Rams Sign Derrell Henderson and Myles Gaskin, LA Could Get Upgrade at Cornerback, Offensive Line

the Rams signed two running backs what will their roles be will the Rams get an upgrade at the cornerback position and a position group that was a nightmare last year that's becoming a strength this year that's coming up next here on locked on 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 Locked on Rams your daily podcast covering your 3 and3 Los Angeles Rams part of lockon podcast Network your team every day we're also available over on YouTube so you have not yet join the party on YouTube trying to get to 10,000 subscribers so do us a favor hit hit that subscribe button hit that notification Bell hit that like button let us know what is your reaction to the Rams signing miles gasin and old friend derell Henderson Jr my name is Doug McCain my friends call me dmac you can follow me on X and Instagram at dmac corla I've be covering LA Sports for over a decad Sports Illustrated 247 Sports Dodgers Nation now the Rams 4 locked on and as always I'm joined by the Rams preh postgame show host for the Rams flagship radio station ESPN 710 La he's in his e season cover your Los Angeles Rams The Peoples Champ Mr Travis Rogers you can follow him on X Travis Rogers and on today's show a position group that was a nightmare last year that's turning into a strength this year who will fill in at cornerback or take over if Darion Kendrick is out got some names there but first we start with a signing yesterday a very active day for the Rams they bring in two running backs old friend Rams Legend derell Henderson Jr and Miles gas and they sign him off the Vikings practice squad of course the rb1 kyen Williams a breakout player this year it's expected to miss at least one week with an ankle injury Ronnie Rivers could be out four to five weeks with a PCL injury but hendo is back Travis yeah he he's back and you know we talked about him a little bit yesterday Daryl Henderson was the third round pick of this team not that long ago he's got some pretty good speed he's a pretty tough guy uh but I think I think we know what we're going to get with him which is you know kind a little bit of Hit and Miss but I think that the reason that he was so uh such an obvious choice is he knows where to be he knows where what the what the calls are he understands the mechanics of Shawn mcvey's offense and most importantly you know we talked about it yesterday the every dayers will remember this is I don't really care whether it's Royce Freeman I don't really care whether it's Zack Evans I need to know which of those two guys is the better blocker and the answer may have been neither one of them and that's why Daryl Henderson's coming back because at least when he says you know when when Matthew Stafford shifts the line from one side to the other he's going to know where to pick up that that extra guy and I think coming into this game against Pittsburgh it's not so much of who can give you some effective carries it's who can block the best and I think that maybe darl Henderson's the answer to that question yeah and they have sign him to the practice squad so we'll see what his role is going to be but I think as far as a seamless transition like you mentioned he's someone that the familiarity is there knows the system he knows the culture my question is I mean you probably should have brought him into the practice squad after you trade away cam Acres if you were in considering this but still better late than ever you can never have enough depth at a position where you have injuries you really need four running backs and two on the practice squad if you look at his production with the Rams 1742 yards 13 TDS in his time in the horns 4.4 yards per carry and you kind of look at his last action with LA 283 yards on 70 carries last season 17 catches for 102 yards so look if this all works out and he still has something left in the tank it would be interesting to see how he would look as a complimentary piece with a Ken Williams with his ability to catch passes out of the back those he's always good at swinging out of the back field catching some passes over linebackers head so that's an ideal scenario I think we're far away from that but still is nice to have a comforting piece that knows sha McVey system and the Rams culture yeah I I think that's the most important part of it and if I'm being optimistic and and I'm giving Daryl Henderson the benefit of the doubt here I think one of the the things you could say about his time here in La is he was never really given a a big opportunity he was given a lot of small opportunities that this was a guy who really from the moment he showed up was sharing carries was sharing touches whether it was with Cam Acres or anybody else that it never really felt like all right Daryl Henderson's going to be our guy moving forward well they might not have a choice right that maybe you start with Evans maybe you start with Freeman just because they're slightly more familiar with it they've been in the program uh all all all the 2023 season so maybe they're first but if you run into a situation where you have to run the ball and those two guys are not necessarily effective and we'll see what it looks like you know at practice this week and like you said whether they elevate him from the practice squad to the the active roster time will tell but I wouldn't hate seeing him get a handful or a couple of handfuls of touches along the way because he he does have a little bit of big playability he does have the ability to you know to to to run between the tackles as well but I you know when I think of him I I I kind of go back to it never really felt like we got to see him get the ball 25 times or even 20 times or even 15 times it just always felt like all right he got it eight now I got it six he got you know okay big day he got it you know nine it just never really felt like he was given a a big opportunity I don't really expect it to happen this time around I think this is a an emergency call right this is one of these hey you can block if nothing else but uh you never know I mean they're gonna have somebody's gonna have to run it and I guess he's at least as good of option as anything else they have on their roster at this point 100% hopefully he was expecting teams to call he wasn't on the couch just playing Madden watching Netflix binging QB or whatever it is I mean hopefully he was ready to get back in the mix I think that is perfect and look this always happens Travis with teams you noce in baseball we want our Kik Hernandez back right we want the players we're familiar with you kind of romanticize those players I will say as well having said that look there was 31 other teams that didn't really see value in derell Henderson Jun I think that's kind of important to note I mean at this point I was looking for the tweet that said the Rams are gonna sign Todd Gurley back so you never know what's gonna happen but at the end of the day we have our rb1 right now that's K Williams and this is really just to be a stop Gap and just add some depth and some insurance with him him out now another gonna say no I just I just the the Kiren Williams part it gets more interesting the more guys they sign right because they're they're trying to find somebody that maybe can can plug that hole for a little bit longer we'll see how long he's out this this Steelers game I know that we're going to talk about this you know through the rest of the week as well but this is if you're going to get to nine wins this is a game you need to win and it's going to be harder to win without Kiren Williams it just a game that felt very winnable a team that struggles offensively with the Steelers the way that they do really good defensive team all of a sudden it feels much more even and maybe even slightly tilted toward Pittsburgh because of the absence of Williams and they're going to start throwing stuff at the wall and see if anything sticks yeah this is not even really even shopping on the dollar menu right this is like getting like free food like getting like a free sample at Costco or something it's like they're gonna out yeah exactly right you're putting for breeze on the couch from the side of the road and putting it back in the house so now my miles gasin is interesting we were talking about him before the show people on the west coast might remember him from his days as a husky up at UD dub and it's interesting gasin seventh round pick for the Dolphins in 2019 had one full healthy season in the NFL rush for 612 yards on 173 carries with Miami in 2021 averages 3.5 yards per carry in scoring three TDS he's made one Game appearance this year with the Vikings but he didn't get any offensive snap so it's interesting because it almost feels like you're poing cam Acres with Miles gasin as far as the the Vikings go yeah I I think that's a pretty good comp I you know looking at some of the gasin numbers in his career he he he catches the ball a little bit out of the back field I know that that's something that the Rams have have not had a huge part of their game maybe he can bring that element to it I know that I'm a bit of a broken record on this but the Rams offense is at its best when the running back not only is running it a lot but he also catches it out of the backfield you mentioned Todd Gurley a second ago uh I think of a player kind of in that mold a guy that can catch it and th and run it um you know Gaskin is clearly not girly I'm not I'm not saying that but I think you're trying to find okay who does what well what do we need to prioritize is it blocking is it running the football is it catching the football uh and knowing how this team is constructed I would be shocked if this isn't anything other than an offensive lineman you know drill for these running backs who can protect Matthew Stafford the best care if you can't run it two yards but if you can pick up that edge guy if you can pick up that linebacker through the middle of the line that's going to be the guy that gets the touches or or the the snaps I should say absolutely and I think that for me it does hurt the momentum KY Williams was so excited after that games but I think that's really important to remember that KY Williams is a thing he is a true rb1 his last game that 150 yard 158 yard game he had against the Cardinal that was the most for Rams running back since acres is in 2020 when he had 71 against the Patriots difference in that game though AGR had 5.9 yards per carry Williams had 7.9 yards per carry so you're talking about how this Rams team is at its best when they're pounding the rock that to me is 100% true you got Cooper cup you got Matthew Stafford but that's what I want to see from this team is their identity is on the ground being consistent with the run so it's good to see them prioritizing that position even with their top guy out a lot of Cooper cup a lot of Puka AA a lot of Tyler higgy a lot of other things that's not going to be the running back that look Shawn McVey goes to what he knows Shawn McVey is going to go back to throwing the ball a whole bunch I think this is the game plan I think that you're just trying to keep your head above water like you said with Williams out for hopefully just a week I you know the fact that they're they're moving around as many pieces as they are I I'm skeptical that it might be that short of a time but if the if we were frustrated with the Rams not running it prior to last week against the Cardinals ju just wait until you see what it looks like against the Steelers Cowboys and Packers yeah you're right it's going to be very interesting to follow and I'm really still excited about the possibility of seeing Evans in Freeman on the goal line really looking forward to seeing what Zack Evans has and I think if you MC continues to use those blocking schemes that we saw against the Cardinals I think hopefully you're going to get somewhat of a balance but it is going to be very intriguing I think he's going to be enticed to go with a heavy passing but hopefully we've learned that the success for this team is on the ground having that balance but coming up in our next segment with Darion Kendrick out who's going to step up at that cornerback position going to talk about something we didn't talk about yesterday and why it could be an upgrade that's coming up next here on lock on Rams all right DMC our partners at eBay motors have teamed up with locked on fantasy football host Vinnie iser to bring you some of the best fantasy picks each week all season long so whether you're preparing for a daily draft or you're just scouting the waiver wire every week we're going to provide you with players that are guaranteed to fit on your roster so let's see who Vinnie has picked out for us on this week's eBay's guaranteed fit fantasy picks of the week let's go with George Pickins the guy that we're going to get to see against the Rams this week he got further locked in as a second-year white out for the Steelers before the week six buy hooking up with second-year quarterback Kenny Piet for six catches 130 yards and a big touchdown on 10 targets against the Ravens also added a rush for 16 yards along the way and Pickins is being trusted to make plays even though tough matchups by his young passer with whom he has unbelievable chemistry the Rams and Jags are not the easiest draws in the next two games but Pickin physical Talent can rise above them with his size and field stretching ability Vinnie eer from Lockdown fantasy football is going to help you win your fantasy championship and eBay Motors knows a championship team is about each player being a perfect fit same goes for your vehicle with over 122 million parts for your number one rid or die you can make sure that your ride runs smoothly brake kits LED headlights roof racks 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Darion Kendra we dove into it yesterday not really an update of course he was pulled over for that track violation police found a gun received a felony charge of carrying a concealed weapon now who will they turn to and could it be an upgrade that's the question I have I mean veteran Duke Shelly he played well in the Philadelphia game when a Kell wither spoon was out a little bit rookie Trey Thomson he probably is g to get his opportunity really didn't mention two the possibly of Kobe Durant he can play on the outside as well and Darion Kendrick I said a few weeks ago I don't see him as a starting quarterback in the NFL I think he's a solid depth piece he's aggressive lacks speed and athleticism but I think there is a world where this could possibly improve the Rams overall secondary if Duke Shelly plays well if Trey Thomson makes most of his opportunity I think there is a world where that's the case well it happens all the time right where an opportunity that you really weren't expecting to happen whether it's an injury whether it's something off the field like it is in the case of Daren Kendrick gives another player a chance to step into a role and they never give it back it it happens all the time right I I'll go back a couple of years ago when Darius Williams with the Rams got hurt and Robert relle slid into his spot and played really really well now Williams ultimately came back and got his spot back but it felt like relle was on the verge of becoming a starting quarterback and it didn't really work out like that but we've seen it happen in the past I think you need to make if you're if you're Raheem Morris and Shawn mcy and you're trying to figure out which of those two guys to slide in there whether it's Shelley or Tomlinson it kind of goes with do you want Shelly who's a veteran player who will probably make fewer mistakes or do you want to go with maybe the guy that might have a little more High a little higher ceiling in Trey Tomlinson I'll go back to preseason and the Rams preseason was a disaster there there's not a lot of things there but one of the few bright spots was that Trey Tomlinson kind of baled out like he he was a pretty comfortable player I don't know if that's what I want against this Steelers team and here's why the Steelers are not going to move the ball a ton the Steelers are not an explosive offensive team so what I don't want is somebody that's going to make schematic mistakes that somebody's going to take chances and maybe give up a big play because they're not quite sure where they're supposed to be or they're not quite sure what the rules are and they get caught peing or whatever it may be I feel like that's more Tomlinson I think that shelle's probably a safer bet now if you got to figure out this long term I think that's probably more of a Tomlinson play than a Shelly play but if this is a short-term solution I wouldn't be surprised if shelle's in there simply because he's been in the league longer I think you're right I think that with Tom Tomlinson feels like we haven't se him as much as we anticipated ated and you mentioned during preseason he was the guy that was talked about more than Byron young more than Kobe Turner it was basically him and pukan AA right and you looked at his success he allows us two receptions for 16 yards with two pass breakouts up a 28 point6 completion percent so he definitely had success I thought you were going to bring up though when he had that vicious face mask against Marvin Mims Jr that was Bor on yeah you're right you know he does have that aggression I think this Rams organization talk about Darius Williams they have a history of playing shorter quarterbacks on the outside right so it's not like they don't do that little slight frame quarterbacks in the outside so sometimes you don't see that some teams around League they just don't do that the Rams aren't a team that feels that way so if they think that one you might want to develop him and FasTrack that development and they've seen the results with Bayern young with Kobe Turner if you're truly trying to see how many guys you can find this season and develop for next year maybe you say let's go the development route I think the fact though they're at three and three Morris's defense has exceed expectations now you go for the dubs right you don't want to get the learning curve right now that that that's exactly right that if you felt like you needed to make some big plays to win games if you need to make big plays on defense I'd probably turn or Trend more towards Trey Tomlinson because I think there's more big play opportunities for him than there might be for Duke Shelly they don't need big plays to beat the Steelers they need to play you know football that is virtually mistake free they need to play again they do not give up big plays the the Steelers the way the Steelers have won games and if you watch them I I'm not quite sure how they've done it but it's been kind of the same formula the defense scores the defense holds the the opposing offense down to a relatively no low number and Kenny picket and Pickins combine for one or two big plays in a game that's it they're not winning games in the 30s or even in the high 20s or mid 20s they're winning games in the teens and in the low 20s and it's because the defense scores and you give up a big play or two and I think that's why Tomlinson is probably not the choice if this was a hey we're gonna have to turn it over we're gonna have to get into a shootout we're gonna have we're gonna score they're gonna score I'm willing to give up a big play here or there then it's probably Tomlinson but that's not the opponent that you get this week yeah I think that Tomlinson for as much success he had at TCU he's a little raw at the NFL level as far as building those instincts and his tangibles are off the charts but sometimes that aggression can might can get into a little bit of trouble I think Duke Shelly too kind of went back yesterday watched the snaps he had and he was in there for nine snaps had 84.9 PFF grade in those nine snaps so that was a small sample size but he was targeted by Josh do three times he broke up a pass he allowed just one completion for nine yards and he looks like a veteran out there and I think people forget back in 2022 after he went from being a slot corner to an outside corner he was a slot corner with the Bears and a outside corner with the Vikings in the fifth highest PFF grade That season defensively so he has had success in this league he end up signing with the Raiders he didn't make their final cut the Rams picked him up so they had success with aell Witherspoon they've had success with Kevin doson some of these guys that were on the margins that you brought in maybe they strike gold again with Duke shell and I think he's my guy I want to see him in there I think that's the right move I think you'll see both but I agree with you I I think that shell would be my my first choice and I think I'm going to fill in with Tomlinson as needed but I I want a veteran presence against the Steelers I do not want inexperience I don't want green and like you said at the beginning of this segment Doug this is a team that's three and three talking about the Rams this is a team that is very much in it and it feels like nine wins maybe eight but nine wins is probably a a a punch your ticket go to the playoff situation and the path to nine includes the Steelers it it it's a tough It's a much much tougher path without a Steelers win and you can't you can't have guys learning on the job if you got no choice you got no choice but it feels like they have a choice with Shelly absolutely Travis I mean you got a great point you got to stack those winnable dubs at home you're not gonna count those wins but this is one coming off the win they just had can absolutely get at home and really increase those playoff chances I just want to say too this is a big trade tomance in house he's got that dog I'm a big fan of the guy it's just right now when I just keep this transition smooth and look I'm not at practice every day right but the fact that they haven't played him as much tells me that there's something that they think that he's not ready for just complete action like the other guys by our young Kobe Turner and some of these other rookies that we've seen so I think it's still work in progress still has a lot of potential but give me Duke Shelly there for the time being and possibly for the remainder of the season but Travis coming up in our next segment we have a position group that was a nightmare last year that's turning into a strength VIs is here and big wit had something very interesting to say on Twitter that's coming up next here on lockon Rams locked on Rams is sponsored by betterhelp let me ask you this that you you have those moments where you you know what you're supposed to do you know the right thing to do is right you know what's good 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every single weekday free and available rev get your podcast locked on Rams part of locked on podcast Network your team every day now Travis here in our last segment I saw something on the X they really gave me the feels Brandon Thorne he shared a video on social media on Monday that showed two big blocks from Rams rookie Steve AA during the team's win over the Cardinals in week six and our friend of course Mr Andrew Whitworth he quote tweeted it and he said my heartbeat still this makes me so happy and you saw Avala just absolutely Trucking dudes he talked about the fact that when you don't talk about Ava it's usually a good thing but in this case the fact that he was doing damage I mean you put the defensive end on the turf twice with these massive blocks helping out Aller Jackson the left tackle there and the great thing about it that I love Travis is if you look at the clip Avala has no one to block my guys just looking for work just looking for dudes to do damage with so I think it was a great side very encouraged by his play early on AAL is just a mean man like like you said it's he's not willing to engage he wants to engage he's looking for it it's not if you bring the fight to his front door he's willing to defend his territory he's going to knock on your front door he's gonna start it that way right he he he's looking for it and I think that's brought an incredible element to the Rams uh they hit on this pick this is a guy that is an NFL football player and was from the second he put on uh an NFL uniform he's going to get better that I I think that's the really exciting part about what he does is that he showed up ready to go from the opening day at training C and that's the floor he's gonna get better right they the guys we we talked about Trey Tomlinson a minute ago we've talked about some of these other guys that are learning on the job we'll use Byron young as an example that he looks better in week six than he did in week one that's great that's the trajectory that you're looking for AAL is on the same trajectory it's just that he started at a much higher point and it's incredibly exciting the Rams offensive line other than that night in uh in Cincinnati I think has done a really good job of keeping Matthew Stafford healthy they're going to get their biggest contest of the year with TJ watt coming up on Sunday they did a relatively good job against the Eagles a couple of weeks ago and keeping Stafford pretty upright um watt is a different animal he's probably he's got eight sacks through the first six weeks of the Season they've only played five games he's put together eight sacks so Avala is going to have his hands full and so are the other four guys on that offensive line because they get the best in the business coming their way they do it's going to be a big test for them and so far the cohesion has paid off you're not see as many injuries as we saw last season when they were absolutely decimated like I said it was like a season of squid game guys just dropping like flies every single game it felt like and you look at the last games the Cardinals offensive line they allowed just 10 pressures six of which were by the two tackles Alec Jackson Rob havenstein and he was sacked three times Matty Stafford was but the o line was only blamed for two of them so you're seeing them really improve as a run blocking unit as the years progress Matthew Stafford hasn't been on the ground as much as he was last year and you're just seeing incremental improvements and I think the more that Rob havenstein and Kevin Dawson who were excellent in the Run blocking game on the right side with kyen Williams in this game where they're just committing to that and just as long as they give them time to throw this unit is going to have success I'm not saying they're the best offens line but considering where they were last year the fact that they're around League average to me is just a big jump up and that's why you're seeing this team sitting at 500 right now and I think alar Jackson gets a lot of credit for this because this is you know it's left tackle it's the most important position on the offensive line for a right-handed quarterback the way that Matthew Stafford is it's The Blind Side position right and is he the best who have ever done it of course not is he NFL average yeah and that's that's kind of what they've been looking for since Andrew Whitworth who you mentioned a few minutes ago retired that they thought they had that in Joe noo well they didn't and now noboom has been down he's he's probably going to struggle to get that starting job back at Right Guard but it gives him an opportunity to use him as a little bit of a depth piece and Jackson was what they discovered last year this is one of the few Silver Linings from what happened a year ago because it was so bad up front that they kept moving pieces around this was a guy that was a practice squad player player not that long ago that's holding down a left tackle spot in the NFL and holding it down well enough and I don't mean that to be disrespectful at all but from where he started to where he is is an amazing journey like Ava second round draic he's supposed to be good Rob havenstein is supposed to be good Kevin dodson's been around a long time he's supposed to be good a guy like Coleman Shelton has developed into a nice center it's this other piece on the far left side that I think is a bit of a surprise that's allowed everybody else to be a little better too absolutely I think he's already a success story considering where he started to where he is now now is he the Rams franchise left tackle I'm not so sure about that I do think they should bring him back at the very least as a depth piece as a swing tackle possibly moving forward I mean he ranks 55th out of 64 players on Pro Football Focus with players that played 50% of their snaps is run blocking great is 54th and he's 53rd pass protection but still it's such a difficult position to play and it's so important that the fact that they have a starting left tackle that's at the very least getting the job done at a competent level to me is a big boom I don't think he's going to have a career like Steve AA who like you mentioned was drafted High everyone's a tough guy until Steve Avala shows up right Travis right I don't think he's gonna be that kind of dude right like a Trent Williams type but I still think that I'm just so after like I said after last year I just love what I'm seeing from this offensive line I love the fact that they're hungry out there trying the second level their blocks it gives them a chance you know and and really what you could ask for that it gives them a chance for their best player Matthew Stafford to do what he does last year he didn't have a chance last year Walford and and Perkins and Mayfield barely had a chance this group of guys gives guys a chance absolutely just as a side here Travis I don't think that Caleb Williams is gonna bring his offensive line to New York for the Heisman Ceremony this year I don't think so I I I think that uh that ship is sail but the good news is he's soon to become a minority owner in the NFL ACC course to him exactly exactly he's about to own a team man he about to own the Cardinals no but uh that is going to do for this episode of lock Don Rams my name is Doug McCain you can follow me on X and Instagram at dmac corla and as always you can follow the people champ Mr Travis Rogers on X at Travis Rogers and until next time whose house is locked on Rams house