Sean McVay Comments on Stetson Bennett's Status, Rams Preseason Standouts, Rams Worth $7.79 Billion!

sha McVey had some very telling comments about STS and Bennett who are the Rams big standouts in their first preseason game and how much are the Rams worth that's coming up next on lock on [Music] Rams you are locked on Rams your daily Los Angeles Rams podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day what is up ramley and welcome to another episode of Locked on Rams your daily podcast covering your Los Angeles Rams free and available R get your podcast lock on Rams part of locked on podcast Network your team every day we're also available over on YouTube so if you haven't yet do us a huge favor join the party over on YouTube hit that subscribe button hit that notification Bell hit that like button my name is Doug McCain friends call me dmac you can follow me on exit Instagram at dmac forla I've been covering LA Sports for over a decade 24/7 Sports SI Dodgers Nation B report now the Rams 4 locked on and as always I'm joined by the Rams preap and postgame show host for the Rams flagship radio station ESPN 710 La he just started his ninth season covering your Los Angeles Rams the people's champ Mr Travis Rogers you can follow him on X at Travis Rogers and on today's episode the Rams are worth how much and where they ranked on the alltime list right now as far as most valuable franchise on the planet and more winners and losers from the Rams first preseason game against the Cowboys and will STS and Bennett be on this team to start the season some interesting comments from Sean McVey but first today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more as playoffs wind down the Sports Stop sporting like we want them to but this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily that's right there's something for everyone every day all summer long visit fanduel.com to get started all right Travis so we're Sony Mitchell days away from opening kickoff and really the big storyline in Rams preseason right now is is really ston Bennett after that first game he throws four interceptions could have been six he made some Miss throws misreads wasn't getting into lot that pressure at all was but still found a way to pull it out with a game-winning throw there so really it depends can he figure things out can he learn to read the field but sham MC van some very interesting comments yeah he did and you know like like we talked about earlier in the week dmck the every dayers will probably remember this I think that the preseason is really the only time you're talking about professional sports where the result of the game doesn't matter what it looks like is far more important than what the result is if this was a regular season game and the quarterback throws four picks but you win the game it's one of those hey look that wasn't great but we won and you feel really good about it that's not what happened on Sunday against the Cowboys it was a four- pick game could have been a five- pick game and while yes there was a game-winning drive at the end who cares it doesn't go into the wind colum it's much more about what may happen in the event that he has to play uh the first couple of weeks of the season with Jimmy Garoppolo down for an extension uh or for a suspension I should say so like you you mentioned Shawn mcy I thought I thought this was really interesting because he was asked if he's kind of cemented himself into that number two quarterback role for at least the first two weeks while Jimmy G is down and what Shawn McVey said was yeah I I think we still need or we still have to be able to see some more body of work uh he went on to say we do need to take better care of the football that's a very important thing all of those are very correctable and really in a lot of them it's not necessarily with the exception well a couple of them were bad decisions and then a couple of them were just miss the way you want to throw make the type of layered throw but you're going to but you're going to the right spot these are all things that we can learn from he has to continue to improve and we're still in evaluation mode does that sound like somebody that has their job locked up cuz it sure doesn't to me when if your boss said to to you hey uh we're still evaluating your performance you feel good about how you're you're you're doing at work I wouldn't I I I I wouldn't feel great about that uh he's been bad it's not just that he had a bad game you you were telling me that you know he was on a on a heater in all the worst possible ways where he was just throw an interception after interception going back to last preseason he's small he's making bad decisions he doesn't have arm strength to get the ball out to the flat the way that you're going to have to in a sha McVey offense there really isn't anything that fills you with confidence and and I have to wonder if going into the game against the Chargers on on you know late Saturday afternoon if he's not playing for his roster spot I I know that there aren't a ton of great options available but uh if I were him I would be very very worried about holding on to my spot after doing what I just did yeah absolutely and as you pointed out he did have a streak where after when he throw that touchdown to win the game to Miller forestall that broke a streak of seven straight interceptions in the preseason before throwing a touchdown and if you look at his preseason numbers for his career one touchdown and five interceptions in four preseason games and PFF they gave him four turnover worthy plays that was twice as many as any quarterback in game one of the preseason and when sha McVey alludes to the decision making if you look at the all 22 if you look at some of those decisions in the pocket he simply is just not seeing the feel like he needs to see it he did make some impressive throws there was a throw on the far hatch that I thought he made that was probably his best throw of the afternoon but when you don't see the underneath linebacker in those situations well that's very problematic especially when you consider the fact that they picked him up in the fourth round right a fourth round pick you're looking for a back a backup quarterback especially when you're 26 years old right you're not looking for someone that you could stash and develop they need production from him now that's why it's so important for him to have a big game on this weekend yeah I I think if he look I I can't imagine that if he has something even in the neighborhood of what he did against the Cowboys against the Chargers that that he survives I just I can't imagine that's true and just to add even a little bit more context to to what we're talking about everything that you said I think is right but this is also against about as base defense as you're going to see this is super basic stuff against some that are very likely not to be in the NFL by the time that the season rolls around and the the pockets were relatively clean I know that we want to talk about some of that Rams offensive line depth that looked pretty good for for a preseason game it wasn't that he was under a great amount of duress these were clean Pockets against base defenses that resulted in four interceptions what does it look like against an NFL team that is scheming against you what does it look like against starters what does it look like against the team that is absolutely throwing everything they have at you and I can't imagine that you'd feel better about that than what you saw uh on Saturday I I really do think it is something that they have to think about look hopefully this is the last time we talk about it and we get to week three against San Francisco and Matthew Stafford is healthy and played all of the first two games and Jimmy G is back in the event that you need to have a backup you have somebody that does have some NFL experience but you know this is the topic of training camp as far as I other than the injuries it's what happens if you have to go to STS and Bennett right now you can't feel good about it yeah and you bring up a good point as far as NFL team scheming for him right I mean yes he can make some really impressive throws when he's on schedule when he can bounce out of the pocket when you get him on a roll out situation but teams they're going to identify that and they're going to scheme him accordingly especially when you get the ones in there potentially right so that's why it's a very scary proposition having said that you do have to mention the fact that he has not played a lot of football in the last year he missed an entire season and when it comes to Armed talent I mean he is better than a lot of guys they've had in recent years he's better than Bryce Perkins and John Wolford and Brett rippen it just a matter making better decisions and trying to take advantage of his skill set but as you mentioned I mean the best possible scenario of course is we're not talking about stats and Bennett for that much longer because it's a third string quarterback you do have Jimmy Garoppolo you have one of the best quarterbacks on the planet in Matthew Stafford but yeah there's no doubt about there's no denying it that when you rewatch The Game there's some miscues that are massive head scratchers there and thankfully for his sake he ended the game on a high note to build on something and if he can translate that into the next game then maybe he lives to make this team and hopefully for his sake that's the case but yeah well I I just I I I'm with you that he may have some armed talent that those other guys didn't have but I I'll say it again and I didn't think we could find a way to say that this something was better than this but as bad as Brett rippen was in Green Bay against the Packers he didn't throw four picks you know arm Talent aside fine but just give me as bad as rippen's performance was in Green Bay the Rams had a chance to win that game in the fourth quarter you throw four interceptions your team will not have a chance to win the game so I I think just a zero is better than a negative4 in this situation so I I I I think he's got an uphill CL I really do can't throw interceptions can't turn the ball over you got to give your team a chance to win as you mentioned so yeah hopefully can corre correct those issues make better decisions and have a better showing for his sake and for the Rams but there was a lot to like in the Rams first preseason game offensive line some standouts on defense we're getting to that next here on lockon Rams who doesn't love sports I love sports dmac loves sports you're were listening to this podcast I'm going to bet that you love sports we all love them so much we never want them to stop and right now obviously we're getting close to the start of the NFL season we're not quite there yet you could do some Futures at FanDuel of course that's always a great way to do it but even when the sports aren't sportsing the way we' all like them to FanDuel lets me keep going and got the sports going whenever you want I want all you have to do is open the app dream up bets that anytime that we are all in the mood because this summer bandal's hooking us all up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily that's right there's something for everyone every day all summer long the Dodger division odds right you could probably get a little bit more value than you had not that long ago three and a half games show with the number on the MVP what's the number on the home run total all of this head on over to fanduel.com and start making the most of your summer take a look at some of these NFC West odds for the Rams as well right there's a lot of great stuff going and of course FanDuel is the official Sports betting partner of Major League Baseball and we are off and running here on lockon Rams thank you for making lockon Rams your first listen every single weekday free and available wherever get your podcast locked on Rams part of locked on podcast Network your team every day also a special shout out to those every listeners out there we appreciate you watching and listening to every single episode of Locked on Rams can't tell you how much that means to us and the channel and the podcast and lock in guys the season we are like I said Sony Mitchell days away that's 25 days away until kickoff so you want to lock in so you won't miss a thing about your Los Angeles Rams all right Travis here in our second segment lot to be encouraged by in the Rams first preseason game and I think it really starts with that backup offensive line that was in there they did a tremendous job they were one of the best offensive lines in the National Football League in the first preseason game you look at their PFF ranking they were the second best in pass blocking they were the seventh best in run blocking Logan bruss had the highest pass blocking grade among all offensive linan in the first week it was a big Logan that was the best I've ever seen Logan BR flat out straight up full stop right there I was so impressed by that offensive line on Sunday no it was really good and I'm I promise this will be the last time that I go negative here and then I I I'll try to be a little bit more positive but think about what you just said think about what you said about how good the off line was on Saturday afternoon he threw four interceptions okay this is this is what we're talking about and Travis he was under pressure just 12.2% of the time that was the lowest in the NFL in preseason week one yeah so while the offensive line was really good and that's a great sign and I think that there's some positives to be pulled out of that for sure this was not ston Bennett running for his life behind a bad offensive line and throwing into triple coverage because he had no choice there was time there was time to read evaluate make decisions and throw four interceptions all right put that aside for a second and go to the offensive line like you talking about this is really good news because you know we are what did you made Sony Michelle 25 days away by the way Sony Michelle an incredibly sneaky important part of them winning the Super Bowl a few years ago he he carried them through the middle part of that season that was terrific for him I'm glad you brought him up but we are within four weeks of the season starting and you still have three of your starting five offensive lineman that are not participating in practice right we did the two Jacksons and of course Rob havenstein all indications are they're going to be back all indications are that they'll be ready to go for opening day maybe Jonah Jackson shortly there after that but seeing some guys produce at a level that felt sustainable is really good news because we've talked about it the one Bad season in Shawn mcvey's Rams tenure was when the offensive line was completely obliterated so knowing that you have a little depth there you can't you can't afford to have three guys down for an extended period of time nobody in the NFL has depth to survive that but these guys put some good stuff on tape this is very good news this at least gives you a Fighting Chance in the event that you have to put some of these guys in games in situations where maybe you weren't planning on doing it quite yet but uh yeah I think you're right dmac this was this was the highlight of the day from the offensive part of it uh was maybe the exception of Jordan Winnington that that offensive line looked really capable uh in in in an exhibition game against Cowboys yeah absolutely and I think with Logan bruss I think what really stood out is just the strength the technique no one was getting by him and I think it really just speaks to having an entire year on the practice squad and just staying in the building and de benefiting from the Rams coaching and saying you know what sometimes it's not going to happen in year one there's going to be injuries but if the talent's there the potential is there they're going to work with you and mold you and he definitely looks like he's going to make this 53 man and provide solid death also yeah what you saying Travis no I just I I I like what you were going to say that look this was the guy that was their top pick a couple of years ago this was not just some let's see if this works out this was somebody that they were counting on not just making the team but being a starter and relatively quickly and then in year two he finds himself on the practice squad to see him kind of rallying and coming back to where uh maybe they hoped he would be when they picked him in the first place that it's a credit to him for sure uh it's a credit to the Rams for sticking with him despite so you know he obviously had that injury uh and he's gotten back to where I think that you know you see him come to a game you can feel a little bit better about that that's really good news absolutely you got to trust those Badgers man especially on the old line that picked them with the third round and they're definitely going to stick with him and also Bo limmer you know how high I've been on Bo limmer limmer was fantastic he played 44 snaps and was the third highest graded Center in pass Pro according to Pro Football Focus you saw him moving guys you saw him doing a really nice job pass Pro and he's someone that really could help this team because you need a backup center behind Steve Avala especially with some of the injuries we've seen if you have to move Steve Avala to guard in a pinch so I definitely love what I saw from limmer yeah I and again this just gives you a little bit of a fail safe in the event like you mentioned you have to start shuffling the offensive line you can you can deal with it up to a point I don't know if you can deal with it to the point where you're all of a sudden shifting uh AA back to guard because that means a whole bunch of you know what has hit the fan uh but these are capable linemen and if you have a capable person at each spot backing up each spot and you can kind of patch it in here and there I I I think you got a fighting chance that you know we we've talked about this a million times Matthew Stafford is the one thing that has to work if that doesn't work then you're kind of dead in the water at that point but closely after that is that offensive line and seeing that there are more options available including Limer is is very good news for sure and then Zach Thomas AJR Curry War Mendon they all played well collectively as a group so take about offensive line you have to point out how these guys look against starting caliber defenders in NFL season game that definitely is a fair thing to point out but still you really liked what you saw and it really is a testament to just the Improvement overall of the offensive line with the Rams last couple seasons and then shifting to the defensive side I think one of the big Stand Out has to be Ty Davis Ty Davis out of Clemson I think his first game really says you know what this is someone who could possibly be a rotational player behind Bobby Brown as far as someone who can go in there do some dirty work at the nose tackle spot you know isn't that exactly what you want in the preseason is what you're talking about with Davis is one of those guys you're watching the game like hey who's that hey there he is again hey whoa whoa that guy's in the back field again like is that is that three plays in a row where he's kind of blowing stuff up and I think that's the idea you you want to be the guy that makes you turn your head and say hey who is that as opposed to the hey who's that that's giv up all the big plays he was really good he kind of popped along the way and to kind of take it off of Davis individually and talk about the defense collectively I I thought that they really played physically I thought that they really hit I thought that Mike schula uh or Chris schula excuse me Chris schula uh did a really good job of getting his guys ready to go I know that every defensive coach ever has talked about we're going to be physical you're going to know you played against us and I kind of always roll my eyes like yeah show me he showed me the the the defense looked very physical very committed uh it was a pleasant surprise for sure absolutely and Sean McVey said he was great he said he thought he was really active I thought you felt him you know he was able to beat the center on the Block back when they pulled the guard to get a negative so he was very high on him after the game that always means something for sure and just look what they got from Jonah Williams and Greg gains a couple of seasons ago you always benefit from having depth at that position I love the pursuit I love the effort so definitely he stood out and then Nick Hampton so you look at the edge room right now you know where it sits at you got Jared verse that's your first round pick you got Byron young you have Michael Hoy but behind him Nick Hampton is someone who has speed he had five pressures and 21 snaps that's a 42.9% pass rush win rate that was one of the highest in the first week of the pre-season and I thought that you saw the athleticism the speed on Sunday and I think that he's someone who possibly is not going to play a lot more preseason games yep that's always the the way you can tell with Sean McVey is if you are playing in the preseason it's a little bit of a what are we doing here and if you don't it means that they have plans for you I think Hampton is a great guy to keep an eye on for sure um how he plays he's he's a guy that's been around a little bit and always felt like you you know we getting a little closer a little closer a little closer so maybe this is the year that it feels like he's actually able to make a a regular contribution on defense and I I know we're all going to have our eyes on on who replaces Aaron Donald and like we've said it's a collective it's not an individual but it does feel like they have some options there that maybe we didn't have the last few seasons along the way whether it's the new guys that you mentioned whether it's guys in their second year or guys have' been around a little bit longer than that it does feel like you're at least going to have a couple of bullets to Fire and see which one works the best totally absolutely and you saw the bull rush the strength I mean he was just moving offensive linemen in to Trey l so really impressed with Nick Hampton then now a horns down has to be Zack Evans so Zack Evans continues to get opportunities to try to do something possibly make this team you average 2.3 yards per carry and at this point it's difficult to see how he makes this roster because Kiren Williams it's his backfield along with Blake corm they like Ronnie rivers and then Scott Boston Scott is someone that can do things in the return game as well so I just don't don't see how Zack Evans makes this team I yeah I I'm with you I don't I don't have a ton to add to that Doug other than yeah that's probably unfortunate for him because you know he was given an opportunity here in the preseason it really didn't happen for him and he might just be the victim of a numbers game that they have guys ahead of him all the guys that you mentioned um you know who knows maybe it's a practice squad situation maybe it's a situation where you bring him back at a later date but uh yeah that that that is a log Jam at a position where there are guys that they've either acquired gone out of their way like Scott who you mentioned drafted like Korum or guys that were already locked in uh like Kyan Williams and clearly they like Ronnie Rivers he's been around for a while and as you pointed out earlier I mean the offensive line the way they perform mean seven best in the Run block to not take full advantage of that Zack Evans definitely needs to step up in that situation but coming up next going to shift gears a little bit Tavon Austin announc a retirement how much the Rams worth that's coming up next on lock on Rams this lockedown Rams episode is sponsored by betterhelp so what are some of the things that you just don't skip right maybe it's that uh that Friday night routine where you go to the same restaurant and you order the same food and the same uh drink right maybe you never Skip Leg Day at the gym maybe it's therapy day right because that's probably not the worst idea when we get so busy with so many different things if you're a parent like me if you're working like like you know most of us and you've got big projects coming up at work you got to do this that and the next thing you can kind of lose track of what makes us happy it's hard to find time for some of those non-negotiables when you feel like you have no time for yourself therapy non-negotiables they're more important than ever before so if you've been thinking about starting therapy why not give better help a try right it's entirely online it's designed to be convenient flexible and suited to your schedule all you have to do is fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist you of course can switch therapists at any time for no additional charge so never skip therapy day with betterhelp visit betterhelp.com lockon today to get 10% off your first month that's betterhelp hp.com lockon and welcome back to locked on Rams thank you for making locked on Rams your first listen every single weekday free and available rev your podcast locked on Rams part of locked on podcast Network your team every day all right Travis here in our third segment the new team valuations just dropped the Cowboys first at 10.32 billion but coming in at second Los Angeles Rams at $ 7.79 billion now I looked it up before the show just throw some context out there in 2014 when the Rams were in St Louis they were ranked 32nd at a value of 930 million seems like that move to LA definitely paid off yeah uh yeah it seems like that was a a pretty good decision it turns out that being located in the second largest market in the in the country is more valuable than being located in St Louis that building the greatest sports Stadium ever is good for the bottom line that putting a winning product on the field is really really good for business uh and and having a tenant like the Chargers I'm sure doesn't hurt either that it's look this this is what you hope for right this is what you hope for as a Rams fan as and and quite frankly as a sports fan of any team whether whatever team you work for you root for this is what you're hoping for that the ownership is committed to giving fans a first class experience and a first class environment with first class players and taking some of that incredible wealth that comes along with owning these teams and reinvesting it back into the team reinvesting it back into the fans and that's what the Kies have done that's what the Rams have done they've they've done an amazing job of integrating themselves uh into the fabric of Los Angeles in what is a relatively short period of time uh and that that 7.79 billion number I think is a reflection of that absolutely I just want to say this if the frontier family is watching this episode Georgia Frontier cost your family billions of dollars literally threw away billions of dollars by forcing that relocation to St Louis and just throwing away money by not investing in the LA Market investing in the LA Market was always the move the NFL knew it at the time back in 1992 the NFL they were looking to expand to add two teams they were looking at Charlotte and Baltimore but also St Louis was a team they were looking at a city in a market they were going to be called the St Louis stallions ultimately that team goes to Jacksonville and Bec comes the Jaguars so it's just unbelievable to me just just forcing that move how much it cost her family yeah oh I mean that that's one of those things that I'm sure that they they try not to think about as as often as they can but thank goodness that because look I also believe that the the most important thing in any of these businesses is what do ownership look like and and this is not a an effort to to have you know Fawn all over the cronies but think about what they've done lately right how long ago the Rams win the Super Bowl not long ago how long ago did the Avalanche win the Stanley Cup not long ago how long ago did the Denver Nuggets win the NBA Finals not long ago this this is a man and an organization and a family that's committed to not just owning teams and putting uh you know money in in the bank they want to win and if your owner wants to win and empowers the right people to go put things together you're in a great a great spot and you know obviously Los Angeles is is a great City I'm a little biased it's home for me it has been home for me but uh yeah this this is nothing because look look who's number one on that list right look who's number one with the Cowboys I know they want to win I believe Jerry Jones wants to win I believe that he has a desire to win but he won't get out of the damn way and and we've seen the results of that so uh Rams Fans should consider themselves very lucky to be where they are no doubt about then real quick Tavon Austin he announced his retirement I want to say my favorite Tavon Austin play I remember back in 2014 that fake punt and they end up scoring it was just a wild play but Tavon Austin definitely didn't live up to his number eight pick in the 2013 NFL trop I will say one of the best college mixtapes that we've ever seen a West Virginia Mountaineer that's fire that's alone I don't know I just give him a lot of love for that it's funny you think of Tavon Austin it's that I I immediately have like a visceral reaction back to the Jeff fiser era when they kept running the Jet Sweep with Tavon Austin it's like guys that's not going to work that you you can run it as often as you want it doesn't work when the only time that Tavon Austin touches the ball is in that play uh I I'm glad that he had a nice career I guess he bounced around a little bit towards the end but I every and I hear the name Tavon Austin I automatically assume of two two outwell they're they're similar both little undersized both very fast and both left you wanting a little bit more than you got absolutely I mean they're basically using a backup running back at some point which is weird but I'm telling you go look it week S 2014 St Louis Rams versus the Seahawks stemman Bailey was a fake Pun It's really awesome play but that's going to do for this episode lockon Rams my name is Doug McCain you can follow me on xit Instagram at dmac corla and you can follow the people's champ Mr Travis Rogers at Travis Rogers until next time whose house it's locked on Rams house