Rams News Recap: July 20

[RamBill]

Rams: ESPN Finally Showing Some Love
I try to avoid ESPN most days. Between the constant Johnny Manziel coverage and Skip Bayless (why is he still employed?!?) it’s just not worth my time anymore.

Rams Roster Preview: LB Jo-Lonn Dunbar
Looking to bounce back after a dismal 2013 season, will Jo-Lonn Dunbar have what it takes to man the strong side?

Bradford’s Time Is Now To Prove The Rams He’s A No. 1 Pick
The St. Louis Rams are heading into the 2014 season with a retooled roster and better expectations.

Rams’ Kenny Britt Among 6 Veterans on the Roster Bubble–NFL.com
What NFL veterans you know well could be battling just to make the roster? Kenny Britt?

Rams Roster Preview: Michael Sam –TST
The media has given it their best hype to the Rams drafting Michael Sam in the 7th round of the 2014 NFL Draft. The “first openly gay player in the NFL” mantra has caused attention to be focused on Sam the” barrier breaker”, and not the fact he’s a pretty talented player, being named Co-Defensive Player of the Year in the SEC for 2013.
Jo-Lonn Dunbar’s Arrest Could Create Opportunity –Wagoner
For the second consecutive season, St. Louis Rams linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar has made headlines for the wrong reasons near the start of training camp.

Rams LB Jo-Lonn Dunbar Arrested After Fight –Video

St. Louis Rams’ Salary Cap Update –Wagoner
With training camp set to begin in earnest this week, we take a look at where the St. Louis Rams stand in relation to the salary cap.

 

[RamBill]

Morning Ram-blings: Breakout pending?
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/9737/morning-ram-blings-breakout-pending

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Welcome back to the Morning Ram-blings. After a short summer hiatus, your morning dose of St. Louis Rams (and some non-Rams) news and notes from around the web has returned.

Training camp is finally, mercifully, almost here, which means we can move back the quiet days of summer lists and whatnot and start getting into real, actual football.

Today, we begin with a column from right here on ESPN.com courtesy of Jeffri Chadiha. Chadiha asserts that the Rams are poised for the long-awaited breakthrough they've targeted since coach Jeff Fisher and Les Snead arrived in 2012.

Certainly, it's a welcome read for Rams fans who have suffered through a decade's worth of non-winning seasons. The foundation of the column is that the Rams defense can take the next step into the upper tier of the league and help the team achieve some of the success that Seattle and San Francisco did in their respective franchise turnarounds of recent seasons.

The Rams clearly have plenty of talent in place on defense and much is expected of new coordinator Gregg Williams. It's unlikely the Rams will become an explosive, dominant offense this year, which will indeed put the pressure on the defense to carry much of the freight.

The pieces look to be in place, but it's also understandable if there's cautious optimism until the Rams actually prove themselves on the field.

I.C.Y.M.I.

A roundup of Rams stories appearing on ESPN.com over the weekend. ... On Saturday, we took a look back at Friday's chat with yours truly answering your questions about the Rams. ... On Sunday, we examined the Rams' current salary-cap situation heading into training camp. ... From there, we got the news that linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar was arrested for his role in a fight in Miami and then took a closer look at what it could mean for him and the linebacker spot after a second off-field issue in as many years.

Elsewhere:

Always worth a read, ESPN senior NFL writer John Clayton hits on a number of topics in this week's mailbag.

Yahoo Sports previews the Rams as they head toward training camp.

ProFootballTalk also previewed the Rams, ranking them 20th amongst the league's 32 teams entering camp.

Stlouisrams.com provides all the details on what you need to know about the Rams' training camp.