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5 LA Rams players who could be 2020 surprise starters
Despite the challenges of not direct contact with coaches so far, these LA Rams 5 rookies could surprise with starting roles
ramblinfan.com
Bret Stuter
The LA Rams do not have a friendly track record when it comes to rookies. Of course, the team has an excellent reputation for giving roster chances to any player on the roster who earns it, but when it comes to actually getting onto the field of play? The Rams prefer rookies to watch and learn. But 2020 is certainly unique, and meeting the needs of the team in this environment could take on a life of its own.
The LA Rams have three new decision-makers among the team’s coaching staff. While each as a new slant of what the team needs, they all report to the same head coach. And that will also serve to synchronize all aspects of the team. But this is a new dawning, a new chapter. The LA Rams have taken it up a notch, and that means a clean slate.
Help Wanted – Apply within
The Rams are coming off a 9-7 season. Typically, that means a team has a full starting cast assembled and spent the offseason spicing up the roster with niche players and rookies to develop for future roles. But this Rams team is not typical. In fact, for a 9-7 team that just missed the NFL playoffs, the Rams have made a few changes that truly opens the door for some new blood.
Where the Rams were strong in 2019, they remain very strong. The Rams continue to boast All-Pro Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey on defense, and 1000 yard receivers Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp on offense. But the Rams had some weaknesses in the roster in 2019 as well. And then the offseason happened, and some more weaknesses developed as well. So those become opportunities for new players to emerge in 2020. Who might those players be?
Center
The LA Rams entered the off-season knowing that they needed help for the center position. The experiment of starting Brian Allen as the center did not go according to play in 2019. And from there, the Rams continued to struggle right up the middle of the offense. Even after veteran, Austin Blythe stepped up to play as the center, defenses continued to feast on the Rams by sending pressure through the A-gaps.
The only way to fix that in 2020 is to either place a competent and knowledgeable center at the position or to coach up existing players into better tactics to prevent success with A-gap blitzes. While the first response would seem to be “coach ’em up”, I believe that the Rams are ripe for a changing the starter.
Cabral to the Rams was no accident
The LA Rams drafted just one offensive lineman, Tremayne Anchrum, a versatile offensive lineman who can play virtually all five offensive line positions. And then, the Rams signed up a center after the draft, Arizona State’s Cohl Cabral. Cabral is a 6-foot-5 300-pound offensive lineman who has a history at playing the blind side left offensive tackle as well as the center position for the Sun Devils.
While his draft profile describes a smart player who is not a track star, the LA Rams need a smart center. Draft profiles aim at the here and now and do not do justice to the upside of a player after NFL caliber coaching, strength conditioning, and experience. Of course, if Cabral’s training camp is literally picking him up off his ass after every play, he’s not going to compete for a starting role. But I suspect that he has plenty of size and strength to compete. He may not win a Pro-Bowl berth as a rookie, but simply sealing up the A-Gaps would be a great place to start.
Running back
In every season, a player emerges in training camp far better than anyone expected or even imagined. Despite the draft profiles and analysis that convinced everyone that the ceiling for a particular player is too low to truly make an NFL player. And yet, that challenge seems to motivate the player to break through that ceiling pretty quickly. Running back Xavier Jones seems to fit that sort of player.
The ultimate goal of a running back is to run the ball into the end zone. And for 2019, Xavier Jones was absolutely the most successful running back in all of college football at that goal. He has decent enough size for the running back position, standing 5-foot-11 and weighing 208 pounds. He can put up the yards too, averaging 5.2 yards-per-carry (YPC) on his way to a massive 3,434 yards over his college career. But where he shines is his scoring production. 48 touchdowns over 50 games, and 25 touchdowns in his final 13 college games
All he does is score touchdowns
Sometimes we make things too complex. If Jones ran 20 yards to daylight for a touchdown, he would only be awarded 20 yards on that play. If he ran one yard for a score, the same thing would occur, and he would find one yard added to his season total. Running or catching a pass for a touchdown is the best a player can do on an offensive play. So when a player racks up 25 touchdowns and holds the NCAA scoring title for a single season at 11.9 points per game, that should carry a lot of weight.
Jones was not invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, despite his stellar 2019 performance. And despite a rock-solid career at Southern Methodist University, he did not attract much NFL attention either. But he did catch the attention of the LA Rams, who signed him up. But does he have a chance for touches with the LA Rams running back depth chart? Yes. The Rams veteran running back only had 108 carries for the entire season in 2019. And while they chose running back Cam Akers with their first available draft pick, he is just a rookie as well. In the end, running backs score. And Xavier Jones scored more touchdowns in 2019 than the rest of the LA Rams running backs combined.
Wide Receiver (3)
While Van Jefferson was a mildly surprising selection for the LA Rams, the evidence of his potential rising grows with each additional bit of information. Everyone I read discussed the likelihood for some solid players falling in the NFL Draft due to the unorthodox process, the inability to clear medical flags, and the lack of good analysis readily available. The more I research the LA Rams selection of Van Jefferson, the more convinced I am that he was a player who would have flirted with a first-round grade in a normal year.
Raw talent is a dime a dozen out of college as a receiver. Run fast, catch the ball is pretty easy for 21-year-olds who had four years of collegiate coaching and strength training, versus some of the collegiate freshmen who are truly on the other side of physically maturing. While Van Jefferson’s 6-foot-1 200-pound is no skyscraper, particularly in NFL terms, he’s the type of receiver who makes defensive backs look foolish. You see, he runs crisp solid pass routes,
Deceptively fast, undeniably good
Jefferson was a wide receiver coming off an injury while the NFL Draft salivated over one of the best wide receiver classes in modern times. With so many receivers to cover, to headline, it’s no wonder that Jefferson was pushed to the back pages. Readers lose interest with stories that discuss rookie prospects loaded with “might” or “could” in the narrative. Fans want to be told just how great a rookie will play for their team. So how good can Van Jefferson be?
He’s so good that CBS SPORTS posted a YOUTUBE highlight reel of the player when the Rams selected him at 57. Everyone who had a voice in draft coverage loved the fit of Jefferson with the Rams. Now, I’ll go one step forward. I believe that Van Jefferson has a chance to earn the WR3 role for the Rams this year. He was compared numerous times to Washington’s rookie wide receiver Terry McLaurin. McLaurin went on to torch the NFL with over 900 yards and seven touchdowns from the combing passing of QBs Case Keenum and rookie Dwayne Haskins. Even buried on the Rams depth chart, Jefferson can replicate that performance if he gets playing time. He’s too good to be on the bench folks.
Inside linebacker
All things equal talent-wise for the LA Rams at the linebacker position, the nod should go to the player that can diagnose the offense and call out the proper defensive adjustments best. And the more that rule sticks in my mind, the more I believe that inside linebacker Clay Johnston has a real shot to earn a starting role on this Rams defense.
Just as the Rams need at center hinges upon a player who has good football intelligence who can grow stronger and more agile over the course of the season, so too do the Rams need a linebacker who can act as the air traffic controller and command center for Brandon Staley’s deceptively effective defensive schemes. That player could very likely be Johnston, for several reasons.
Defensive difference-maker
However, you or I may see the player best suited for the role, the characteristics for the role will remain the same. The LA Rams starting inside linebacker must possess noticeably high football intelligence, must be able to defend the run very well, and must be able to drop back into pass coverage. But perhaps the most important element of all? He must add energy to the defense.
View: https://twitter.com/LindseyThiry/status/1254205732595003392?s=20
And there you have it. The intangible energy factor. That infectious emotion that stokes the entire team with a smoldering rage to make the next play appear on a highlight film. So why ignore the value of an on-field motivator to intensify the play of so many talented players? It’s a nudge that could eventually land Johnston the starting job.
Kick returner
Have I saved the best for last? Time will tell. But if my suspicions are correct, new special team coordinator John Bonamego lobbied long and hard for the LA Rams to sign Brandon Polk. We know already that the Rams were in regular conversations with the young man up to and after the 2020 NFL Draft. And we also already know that the Rams had already discussed both a punt returner and kick returner roles.
Lobbying that hard for a player who ultimately fell out of the 2020 NFL Draft can tell a lot about the Rams plans for their return game. Either the Rams coaching staff and personnel department are completely off-base, or they know something that the rest of the NFL missed. Let’s presume that with the Rams track record of finding hidden gems in the past, that it’s the Rams who are truly the sharp ones here.
Eat my dust, Brandin Cooks
The LA Rams had to part ways with speedster veteran wide receiver Brandin Cooks this offseason. While the Rams landed a 2020 second-round pick for Cooks and a 2022 fifth-round pick in the exchange, did anyone truly believe that the Rams would find a faster player? Well surprise, they did exactly that. His 4.28-second 40-yard dash time is better than the 4.33-second time held by Cooks. But speed alone is not enough. Polk discovered that during his time at Penn State University, where he languished with light usage and few opportunities. It was not until he transferred to James Madison University that he was truly unlocked as a dangerous offensive weapon.
Once he set up shop at JMU, he put up 1,179 yards and 11 touchdowns. So talent is not enough, it also takes the right scheme, coaching staff, teammates, and mindset to succeed at the game of football. Those pieces are already in place with the LA Rams. The Rams have plenty of experience and respect for a receiver who can pop the lid off the back of the defense, and Polk will no doubt get his chances to show his stuff for the Rams offense. With any luck, QB Jared Goff can get the ball to him in stride. But Polk’s immediate contribution is that return game that truly needs help. The Rams lobbied to sign him for months prior to the 2020 NFL Draft.
