So the Rams are gonna start the season.

Which team will the NFL select to be their opponent to start the year?

My guess is that it will be the Cowboys.

The Bills would make a lot of sense, too. Possible Super Bowl preview kind of thing.

THREAD. A rare thing is happening today: we are about to get a window into the secret world of how cops shape the news. There's a hearing this afternoon into how San Francisco cops manipulate the media through “strategic communications.” The internal documents are shocking.

— Alec Karakatsanis (@equalityAlec) May 5, 2022

Hey, Troy. Robert Woods went for a 6th.

But – you know – go play your ass off.

“Nearly every war that has started in the past 50 years has been a result of media lies.” —

Watch US senate get destroyed on war lies by @georgegalloway #222YearsOfEndlessWars
pic.twitter.com/VIlIXM1rZ5

— αѕℓαм кнαη (@aslamkhanbombay) May 1, 2022

Snead’s Snacks: Who Could the Rams Target at Safety in the NFL Draft?

Snead’s Snacks: Who Could the Rams Target at Safety in the NFL Draft?
by Blaine Grisak April 27, 2022

The Los Angeles Rams enter a crucial year when it comes to the NFL draft. With limited cap space (and limited draft capital for that matter), it’s going to be more important than ever to build depth through the draft and than means hitting on the majority of their picks.

Every year I do a series called “Snead’s Snacks”. In other words, we’re going to find and look at common themes and traits of previous Les Snead draft picks and see which players in the upcoming NFL Draft fit the mold for the Rams. The focus for today’s edition of “Snead’s Snacks” will be on one of the Rams’ biggest positions of need, the safety position. Last season we correctly predicted Ernest Jones and Robert Rochell as fits for the Rams.

The Rams are pretty thin at safety and both Taylor Rapp and Nick Scott hit free agency next offseason. With that said, the Rams will need to load up on the position in the draft.

*Editor’s Note: Numbers taken from RAS and Mockdraftable

Notable Past Rams Drafted Players
Terrell Burgess, S, Utah – 3rd Round
Measurables:
Height: 5’11 (19th percentile)
Weight: 202-lbs (29th percentile)
Arm Length: 29.5” (2nd percentile)
Wingspan: 71.375”
Shuttle: N/A
Broad Jump: 122”
3-cone: N/A
40-yard dash: 4.46 sec (84th percentile)
Vertical: 33.5”

Size Grade: Okay
Speed Grade: Great
Agility Grade: N/A
Explosive Grade: Okay
RAS: 8.11 – Great

Traits:

Smart player who reads the field. Takes good angles and tackles well.
Versatile
Special teams experience
Athletic, good change of direction
Overview of Pick

Terrell Burgess was lauded coming out of Utah. However, he’s been more of a disappointment thus far with the Rams. Despite being thin at the position last season, Burgess didn’t see much of the field. He’ll look to get better this offseason.

Jordan Fuller, S, Ohio State – 6th Round
Measurables:
Height: 6’2 (86th percentile)
Weight: 203-lbs (33rd percentile)
Arm Length: 31” (27th percentile)
Wingspan: 76.125”
Shuttle: 4.27 sec
Broad Jump: 122” (60th percentile)
3-cone: N/A
40-yard dash: 4.67 (14th percentile)
Vertical: 35.5” (50th percentile)

Size Grade: Good
Speed Grade: Poor
Agility Grade: N/A
Explosive Grade: Good
RAS: 5.54 – Good

Traits:

Strong leadership
Takes good angles
Downhill consistent tackler
Can cover tight ends
Overview of Pick

Jordan Fuller had a strong rookie season followed by a bit of a sophomore slump. Fuller was nominated as a captain last season and was assigned the green dot.

Taylor Rapp, S, Washington – 2nd Round
Measurables:
Height: 5’11 (29th percentile)
Weight: 208-lbs (55th percentile)
Wingspan: 72.875 (11th percentile)
Arm Length: 30.75” (20th percentile)
Shuttle: 3.99 (93rd percentile)
Broad Jump: 115” (15th percentile)
3-cone: 6.82 sec (80th percentile)
40-yard dash: 4.78 sec
Vertical: 35” (42nd percentile)

Size Grade: Okay
Speed Grade: Poor
Agility Grade: Elite
Explosive Grade: Okay
RAS: 5.66 – Good

Traits:

Versatile
Top notch football intelligence
Takes good angles and proficient tackler
Played special teams
Can cover tight ends
Overview of Pick

Taylor Rapp has had an up and down career. For every good play he makes, it seems like there’s a negative play to follow. He excels in the box, but has struggled in coverage.

Nick Scott, S, Penn State – 7th Round
Measurables:
Height: 5’10
Weight: 200-lbs
Arm Length: 31”
Wingspan: 76”
Shuttle: 4.2 sec
Broad Jump: 128”
3-cone: 7.02 sec
40-yard dash: 4.45 sec
Vertical: 41”

Size Grade: Poor
Speed Grade: Elite
Agility Grade: Good
Explosive Grade: Elite
RAS: 9.22 – Great

Traits:

Two-time captain
Size to cover tight ends
Special teams ace
Strong tackler
Overview of Pick

John Johnson III, S, Boston College – 4th Round
Measurables:
Height: 6’0 (33rd percentile)
Weight: 208-lbs (55th percentile)
Arm Length: 32” (63rd percentile)
Wingspan: 76.875
Shuttle: 4.18 sec (57th percentile)
Broad Jump: 119” (38th percentile)
3-cone: 6.72 sec (88th percentile)
40-yard dash: 4.61 sec (34th percentile)
Vertical: 37” (71st percentile)

Size Grade: Good
Speed Grade: Okay
Agility Grade: Great
Explosive Grade: Good
RAS: 7.93 – Good

Traits:

Versatile
Special teams monster
Downhill tackler
Overview of Pick

John Johnson III was a steal as a fourth round pick. He became a staple on the Rams defense and there’s no doubt that they missed him at times last season. He’ll be most remembered for his interception on Drew Brees to send the Rams to the Super Bowl.

Lamarcus Joyner, S, Florida State – 2nd Round
Measurables:
Height: 5’8 (1st percentile)
Weight: 184-lbs (16th percentile)
Arm Length: 31.5 (54th percentile)
Wingspan: 75.5”
Shuttle: 4.4 (7th percentile)
Broad Jump: 124” (65th percentile)
3-cone: 7.26 (6th percentile)
40-yard dash: 4.55 (28th percentile)
Vertical: 37.5 (70th percentile)

Size Grade: Very Poor
Speed Grade: Good
Agility Grade: Very Poor
Explosive Grade: Great
RAS: 2.98 – Very Poor

Traits:

Versatile
Special teams contributor
Leadership traits
Physical style of play and downhill tackler
Overview of Pick

Lamarcus Joyner started as a cornerback but worked his way to safety with the Los Angeles Rams. He was the last player that the Rams used the franchise tag on and was an overall solid player before leaving in free agency.

Common Traits Rams Look For
The safety position is tough as there simply just aren’t very many. With only six players it’s tough to get consistent similarities.
Size doesn’t seem to be a huge factor as all but Joyner were around 5’11. Johnson III was the tallest at 6’2. Wingspan could be something to keep an eye on. Four of the six players had wingspans greater than 75 inches.
The Rams like their safeties to be able to tackle, take good angles, and have leadership traits. Special teams experience is also a plus.
Many of the safeties didn’t test in the 3-cone, but of the four that did, two were in the 80th percentile or higher and three of four had good to elite agility RAS scores.

2022 Players Who Fit the Rams

S Quentin Lake – UCLA
Quentin Lake would almost be a perfect fit for the Rams. He’s a versatile piece on defense and has the football intelligence and leadership. He’s a solid tackler as well and will contribute on special teams immediately. The Rams like ball skills in their cornerbacks and Lake has shown that. He compares very favorably to Jordan Fuller who the Rams drafted in the sixth round two years ago. I would not be surprised if the Rams do end up with Lake.

Draft Grade: 5th-6th Round

S Leon O’Neal Jr. – Texas A&M
With a wingspan of 76.625 inches and fitting their size threshold of 6’0, O’Neal would be another great fit for the Rams. He shows good agility with a 6.89 in the 3-cone which lands in the 70th percentile. At Texas A&M, he showed versatility at both strong and free safety and was an exceptional tackler. He should contribute on special teams right away.

Draft Grade: 6th Round

S Elijah Hicks – Cal
Elijah Hicks is a very underrated safety prosecute who could be someone that the Rams bring in as an undrafted free agent. This is a player with a lot of experience and shows good versatility. Additionally, he’s a good tackler, very smart player, and reacts well in coverage. Hicks is someone that could be a special teams contributor early and then hopefully develop into a depth player.

Draft Grade: UDFA

Honorable Mentions
S Dane Belton – Iowa
Ability to cover tight ends.
Efficient downhill tackler.
Special teams contributor.
S Nick Cross – Maryland
Could go sooner than 104
Good size to cover tight ends
Solid tackler in space and could contribute on special teams.

zn wrote:

This must be a case of the Rams “believing in their team culture.”

This is an older article, but nothing came up on the first page of a Google search for any problems while at UGA, so maybe he’s cleaned up his off field stuff a bit. I didn’t see anything about what he did, but I have to believe the Rams know. And every pick is a risk/reward kind of evaluation.

Getting thrown off of Clemson isn’t a good recommendation, but the Rams have good reason to believe in their culture, and the guy is going to be in the room with Jalen Ramsey.

Apparently the man can play a bit.

https://247sports.com/college/clemson/Article/Dabo-Swinney-dismisses-Derion-Kendrick-from-team-161626552/

Dabo Swinney dismisses Derion Kendrick from team

ByANNA HICKEY Feb 28, 2021

Clemson247 received official confirmation on Sunday morning that Clemson starting cornerback and senior Derion Kendrick was dismissed by Dabo Swinney. Kendrick missed multiple games during the 2020 season for disciplinary reasons and we’re told that it’s been much of the same behavior-wise for Kendrick in 2021. Swinney had enough. 

After Clemson’s win over Pittsburgh in late November in which Kendrick did not play, Swinney told the media that Kendrick was in the “love shack.” 

“We just didn’t play him today,” Swinney said. “Some people might say he’s in the dog house. I like to say he’s in the love shack. Just a little discipline. I love DK. He’s one of my favorites, actually. Just put him in the love shack this weekend.”

Thus in 2021, Clemson will field Mario Goodrich, Andrew Booth, Sheridan Jones, Fred Davis, Malcolm Greene, and midyear freshman Nate Wiggins at the position. 

Kendrick made the decision to return to school for a fourth year back in January in order to boost his 2022 NFL Draft appeal. It was a decision that was rather unexpected as most people anticipated Kendrick entering the 2021 NFL Draft.

He has started for the Tigers the past two seasons at cornerback and was slated to start again in 2021. He began his Clemson career at wide receiver before making the switch to defense after his freshman season. 

Per his Clemson Athletics bio on Clemson’s website, Kendrick entered 2021 having played a total of 1,354 combined snaps from scrimmage at cornerback and wide receiver in 39 career games (23 starts) and having been credited with 71 tackles (4.0 for loss), 12 pass breakups, three interceptions (including one returned 38 yards for a touchdown), one sack and one fumble recovery (returned 66 yards for a touchdown).

Starting to think…maybe…he was laughing at the Pats.

nittany ram wrote:

When the video went viral McVay phoned Belicheat to tell him he meant no disrespect to the Patriots’ coaches or Strange. But IMO he really did.

‘Kay, well, I’m at my limit of mind-reading ability, and we are about to parse what “disrespect” means which I don’t really wanna do, so I will just maybe rephrase what I saw. I don’t think he “meant” much of anything because he was already afloat on Dom Perignon, and what he said was impulsive, not considered. What I gathered is that he and the Rams actually liked Strange quite a bit, and he was in a cluster of guys they were hoping could slip to them. He was surprised by how early he went, however. He didn’t expect him to come off the board THAT early, even if he wasn’t confident he would still be available at 104. If that’s “disrespect,” then the bar for disrespect is set pretty low, and every GM in the league is disrespected nearly every year if the bar for that is “somebody thinks you drafted a guy way too early.”

Most people just don’t get caught on camera saying it.

And – again – people who follow this draft stuff were pretty much in agreement that there wasn’t much agreement. Especially in the first round.

zn wrote:

Zooey wrote:

This is about as good as one can feel about a 3rd round Guard, I’d say. I was hoping Cole Strange would drop, but this looks like a good Plan B.

Did you see the vid of the Rams live when NE picked C.Strange? It’s funny.

Yeah. I thought it was funny, too, and I don’t think there was any offense, intentional or unintentional. There are always quality players who slip, and nobody knows in advance who they are going to be, so even at 104, the Rams were going to be studying dozens of players who might be pegged to go higher. I mean…you don’t eliminate the top 100, or even the top 50 players from your reports. Strange was evidently a guy they really liked who is from a smaller college, and could conceivably have gone undrafted until 104. There wasn’t any disrespect in any word those guys said about it. And this year, nobody even knew who the top 10 were gonna be.

I thought it was funny, and I thought the Heist trailer was funny, and I think the Rent-a-Mansion is funny, and it looks like everybody is having a good time, so fuck the haters. Whatever.

Wisconsin just seems to be an OL factory.

The @RamsNFL didn't pick yesterday and still managed to make people upset. That's that champion energy 🤣💀🏆

— jonah (@j_nametag) April 29, 2022

Big Whit announcing the Packers’ 28th overall pick, because the Rams traded their 1st-rounder for a Super Bowl

— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) April 29, 2022

Sources: The Los Angeles Rams are selecting quarterback Matthew Stafford with the 32nd overall pick tonight.

Other teams have concerns about his ability to win. Snead and co. confident he'll fall. pic.twitter.com/c1G1dh1lqT

— Blaine Grisak (@bgrisakDTR) April 28, 2022