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QB: Neither QB did much to separate themselves from each other in the competition for the QB2. I think Davis has more room for growth, but it seemed like he took a step back from last years preseason where I truly felt like he WON the QB2 battle. Cap figure may be a determining factor in such a close battle, which would favor Davis over Clemens. At this point its a toss up and IMO, neither give us a great chance to win if Sam goes down. I think Clemens has gained momentum over Davis the past few weeks though.
RB: Pead & Stacy should be safe, and I think Cunningham should be a lock. Kid has run hard and has shown special teams ability as well. He should great vision, power, and ball security tonight. Reynolds won't make the cut; MAYBE (& I say MAYBE practice squad).
TE: Harkey should be fine despite the injury, valuable blocker with underrated pass catching ability; essentially a poor mans Kendricks. Its been mentioned today that the Rams don't plan on carrying 6 WRs, which may indicate 4 TEs (if you count Cook). That leaves McNeil, Potter, & Lutz competing for TE4. McNeil provides much better pass catching ability than the other 2, while Lutz is probably the best blocker, which is more of what you look for in TE4. I don't think anyone has won a spot outright but I wouldn't be shocked if Lutz or McNeil made it; Potter is a long shot.
WR: As stated above it appears the Rams plan on carrying only 5 WRs (if you don't include Cook). Those 5 are set in stone (Givens, Quick, Austin, Bailey, Pettis). IMO I didn't see enough from Johnson or Veltung tonight or the previous 3 games to think the Rams should give either a spot on the 53.
OL: Barksdale will be our swing tackle, then its cloudy after that. I'm not sure if they plan to carry 8 OL or 9, usually its 9. Jones has improved throughout the preseason (not enough to start) as he's gotten back into shape & has become more familiar with the O; he's a lock. Tim Barnes seems to have done enough to be our swing interior OL, & the obvious replacement at center if anything happens. But after that its tough. Do we keep Smith on the assumption he'd back up both guards if there's injury on the OL? To me the only guys I think SHOULD be safe are Barnes & Jones.
DL: Gerald Rivers Gerald Rivers Gerald Rivers. In case you didn't know he's #99. Kind of reminds me of a Eugene Sims type player with the versatility to play more than one position on the DL. He's scrappy, doesn't quit, has some speed, & power. I don't care if he's abusing 2s & 3s in preseason, he can't change who he plays against. IMO he's earned a spot on the 53. Conrath seems to have done enough to make the team, although I'm not as big a Conrath fanboy as some. But... if I only had a spot between Conrath & Rivers I'd give it to Rivers. We obviously know the starting 4, plus backup DEs/DLs Hayes & Sims & DT Cudjo. That's 7; do we carry 9??? Unless we're light somewhere else on D, I find it hard to see 9 DLs.
LB: With JLD's suspension we may carry an extra LB. As we know JL, Tree, & Spoon are starting. Although I'm not a Hull fan, because he's so limited athletically, has maxed his potential, I think he sticks. IMO its because he provides ST "ability" even though he's just solid. He's probably only here because of his cap figure. Of course Ray Ray is a lock. This kid flies around the field like the ballcarrier has a bounty on his head. He's just scratching the surface of his abilities as he's still very raw, but you can see the instincts in coverage & when he locates the ball or ballcarrier to fire off and explode towards it (much like Jenkins). I've seen Bates make a few plays on ST this preseason as I've seen Stewart around the ball as well. IMO Stewart provides more beyond ST. My guess is they keep one of the 2 until JD comes back & then they'll bump them down to PS. The other who doesn't make the 53 is a PS candidate.
CB: Behind the top 3, I've got McGee. Then its really up to the coaches. Do we carry 10 DBs (5 CBs/5 Ss)? If they do decide on 5 its tough. Pointer was solid last year & has been this year. BUT Darren Woodard has shown up the past 2 weeks, seemingly, for us non-camp goers, out of nowhere. Not a decision I'd like to make, as I could see Woodhard being snatched off our PS. IMO both are 53 man roster talents.
S: With TMac (not the recently retired basketball player) really the only lock, the other 4 spots are up in the air. Stewart is on the injury bug again... and although I'm a fan of the guy, I understand if the Rams want to stick with a guy who can be more dependable, health-wise week to week. That guy is McLeod. Regardless I'd be fairly surprised if Stew were cut, because he is one of the few "older" guys we have in the secondary & he does provide decent skills at safety & on ST. Matt the Hat has made a strong return the past few weeks and was on point today. I was crushed when he tore his ACL last year, as he was one of my faves on last years rookie class. Daniels looks like a lock. The only uncertainty for me is Davis. While he's played well enough in preseason (and from what I've heard in camp too) he'd be the odd man out if we carry 4 safeties. If he doesn't make the team I think he's a PS no brainer, but he also has the talent to attract other teams. Hall has played well, but I see him as more of a PS candidate.
Final notes:
Once again we have seen Fish and Co. put together a strong ROOKIE class (not just draft class). This class is gushing with talent from top to bottom, some guys more polished than others, but we have the coaches to guide them. I can't believe that yet again we've got so many UDFAs vying for roster spots. Cunningham, Lutz, Rivers, Armstrong, Woodard, & Davis. It speaks to the talent evaluaters we have working for this club that this year we will have to cut several guys who are worthy of making an NFL roster, as opposed to years past where coaches were just scrambling to find the last 5 guys who were the least bad.
RB: Pead & Stacy should be safe, and I think Cunningham should be a lock. Kid has run hard and has shown special teams ability as well. He should great vision, power, and ball security tonight. Reynolds won't make the cut; MAYBE (& I say MAYBE practice squad).
TE: Harkey should be fine despite the injury, valuable blocker with underrated pass catching ability; essentially a poor mans Kendricks. Its been mentioned today that the Rams don't plan on carrying 6 WRs, which may indicate 4 TEs (if you count Cook). That leaves McNeil, Potter, & Lutz competing for TE4. McNeil provides much better pass catching ability than the other 2, while Lutz is probably the best blocker, which is more of what you look for in TE4. I don't think anyone has won a spot outright but I wouldn't be shocked if Lutz or McNeil made it; Potter is a long shot.
WR: As stated above it appears the Rams plan on carrying only 5 WRs (if you don't include Cook). Those 5 are set in stone (Givens, Quick, Austin, Bailey, Pettis). IMO I didn't see enough from Johnson or Veltung tonight or the previous 3 games to think the Rams should give either a spot on the 53.
OL: Barksdale will be our swing tackle, then its cloudy after that. I'm not sure if they plan to carry 8 OL or 9, usually its 9. Jones has improved throughout the preseason (not enough to start) as he's gotten back into shape & has become more familiar with the O; he's a lock. Tim Barnes seems to have done enough to be our swing interior OL, & the obvious replacement at center if anything happens. But after that its tough. Do we keep Smith on the assumption he'd back up both guards if there's injury on the OL? To me the only guys I think SHOULD be safe are Barnes & Jones.
DL: Gerald Rivers Gerald Rivers Gerald Rivers. In case you didn't know he's #99. Kind of reminds me of a Eugene Sims type player with the versatility to play more than one position on the DL. He's scrappy, doesn't quit, has some speed, & power. I don't care if he's abusing 2s & 3s in preseason, he can't change who he plays against. IMO he's earned a spot on the 53. Conrath seems to have done enough to make the team, although I'm not as big a Conrath fanboy as some. But... if I only had a spot between Conrath & Rivers I'd give it to Rivers. We obviously know the starting 4, plus backup DEs/DLs Hayes & Sims & DT Cudjo. That's 7; do we carry 9??? Unless we're light somewhere else on D, I find it hard to see 9 DLs.
LB: With JLD's suspension we may carry an extra LB. As we know JL, Tree, & Spoon are starting. Although I'm not a Hull fan, because he's so limited athletically, has maxed his potential, I think he sticks. IMO its because he provides ST "ability" even though he's just solid. He's probably only here because of his cap figure. Of course Ray Ray is a lock. This kid flies around the field like the ballcarrier has a bounty on his head. He's just scratching the surface of his abilities as he's still very raw, but you can see the instincts in coverage & when he locates the ball or ballcarrier to fire off and explode towards it (much like Jenkins). I've seen Bates make a few plays on ST this preseason as I've seen Stewart around the ball as well. IMO Stewart provides more beyond ST. My guess is they keep one of the 2 until JD comes back & then they'll bump them down to PS. The other who doesn't make the 53 is a PS candidate.
CB: Behind the top 3, I've got McGee. Then its really up to the coaches. Do we carry 10 DBs (5 CBs/5 Ss)? If they do decide on 5 its tough. Pointer was solid last year & has been this year. BUT Darren Woodard has shown up the past 2 weeks, seemingly, for us non-camp goers, out of nowhere. Not a decision I'd like to make, as I could see Woodhard being snatched off our PS. IMO both are 53 man roster talents.
S: With TMac (not the recently retired basketball player) really the only lock, the other 4 spots are up in the air. Stewart is on the injury bug again... and although I'm a fan of the guy, I understand if the Rams want to stick with a guy who can be more dependable, health-wise week to week. That guy is McLeod. Regardless I'd be fairly surprised if Stew were cut, because he is one of the few "older" guys we have in the secondary & he does provide decent skills at safety & on ST. Matt the Hat has made a strong return the past few weeks and was on point today. I was crushed when he tore his ACL last year, as he was one of my faves on last years rookie class. Daniels looks like a lock. The only uncertainty for me is Davis. While he's played well enough in preseason (and from what I've heard in camp too) he'd be the odd man out if we carry 4 safeties. If he doesn't make the team I think he's a PS no brainer, but he also has the talent to attract other teams. Hall has played well, but I see him as more of a PS candidate.
Final notes:
Once again we have seen Fish and Co. put together a strong ROOKIE class (not just draft class). This class is gushing with talent from top to bottom, some guys more polished than others, but we have the coaches to guide them. I can't believe that yet again we've got so many UDFAs vying for roster spots. Cunningham, Lutz, Rivers, Armstrong, Woodard, & Davis. It speaks to the talent evaluaters we have working for this club that this year we will have to cut several guys who are worthy of making an NFL roster, as opposed to years past where coaches were just scrambling to find the last 5 guys who were the least bad.
