Rams 53-Man Roster Revealed, Ernest Jones Replacement, Kyren Williams to Return Punts, Takeaways!

Kiren Williams is going to be doing what and the Rams released their 53b roster and we have our big takeaways that's coming up next on locked 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 Ramy and welcome to another episode of lockon rams your daily podcast covering your Los Angeles Rams free and available wherever you get your podcast locked on Rams part of locked on podcast Network your team every day we're also available over on YouTube so if you have me yet do us a huge favor join the party hit that subscribe button hit that notification Bell hit that like button getting so close to 14,000 Subs can't than you guys enough my name is Doug McCain you can follow me on X and Instagram at dmac forla I've been covering LA Sports for over a decade Bleacher Report Dodgers Nation 247 sport Sports SI 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 ESN 710 La he's enter 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 we are breaking down the Rams 53 man roster what are our big takeaways from the names on that list any surprises we'll get into that and also yesterday little curveball we learned that Kiren Williams will be returning punts for the Rams this season but first today's episode is brought to you by game time down the Gametime app create an account use code locked on NFL for $20 off your first purchase terms apply download game time today what time is it game time I like that read little 96 Bulls MJ Bulls in there but we got a lot to get into Travis yesterday we did a little lock down after dark a little emergency episode reacting to the Rams trading Ernest Jones to the Titans so if you want to see a full breakdown of that trade just go back to the feed go on our YouTube channel to find that but we got the 53 man roster yesterday but then we also got a curveball very late and that was from Jordan rodrig of the athletic the great Jordan rodrig she tweet out that Kiren told her that he will be returning punts for the Rams this season so first thing that popped into my head was Oh What KY Williams the injuries the workload you really want to put this on him and then Grand myself that wait what she he really meant to tell her was I am going to be calling Fair catches this season so that remind me a couple years ago we saw Cooper cup in the same role you don't want to risk any punt returns any type of fumbles turnovers there so we'll see what this means but I think it's be a lot of fair catches for Kiren I'm completely flumix by this I have no idea what this means I I I I don't like it I know that it if you're just going to fair catch punts why him there there there are if you're literally not going to return them why him you could put Cooper cup puka AA you could put uh uh Demarcus Robinson take your pick there's there's literally no one you couldn't put back there if you're just gonna fair fair catch punts so I don't think that's what the plan is otherwise I think you'd be using someone else uh that that's number one number two is what in the world are they thinking like this this this put this right next to the Ernest Jones thing I don't understand I just I just really truly don't understand this what's the first thing you think of when you think of kyn Williams injuries he can't stay on the field he's a great player I mean he's a he's a dynamic running back that when he's out there he's played really well he missed virtually his entire first season in the league with injuries he missed about a third of the season last year with injuries and you're going to put him in a situation where he's going to take additional shots I just I just don't understand it now you must really like Blake Corum if you're if if you're thinking about it like that but I was really surprised and you know again I I keep coming back to this Shawn McVey knows what he's doing Shawn McVey is one of the best coaches in the NFL I'm assuming that they have a methodology to land at this decision but I'm really struggling to see how taking a guy who has not completed a full NFL season and putting him in uh more plays more contact special teams context is a way to keep him healthier I just don't understand it yeah you bring up Blake that's another thing that popped into my head was well they really like Blake km they really going to give Mone opportunities but also makes think of Shawn McVey kind of paraphrasing but hearing him say things like we love Blake korm because he's a great running back he's similar to KY Williams he can take away some of the workload off of him and then also Shang Bay let's make him the pun returner let's give him some more chances that could potentially risk injury so I totally agree that yes I do think it's going to be a lot of fair catches having said that the injuries that you mentioned that he did deal with those are injuries that you can suffer non- contct ones that you don't have to necessarily get hit in a big way to have an injury and he's dealt with injuries throughout his entire career it's rookie season he broke his foot he had an ankle injury and then last year had a severe ankle injury that placed him on the IR and it's also pretty clear that sha McVey wants to use him in spots where he can make some moves and try to help this team as a returner he said that he wanted to give KY another way to give Williams touches to help the team and that he feels comfortable using Williams on special teams in this fashion because of their confidence in backup backs Blake km and and Ronnie Rivers so yeah that tells me right there that they do expect him to at least make some attempts to return the football I I the fair catch thing doesn't add up to me it it why him if you're if you're not G have it be cup Cup's got the best hands on the team Cup's the guy that if if you're literally Johnson you know yeah there there's plenty of options that are not him if it's just going to be a bunch of fair catches let me ask you this too that once I got over the wait they're going to do what moment of this let me ask you a question let me ask Rand what the hell is Tutu Atwell doing on this team what what what purpose does he serve what what what what role does he fill that if if you're not going to use him in this capacity if you're not going to use him to return kicks if you're not going to try to unleash that crazy speed that he does have what is he doing here because they don't throw him the ball very often and I I I I assume that maybe you know this was his last path to be an impactful player on this team was in a special team's capacity we saw him try it a few years ago and he wasn't able to do it because he suffered some injuries along the way but I don't see a a a road for him to catch a bunch of passes and if he's not going to return punts and we'll see whether or not he returns kicks I just I really don't see the upside of having him on your team yeah that's exactly kind of where I'm at too I mean when we saw Cooper cup do this like I said anything inside the 25 that was fair caught having said that McVey does probably expect him to at least have a couple opportunities to return the football and help them and give it an advantage but you mentioned two toat well how about Xavier Smith who doesn't make this team and he doesn't get this chance and he was someone that had some positive returns in the preseason and another big takeway from this Travis is McVey showed us nothing in the preseason it was mcy again we know when it comes to sha mcy and what he's going to do in the pre-season I mean you had guys have success in those opportunities that they made and you still go with a ky and Williams and I will say that Rams Fans will absolutely lose their minds they will absolutely go nuts if he tweaks his ankle if he has to miss any time if he doesn't look like the same running back I mean I think Blake K is going to factor in as well but still I mean you have a running we have a running back that's really established himself last season you want to see more of that and less of this I don't get it dmac I really don't and this head scratch here it's headr this is this is two days in a row of just looking at and again I I I'll I'll couch this in some positive light sea McVey knows what he's doing this If This Were Brandon Staley or or some of these other coaches we've seen come through the NFL it just feels like they're completely over their skis if this was Dennis Allen or or or something like that you would be like all right enough of this this guy doesn't know what he's doing that's not the case with Shawn McVey Shawn McVey is if he's not the best coach in the NFL you're not getting past two or three before you say his name so benefit of the doubt for sure but this is one of those where you're you're dipping into the Savings Bank of things that we we we feel the way that we feel about you with Ernest Jones with uh kirn Williams as your punt returner these are things that if they don't go well uh will be looked at as yeah this was not a hard one to predict going into it so uh he he's stuck his neck out there a little bit on both of these things absolutely that's what makes this one tough to stomach because at the end of the day I just don't think the reward is as much as the risk I mean the risk is just not worth it to put KY Williams in those situations and you did spend a third round pick on Blake Corin we know you want to utilize him in a lot of different roles this season try to hope that he's another rookie star that you found and you did mention at the very beginning of this that you kind of have to trust these guys absolutely I mean there's no doubt about it I mean these guys have proven I mean five trips to the playoffs in the last seven years two Super Bowl appearances one Super Bowl win yes they have equity in the fan base but let's say they didn't have couple of those things I'd be really pounding up my fist yelling at the top of my lungs right now because of this move I I I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt I am willing to listen I am willing to watch I am willing to let them decide these things without me just jumping up and down and screaming and banging on the table saying this is crazy this is crazy this is crazy but you have my full attention like this is one of those things that wait huh okay but okay what okay I just I I don't get it it doesn't mean it won't work it means I don't get it and I'd love to to turn around you know six months from now and say wow Kyan Williams was an all pro special teams player and thing does that Breakaway speed it it doesn't make any sense does that Breakaway speed at all I just don't understand it but in Sea McVey I trust so they're testing us man they're testing us right now yeah but coming up next we're going to take a look at this 53 man roster we had some big takeaways from the Rams 53 man that's coming up next on lck on Rams you got the game time app on your phone yet what are you waiting for put the game time app on your phone because here's what you love I love oh look if you're listening to one of these podcasts you know that you love to go to games we all love to go to Live Events right and really sometimes it's a game sometimes it's a concert I love to go see some standup comedy but the first thing you need is you need a ticket right and this is where game time comes in Game Time puts all of the stuff in your area in one easy app right there and all the cool stuff that comes along with it of course we're talking about seats uh views from the seat we're talking about the lowest price guarantee we're talking about event cancellation protection and the part that I love when you toggle the feature on there are no hidden fees all in pricing 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too we listen to five episodes watch five episodes a week really helps out the Pod so definitely join that club and also and got some shout outs too you guys have been dropping those comments all week and these comments are pretty fire I have to admit we got to start reading these comments I saw really good one about the conductor and Aaron Donald who is it we got Jacob says no drama policy Ernest screwed around and found out now showing up to practice this week creating doubt not even Stafford missed when he was working on his extension so yeah definitely keep fir away in the comments down below over on YouTube and we are Tavon Austin we are Carson Wentz we are Darius Williams days away from opening kickoff and we got the 53 man roster yesterday and we really have to start at the linebacker position my as well start right there because that's where a lot of people were looking and yes you do not see Ernest Jones he's in Tennessee was one of the best Rams Defenders last season I mean outside of Aaron Donald is the most productive and the most consistent and Omar Spates the udfa from Oregon State to LSU they're extremely high on him but it'll be Christian Rose booom early on that'll get the starting reps and then also another big takeaway was that undrafted rookie Elias Neil he was on the roster as the fifth linebacker really one of the preseason standouts yeah I I I know we covered this on our emergency pod yesterday dmac and obviously people can go back on YouTube and check that out if they didn't get a chance to see it but the earnest Jones thing feels to me like one of those things where everybody did not get what they want like there there's sometimes where everybody is a winner in a deal this feels like one of these times where everybody is probably feeling a little bit bad about what happened like the the YouTube comment or you mentioned like you know he messed around and found out yeah okay he did I agree the Rams don't do messy they don't do drama the Rams also don't have their leading tackler from a year ago the Rams also don't have their Green Dot guy the Rams also don't have the guy that was not just by you know watching but because Aaron Donald said so because Les Sneed said so this was the guy that was going to be the leader of the defense he's gone 10 days or so before the start of the season that's bad there there's there's no way to spin that as any way or other yeah did they hold their ground and they don't do drama yeah okay but what did you give up to continue that streak Ernest Jones went from a team that could be pretty good that could make a run to a team that's bad it's bad for him and by the way there's no guarantee he gets what he's looking for there either this was a loss on both sides I just don't kind of get what they're doing as far as the roster goes and what they have left they're gonna have bodies do any of those guys make you feel like oh no that's going to be okay you're hoping it's going to be okay you're crossing your fingers that it's going to be okay you're hoping maybe by committee you can get something done you're Maybe by you know the middle of the Season that Omar Spates maybe develops into the guy that he looked like in the preseason but that's the preseason who knows how it translates to the regular part this just feels like a a big Miss across the board um and again not to repeat myself but this is another one where you're dipping into your savings bank to say hey trust me we know what we're doing yeah we we do and I know you do but this is a this is a really tough one to wrap your arms around it just you're you said it last night on our emergency pod are the Rams better today than they were yesterday and the answer is no and I think that a lot of that has to do with Chris schula the scheme what he's trying to build and just giving him the trust that he can go out there and put together a a productive defense that can do enough to keep teams at Bay while this offense scores close to 30 points a game and lights up the scoreboard so we thought this defense was going to be bad last season they end up being a strength early on while the offense got it going later but you don't have Aaron Don you don't have Ernest Jones and yes I I get it Ernest Jones five and a half sacks last couple of Seasons not an all pro not really a top five guy but still based on the needs based on the intangibles I don't care what anyone says it was a major blow but I think the transition here is we say Travis no you see he might not be a top five guy in the league but he's a top one guy on your team yeah you know I mean yeah great okay you there are better guys out not on your team there aren't yeah I mean okay you you somebody's got to play there and the reason he led your team in tackles and was the green do guy and was the leader by Aaron Donald and listy is because he was your best player on defense full stop and and at least the best player on your defense at that position and now he's gone I and I think that really what it comes down to is you're going to see the nickel you're going to see the way he deploys safeties as almost a dime linebacker type of role and I think that's really what it comes down to is they thought okay we can get by without Jones and that the new Tactical side of what Kur schula is going to bring and you add that to the fact that they wanted zero locker room drama they didn't want any type of vibes from this guy and that was just what it was going to come down to and you look at the defensive backs that's an area where they're the opposite of them they have tons of depth there you have 11 total defensive backs on this 53 man roster and that's one more they had this time last year and Chris Shula is clearly All In on stockpiling as much secondary depth as you possibly can have you have the flexibility and the optionality of guys like quen Lake and Russ yeast so you have options you have slot Defenders you have dime linebackers you can mix things up but really what it comes down to is you're have a a secondary heavy 53 band and that's what they're leaning into yeah look they're obviously going to go into this with a let's get to the quarterback let let's kind of put a a lot a lot of uh emphasis on that whether it's with verse and Fisk and Turner and young and let's really wreak havoc and put pressure on quarterbacks they have to make quick decisions uh under pressure and let's rely on our secondary to maybe make some plays and and maybe not have to cover for a super long time I think that's the the goal of this defense whether or not they can they can put it together that's that's a lot of Youth and a lot of guys that are kind of trying to find their way in this league in the back half of the uh of the defense it should be better I mean I think curl obvious ly is a nice addition travius white if he's healthy is a tremendous addition Darius Williams is a veteran player in this league so you got a lot of good players in the back end but uh you know it all starts with pressure up front so we're gonna have to you know we haven't seen verse we haven't seen Fisk we haven't looked and see what that looks like at the NFL level I'm optimistic but the whole defense the defense was already a huge question mark without Aaron Donald now you don't have Ernest Jones as well now you're leaning you know who who is the guy that sets the tone who is the guy that tells everybody shut up and listen in the Huddle um I don't know we're going to find out here in Detroit in in a few days that's a really good point I think that you can't overemphasize this is even if you had a healthy Ernest Jones and Ernest Jones was going to be that Green Dot guy this defense still was going to rely heavily on their two top picks working out if Jared verse and Braden FIS aren't the stars that they hope they're going to be this defense wasn't going to maximize their potentials they need those guys to be productive also you mentioned Cur I think if I had to say whose defense is this right now I think it's Kobe Turner and it's Cameron curl's early on I mean you heard a lot about his involvement in practice and the role he has extremely high on him and just to kind of recap who we got because we didn't name the linebackers got Christian roseboom Troy reer Jacob hmel Omar Spates Elias Neil So five linebackers seven quarterbacks travius white Darius Williams quen L Kobe Durant Russ e Josh Wallis in Charles Woods and then you have on the IR Darion Kendrick in the safety spot you got C curl John Johnson the third cam kinchin out of the U and Jaylen McCulla so I don't know I had to I had to I had to include the U man they're going to Florida to open up FL Florida uh has their two non-conference games are Florida State and the U good luck that's a big swing yeah it's big week of college football I mean if you look at that slate of games you got UCLA and Hawaii at 4 Pacific that's game on Saturday might be the only game they win coming up next on lockdown Rams we're going to continue to break down this 53 man roster that's coming up next on lock on Rams and welcome back to lock on Rams thank you for making lockon Rams your first listen every single weekday free and available wherev get your podcast lock on Rams part of lockon podcast Network your team every day so we're going to break down this 53 man roster in a couple of different episodes but next big takeaway for me is we talked about a little bit is Xavier Smith and he had a pre-season that would have earned a lot of players around this league a spot on a 53 man roster he had a four catch game against the Texans he had a 34 yard game there and a 23 yard punt return 16 rushing yards so he showed some versatility showed he could help his team in the Special Teams this Rams team doesn't have a ton of burners he's got that sub four4 speed thought there was a pretty decent shot that he was going to make this 53 man roster towards the end it became clear he wasn't but he's not on the 53 yeah I I again and not to make this the why why is too to outwell on the show podcast but uh I don't understand why you don't try something with Smith that you've tried with outwell you've tried outwell for a few seasons now it really hasn't hit you're not going to use them in special teams or at least not in punt uh return right there so why not give Smith a chance somebody uh in the Rams organization must be much higher on Atwell well than I think either you or I are um hopefully it hits hopefully all the guys that the RBS have you know contribute and have a great impact but yeah I was surprised that X didn't make the I shouldn't say that I was surprised he didn't make the team I thought there was a chance he could make the team and the way that he played it felt like he was earning an opportunity right there but like you said when you see the way that Shawn McVey uses the preseason when you saw him out there the way that you did you had a pretty good sense that it wasn't going to happen for him yeah and I think I mean unless he's elevated from the practice squad he's not going to take on that role but still I mean hey that's what the preseason is all about I mean for a guy like that on this team when they're not showing a ton in the preseason you really have to explode and I think it's less about what you do in the games and more about what you do in practice and Omar Spades is evidence of that and I think yeah just kind of have to bring up the EV the Ernest Jones thing one more time is hey when he would he capitalized on that knee injury in the sense that when he was out he got more looks and they realize they could do it without him so it it really starts and ends with a knee I think as far as why he's not on this team this year but uh I'm sure we'll have a ton of time to continue to unpack that you're right though Doug I it's such a great point that if you miss time they're not gonna not practice They're Not Gon well Ernest Jones isn't here let's just everybody just go home and we'll wait for him to come back and be healthy again it's like no put somebody else out there and if that somebody else shines and pops and looks good then you have that huh that looks pretty good do we have to have I mean it's it's being Wally pipped all over again and it's just it it I mean who knows Omar spites may go to the Hall of Fame he may be out of the league in six weeks I have no idea how this is going to play out neither does anyone else if they're being honest so I I we will see but not being out there not practicing having in it's it's a very very risky proposition especially if you're already a little bit of a squeaky wheel as far as wanting a new deal no doubt about it and then another big one for for me was the offensive line the Rams keep nine offensive linemen you got Joe noboom Jonah Jackson Steve Avala Kevin Dodson Rob havenstein Bo limmer War Mendon Logan bruss and Conor McDermot AJ Jackson he is suspended for the first two games and then on the IR they put KT leston so you look at the offensive line that's definitely thin especially with the injuries especially when you consider that Rob havenstein could miss week one if that's what happens you're probably going to see War McAn junor as a starting right tackle and Joe Noom as your starting left tackle so I think one thing to look at as far as what they could do now is do they add some offensive line depth and maybe that's not for someone that's going to start but just maybe a practice squad guy maybe some dep behind that but they're a little thin at that position when you look at where it stands right now yeah I I think they are right now I like how you said that I think that if you look at it as you sit here on August 28th it is but if you get into the middle of September and havenstein's back and lar Jackson is back then all of a sudden it goes from hey do we have enough to we're pretty darn good assuming those two guys are healthy and ready to go when they come back in and it seems like they both will be at some point during the season so uh I I I'm with you that today it feels like there may be a little bit of a lack of depth right there that's because two depth pieces are already expected to play before The Season's even started but I think by the time we get into the meat of the Season that'll that'll be an issue assuming that nothing else kind of goes wrong at this point but I think that's a short-term problem not a long-term one yeah and you got four tackles three guards two centers and you got guys that are versal too so that's definitely going to play a role as well but yeah lots of happening in ramsland we're continue to break down this 53b roster got tons of more to dive into with this one but that's going to do it for today's episode my name is Doug McCain you can follow me on exit Instagram at dmac corla and you can follow the people's champ Mr Travis Rogers at Travis Rogers and until next time whose house it's lock Sun Ram's house