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I renewed NFL Game Pass and it says all of the RAMS preseason games this year are unavailable in my area, Chargers too. I'm 700 miles from Los Angeles. WTF? Say it ain't so, Mr Goodell.
Game Preview: Rams Take on Cowboys in Preseason Opener
The NFL preseason has officially arrived. The Rams will be back at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday to take on the Cowboys in their preseason opener for the second straight year.
Following the first two weeks of training camp at the team’s summer home of UC Irvine, the Rams will begin a preseason slate of games that also includes two AFC West opponents in the Raiders and Chargers, as well as a matchup with the Packers at Lambeau Field. Saturday’s kickoff marks Sean McVay’s first preseason game as an NFL head coach.
“I’m excited, I’m excited to watch these guys compete,” McVay said. “I think it offers a great opportunity for us to play in front of our home fans for the first time this season [and] I know as a coaching staff and our players, we’re excited about it.”
Though the exhibition matchups do not count towards the regular season wins and losses, it will be the first time since January that fans will get to see the Rams take on an opponent. These four preseason games will also provide McVay’s new coaching staff a necessary chance to get everything in order.
“That’s what I think the preseason offers, a great opportunity really for us as coaches,” McVay said, “so that by the time the Indianapolis Colts game rolls around, we feel good about our process and how we want to handle things throughout the course of the game.”
Quarterback Jared Goff is under a lot of pressure heading into both the preseason opener and regular season after a rocky rookie campaign. Throughout training camp, Goff has shown tremendous growth in his confidence as the starting quarterback and a lot of budding chemistry with his new receiving group, specifically wideouts
And although after Monday’s practice McVay said many of the projected starters would play just six to 10 snaps during Saturday’s opener, Goff still expressed his excitement at getting back into the action.
“It feels like it’s been coming for a long time now, to kind of get a chance to get back out there in the Coliseum and see all the fans again,” Goff said. “ I’m ready to get out there and just run some plays — see a real defense, maybe get hit a couple times, just go through some things that you go through in a real game and get back into that feel.”
Woods also voiced his anticipation to be back at the Coliseum where he played as a student-athlete at USC. Though he has since played in the stadium as a member of the Bills, Saturday will be Woods’ first time back as a member of the home team.
“I’m excited, excited to walk down and experience it once again, have the home crowd cheering,” Woods said of going back to his former college stadium. “I have not been back in the locker room since I’ve played there. I have been in the visitor’s small locker room, which I don’t want to be a part of again. It’s just a little taste of the season since it’s the preseason.”
But Goff and Woods aren’t the only players to keep an eye on this Saturday. The preseason allows for the stacked 90-man roster to prove themselves worthy of a spot on the much lighter 53-man roster for the regular season. Projected starters Robert Quinn, Mark Barron and Kayvon Webster are all expected to sit out in tomorrow’s game, as is newly signed wide receiver Sammy Watkins, whom the Rams traded for earlier this morning. With these four off the field many other players will have plenty of opportunity to make an impact.
On defense, the Rams will face a former rookie standout in quarterback Dak Prescott, who saw his first NFL game action in last year’s opener at the Coliseum, as well as quarterbacks Kellen Moore and Cooper Rush who both had impressive showings in the Cowboys’ win over the Cardinals last week. And though Dallas’ offensive starters won’t play for too long on Saturday, they will provide a good measuring stick for where the Rams’ defense stands under coordinator Wade Phillips.
Expect a lot of rotation in the Rams’ secondary as the staff works in a slew of players including cornerbacks Nickell Robey-Coleman and Troy Hill, as well as safety John Johnson. The D-line’s depth will also be tested against the Cowboys’ running game as they attempt to stop the likes of running backs Alfred Morris and Rod Smith against a talented Cowboys’ offensive line.
Saturday will also provide the Rams’ offense with its first true test of the season, especially early on in the game when the unit matches up against the Cowboys’ starting defense. Look for first-round draft pick defensive end Taco Charlton on the pass rush and young additions to the Cowboys’ secondary, including Jourdan Lewis and Xavier Woods, to challenge Los Angeles’ backfield.
“It’s a great test,” McVay said of taking on the Cowboys. “I think Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett does an excellent job with the team and it’s clear why they were NFC East champs last year, so I think it offers an excellent opportunity for our team to go against a quality opponent and see how our first-string guys handle those first couple plays, but it’s going to be a great challenge for us.”
Without this place, I would be contemplating fan sepeku tonight.
It's just a constant beat down in the sports media whenever the Rams are mentioned....Risky, desperate, foolish, are just some of the adjectives used to describe the Ram's move for Watkins today. Keyshawn Johnson did like the move today, which was about the only positive response from the media I saw. I have read/heard that the Ram's made this desperate move as though they are contending this year and that they really are several starters away from that (WTF?). I literally have no where to go to hear anything balanced about the team besides here and the Rams site.
After watching the Rams vs charger practices and seeing Jamon just toasted at RT, then switching back and forth with Hav. Does anyone think Albert has anything left to be able to hold down RT ?? and could we make it work on the cap
yeah I know another post but I went back to look at Tavons career numbers and it told a compelling story to me.
1. He played on a terrible team with an even terrible offensive scheme.
2. The offensive scheme was terrible
3. The offense stopped doing the things that actually worked.
Tavon had over 400 rushing yards in 2015 and 4 touchdowns on 52 carries
Then last year they only rush him 28 times don't make any sense
25 of his 58 catches went for first downs last year 6 plays of 20 yards or more only 1 play of 40 yards or more
Austin was never drafted just to be a WR but if he played on a better team or just had better offensive coaches around him his 12 receiving touchdowns would have been a lot better
Between receiving rushing and punt returns he has 23 touchdowns and 3900 yards let this sink in though he had at 8 touchdowns wiped away because of penalties he would have 7 punt returns for touchdowns instead of 3 he would have 10 rushing touchdowns instead of 8 he would have 14 receiving touchdowns instead of 12
Do I think Austin is a 14 touchdown receiver no he isn't but he can give 14 touchdowns in every phase of the game
"I know Sammy has a history of injuries, but as a former number one pick, he has tremendous skills, and I mean, come on... a guy can't get hurt EVERY year. He's going to be a tremendous asset to the Rams...a top tier offensive weapon. I have FULL confidence in Sammy..."
2014
"I know Sammy has a history of injuries, but as a former number one pick, he has tremendous skills, and I mean, come on... a guy can't get hurt EVERY year. He's going to be a tremendous asset to the Rams...a top tier offensive weapon. I have FULL confidence in Sammy..."
As the Rams try to build some sort of offensive infrastructure for the 2016 first overall pick, it's hard to imagine their acquiring a better receiver to work with than Watkins, who averaged 80.5 receiving yards per game while healthy in 2015, good for what would be nearly 1,300 receiving yards over a 16-game campaign. While Watkins hasn't lived up to the draft-day trade that saw the Bills deal two first-round picks to move up and acquire him ahead of Mike Evans and Odell Beckham Jr. in 2014, injuries have been the problem, not talent.
Goff stands to benefit as he has a respectable receiving corps of Watkins, Robert Woods, and Cooper Kupp with Tavon Austin off the bench. What a difference a year and regime change makes.
Now, the negative:
Loser
The Rams
So much of what the Rams do on a year-to-year basis seems to be about erasing or accounting for the mistakes they've made in the past. Here again they're addressing their disastrous investment and reinvestment in the badly miscast Tavon Austin by shelling out another draft pick and what is (in the best case) going to be a huge contract to retain Watkins for the years to come.
You could understand why the Rams would want to take a shot at Watkins, but the 2018 free-agent wide receiver class is staggering, including players like Matthews, DeAndre Hopkins and Allen Robinson. Some of those guys will re-sign with their current teams, of course, but maybe the Rams end up giving someone like Jeffery or Terrelle Pryor a big deal. That wouldn't be the end of the world.
What's frustrating about this move is that the Rams had to give up a second-round pick to acquire Watkins. Given that they're unlikely to be very good -- ESPN's FPI projects them to finish with the league's fifth-worst record -- chances are they'll be sending a high second-rounder to the Bills to acquire a player who hasn't been healthy for most of his career.
After trading away a bevy of picks to acquire Goff, the Rams can't be in the pick-trading business. If anything, they should be looking at trading down and acquiring selections. (I realize they're getting a sixth-rounder, but per Chase Stuart's chart, even the top pick of the sixth round is worth just 12 percent as much as the fifth pick of the second round, the selection the Rams project to send to Buffalo.)
Even if Los Angeles' bet on Watkins works out in 2017, the Rams are going to be stuck using their franchise tag or making a long-term bet on a player with a history of foot injuries. They could recoup a compensatory draft pick if they let Watkins leave, but that assumes Watkins will have a big-enough year to justify a serious deal in free agency while the Rams themselves mostly sit out, which seems like a very unlikely proposition.
They're also going to be in serious trouble at cornerback, where they just traded away Gaines and won't be able to afford franchising Trumaine Johnson for a third time after the season. Wade Phillips is a defensive genius, but the best guy on Los Angeles' depth chart for 2018 appears to be Broncos import Kayvon Webster, who played 58 defensive snaps last season and has spent the last several years buried underneath a stacked depth chart in Denver.
Basically, the Rams are giving up a ton of draft capital for a player that is a free agent. In addition, they are giving up valuable depth at cornerback, even though to be honest, Gaines played his best football in his rookie year.
With the Rams finally providing a deep threat and number one threat (albeit an injury-prone one), offensive improvement on paper has at least occurred. Now it’s on Goff and new Head Coach Sean McVay to maximize the influx of talent.
After this offseason and draft and then today I think it's become evident that Snead is more than capable.
It came out in an interview that as soon as the Bills declined Watkins 5th year he started talking to them. That's a smart thing to do.
The trade to get Goff? That was him poking around at the combine and setting the table to put together a deal weeks before the draft. Also smart.
Look at the free agent activity. Was any of it really foolish? We can argue that TJohnson doesn't deserve the tag, but the Rams needed some stability. Other than that he acquitted himself well.
I've said that the most important people on an NFL teams roster are the QB, GM and owner. Then the HC.
I think Snead is proving, or actually has proven, that his online and media detractors are wrong.
Three Things to Know about Sammy Watkins
by Myles Simmons
Wide receiver Sammy Watkins is the centerpiece of a deal that brings experience and explosive-play ability to the Rams’ offense. Here are three things to know about the newest target for quarterback Jared Goff.
1) No. 1 ability
There’s a reason why Watkins was selected with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2014 draft, and that’s his potential to be a true top-flight wide receiver.
At 6-foot-1 and 211 pounds, he has the size. Running a 4.43 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine showed he has the speed. And his performance with the Bills has provided examples of production.
Watkins played 29 games over his first two seasons, and in that time averaged 62 receptions for 1,014 yards with eight touchdowns in each year. While he missed three games due to injury in 2015, Watkins still had an outstanding year, making 60 receptions for 1,047 yards with nine touchdowns.
Displaying his big-play capability, Watkins finished No. 3 with seven receptions of at least 40 yards, and he had 18 receptions of at least 20 yards. He also ended the year No. 6 in yards per reception at 17.5.
Those are explosive numbers — the kind that would bring some much-needed juice to the Rams’ offense.
2) How’s his health?
Watkins missed eight games in 2016 due to a foot injury. While he initially had surgery on the foot in the spring of that year, he hadn’t quite fully recovered and went on injured reserve early in the season. The Bills designated him to return, and he came off the list for their last six games. But Watkins’ production was not at the level it had been for his first two seasons.
The wide receiver then elected to have another surgery during the offseason in order to correct the problem. And through a couple weeks of training camp and his first preseason game, Watkins is beginning to look like himself again.
In Thursday’s preseason matchup against the Vikings, Watkins caught four passes for 39 yards on five targets. The Bills targeted Watkins on their first three offensive plays, and the wide receiver caught all three passes.
“This was the best I've ever felt," Watkins said following Thursday’s game, via NYup.com. "Practice was grinding. Today, I was free. I was just out there running my routes, having fun, just looking to get the ball. I wasn't pressing or anything. I was just trying to score honestly."
3) Contract year
While Watkins is a former first-round pick in the 2014 draft, the Bills elected to decline his fifth-year option. This means the wideout is now in a contract year and is slated to be an unrestricted free agent in March, as he enters his first season in L.A.
In addition to cornerback E.J. Gaines, the Rams surrendered a 2018 second-round pick to acquire Watkins — significant draft capital. Still, it will be incumbent on the team and player to find a solution that works for both sides if there is to be a long-term deal.
If there’s one recent comparison for this situation with the Rams, it would be linebacker Mark Barron— though the situations are not exactly parallel. The club acquired the Buccaneers’ 2012 first-round pick through a midseason trade in 2014. The Rams declined his fifth-year option, but then reached an agreement on a five-year contract early in the free agency period last March.
In the last look/discussion it was obvious that the X position was a problem. The Rams just didn't have that guy and the best hope was that Thomas would get it done when he returned from his suspension. Well, lo and behold this regime just aggressively went out and solved it.
So how does it look now? Enormously better:
Guaranteed roster spots
1. Watkins X. Legitimate skills for that role in this offense if he can stay healthy this season.
2. Woods. Y>Z. Not ideal at X (speed) but experienced and can do it if needed.
3. Kupp. Y>Z. Could probably play X but not ideal (speed).
4. Austin. Z>X. With his speed they need him outside, Z can be schemed for release from LOS.
5. Thomas. X>Z. May end up being their best option at X tbh.
Fighting for ONE roster spot
6. Reynolds. X. Probably gets one of the roster spots. Maybe a medical stash/DL?
7. Cooper. Y. 4th round pick a year ago, been very visible with first team in Austin's absence.
8. Spruce. Y. Fan favorite and UDFA who looks like he's facing a cut by week 5 at the latest.
9. McRoberts. Y. Been doing some good things here and there by some accounts.
10. Ryan. Y. Caught a real nice fade in practice the other day, I think Rams really like him.
Things just got real for the guys on the bottom of the roster. Competition there was already good, however now it's downright nasty.
What could happen from here?
* Trading Tavon is a clear and obvious option to everyone now. But since they already paid most of his cost for this season holding on to him won't be a problem as long as he shows the staff he is going to grasp and execute in this offense. So this is still up in the air IMO, since I do not think he has impressed them just yet. And with his history it wouldn't surprise me if he was struggling to learn the offense.
* Trades of Cooper and/or Spruce. Both will be showcased and have impact this preseason. One or both, if they play well, could be flipped for picks. McRoberts, if he keeps showing well and does so in preseason, enters this equation as well.
* At this point I suspect they redshirt Reynolds. He's a problem on the roster. I know they love his upside, however he's not going to offer them much in special teams or depth chart spot duty to warrant his roster spot. Other guys will definitely be ahead of him there. How are they going to play it? Drama ahead dudes, the good kind of drama too.
http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/8402/tavon-austin RECENT NEWS
According to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk on NBC Sports, the Rams aren't shopping Tavon Austin.
There was speculation Austin could be dealt after the Rams acquired Sammy Watkins from Buffalo on Friday, but multiple outlets have confirmed that isn't the case. Obviously Watkins' presence will mean fewer targets for Austin, whose fantasy appeal was flimsy to begin with. A glorified gadget player (despite ludicrous comparisons to DeSean Jackson), the former eighth overall pick ranked 123rd out of 154 qualified receivers in yards per reception last season. Aug 11 - 2:13 PM Source:ProFootballTalk on NBC Sports
If Goff is the guy we think he is and Watkins remains healthy, our offense went from a weakness to a strength this year.
Gurley just got better....AUSTIN just got better...Goff just got better...Woods, Kupp, Everett and Higbee...Our offense is potentially the best since GSOT, and that's no Kool-Aid foolishness (shut up, RYNIE!):rockon:
thot this was interesting!!!
train Say hello the best offensive skill player in this year's draft.
by Dan Kadar Apr 17, 2014, 12:00pm EDT TWEET
Streeter Lecka
The only thing stopping Sammy Watkins from being in the same class as A.J. Green and Julio Jones – the best receiver prospects of the last five years – is a few inches in height. Other than overly impressive size, there is little Watkins can't do.
Of all the wide receivers in the draft this year, Watkins is easily the best combination of hands, playmaking ability and just general upside potential. Whether it's going deep, working short screens or even executing gadget plays, Watkins is the best offensive weapon in the draft this year.
Watkins may have been overshadowed by DeAndre Hopkins at Clemson in 2012, but that was due largely to being suspended the first two games of the season. He was arrested before the 2012 season and charge with possession of marijuana and possession of a controlled substance. As a result, Watkins never seemed to get in rhythm with quarterback Tajh Boyd.
The 2013 season was a different story for Watkins. He returned to the superstar form he showed as a freshman and pulled in 101 receptions for 1,464 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Body control: Although Watkins isn’t a classic 6-foot-4 receiver, he’s very good at high-pointing the ball. He times his jumps properly and knows how to extend his hands to make difficult catches. Watkins also shows his body control on short throws. On screens, Watkins sometimes had to contort his frame to either catch a low ball or quickly elude a defensive back after the catch. That elusiveness is also on display in the return game, where Watkins can be a real asset.
Hands: Watkins’ hands are typically exceptional. He consistently pulls the ball in away from his frame and will get aggressive targeting a pass. Showed on a lot of deep passes that he can track the ball over his shoulder in stride. Does have some issues with his hands when defenders are closing in for a hit. Has had the ball knocked out of his hands.
Release: If a stronger cornerback is lined up opposite Watkins in press coverage, he can be stopped at the line. That is if the defender can get a hand on him. Watkins has a good first move and initial burst off the line of scrimmage to beat the jam.
Route running: Watkins’ success as a route runner can be attributed to his burst. He gets separation on his routes by firing through his cuts, giving him just enough space for the quarterback to deliver the ball in a tight window. At Clemson, Watkins wasn't always asked to run a lot of different, complex routes. That's something he'll have to get better at in the NFL. The skills are there to do so.
Speed: It’s one thing for a wide receiver to have great speed. Many of them do. It’s another thing for a wide receiver to have great speed and know how to utilize it. That’s Watkins. He gets up to top speed, but knows how to use it. He can change pace, with or without the ball, to get separation from defensive backs. Watkins has the speed to break a big play open over the top, but can slow down to let a block develop before ramping back up to top speed.
Final word: Watkins is a sensation of a wide receiver. As a player, there are few flaws in his game. Those that are there – running a more diverse route tree, catching the ball when pressure is closing on him – are coachable points. Watkins is the type of receiver who can be brought in, start straight away and become a star. Expecting him to have the same type of impact Green did for the Bengals should be the expectation.
Just for those wondering the game will be on LIVE at 6:00pm PST on CBS and NFLN!
PLUS, If you want to listen to it on your Radio it will be on ESPN 710AM channel 100.3!
And as a lil side note, I just read, IF you don't already have it, you can get NFL Game Pass " FREE" on a 7 day Trial right now!
).
is under a lot of pressure heading into both the preseason opener and regular season after a rocky rookie campaign. Throughout training camp, Goff has shown tremendous growth in his confidence as the starting quarterback and a lot of budding chemistry with his new receiving group, specifically wideouts
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