Which 2-3 Rookies are You Most Excited to See in the Preseason?

[HE WITH HORNS]

Evans the RB. Could be the steal of the draft. Let's see him get out there

 

[Ram65]

I hate to disagree with the masses........Bennett.

The Edge players.....Hampton, Mathis and Johnson. Rams need to hit on at least one of them.

Evans at RB is an important watch.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Avila obviously

Turner and Puka Nakua.

I’m interested in how quickly Turner can get going. He’s the Rams replacement for Gregg Gaines. Gaines didn’t do much in year one.

Nakua has potential to produce immediately if he gets a shot.

 

[TheTackle]

I am very interested in some of the undrafted free agents, namely Braxton Burmeister, The Davises at corner (Timarcus and Tyon), Tiyon Evans at running back, and two of the inside linebackers (Kelechi Onyalebechi and DeAndre Square).

Onyalebechi was his conference’s defensive player of the year and the conference’s student-athlete of the year. Square was a fantastic ILB in 2021, but fell off a bit last year.

The Davises are interesting corners; Timarcus, in particular, had a bunch of solid special teams tackles in his highlight reel by him (to go along with good coverage skills). Tyon is a solid cover corner, long arms, big frame.

Tiyon Evans is a bowling ball at 5’9”, 225 lbs. Reminds me of C.J. Anderson.

As for Burmeister, he’s a former quarterback who moved to wide receiver. He’s blazing fast - ran over 22 mph on the GPS. For a reference, that’s faster than Gurley was.

Then there’s other undrafted wideouts competing: Sam James and Xavier Smith look like solid returners, while Tyler Hudson was Louisville’s number one receiver. Quindell Johnson will likely make the team, and Rashad Torrence II has a shot as well (and I wouldn’t sell Jason Taylor II short either; he was one of the best secondary players at Okie State - a school known for producing secondary talent).

Finally, the draft picks. I want to see how Kobie Turner, Byron Young, Nick Hampton, Desjuan Johnson, and Ochaun Mathis perform and compete against Daniel Hardy, Kier Thomas, Hoecht and the Browns. I want to see Davis Allen, Puka Nacua, and Zack Evans perform. I want to see Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson man the outside cornerback position opposite Cobie Durant and Robert Rochell I want to see Steve Avila, Warren McClendon, Mike McAllister, Sean Maginn, and Grant Miller perform against second years in Logan Bruss, Zachary Thomas, and A.J. Arcuri.

I want to see Ethan Evans, Tanner Brown, Christopher Dunn, and Alex Ward grow.

And I guess Stetson Bennett is an option.

Nice write up on Deandre Square here. Definitely a player to look out for at camp

DeAndre Square is a major sleeper in the NFL Draft

Square’s value in the middle of the defense can’t be overstated.

www.aseaofblue.com

 

[RAMSinLA]

Tomlinson and Bennett

 

[Mackeyser]

Avila, Young and Tomlinson, but I’m also pretty excited for Nacua, McClendon, and BOTH Ethan and Zach Evans.

Honestly, I’m excited for everyone we drafted. We didn’t take a single guy that made me groan like I’d eaten bad shellfish.

I also really like a bunch of UDFAs like Quindell Johnson, Alex Ward, Rashad Torrence and Christopher Dunn

I’m stoked that this TC is gonna be fire with the young guys and I have faith in McVay and staff to see them up for success

 

[nighttrain]

I’m stoked that this TC is gonna be fire with the young guys and I have faith in McVay and staff to see them up for success

THIS^
\
train

 

[WestCoastRam]

Well, I'll say this, if a guy who's a rookie earns a starting spot on the roster, chances are we're not going to see them in preseason as is McVay's MO. With that being said:

I don't want to see Avila which will mean he earned a starting spot in TC already.

I would like to see and expect that Turner's competing to replace Greg Gaines as a slightly undersized disrupter in the run game who can still gap and a half but allow Donald to freelance. He probably needs a season in the weight room and will most likely begin as rotational pieces behind Brown but I'll be curious how he performs. Tangentially, I'm excited to see where Desjuan plays on the line and what he can offer at 3-tech, possibly spelling Donald.

Back to Turner, he excites me, I think he could end up being a Greg Gaines clone. I imagine that's not good enough for some people who want home runs with all our draft picks but I'd be excited to have that kind of production from a late 3rd round pick.

As far as a third guy, I'll cheat and say it's a tie: I want to see Zach Evans and Nacua play to their talent level and remain healthy throughout preseason.

 

[BuffaloRam]

Keen to see who emerges in the secondary and at LB

 

[XXXIVwin]

I'm interested in seeing a whole bunch of rookies as well as crucial 2nd year guys like Yeast and Lake. (Gotta think McVay might be more lax about his "no starters" rule in preseason this year?)

But 3 I'm especially interested in:

Evans
Evans
Young

Can the D2 kid can make the big jump?
Can Zach unleash his inner Gurley?
Do we have an Edge?

 

[Oregonram]

1. Avila
2. Tomlinson
3. Evans RB

 

[TexasRam]

View: https://media4.giphy.com/media/RMGbTGi77Zg980i3ri/200w.webp?cid=ecf05e47bj4q31ketkuiwtm87ie6haobx2cbe2usw5wyghp0&ep=v1_gifs_search&rid=200w.webp&ct=g

 

[CGI_Ram]

I am really excited to see Stetson Bennett. He could end up being a fan favorite.

Tiyon Evans is probably my favorite long-shot. “The other Evans” challenges Akers for snaps?

Does Xavier Smith win the Brandon Powell role?

 

[RamsOfCastamere]

Avila and that's it. I want to see the line bounce back.

If they hold up, I'm interested in seeing Stafford and Tutu build a connection.

 

[OnceARam]

Nick Hampton!!!!!

Just hope this defense gets in 3rd and long situations enough that we'll be able to see this guy play on Sundays.

 

[kurtfaulk]

.

i can't wait to see bennett, if only because it will allow us to see what the rams have with all their wr depth. watching wolford and perkins was a disgusting display of qb play.

zach evans obviously. always like seeing new rb blood and what they can bring.

and byron young. praying this guy can bring the heat.

.

 

[jjab360]

.

i can't wait to see bennett, if only because it will allow us to see what the rams have with all their wr depth. watching wolford and perkins was a disgusting display of qb play.

zach evans obviously. always like seeing new rb blood and what they can bring.

and byron young. praying this guy can bring the heat.

.

I hope they don't go the Wolford preseason route where they don't play the no. 1 or no. 2 QB this year.

 

[OnceARam]

I hope they don't go the Wolford preseason route where they don't play the no. 1 or no. 2 QB this year.

Wolford was really a 1B given how good he was at the front slide and throwing hospital balls. It's not any NCAA QB that could pull that off.

 

[AZRams]

Zach Evans and Nacua.

Evans is way more talented than his draft position so I don't see how he can't help but contribute and he appears to have a skill set that would help the offense.

Kinda can't help but think, at this point at least, Nacua is a poor-mans Kupp. Much like how I thought Kupp was a poor-mans Edelman when he came out.

 

[TheTackle]

Just to change things up I am going with a redshirt, who may make waves with Stafford in camp. Once the dust settles he might emerge as our X WR.

Lance McCutcheon​

Perhaps I am being naive but our other WRs, barring Tutu and including Kupp, figure to line up on the strong side most of the time. Lance’s skill set means he is more likely to play the X WR in our 11 personnel scheme

I am really looking forward to seeing our WRs compete for playing time because there is a great deal more talent than outsiders recognise