Rams News Recap: June 8

[RamBill]

Proposed NFL Stadium in St. Louis Has Already Cost Taxpayers $3 million –PD
The proposed riverfront football stadium has already cost taxpayers $3 million.

Rams Couldn’t Resist Adding Jeff Garcia to Coaching Staff –Wagoner
Upon promoting Frank Cignetti Jr. to offensive coordinator back in February, St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher set out to bring some new blood to Cignetti’s vacated quarterbacks coach position.

Is Nick Foles a More Vocal Leader than Sam Bradford? –Audio

Surprise! Fisher’s Team Wins Charity Softball Game –PD
It took a Bump Bailey type effort in the outfield by punter Johnny Hekker, but coach Jeff Fisher’s squad (surprise!) won again in the fourth annual “Coach Fisher & Friends” celebrity softball game.

Kenny Britt Back, Striving to Improve –Simmons
While it may have been a surprise to some, wide receiver Kenny Britt emerged as one of the Rams’ offensive leaders in 2014

Kenny Britt wants to move past six-year ‘letdown’ –Wagoner
St. Louis Rams wide receiver Kenny Britt led the team in receiving yards in 2014 and became the first Rams wideout to surpass 700 receiving yards since Torry Holt in 2008.

Bernie: Can STL be the next “Cleveland” in NFL?
When I interviewed Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon last week, we discussed a number of subjects including the status of the St. Louis stadium plan, the effort to keep the Rams,

Pro Football Focus Shines Light On Defensive Improvements From 2014
The Rams’ defense is expected to take a big step this year, but when you look a little closer there was pretty big step taken last year as well…

Fisher Won’t Change Rams’ Unique Approach to Offseason Program
As the only team without mandatory minicamps and the last team to start organized team activities and sign its draft class, the St. Louis Rams make no bones about their unique approach to the offseason program.

Bud Sasser Reverts to NFI for 2015, Won’t Receive Salary –PFT
Rams sixth-round receiver Bud Sasser went unclaimed through waivers on Friday, which means he has reverted to the team’s non-football illness list for the rest of the 2015 season.

Rams Who’ve Turned Heads in Offseason Workouts –Bleacher Report
The St. Louis Rams began OTAs (organized team activities) on Tuesday, June 2, and it marked the beginning of both rookies and veterans playing on the same field.

Rams’ Foles Taking Charge, Earning Praise –Gray
It has not yet been three months since quarterback Nick Foles was traded from the Philadelphia Eagles to the St. Louis Rams in exchange for Sam Bradford

Fisher’s Charity Softball Game: Highlights & Interviews –Video

Rams’ Jeff Fisher Joins ESPN’s NFL Insiders –Audio

Kenny Britt: “It’s great to be back” –Video

 

[RamBill]

Rams look poised to surpass 49ers in NFC West
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...-look-poised-to-surpass-the-49ers-in-nfc-west

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- The mass exodus that has taken place in San Francisco this offseason has many wondering just how far the 49ers are going to fall off in 2015.

It started with coach Jim Harbaugh's departure and then trickled down to the roster via surprising retirements (Chris Borland and Anthony Davis), not-so-surprising retirements (Justin Smith) or free agent movement (guard Mike Iupati). NFL Nation columnist Kevin Seifert put all of those losses in better perspective on Monday by examining the number of player snaps added and lost this offseason.

Seifert finds that the 49ers have the biggest difference between snaps added and snaps lost at 5,697. The Philadelphia Eagles are next at 4,853.

The St. Louis Rams, meanwhile, come in at 3,419 snaps lost. But to put that in perspective, many of those snaps came from the likes of center Scott Wells and guard Davin Joseph, neither of whom was very effective a year ago. The Rams actually retained 93 percent of their defensive snaps from last season with defensive tackle Kendall Langford the only major deletion.

None of this guarantees anything in terms of the Rams' anticipated progress in 2015. But the Rams did beat San Francisco on the road last year (the Niners handled them in St. Louis earlier in the season) and finished two games behind the Niners in the NFC West. Bigger surprises have happened but with so many moving parts and a new coach in Jim Tomsula, the Rams look like they're in position to at least move out of the division's basement this year.

ICYMI

A roundup of Monday's Rams stories appearing on ESPN.com. ... In the Ram-blings, we started the day with a look at whether Nick Foles can emerge as the Rams' long-term quarterback. ... Receiver Kenny Britt is not satisfied with his first six seasons in the league. ... The Rams just couldn't resist the opportunity to hire Jeff Garcia as a coach. ... Jeff Fisher's unique approach to the offseason program isn't going to change simply because there's so much to do.

Elsewhere:

At 101sports.com, a local politician responded to Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon's latest comments on the pending lawsuit about the St. Louis stadium project.

At FoxSportsMidwest.com, Elisabeth Meinecke has an interesting story on one of rookie lineman Jamon Brown's jobs before he came to the NFL.

At stltoday.com, Joe Lyons takes a closer look at the added competition at running back brought on by the team's new rookies.

Following up on Chris Long and William Hayes' homeless endeavors, a woman they helped after their night on the street has received some additional help.

NJ.com comments on the early love for Foles in St. Louis.