Do The Los Angeles Rams Have The Best Offensive Line Depth In The NFL? Rams Vs Chargers Recap

[Music] hey what's going on Los Angeles welcome to another episode of the Rams skinny here on the lfb network the Rams lfb YouTube channel and anywhere you get your podcast and of course lfb network.com where it all ties in Al together thank you as always for making us a part of your day talking all things rans football after a I mean say it was a football game I wouldn't call it a super exciting game but a 13-9 win over City rival Los Angeles charg we're GNA get all into that things we saw things we need to look forward to in the future and whatnot but first let me welcome in as always my better half the man the myth the legend skinny T what's up my man how you doing how was how was the weekend ah it was it was great man um it you know we're getting ever closer to football and it always you know there's a different feeling in the air uh for us and and probably there everybody watching when when there's you know actual things happen and then there's there's football of consequence within a few days really I mean if you look at the college college football uh there's one one game on the 24th I think yeah Notre Dame right over no they're not they're not playing that early it's like something like Florida State Texas A&M or something like that okay yeah you're right but yeah I just know because us plays the first and UCLA plays the 31st so we're two weeks away from that but yeah I mean football is here follows in the air my daughter first day of school today ever wow TK started today that was a that was an interesting today was just a weird it was a weird feeling like we dropped her off come home and I me I still have to work obviously my wife's like I I don't know what to do now like I'm like oh my gosh the world's your oyster now you can do whatever you want yeah weird she getting so big just about four years or coming up on five years old here I suppose in a few month four and a half yeah four and a half so so she started school so School means football is back what if I'm ready for the weather to cool down it's real hot out here and where me and you are but you know it's nice it's sunny we can't complain so but Rams Fans hopefully not a lot to complain about uh first and foremost Matthew Stafford progressing back you did an article today I let you comment on it but still what having tightness but as McVey said arrow pointing up right yes yes arrow pointing up on Stafford uh back at practice uh just doing the no drills just kind of the walkthr portion stretching an individual stuff so not back completely which you know we're all we're all in favor of of letting letting the old man rest his his weary bones and and ligaments and muscles for as long as he needs to up until week one because there's a precarious situation waiting for week one if Stafford can't go Jimmy grappolo not starting ston Bennett though ston Bennett looking better in week two not you know not multiple uh interceptions multiple turnovers but um you know not not the four not the four he he had in week one yeah uh I mean we asked for improvement and I guess there was Improvement um yes good that Stafford's tracking better he's obviously earned it and we don't it's not like we need to see him in training camp anymore like he's good knows the system has some chemistry I just wish when I played ball back in high school I could just go to my coach like little thigh tightness can I take a week off like you know he like no you you you fight through that but he's obviously earned it Super Bowl champ soon to be MVP and you can make that bet at betonline.ag use promo code believe telling the guys the ramsel if he sent you uh we like that bet Rams over under eight and a half wins we like that as well take the over just think a lot of people are doubting this Rams team but um yeah so bet online that AG is where you can do all that one of our sponsors one of our good friends tell them the guys uh tell tell them we sent you so but yeah first and foremost Stafford trending back so it doesn't seem like there is any indication that he will not be a full go uh week one do you expect next week for them to kind of ramp him back up as that is now gameweek practice next week I mean yeah he's he Sean McVey basically said you know we we've got plenty of time we're we're in no hurry at this point uh you know we've got two and a half weeks before our first game so I think you know I don't think he needs to go through necessarily exactly all of the you know the the grueling work necessarily I think for him it's mostly above the shoulders at this point in his career um and you know there's a question will he have the same kind of chemistry that Stetson Bennett has with a guy like Jordan Whittington or Xavier Smith those guys we'll talk about more um but you know really this is is is week one and every team is heading into this in into week one with uh these kinds of concerns in in their back pocket so um you know I think the above above the network shouldn't shouldn't put any stress on on that hammy no I don't think so so um yeah maybe the team that's the most similar and also most concerned was the team they played on on Saturday which be the Chargers Justin Herbert was back at not that we're going to get into it but Justin Herbert was back at practice today after he's been in a walking boot with planter fasciitis and um you know we were talking we were kind of joking before we started that you know STS and Bennett which we're going to get into um but it's doesn't seem as dire as the Chargers backup room with e stick Max Dugen who they released today their former seventh round pick out of TCU um and then they have Luis Perez also of the UFL so as dire as it may kind of look a little bit with mistakes at least with ston Bennett it still is a little better than what the Chargers got going if Justin Herbert is not able to go week one or week two or or that thing flares up later in the season the Chargers may be in a real real hurt spot I mean Rams might have uh trade Capital at that point for the Chargers yeah yeah maybe you're right uh you know um you know we we're we're friends with all sorts of fan bases and and seeing uh you know th those those charger people just pining for back quarterback like ston Bennett was was funny and I I think that a you know I'll ask you this you know a lot I feel like a lot of Rams Fans came out of that game feeling really really good about where STS and Bennett uh sits from from your Vantage Point do you think that he's made that kind of leap and that kind of jump into okay uh we can we can put the ball in his hands Any Given Sunday and he's and he's going to be able to operate the offense at a at a level that they'll keep him in in whatever game he has to play in yeah I mean the first drive got me real excited um you know obviously it was a scripted first drive but they're going up against I believe it was eight of the 11 starters on the Chargers defense um if I was counting correctly the only three not playing were Bosa Mack and Derwin James and all other eight Defenders on the field were are slayed to be starters for that defense um and so they were able to drive all the way down the field obviously had to stalled at the end there and settled for field goal but got points operated the offense well looked real confident and in play call and play design and and the throws he made I thought looked good so that got me really excited you know it was the up and down this from then on but it definitely isn't you know where he's at in his career the fact as we said last week as long as we see Improvement in week two and then see Improvement in week three I'll feel good about so that's what I do you know I think he had an overall I would say a good performance it wasn't putrid like what the Char put up I think going up against the Rams two threes and fours and they were not still able to get in the end zone and what nine points or whatever so uh haven't scored a touchdown yet in this preseason I I believe for the Chargers so uh it's not that and obviously Jimmy G wi back will be the guy which you know again we're talking about backups here so this isn't like this isn't like what the season's gonna be defined by but you want to have some a semblance of security especially when we're talking about a quarterback in Matthew St that is not a concern but has not practiced for three days until today and has tightness and you know at his age is going to get bumps and bruises so you want to have some semblance and competence behind him and I think in his second full game of action in my opinion I think ston Bennett showed that it it's trending that way I wouldn't say it's there yet it's still you know a work in progress but if you think about it he's essentially played what his fourth total NFL game after playing three not even full games but playing a few quarters last preseason then missing and now being back for two full games so I mean in that sense it's trending better so what was your takeaway yeah no I I'm I'm probably pretty aligned with you I was I was thinking about this in terms of uh watching Caleb Williams play um which my criticism of him was that you know he's making plays out of pocket off platform and that's all very exciting but um I started thinking about the uh director David mammo who uh his his instructions to actors are hit your mark and say your line um and that's what I want to see more of from ston Bennett I do like the out of the platform stuff I do like that he can make the throw down the field the JJ lap with two A's in his name um you know because that's a that's a throw that Jimmy Jimmy Garoppolo hasn't proven he can make yeah yeah in quite some time and missed a big throw in the Super Bowl that looked a lot like that um but uh you know so so I just want you know he he seems more comfortable outside of the pocket um you know and we've seen quarterbacks be wildly successful playing like that like Russell Wilson if that's the ceiling um that's great um but that's I mean to me I feel like specifically Shanahan McVey kind of uh coaches want their quarterbacks to you know hit their Mark say your line you know get things out on time I'm I'm designing these plays for you you know when Jordan whittington's out there he's making those plays in space because that's created by the offense for him to just be wide open like that yeah so those plays are out there and he's and he and he's missing some of those occasionally so you know I'm not 100% on him I'm not uh you know waving the flag that to cut cut Jimmy Garoppolo now we found found the guy um but but some some some good things to see yeah that's been the the biggest heads scratching kind of I don't know if you call roster building but just in there in McVey and sneed's decision- making in the backup quarterback is they've never I'm trying to think back like I really don't think they've ever had a backup that was aligned and play style to the starter like I mean Jimmy like Walford was very different than Jared gof right and obviously he was here too with with Stafford and um they've never like really had that and that that's you and you see that a lot sometimes you're just taking what you can get like okay this is the most talented guy that can be backup like we'll make it work but to me it makes sense you want a guy that plays the exact same style as your starter so similar to how the Rams built their running back room now to where if whether it's korm or Kiren you're calling the same plays because they can do the same thing as good the backup's never going to do the same thing as good as the starter but if he at least that's his skill set the game plan will never change regardless who's in there and it seems like always in this whole McVey era correct me if I'm forgetting someone but they've always had a backup there was a very different style quarterback than either gof or Stafford and Bennett is kind of that way too I mean he he can do stuff in the pocket we've seen at Georgia but to what you just said so far his time in the pros which has just been preseason action but his best moments have been off platform Off Script evading pressure it's not been the dialed up play call because he hasn't been able to hit that and that's the bread and butter of the MC McVey offense is we're not seeing Stafford run around it's drop back do your reads your progressions find the open guy and hit it and that hasn't been Bennett's strong point that wasn't John walford's strong strong point that you could argue again it was for three games but that wasn't Carson wentz's strong point um any of these guys so it's just it's just really an interesting thing of of why like I always think of obviously a huge drop off but if you remember pton Manning in Indie his backup like even looked like him half the time like you think of Jim sorgi think they were they were awful so I mean that's it's not a great example because they were really really bad but literally like looked in terms of size like how they ran the face mask they wore like it was a spitting image of Manning because they were like we need to run the same offense We're not gonna change it so anyway done with with Walford and those guys I know that McVey always uh liked that they could run the scout team um so that if they were facing facing a mobile quarterback that the defense may be more uh uh prepared uh but you know I think about an article that I wrote earlier this year about them going after Sam Howell or not maybe not going after him but they were really interested in trading for same how with Washington yeah that's another one of those guys you know the backup I think of is probably the closest to any starter that they've had was Blake Bortles year which that was ear early in my lafb days and got in a little bit of an argument with our good buddy uh chony T tiis there about about uh Bortles being the perfect backup uh quarterback you know I mean he started he started and won some games and I'm not saying he's he's anybody uh special but that was that's probably mcvey's best backup I can't remember who preceded him but uh I mean Shan Manion for some time like been before that um you know we're we know we're you know we're deep in preseason when we've gone 15 minutes with just backup quarterback talk but it's so true but this is why and then we'll move on this is why you and I think were so big on Spencer Rattler in the draft because he didn't when did he end up when did he did he end going not till the fifth round is that when he got taken by the Saints sounds right yeah it was like later than even we thought because we thought it was gonna have to be like third round third yeah um I'll look it up when you're talking or something but he can do stuff you know I didn't watch a ton of his College film but I watched enough like he could do stuff off platform like he had that skill set but he was a really good pocket passor with a great arm Talent like his ceiling was his arm Talent inside the pocket and all indications are not all indications I should say there's some murmurs that he's like challenging Derek Carr for that starting role like he's having a really good camp not saying that's gonna happen but there's been like chatter about that and that if that was here behind Stafford for three years like that would get me really excited about the potential air parent a guy that fits the system that plays just like Matthew Stafford with the same skill set instead we're we're talking about a guy that like does he feel good being qb3 and can he stay in the pocket when you need him to yeah yeah no and I mean QB evaluations are just anybody that thinks they're good at them uh they should be making a lot of money they should be they shouldn't be tweet Tweeting or exing uh you know their life away they should be they should be working for a team if you're if you're that good at evaluating quarterbacks um you know but you know we were we were both high on Rattler um and he was a fifth round pick yeah yeah and you know I like being right it's not the end end all be for me but if he ends up being a starting quarterback for the Saints by the end of the year you know I might take a little bit of of a Victory lap speaking of Victory laps our score predictions for this last game yeah we were pretty pretty close yeah well the final was 139 I I predicted 1410 and yours was 1413 I was 1312 1312 yeah so yeah pretty pretty dang close who would have taken if we were betting you would have won that because I would have been over with my 14 I I don't know how the all the rules work and I don't know what the the spread of this game was but if there is even preseason spreads but uh that's neither here here nor there just a quick quick little uh Victory lap for ourselves there we go every now and then you need those right stop stop watch is Right a couple of times a day yeah that's right at least at least twice right um so let's talk so Bennett we agree overall good performance good to see Improvement I we assume he'll play all of game three again he should I think we need to see another full game of him but you know good to see him he he was pulled last year out of the uh third game because in 10 I think in 10 dropbacks he threw two interceptions and they were like I think we've seen enough yeah so I think I think this year that might be a little bit different hopefully we'll see I mean he's at five picks already for the for the preseason so let's see if we can go through next game with none that'd be nice yeah um let's uh what do you want to do stick with offense or or jump over defense let's stick with offense I think it's time we the the myth the myth of Ryan Wendell is growing before our eyes Rams new offensive line coordinator he's been here for two seasons um what a phenomenal job he's done Logan bruss looking good a couple of rookies what's that I said gorgeous sorry gorgeous I I thought you called him a fortress I was like I love that played like a fortress that's great yeah yeah uh a couple of couple of rookies having really great uh preseason Bo limmer um and Justin diit playing a lot of Center and a lot of guard I believe um and doing a bang up job I they are not credited with any any pressures allowed so far this season and um and these are rookies you know and this is the backup and they're keeping they're keeping uh STS and Bennett really clean just five pressures we were expecting a bit more to come from this charger Chargers defense but you know you always wonder with these kinds of things if it's a chicken or the egg and you know Dallas wasn't putting up much of a fight I didn't I didn't feel like in that game but we thought the Chargers would and and I you know they were fa off against some some proven NFL pass rushers and they're keeping keeping STS and Bennett clean yeah I mean like we said kind of at the top of the show right like only three of the starting 11 Chargers Defenders didn't play two of those obviously are their Star Pass rushers and in Joey Bosa and and CLE Mack but I mean on the offensive line they were they were TW TW pelu is like a big part of that defense he played a lot of this game and you know Puna Ford is a big guy in the middle only played I think he played like seven total snaps but it was out there in the very beginning of the game um among others and I think this offensive line really Rea reacted well Scott Matlock another guy that's gonna get a lot of playing time for this Chargers team Bud depri a a veteran Morgan Fox a veteran all played in this game and little to no pressures were given up by this this starting uh not starting this this Rams five and you know we saw I think from the top down all guys look pretty good uh you know adding um you know Conor mcder played 26 snaps who they added from I guess not from the Patriots played for the Patriots last year but they add him just you know two weeks ago in Camp and and you mentioned the rookies and Warren McClendon and you know I think it's just really encouraging that a the development that we're getting out of Wendell and B in their draft process because now you look at and Wendell you know there's a scout team for this but the position coaches usually have some say and stuff in in drafting their position guys they like and they've obviously done their research and so you look at the course of the last two years who they've drafted and how they've developed and obviously this year being very quickly it's only been you know a few months but as you mentioned Bo limmer and and others and and undrafted free Ag and Justin diit and just their draft process on the offensive line has looked really really good in years past when maybe the starting five was good the backups were abysmal and you would just had to pray they made it through healthy all season long and luckily they did for most years but now it's starting to look like you know there's some good depth there which is encouraging as you go into the the slog of the season so great stuff from Wendell in the offensive line well and and to your point I mean th but guys like Bud Dupri and tu2 Tui pelou were playing in that first drive when STS and Bennett LED them down the field um to get a Field Drive arguably arguably his best Drive yeah uh against against some of some guys that are the ones so really really encouraged uh by that kind of thing um yeah uh bo limmer second or in front of um Joe alt in terms of uh his his run blocking grade from PFF so uh was he sixth round pick sixth round pick I believe B Limer and uh uh beating out the fifth overall pick in terms of grading which you know we always like to caveat uh PFF grades uh not always uh fully the whole story yeah you know in term in terms of red blocking it's hard it's hard really hard to know exactly you know how well a player is doing but anyway that's my point yeah no it's great and you know pass blocking even better an 83 grade uh he got in pass blocking 75 overall third highest graded Ram offensively um on this team so you know really really solid and played 50 snaps so it wasn't like he played Seven snap snaps and got those good grades like 50 snaps and had great output uh in all of those snaps 29 dropbacks 21 runs um so so really solid stuff from Bo Limer as you mentioned the sixth round pick so I mean it's just really encouraging to see where this offensive line is especially two weeks ago before the preseason started just in training camp you have your three starters go down and you know we we said it many others said it like this is supposed to be the highlight of this team they spent the most money on the offensive line for bigname players this was supposed to be the thing we didn't have to ever talk about the offensive line was be top five unit going to be great you lose three it wasn't panic mode yet it was early but it's like okay they signed Jonah Jackson who had injury history like what is this a foreshadowing of things to come and now again it's it's preseason but still with all the backups in it's like maybe this is the best unit you have these top tier guys at the starting five but now you have a lot of depth too so I mean just really encouraging I mean if if there's anything on this team anything any theme so last year our theme was better than expected I think so far the theme's got to just be encouraging I mean the defense which we're going to get to in a minute lights out again and the offensive line defa has been great yeah no and uh you know you're looking at you know Steve Oba is going to be there for a long time um Kevin Dodson and and and Jonah Jackson are still you know not up there in age you know people are talking about allic Jackson in terms of can they upgrade at that position but I mean then you look at Rob havenstein who's in his 10th season he's been you know mostly healthy but you're looking at 14 games last year played 15 2021 16 and 2020 that was all of them back then nine and 19 so I mean you know I'm not I'm not worried about him but he does get dinged up occasionally um and so there are there are positions that they will need to fill um in the in the near foreseeable future not saying this year but it depth is great and this is this is what makes this Rams team truly special is their ability to find these guys the diches the six rounders the fifth rounders pukan nakua um you know undrafted free agent uh Xavier Smith Jordan Whittington you know another late rounder so this is this is what makes this team um you know really great rooting for yeah and so just last caveat before we go to defense um because I know we've we've been real high on Justin diit and you know we said last week of of all the udfas specifically offensively we think he's got the best shot to make it and you know when you look at roster construction Bo limmer also a center so I think many would say like we're not going to keep three centers which I don't disagree with but Justin diit gives you a lot of Versatility as I've mentioned I don't want to keep reiterating ating but he played every position in college on the offensive line uh his two years ago played guard started at guard every single game and then last year started at Center every single game for the first time so they could keep him as a guard backup versatile to bolt those positions so for anyone listening saying like oh yeah he's been good but there's no way they keep three and Bo limmer obviously has been better and and he was the draft pick um they could still keep diit as that versatile can play kind of anywhere on the offensive line specifically at the NFL level just be inside but can do guard or Center so anyway just wanted to throw it out there because yes I agree I don't think they keep three quote unquote centers but you know you want guys that can play everywhere certainly yeah so uh last thing about the offense just got to give him a shout out nicoa kenic highest graded Ramen offense only 21 snaps but still 91 offensive grade so touche anyone named niik is a friend of mine yeah yeah ABS I'm going to shout out my guy from last year my my my my ram my Ram of the camp my Ram of 2323 Camp Xavier Smith had a great game um not just as a receiver he CAU uh five passes for 45 yards but he also added another nine as a rusher and um he picked up the Rams longest punt return since 2021 of 36 yards which um isn't great even even that you know it's it's not like he took it to the house or anything like that but um you know this is this is something they've been they've been looking for since they've been they were trotting uh Cooper cup out there not that long ago to return punts I don't know if you remember that but yeah that was not that long ago just a few years ago um so just another guy to look at um you know we were talking six or seven receivers are they going to keep on the 53 man roster and if if uh if it's seven he makes he makes this roster for sure so I know your answer but I'll just ask you before we move on if it comes down to Xavier Smith or tut2 Atwell who are you keeping and then who do you think the Rams are keeping I think tutu is gonna be on this roster if I if if I'm less need I'm moving on from 2 two I'm gonna I'm gonna try to find a a trade partner I dropped to you know the Miami Dolphins as a you know they love speed can they add another Speedy guy in there um you know who knows I don't know if the trade value is of any note but they they'll pick up a sixth and seventh round or something like they could they could do that but uh yeah I'm I'm I'm done with the two two Atwell experiment I like the guy um uh but uh you know I just like you know you look at what Xavier Smith did in this game this kind of Versatility may not look like that in the regular season but um you know there's you know he he's a Brandon Powell kind of a guy yeah I like I like Brandon Powell a while when he was a when he was a ram that was your guy and now now he's now he's doing good work too I don't I don't remember what team he's with or uh what exactly he did but like some good statistics recently yeah he was with Minnesota last year I can't remember I think he's still there um but he had some some good stuff with Minnesota so yeah I don't know I mean if they if they only keep six receivers because I think we we all agree you know obviously puka Cooper and and Robinson are your one two and three and then probably Whittington and Johnson whatever order you want to put or four and five um in our opinion and then six is kind of that Griffin or or two two Atwell some people might say atwell's four you know which based on draft stock I could see that but I just haven't seen anything that that proves that should be the case he hasn't played at all preseason so that usually indicates that he's kind of a lock to stay because if you're not going to play a guy like that that means he's of starting quality um usually everyone playing is fighting for spots the only other thing I could think of why they're not playing is because they want to sneak him through the waivers and if they if he does have a blowout game in in preseason then he'll get snatched up but you know he's been in the league for three years so I think teams have seen enough if they want him doesn't matter if he plays in preseason or Not So based on that I think it's safe to say he'll be he'll make this roster um but if they only keep six and he's the sixth and they don't keep Xavier because of that to me that's a mistake but I'm not the head coach of the Rams so I you know mcvey's done a lot smarter things than me but to me I think Xavier has shown you shown everyone that he adds value at at multiple facets of the game that we just haven't seen from 2 two unfortunately we've always been room for the guy but this is year four now and still haven't seen anything so yeah they they tried to give him an opportunity and he lost his job I mean I mean it's just it's just the way it is the cut and dry and you know I've said it before I'll say it again uh 53 people on the roster each one of them has to have a a well- defined role what are you offering what are you bringing to this team and I just have a I have a hard time answering that question or answering yeah answering that question uh for for Atwell um and it's there's a clearer answer for for Xavier Smith to me la last note uh I'll say on the offense is uh two two running backs in that in in that game uh both got a little banged up both came back uh both uh in terms of I haven't heard anything to the to the contrary but um um just something to keep an eye on yeah yeah yeah definitely um Boston Scott and Zack Evans the two backs again that played last week and this week uh both pretty efficient games but yeah both got banged up so um yeah so that I assume that means the those two guys are fighting for that fourth spot and obviously korm and kyn are locks and Ronnie Rivers looks like a lock for rb3 so um there's no way they keep five running backs so I think it's between those two and both have they both have looked pretty good each week Boston Scott both weeks I think has had the higher average per rush and they obviously signed him in free agency so Financial wise he's probably more likely to make it but it wasn't some huge contract so we'll see and I feel like Evans they could get through to waivers since they just drafted him last year didn't play at all hardly last year um I feel like they could sneak him through the waivers where Scott's more of a known commodity that some team might be desperate for special teams and snatch him up yeah yeah no I think I think that's absolutely right so um all right we going to the defense yet again looking solid uh with the backups let's just start with Omar Spates this dude's making the roster right this dude is making the 53 man roster yeah I mean it's it's between he and hmel and I mean Hummel is not having a bad Camp either yeah I mean I think they're both playing playing Pretty Lights Out Spates is putting some highlights on on uh out there for everybody so I mean I'm rooting I'm rooting for him I I got nothing against J Kel if they could keep five I would hope that they would keep all of them um but yeah he's just he's just making making one heck of a splash out out there on special teams which they Absolut absolutely need guys like that but on the other hand Hummel made some pretty spectacular plays last year in the regular season on special teams as well so I think it's a it's a it's a tough one and and again just talking about the waiver wire a guy gets cut on the 27th he's got to go through all 31 teams that can choose to pick him up or not pick him up and and he's got that highlight reel that you were talking about so I think there are some some teams out there with which in the league right now linebacker depth is at a is at a premium yeah um so I I if they do cut him I don't I don't I don't know if he makes it through um the waiver wire yeah no I agree I think he's he's flashed too much to sneak through like that that undrafted free agent tag only works if you've done like nothing on on film for the rest of the world to see like you could have a great camp but if the rest of the teams don't know that then yeah you can sneak through but this is now back-to-back games where he's flashed and and had some highlight re plays and and some big hits and he's at the right place at the right time we know his college pedigree what he's been able to do in college and probably should have been drafted uh to be honest So based on what he did at at LSU and whatnot in years past so yeah I just I can't see with what he's done him not making the roster I just feel like he he needs to be on this team but Hummel too I to your point has has shown some really good things and he's been on the team for a few years and and has flashed really well and played good special teams last year so it feels like feels like both them make it and they might go lighter maybe in the secondary whereas in years past they've kept 10 or 11 DBS yeah maybe they just go nine this year to to stack up more which which feels silly to keep that many linebackers but if they're able to do that on special teams I mean you're getting your money's worth out of it right yeah definitely and and you know he's he's a guy that can offer some obviously some uh um big impact in the Special Teams and you think about guys like you know Trey Tomlinson you know you're not getting you're not getting that that kind of effect out of you know the the 59 185 pounder um on special teams so yeah yeah I mean the the the one curious one to me is you know Troy reader is not playing he is he the tut two Atwell of the linebackers you know is he the one that you know he he's he was slated to start in 2021 I think and then got ended up getting beat out by Ernest Jones and you know went onto a different team and he's kind of been bouncing all over the place um but they obviously see something that they like in him so I don't know this yeah that's I a August 27th is when all this is going to get shaken out which is not not far away not far away so one more one more preseason game that all comes crashing down after that um yeah I mean you look at that room and you know Jones and Rose boom are obviously your locks huml and Spates have played a lot fatukasi who you have said has had a really good camp he's had an up and down preseason but had a really good camp yeah and then you have you know Elias Neil and and Troy reader and yeah I wouldn't I don't expect them keeping more than four but as we just talked about is this is this a situation where they keep five um because of what Spates and how have been able to do in this preseason that you you don't want to lose them but I you know Troy rer you know he was a ram and on the Super Bowl team then was with the Chargers last year I just I don't know if I've he's ever been a guy that I'm like I'm not I can't let go yeah but obviously he's not playing again similar to toyu AWA does that mean that he's a lock to make it I don't know yeah well well it brings up this this kind of thing that uh you know it's an internet disc discuss for sure where you know does does the preseason matter and some people will say no they don't play any of their starters but there's still plenty to be learned yeah and um uh you know it it it's fun watching guys it's fun rooting for guys like Omar Spates because they are undrafted because they their potential uh went unrecognized through you know 200 how many ever picks um so you know I'm rooting for him but you know at the end of the day you know you know Trey readers's played a lot of football and um you know he has he has been in real regular season games yeah that and that's and that's where I can just shrug my shoulders and say hopefully they make the right decision but space I I just don't think space is gonna be around to be uh you know on the practice squad or to be resigned after waivers so yeah yeah ask Spates if the preseason matters exactly that's a great that's that's a great comeback for that uh that kind of thinking yeah I I would say pre season in preseason everything matters but the score but everything I mean that's you build your roster in the preseason that's those are the guys that you're going to rely on late in the season when those injuries happen like it's it's extremely important I don't care what the media says and they're trying to get less preseason games coaches we talk about I won't go into a tangent we talk about last week but I know coaches come out and say they get more value out of the the um joint practi joint practices because they can simulate exactly what they want and really design things to really get the situational football they want that's not how games work can't simulate games like you got to play the games preseason gives you a real life game situation and how you how you act upon it so um one more thing I want to talk about is there any other defensive players you want to call out oh yeah new newly signed Carlos Watkins led the team in pressures huge strip sack uh there in the in the second half um you know he he wasn't going up against any of the ones so I think he was out performing uh even his own potential on that one but you got to you got to give a shout out and also um you know we didn't realize Laurel merchon was hurt um when we were talking about Watkins in the last episode so that could you know definitely a reason that uh Watkins was was brought in um so Laurel merchon obviously a guy to keep an eye out for a guy that's played you know starting football for the Rams and will'll definitely be doing in the mix uh in the rotation um this year as well so yeah no good you know and I'm I'm going to bring up Trey Tomlinson as well uh another another big another big penalty that kept the drive alive that ended up going all the way down to the one one yard line where Easton stick U just couldn't handle a a snap it was not the Rams didn't force that turnover but uh you know Trey Tomlinson with with another costly uh costly penalty um so he he's kind of on my watch list of are they you know still on a rookie contract not long into his career but does is is he is he a guy that has a place on this team with guys like you know Josh Wallace you know Tanner Engel um you know these these are all guys that uh you know and you think about the the highend guys that they added the Darius Williams you know Jerry Jacobs probably ahead of him uh on the depth chart you know try travius white and Quinton Lake all you know Rising to the to the starting place and he he's just a he's my two two at on defense and they're about the same size so works out yeah well I think uh if my numbers are right currently in the defensive back room there's 20 guys um and keep 10 10 I feel like is the max you're keeping there so there's 10 names you know getting cut and you know when you look at your four or five we'll call them five starters and Williams curl Johnson travius white and Quinton Lake you got five spots after that I think Russ East is probably close to a lock I think Jason Taylor's pretty close to a lock Kobe Durant I think is is up there and he's definitely ahead ahead of Tomlinson yeah and then after that I mean you got Sean Jolly Jerry Jacobs who they added Cameron kinshin is probably a lock just drafted yeah um so I mean you're really looking at two spots between 12 guys so yeah Tomlinson maybe the the obviously one of those 20 is Kendrick who's on IR so 19 guys um but uh yeah it's going uphill battle for him and you know not I'm not lightning what this means for him as a person and a player but a sixth round pick so not like they it's a second round guy that all s their cutting in year two um but he has a yeah little uphill battle for him so good shout out there and and we'll see he'll probably play a lot in week three hopefully and and maybe we see some improvement because you know Jim Thorp Award winner at TCU want to see some of that NE neew of the great leanian Tomlinson so come on yeah such such an interesting case because he's you know he's 5'9 uh not but it's not a slot guy he barely played any slot while at TCU yeah always on the outside and we've seen a guy that size specifically Darius Williams do just fine but uh T Tomlinson just he was he's a he's a ball Hawker he's a physical guy and just keeps getting penalties when he's out there costly ones that was the big concern when they drafted him was just will his is he too physical too handsy you can get away with that stuff in college and you just can't the pros and the thought was he's gonna need to adjust his game to be able to be a lock down corner but not be too handsy and and get penalties and obviously unfortunately it hasn't translated and he gets those penalties so that's the big blemish in his game right now that you know it's getting getting to the end of the Rope unfortunately when you have that much depth um so yeah we'll do that but last thing I want to say did you have anything else on on playerwise nope just want to give a shout out Aubrey Pleasant head coach all game gets a win he is the secondary coach coaching this great depth uh in that in that room um yeah it was so cool to see him and and you know we knew going into this that McVey said he's gonna be the head coach but I thought it was really cool how McVey literally was like gone like away like just like all right this is your team for this game year in everything he was like he was just not even it wasn't like he was in the booth with a headset like talking he probably did every now and then but overall this was Aubrey Pleasant's team it was so cool to see how the team responded to him how much love he got from his coaches how much praise he got and I thought he called a really good game and and they got the win so super super kudos to Aubrey Pleasant yeah you could tell that he really was taking uh his role there that day just incredibly seriously um and you know he had some fun with it with the with the red flag the challenge flag I don't know if you saw that um you know he was taunting taunting McVey because McVey forgot his his challenge flag which you know tells you where his heads space is because that guy's locked in on football um you know so you know he he's he's not looking at these preseason games uh too terribly seriously I guess but you know I would I would say that they encouraging thing about his time in the booth that he spent um with uh the phenomena this they've they've really become my favorite uh Trio of of game callers specifically because Mina KES is incredible at what she does she's just phenomenal like like what she says is smart uh you know she talks about things that matter um and she leaves out a lot of the fluff but she's also incredibly entertaining as well so just quick shout out to her but getting back to McVey McVey is uh you know he he seemed uncomfortable in the booth he didn't seem like truly settled because he so much of his Focus was on the field yeah and you know even even when they did those kind of interstitials where he would he would talk to the the booth people he was on the field so he's probably a little bit more in his in his element so he didn't feel so much like a talking head so I think you know maybe that experience showed that McVey will will stick around as long as we maybe not as long as we want but uh for maybe he's not as tempted to to hop into the bo so quickly well he said and you know obviously he's not going to say anything wrong but he said like he's like oh yeah I'm no interest in being up here I want to get down back down on the field like they asked him what he thought and I can't remember the exact phrase he said but basically was like yeah no I don't have any interest being here didn't help that his mic wasn't working at first like T them on the Fly Like that's that's why I love watching live broadcasting like then Mina had to give him her microphone because his wasn't working so she was basically cut out of the segment just had to like sit there um because his mic wasn't working and every time I because I remember at first when he was up there and one of the first questions I think wit asked him um who witw worth has transitioned fantastically into the media like he's so good um and McVey gave like a two-word answer I'm like that is so unlike McVey like usually it's like this long and I was like what the heck like that's so bizarre and then you realized like oh his mic just isn't working like like cut off so yeah you hear a weird weird thump and a in a Kur fuffle and then yeah yeah so but I was like that's not mcve like a two-word answer like especially from responding to wit like his former player so yeah quick on the Fly uh action trying to get the mics working but uh we've been there we've all been there it's good to see it's good to see when ABC has that issue not just lafb so you know yeah well I discovered that the CBS was was doing the uh the Chargers call and I I watched I watched the ended up watching the Rams one the whole time uh last note last note I'm gonna say Josh hardi missed his first field goal in his professional career a 52 yard so yeah you know definitely not a gimme um but uh you know the the the pristine shine has worn off a little bit not that I'm worried whatsoever yeah seems yeah and the best they've had in a long time so exactly so yeah I think it's it's feels good to know there's no kicker debate he's the guy going in and yeah when your only miss is a 52 yard year you'll take it well T Tanner Brown officially cut from the team as well officially cut um and not to put any any negatives because big cardi guys now cardi and LA but Cameron Dicker is still pretty good right 55 y I think he hit what could have been hit a hit a 58 y the the the game before and in terms of like an LA personality that guy is you know just phenomenal not to talk about the Chargers anymore but like you know he's out on a golf course eating hot dogs you know like you know saying that like it's the thing that propels his his uh what do you call them like pocket dogs pocket dogs yeah pocket dogs yeah so great couple pocket dogs so which could mean other things too but to him it's just a hot dog so just a hot dog in your pocket yeah little pocket dogs in the golf course out at Pelican Hill so um well that's a good way to end it good way to end the show this is the ram skinny here on the lafb network thank you all for hang out with us we will be back before uh the final preseason game this weekend so we'll be back later in the week to preview that but thank you all foring out with us uh if you haven't already please go to Rams lfb on YouTube hit that like And subscribe if you're watching right now and haven't subscribed please do that helps us out and then you'll be updated every time we have a new show we're going to start doing as we talked about last episode a lot more video content besides just our show we'll do a lot more short form and just news and breaking stuff in video platform obviously lfb network.com is where all of our content is all of our Rams content plus if you're a USC or UCLA fan you can check that out over there we will be I'm just going to tease this we will be launching the remaining LA Sports soon as well so all you Rams Fans I'm sure are a lot of Dodger fans Laker fans we're bringing that all to you here very very soon I'm thrilled about that but that'll be a little later but at least you know gets you in the mood to make sure you're subscribed and everything so you're updated um and then obviously on podcast just search Ram skinny anywhere you get your podcast Apple Spotify and you can find us there but that's skinny te I'm Ryan dard thank you all be well we'll talk to you here in a couple days [Music] he