Rams activate LB Derrick Moncrief

[Psycho_X]

View: https://twitter.com/eric_d_williams/status/1322585728870617090?s=20

 

[BonifayRam]

Rams call up LB Derrick Moncrief from practice squad for Dolphins game

Rams call up LB Derrick Moncrief from practice squad for Dolphins game

The Rams filled their last roster spot by activating Derrick Moncrief from the practice squad.

theramswire.usatoday.com

The Los Angeles Rams had two open roster spots this week after cutting Samuel Sloman and placing Terrell Burgess on injured reserve, but they didn’t bring in any outside players to fill those vacancies. Instead, they activated A’Shawn Robinson from the NFI list Friday and called up Derrick Moncrief from the practice squad Saturday. Moncrief is now eligible to play against the Dolphins on Sunday, though it remains to be seen if he will be active for the game.

#LARams transaction: we’ve activated LB Derrick Moncrief from the practice squad ahead of #LAvsMIA
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) October 31, 2020

Moncrief went undrafted in 2017 but spent three seasons in the CFL. He was signed and waived by the Raiders this offseason, and the Rams signed him in August. He was waived by the Rams as part of final roster cuts, but they brought him back on the PS. He was a CFL All-Star in 2019 with 73 tackles for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Los Angeles Rams sign former Riders LB Derrick Moncrief to practice squad - 3DownNation

The Los Angeles Rams have signed former Saskatchewan Roughriders linebacker Derrick Moncrief to their 16-man practice squad.

3downnation.com

"Moncrief displayed his dynamic abilities as a defender. He can be stout against the run, blitz off the edge, drop back in zone versus the pass, and even lock on offensive players in man coverage. In the new era of NFL football with footballs being thrown all over, Moncrief fits the style of player who can thrive on defense."

It sure looks like DC Staley working in another one of his type of LB'ers in his defense

Derrick Moncrief - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Seth Griffith]

Starting to get a better sense about what this defense will look like within a few years. Hybriddddddd! Free AD99 up!

 

[baconandbread]

And he gets a reunion playing against his former roommate
View: https://twitter.com/sjburnham/status/1322587786810064896?s=19

 

[Merlin]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWEkoyo2Cko&ab_channel=CBCSaskatchewan

 

[oldnotdead]

Derrick is listed as a LB by the Rams but he came into the draft as a SS. This move makes complete sense as I've been saying they have been playing their second ILB as a safety which is playing them out of position. It's why I've postulated that Staley should simply play 3 safeties.

What I've always liked about Moncrief is that he is physically a tweener, i.e. an ILB / SS type of player. His collegiate experience at safety is probably what Staley is looking at. He's got good long speed (4.55) but more importantly he's got excellent acceleration (1.53 10 yd split) and plays the run well. He's a good scheme fit for how Staley employs his 2nd ILB.

Moncrief played 3 years in the CFL recording 69 tackles, 4 sacks, 3 INTs, and 1 FF. He's shown he can play above the collegiate level, with many CFL players having success in the NFL.

 

[Dz1]

If any Saftey should be moved to LBer like @Merlin has been saying It's Rapp.

 

[BonifayRam]

If any Saftey should be moved to LBer like @Merlin has been saying It's Rapp.

Safety Rapp is certainly in need of polishing up his coverage skills. Those skills present at this moment still appear crusty & dull with cracks through-out. He will get another opportunity to do just that this Sunday. Staley might be giving Rapp some special time to improve his game so he can be a complete all-around versatile safety able to make plays in deep coverage........ the jury is still out on that.

Since the rookie starting Safety Jordan Fuller re-injury....... Rapp has constantly been lining up the deepest of all DB's. Rapp has not been playing up close to the LOS where his better skills can have more of an impact. It was rookie Safety Terrell Burgess who was playing up close near the WSILB area before his injury last week. Man, that injury hurt because Safety Burgess was having one serious impact on that Bears game!

Safety Nick Scott took over for Burgess & had a good account for himself in the latter half. Free Safety Ju Ju Hughes is still active on the master roster so Staley has a four safety cadre to pull from. After the bye, it's possible that Safety Fuller will return but there is no need to rush him back at this time.

 

[LA_Rams_#29]

Derrick is listed as a LB by the Rams but he came into the draft as a SS. This move makes complete sense as I've been saying they have been playing their second ILB as a safety which is playing them out of position. It's why I've postulated that Staley should simply play 3 safeties.

What I've always liked about Moncrief is that he is physically a tweener, i.e. an ILB / SS type of player. His collegiate experience at safety is probably what Staley is looking at. He's got good long speed (4.55) but more importantly he's got excellent acceleration (1.53 10 yd split) and plays the run well. He's a good scheme fit for how Staley employs his 2nd ILB.

Moncrief played 3 years in the CFL recording 69 tackles, 4 sacks, 3 INTs, and 1 FF. He's shown he can play above the collegiate level, with many CFL players having success in the NFL.

Those ILBs are not playing out of position. They are real linebackers, which would tell us that Staley isn't keen on using as many 3 safety sets are our previous DC. Which is a good thing, because there were times where we got pretty much ran over using those sets with more DBs and fewer ILBs. Kenny Young never played safety at UCLA, he was always a linebacker, and him staying on the field during 3rd downs for us now, shows what Staley's intentions are....and it's working pretty good.

Why put more safetys on the field, when you have real inside linebackers who make are defense more stout, and can cover. We can also look at the fact that Moncrief was/is one of 3 ILBs we have on our practice squad currently (with Bituli, and Rozeboom being the others) but we can take that to tell us where our priorities are now. More ILBs, and fewer safeties is a good thing for us.

I actually think if we had a traditional pre-season, both Moncrief and Bituli would have made a real push for the final roster as they are in the same vein as Kiser and Howard, who were scheduled to be our starting ILBs.

 

[Dz1]

Safety Rapp is certainly in need of polishing up his coverage skills. Those skills present at this moment still appear crusty & dull with cracks through-out. He will get another opportunity to do just that this Sunday. Staley might be giving Rapp some special time to improve his game so he can be a complete all-around versatile safety able to make plays in deep coverage........ the jury is still out on that.

Since the rookie starting Safety Jordan Fuller re-injury....... Rapp has constantly been lining up the deepest of all DB's. Rapp has not been playing up close to the LOS where his better skills can have more of an impact. It was rookie Safety Terrell Burgess who was playing up close near the WSILB area before his injury last week. Man, that injury hurt because Safety Burgess was having one serious impact on that Bears game!

Safety Nick Scott took over for Burgess & had a good account for himself in the latter half. Free Safety Ju Ju Hughes is still active on the master roster so Staley has a four safety cadre to pull from. After the bye, it's possible that Safety Fuller will return but there is no need to rush him back at this time.

Nice Post. Imho for now JJ3 should be the deep cover guy and in the future I'm really hoping Burgess proves himself,His loss this year hurt.

Really wanted him to get some experiences this year.

Rapp is a good tackler, reads a play good,but his coverage skills,imho Ah No.

 

[BonifayRam]

Nice Post. Imho for now JJ3 should be the deep cover guy and in the future I'm really hoping Burgess proves himself,His loss this year hurt.Really wanted him to get some experiences this year.Rapp is a good tackler, reads a play good,but his coverage skills,imho Ah No.

I claim no expertise on this deep safety lineup or play but as a Ram fan & with the new change this season of who receives the internal broadcasting from the DC snap call being JJ III, it would be harder for him being lined up deep all the time to communicate.

Being closer to the LOS (the DL & the defenders) near it just seems right that he would be up & Rapp would be back.

Snead at this time looks to be in outstanding shape moving forward in the future with this safety unit. Having two excellent newly drafted safeties like Jordan & Burgess for 2021 & into the future will sure help this defense improve. You add in Rapp, Scott, Hughes & McGhee .......wow the Rams are loaded @ safety.

 

[oldnotdead]

When LB's routinely drop 10 yds off the LOS they are in coverage. If you are going to routinely do that with the second ILB you should be playing a SS. Normally ILBs lack the agility and the general pass coverage skill set of a safety. Safeties are DBs so they have their own coaching and film study. So yes they are "out of position". This is why teams routinely pull the second ILB to bring in the nickel package. The MIKE is normally kept on the field to protect against draws, and QB scrambles.

Rapp was a standout SS last year. This is a new system, give the kid a break and wait and see how he plays down the stretch. Rapp isn't a deep safety, he's an in the box SS. IMO Staley is still trying to figure out the stengths of his players. In the same way Scott has the skill set to play as a deep safety yet might struggle if played in the box. Staley started out playing SJD in a 0T NT and that totally bombed. Had Staley studied SJD's play last year he would have instantly seen that would be a poor alignment for him. SJD is even a marginal 1 gap DT so he stands no chance two gapping. SJD is very poor at disengaging from blocks even when it's a single blocker.

This is what I'm referring to when I say playing to a player's strengths and protecting their weaknesses. So far Staley tries to plug n play his players with little regard to the aforementioned. Until he does that he will be perhaps a good DC but never a great DC IMO.

 

[jrry32]

If any Saftey should be moved to LBer like @Merlin has been saying It's Rapp.

Staley is using Rapp the way he should now. He spent the vast majority of the Bears game in the box. He was either playing zone, which allowed him to show off his tackling skills in space, or playing man against TEs, slot WRs, and HBs. That's where he thrives.

 

[Merlin]

Since the rookie starting Safety Jordan Fuller re-injury....... Rapp has constantly been lining up the deepest of all DB's.

He's definitely spent most of his snaps in Fuller's place in their base quarters/two deep look. Staley seems to prefer changing it up (whether it's Rapp or JJ deep) with a different safety having the over the top depending on package/situation.

Re: Rapp I did notice the last game they didn't have him and Hill comboing with two-reads (it is my belief that Fuller carried that duo). Instead they played a lot of looks with Hill in the slot and whoever was next to Rapp was on an island. Which basically removes the risk of teams attacking weak comms between those two.

And Rapp I think misread some plays in that game. The pass to Kmet I think was him, but it's hard to say since we don't know what the call was, it just makes no sense for him to go the direction he did. Thought about putting it up but it's pointless since we don't know the call. Either way Rapp is a coverage liability in this defense until he gets up to speed on read/responsibility.

Staley's the real deal IMO. The dude is going to get some head coach interviews this year.

 

[Merlin]

Staley is using Rapp the way he should now. He spent the vast majority of the Bears game in the box. He was either playing zone, which allowed him to show off his tackling skills in space, or playing man against TEs, slot WRs, and HBs. That's where he thrives.

Yeah he was in the box some vs the Bears. Gets moved around. And I like him in the box. It's a shame Burgess got hurt because on those occasions Burgess was back there in Fuller's spot and I was hoping that would become more permanent moving forward.

But Staley really moves guys around and varies responsibilities. It's cool watching film of this defense I am entertained just with the secondary and how he calls and plays things as opposed to previous years' scheme.

 

[oldnotdead]

It's a shame Burgess got hurt because on those occasions Burgess was back there in Fuller's spot and I was hoping that would become more permanent moving forward.

Rapp has always played as an SS in the typical nomenclature of the position. Once he was returned to that position he again thrives. IMO Burgess was drafted as Johnson's replacement to play that single high safety. Burgess has the range missing in Johnson and will be a standout at the position. With the ballooning contracts for safeties, I think Snead doesn't think he can go that high and still sign his other standouts to extensions. With Burgess, he has that replacement on the roster this year. Floyd played as a deep FS in college, but I don't think he has the speed to consistently play that position unless it's part of a two-deep shell. But the way Staley wants to play his 2nd ILB he's better off playing a 3rd safety. I agree with you Merlin that Rapp fills that need perfectly. He's good in coverage and he is an aggressive tackler in run support.

This defense has the talent to be an elite unit if used properly. Staley has no excuses in regards to his roster. With the signing of Moncrief to the active roster, it makes me wonder if he's going to rotate him with Kiser on passing downs. That will essentially give them 4 safeties on the field with two playing a hybrid safety / LB role. That will give them 2 D-linemen (AD & Robinson), 1 OLB (Floyd), 1 DE (Lewis), 4 safeties (Rapp, Fuller/Moncrief, Burgess, and Johnson), 3 CBs (Ramsey, Williams, Hill/Long). Both Rapp & Fuller (when he returns) will play the role of coverage LBs much like Seattle's Bobby Wagner who in reality is a SS playing as a LB.

 

[TexasRam]

It would be great if this guy was the answer to our inability to cover the short middle of the field.

The only time we stop that play is when the WR drops the ball, the QB throws it bad or a safety comes up (Burgess, Fuller) and makes an immediate tackle.

Our LBers are getting roasted. Our front 4 has been really good vs run and pass and our DB's have been solid vs the pass.

Not only does a 3rd SS type help with this glaring weakness, but with Wilson and Murray coming up, we need to have speed on the field.

 

[LA_Rams_#29]

It would be great if this guy was the answer to our inability to cover the short middle of the field.

The only time we stop that play is when the WR drops the ball, the QB throws it bad or a safety comes up (Burgess, Fuller) and makes an immediate tackle.

Our LBers are getting roasted. Our front 4 has been really good vs run and pass and our DB's have been solid vs the pass.

Not only does a 3rd SS type help with this glaring weakness, but with Wilson and Murray coming up, we need to have speed on the field.

I agree.

I think Travin Howard was probably destined to be the ILB who stayed on the field in obvious passing downs because of his speed sideline to sideline..and he played well defending the pass last year when he got the chance to play. Micah and Kenny Young in that spot isn't the optimal situation although I think Micah has defended the pass probably better than most thought he would, and can obviously get better.

But Moncrief is actually more in line with Howard's skillset, and if he could be a solid pass defender, he honestly needs to get some reps in games. It could make our ILB rotation even stronger.