The Rams were an answer on "Jeopardy" last night and it was a question every fan in LA/St. Louis should know

The first contestant to guess whiffed with his answer https://t.co/ZBG4ej4ilz

— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) May 16, 2023

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a bill into law barring the state’s colleges and universities from spending money on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and limiting how race can be discussed in many courses https://t.co/VxhDh6vdbV

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) May 15, 2023

Les Snead said the plan is for Stetson Bennett to be the No. 2 quarterback right away for the Rams https://t.co/UeE3uYpW2z

— Rams Wire (@TheRamsWire) May 15, 2023

Seriously?? How is Kyle Shanahan over McVay?? Where is Pete Carroll?? 🤦‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/2Q98YhV15o

— Allen Sales (@AllenSales) May 15, 2023

comparatively, the rams road schedule looks quite a bit tougher than their home schedule, based on last year's results: pic.twitter.com/EgwVQt9I6S

— roberto clemente (@rclemente2121) May 13, 2023

Kurt Warner on the cover of Sports Illustrated. September, 2000 #stlrams @kurt13warner pic.twitter.com/uUYzhBD5V5

— St. Louis Rams History (@STLRamsHistory) May 13, 2023

Ranking the top five games on Rams' 2023 schedule. Which ones are you most looking forward to? https://t.co/n6JKBdl8sQ

— Stu Jackson (@StuJRams) May 12, 2023

Had a chat with D’Farr and MJD about the schedule. https://t.co/HwejbMumxG

— J.B. Long (@JB_Long) May 12, 2023

Andrew Whitworth says of the Rams offensive line:

“Up front, I look for them to be much better. I think they’re going to be a lot better. I love the pick of the kid out of TCU. They’ve got some young linemen now that have played, they’re going to be more experienced.” https://t.co/HZD4TsD2Ke

— Stu Jackson (@StuJRams) May 12, 2023

from https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2023/05/11/rams-aaron-donald-underdog-quote-offseason/?taid=645d9db2c5b182000124435b&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=twitter

[Donald’s] embracing the Rams’ role as underdogs, not feeling much external pressure from those high expectations.

“I kinda like it. It’s like starting all over again from scratch,” Donald said this week. “We ain’t the team that’s talked about. It’s kind of like the little underdogs. You just get to work and just play. You ain’t got to worry about too much other stuff. You just get to play at a high level and just fly around and then wherever the chips may fall. Obviously, the media and everything will be talking how they want to talk. As long as we do our job and do what we need to do, we’re going to be in good position and be the type of team we want to be.”

Rams’ Aaron Donald did ‘not really’ consider retiring amid offseason speculation on future

By Jourdan Rodrigue

https://theathletic.com/4507172/2023/05/10/aaron-donald-rams-future-comments/?source=nfltw

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Los Angeles Rams superstar defensive lineman Aaron Donald did “not really” consider retiring this offseason amid speculation about his future in football.

“You never want to end your career the way it was last year,” Donald said Wednesday, speaking publicly for the first time since a high ankle sprain ended his season last November.
“It never really crossed my mind.”

After going 5-12 last year, the Rams have overhauled much of their defensive roster, leaving Donald and only a few others in starting roles with any meaningful game experience. In the process, they parted ways with stars Jalen Ramsey, Bobby Wagner and Leonard Floyd — leaving intact only the three players they gave new contracts to in the spring of 2022: Donald, quarterback Matthew Stafford and receiver Cooper Kupp.

“That’s part of football,” Donald said. “I can’t control that, obviously. I made a commitment to this organization to do everything I can to do my part. It’s different than what we’ve seen in the past — a lot of young guys are going to have to step up and have to be a huge part to helping us have success.”

Donald, 31, suffered the high ankle sprain during the Rams’ Week 12 game at Kansas City, but played through the injury before he was shut down for the rest of the year.

Donald had the tightrope procedure to repair the injury, multiple people with direct knowledge of the procedure confirmed to The Athletic in March. That is the same procedure Kupp had last year, to repair the same injury.

Donald confirmed the surgery on Wednesday.

“It was different, the first time I’ve ever been hurt in my career,” Donald said. “I’m at 100 percent now, so that’s all that matters. Feeling good.”

Donald, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year and future Hall of Fame inductee, contemplated retirement after the Rams won Super Bowl LVI.

But later that spring, the Rams re-worked Donald’s existing contract to boost his pay, ultimately a three-year, $95 million deal with $65 million in guarantees ($46.5 million guaranteed at signing).

Importantly, Donald’s deal also includes a no-trade clause, multiple people with direct knowledge of the contract said. Because Donald once speculated retirement, the Rams’ catastrophic 2022 season prompted some pundits to question whether he’d ponder it again. Donald addressed that speculation on Twitter in the winter, before his comments to reporters on Wednesday, and has been at the Rams facilities for the voluntary early phases of spring OTAs.

General manager Les Snead said earlier this month that when he and coach Sean McVay were outlining their offseason plans — including bringing in over 40 rookies to fill out the roster — Donald told them, “just make sure (the rookies) care.”

“You kind of got an idea of what was going on as far as certain moves they were going to have to make,” Donald said. “It was more (about), if you’re bringing young guys in — as long as they’ve got the mindset to work, and they’ve got the right mindset to just go out there and do what they need to do at a high level, and willing to put that work in, I can work with that.”

The Rams will travel more than 26,000 miles this season, which is the 4th-most of any team in the NFL https://t.co/rWA9MEzVlY

— Rams Wire (@TheRamsWire) May 10, 2023

ESPN ranked the 100 best draft picks of 2023 and the Rams landed nearly half their class (6 players) on the list https://t.co/vPISKeNCcz

— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) May 10, 2023

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Count ESPN’s Matt Miller as an expert who likes the Rams’ haul, at least based on his recent post-draft ranking. He ranked the top 100 picks in the draft this year, which isn’t just highlighting the best players, but the best selections made by teams – accounting for positional need and scheme fit.

The Rams landed a whopping six players in Miller’s top 100, which is nearly half of their 14-player class. Avila ranked the highest on the list, coming in at No. 35.

The Rams skipped their early-round selections for many years, trading them away. But keeping No. 36 overall to bolster the offensive line was a nice change of direction. Avila can play guard or center, and the Rams need him to hit the starting lineup as a rookie. This checks off a massive need and achieves good value, forming a great beginning to the Rams’ draft.

Evans, who the Rams drafted 215th overall, was the 60th-best pick in the draft, according to Miller. He was the second-highest-ranked Rams player on the list, followed closely by Davis Allen (No. 63).

Byron Young (No. 74), Hodges-Tomlinson (No. 75) and Puka Nacua (No. 91) all made Miller’s rankings, as well. Miller called Hodges-Tomlinson “one of the best value picks on Day 3,” writing the following about the Jim Thorpe Award winner.

One of the best value picks on Day 3, Hodges-Tomlinson will bring his quickness and confidence to a secondary undergoing a renovation. Projected as a nickel defender in the pros, the sixth-rounder has the talent and ball skills to push 2022 fourth-rounder Cobie Durant for a starting job.

Obviously, it’s fun to look at the value the Rams got with each pick based on pre-draft rankings, but if the players themselves don’t pan out and become future starters within the next four years, those rankings won’t mean anything.