ones will become multi-year starters. It’s clear that Avila will. The other 3 could at a minimum become good role players.

Avila may be the Rams best 2nd round pick since (coincidentally, given his position) Saffold.

The Rams have had great success with Safeties dating back over a decade. We have good reason to believe that we have a good player on roster to start opposed Jordan Fuller

Russ Yeast is my pick for a breakout defender for the Rams. I think Yeast steps up in year 2 as a starter pic.twitter.com/s7lCGqGHJx

— RAMS ON FILM (@RamsOnFilm) June 9, 2023

Stetson Bennett got a encouraging message and signed jersey from Aaron Rodgers, who he grew up watching https://t.co/AnzjTmUHb9

— Rams Wire (@TheRamsWire) June 8, 2023

Rams OTAs: Puka Nacua’s learning curve, Cooper Kupp returns, DBs’ energy and more

By Jourdan Rodrigue

https://theathletic.com/4587189/2023/06/06/rams-practice-puka-nacua-cooper-kupp/

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — It’s hard to shake some of the deja vu at Rams OTAs this spring when watching a versatile receiver in a No. 17 jersey run all over the field with the first-team offense.

Rookie fifth-round pick Puka Nacua has stood out in each of the three practices the media has been able to view this spring, because of his significant workload despite his age as well as the plays he has made — and he’s impressing the coaching staff, too.

“It’s been really impressive, how quickly he has gotten up to speed,” said head coach Sean McVay after Tuesday’s practice. “He’s really conscientious.”

No. 1 receiver Cooper Kupp has not previously been at OTAs, and on Tuesday Ben Skowronek and Van Jefferson did not practice (Jefferson had a rest day and Skowronek had some “soreness” in his foot, according to McVay). So there has been ample opportunity, and need, for a receiver to step in and take on a larger-than-normal workload. Nacua has done exactly that, and the coaching staff has openly tested him with more responsibility each week.

Yet … anyone who has followed this team in the McVay era knows how tough it is to crack an actual featured role in his offense as a rookie receiver. The last player who did that was Kupp, though other rookie receivers have been contributors since Kupp’s standout first season in 2017. So much goes on behind the scenes, too — film study, weight room, recovery, etc. — so how can we know when the excitement over a player is simply because they’re excelling as a fill-in during the spring, or they’re the real deal?

“I referenced Puka, I think that is one of the things he has done so quickly — you go from thinking about the lines on the page to the reason we are running the concept,” Kupp said. “You go from just what the picture says to what the ‘why’ is behind the picture. I think that’s the biggest difference — when you can get to the ‘why.’”

One example: The Rams’ skill players and quarterbacks worked on red zone concepts on one end of the field, with no defenders and at a slower pace, in the early portion of practice. McVay led this group as they set up different route stacks and formations intended to spring certain players loose. He took extra time to explain to Nacua and others why the spacing on certain routes needed to match a certain timing count in the quarterback’s progression, and clarified what exactly about one specific concept manipulated the limited area at the goal line. Several minutes later in red zone 11-on-11 drills, this time against defenders, Matthew Stafford hit Nacua on the concept he had just worked on for a touchdown.

“He’s pretty special,” Kupp said. “If he can stay on a trajectory, he’s going to be a very good football player in this league. I love the way he attacks each day. He’s got a great feel for the game, (for) leverage, running routes. … He’s asking the right questions. That’s the big thing. As he gets more reps, over and over as he gets to see these things, he’ll just get better and better.”

More observations, notes and takeaways from the last day of OTAs access, before the Rams begin minicamp next week:

(Note: Per the Rams’ policy, media with access to practice cannot report formations, personnel groups, deployment of personnel, starting lineups unless confirmed directly by a coach or player, unconventional plays, the number of reps players take at certain positions, etc.)

• Tuesday marked Kupp’s first full day back at the Rams’ training facilities, after spending a few weeks away while he and Anna, his wife, welcomed their third child. Kupp was not a full participant in the practice and instead worked on the side with athletic trainers. He had the tightrope procedure last winter to fix the high ankle sprain that ended his 2022 season, and between the recovery and his time away, the Rams are cautiously onboarding him back into live action.

“I’m feeling really good now,” Kupp said. “You don’t know until you really get out here doing football stuff, really putting your ankle through the stuff that is required of playing football. You can’t simulate this stuff. … I feel, right now, as we’ve been pushing it pretty hard, I feel really good. I’m itching to be out there. It’s a good place to be, now, where I’m asking for more and wanting to do more and feeling like you’re getting held back versus (them) pushing you to do more.”

• Kupp and Stafford are in the process of outlining a series of practices before training camp because the two are not currently able to get live reps together.

• As previously written, the Rams have boosted the size of their offensive line at some positions and they’re also moving a few players around (especially on the interior). Tuesday, Tremayne Anchrum played left guard while rookie Steve Avila played right guard. McVay confirmed that the Rams are experimenting with Anchrum and Avila at either starting guard spot.

“(We’re) figuring out that ‘best five’ combination,” McVay said, “(and) there’s still so much football to be played and so many things to be evaluated. But I like the way that both of those guys — they were playing on the opposite sides last week, they flipped this week. It’s only going to make us that much more versatile.”

• McVay also added that it will be “awesome” to have 2022 starting left tackle Joe Noteboom back to practicing fully (he is limited as the Rams continue to slowly onboard him following last year’s Achilles injury), but he left Noteboom’s specific position up in the air.

• Receiver Sam James worked on the side with athletic trainers throughout the practice. New addition Tyler Johnson, a three-year NFL veteran signed by the Rams last week, is immediately working into the rotation (and wearing No. 14, for now).

• Inside linebacker Ernest Jones drew a lot of praise throughout practice from coaches and teammates and made two plays on the ball. The first, a pass breakup, showcased mental acumen, because even though practices aren’t currently live-speed, making the play required Jones to match and then jump a short/quick-game route close to the line of scrimmage. The second was contested between offense and defense — what the defense argued as an incomplete ball thanks to Jones’ coverage in the corner of the end zone, the offense argued as a catch by second-year running back Kyren Williams.

• McVay spent a lot of time in the pre-practice stretching period with centers Coleman Shelton and Brian Allen and then carried that conversation over to new offensive line coach Ryan Wendell and assistant coaches Nick Jones and Zak Kromer. Shelton and Allen have been able to simulate the “starting” language with both the first and second teams, respectively, because they both have starting experience.

• The early energy from the secondary carried into a really competitive red zone 11-on-11 period, where the reserve defense made several plays against quarterback Stetson Bennett and the reserve offense. Arizona State rookie cornerback Timarcus Davis broke up a Bennett pass, and then Bennett was intercepted by North Carolina State rookie safety Tanner Ingle. Another safety to potentially keep an eye on through minicamp and training camp: Mississippi State rookie undrafted free agent Collin Duncan, who in jersey No. 33 and measuring in at 6-foot and 210 pounds, brought more “former Rams players” deja vu to the day.

• Stafford calmly took matters into his own hands for the side of the offense when he and the first team subbed back in. He hit Nacua and tight end Tyler Higbee on back-to-back touchdowns. Right tackle Rob Havenstein ran up to Nacua to celebrate his score, and accidentally knocked over the much-smaller player.

• Bennett then got the reserve defense back in the next round: He threaded a pass through three defenders and into the waiting arms of Williams in the end zone.

The throw and catch were so slick that several defensive players celebrated the offensive play. Second-year cornerback Cobie Durant turned to the spectating media and said admiringly, “Hey, that’s Stetson Bennett.” Donte Deayon, a former Rams cornerback who is now a Bill Walsh Coaching Fellow with the team, jotted a note down on his clipboard and side-eyed the media as well, saying, “That’s a play.”

• The quote (and joke) of the day came from Kupp, who noted that Bennett has really shown his athleticism in throwing off-platform or out of structure.

“I think he’s definitely the most athletic quarterback from Georgia that we’ve got on our team.”

zn wrote:

The Rams are bringing in another veteran receiver, agreeing to terms with former Chiefs and Ravens WR Demarcus Robinson

Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
Couple things stand out to me about Demarcus Robinson – he’s a competitive vet; they don’t have a heck of a lot of veteran WRs fully practicing right now, and a lot of players who need to learn how. And, he has return experience – that entire competition has yet to materialize.

Long, long way to go until September. Lots to learn still about several players in that group.

So much of what they’re doing right now across the whole roster is learning how to practice and apply stuff from film room for the first time. Several vets aren’t practicing. Super helpful to have a consistent player like him around for a while.

…

Robinson, 4th round, 2016

from  https://www.nfl.com/prospects/demarcus-robinson/3200524f-4239-9065-1db8-5ff5da8a3829

By Lance Zierlein

Overview

Immensely talented with elite combination of straight-­line speed and quick­-twitch athleticism. Robinson flashes game­-breaking potential as a deep ball threat and after the catch, but was suspended by two different coaches over a three-year period. While Robinson is likely to test off the charts and has the talent to be a top four receiver in this draft, it is hard to imagine his draft slot equaling his talent due to his character concerns.

Strengths

• Talent jumps off the tape early in the session
• Electric vertical talent that can make cornerbacks re­think their coverage plans
• Has shake at the line of scrimmage to free himself against press coverage and has adequate ball tracking skills
• Graceful, flexible athlete with instant turbo acceleration
• Has ability to hit the home run after the catch
• Races off the line and forced cornerbacks into retreat opening easy comeback catches
• Has talent and ability to make a living outside or from the slot

Weaknesses

• Routes can be lazy at times
• Will need to improve with selling fakes at break point of his routes as a pro
• Too reliant on athleticism and speed over improvement of skill level
• Hands are a concern with 11 drops to 106 catches at Florida
• Plays smaller than his listed size
• Suspended four times while at Florida
• Scouts call him immature and selfish

…

Puka Szn?

Nacua, a fifth-round rookie, has stood out in OTAs and was called "pretty special" by Cooper Kupp https://t.co/opzNwdoZfL

— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) June 7, 2023