Rams Make OT Isaiah Battle Highest-Paid Practice Squad Player In NFL

[Merlin]

You know the knocks on Battle were maturity and rawness. Everyone saw his ability though, which is definitely at least round 2. Cannot teach length and natural feet.

At this point IF he is working hard and being a professional his destiny is at LT. Just a question of when his technique gets there. Really hope the Rams get him on the roster soon, because there just aren't that many guys around like him.

 

[DCH]

Anyone think the future contains Battle at LT, GRob at LG and Brown back permanently at RG?

 

[Orchid]

Apparently Maurice Alexander is back healthy again. Christian Bryant was only signed to be his replacement on STs, could we swap Bryant for Battle soon? Or do we like Bryant enough to keep him on the roster, and do what you said? Or do we keep both Cunningham and Bryant and bring up Battle when/if we put Ogletree on IR (DTR or otherwise).

It is possible that Bryant stays on the 53 man roster given all the LB reps Barron is getting which makes us a little light at safety.

 

[Orchid]

Anyone think the future contains Battle at LT, GRob at LG and Brown back permanently at RG?

I think LT will be between Williams and Battle. I could see Wichmann in the mix at guard given the time he missed in camp.

 

[DCH]

I think LT will be between Williams and Battle. I could see Wichmann in the mix at guard given the time he missed in camp.

I don't see both Battle/Williams and Wichmann moving into the starting 5... if GRob kicks inside, Wichmann isn't playing over him or Brown. And if Wichmann replaces anyone, it'll likely be Reynolds if he doesn't play well at LG.

Of course, right now it's GRob/Reynolds/Barnes/Brown/Havenstein, and that's probably not changing anytime soon unless they totally stink it up for a few games.

 

[tahoe]

Apparently Maurice Alexander is back healthy again. Christian Bryant was only signed to be his replacement on STs, could we swap Bryant for Battle soon? Or do we like Bryant enough to keep him on the roster, and do what you said? Or do we keep both Cunningham and Bryant and bring up Battle when/if we put Ogletree on IR (DTR or otherwise).

I hope they keep Bryant on the roster

 

[ChrisW]

It seems we now have quality D-line and O-line players stashed on the practice squad. Going to be interesting come the offseason.

 

[DCH]

Why? His experience is entirely on the left side of the line, and he played really well at LG last year before Long went down.

 

[LACHAMP46]

Anyone think the future contains Battle at LT, GRob at LG and Brown back permanently at RG?

I seriously don't see a player on the Rams that would make me move G-Rob....In case some of us missed it, LT is hard! Teams pay a lot of money for guys to destroy offenses from that side of the ball... I know @Athos keeps proposing move G-Rob, I think the kid has done fine....Not sure what a 2nd year LT with 16 games under his belt is supposed to look like?

I like Battle, I'm really glad we grabbed him...but can he play like ONE SNAP against a first stringer going 100% before we say he can be anything other than a backup...

 

[RamDino]

All we can hope for is that Battle is maturing physically and mentally and that the Rams coaches are impressed with his effort. We could have a diamond in-the-rough here. Let's keep our fingers crossed. Our best hope right now is that Battle becomes the back-up tackle on either side. Let Fisher decide where to put him next year. Our line, with all these rookies gaining a year of experience, just might be awesome for years to come!

 

[TheDYVKX]

Anyone think the future contains Battle at LT, GRob at LG and Brown back permanently at RG?

It's possible, just don't see them moving Robinson for a guy who's just as raw, if not more, as he is. Battle is basically a slightly less athletic (which isn't a knock on IB, Greg is just a freak) version of Robinson. By the time we get Battle up to LT speed, Robinson might have developed into a good one anyway.

 

[DCH]

I seriously don't see a player on the Rams that would make me move G-Rob....In case some of us missed it, LT is hard! Teams pay a lot of money for guys to destroy offenses from that side of the ball... I know @Athos keeps proposing move G-Rob, I think the kid has done fine....Not sure what a 2nd year LT with 16 games under his belt is supposed to look like?

I like Battle, I'm really glad we grabbed him...but can he play like ONE SNAP against a first stringer going 100% before we say he can be anything other than a backup...

I'm not saying he's done anything to make that change, but it's a possibility. Robinson's best play so far in his young career has been at LG, and if the Rams decide that Battle at LT and Robinson at LG are the ingredients to the best possible O-line, I'm not gonna argue. And of course, my thoughts are based mostly off of his collegiate play, his hype coming into the supplemental draft, the fact that he was on track to be a 1st-rounder in 2016, and the amount of money he's being paid right now on the PS.

Could never happen. He could end up taking snaps from Havenstein, or being our swing tackle, or hell, learning how to snap the ball and making a run at the C position. But it's a possibility. And the fact that we have talented depth on the O-line is one of the best things to happen to this team in a long time.

 

[Noregar]

Smart move by the Rams to pay him. The Rams actually did the same thing with Washington in 2012 when they grabbed him off of waivers. Unless a team could promise Battle actual playing time he would have little reason to leave the Rams if they were paying him the same as he would make elsewhere. It makes sense that with $$ being equal he would choose to stay with the team that drafted him and stay at a place where he had come to know and develop bonds with coaches and teammates.

The special physical/mental skill set needed to be a starter quality NFL left tackle may be only second to that of a starting caliber QB in the NFL. That is why those guys rarely hit free agency and they are drafted so much higher than most other offensive linemen.

Getting Battle in the fifth could prove to be steal if he pans out. Finding a guy like Williams as an undrafted FA is a heist if he works out. I have not given up on G-Rob yet but it is nice to know the Rams have other developmental options if he does not work out. Many seem to forget that Pace did not really emerge as dominant LT until his third year.

 

[12intheBox]

Anyone think the future contains Battle at LT, GRob at LG and Brown back permanently at RG?

Battle at LT
Brown stays at LG
Robinson to RG

 

[DaveFan'51]

I sort of expected them to bring Battle up from the PS during the Bye Week! JMHO

 

[DaveFan'51]

Really hope the Rams get him on the roster soon, because there just aren't that many guys around like him.

I feel the same way about Trinca-Pasat and Longacre!!:shades:

 

[dieterbrock]

Yeah, I fully expect that once Kendricks is ready to go Cunningham will go down and Battle to the roster.

I'd hate to see them cut Cunningham, might go somewhere else

 

[Rams43]

Know what I think?

I think that having all these young and promising players in our OL stable is a nice "problem" to have.

What a change from last year!

At OT alone we have GRob, Hav, Battle, Williams, Donnal and Reynolds.

At OG we have Brown, Reynolds, Wichmann, and Rhaney.

I don't think we should go to sleep on Williams, btw. He DID beat out Battle in the preseason, after all.

One last thing. If, in fact, we are potentially 4 deep in OT's that could really play in this league, well...

That would put us in rare company as a team. Many teams don't even have a strong 3rd swing tackle these days, much less 2 of them. I really think that we now have some serious depth at OT. Maybe OG, too.