Who Will Step Up In Los Angeles Rams First Preseason Game? Joint Practice With Dallas Cowboys

[Music] hey what's going on Los Angeles welcome back to the ram skinny here on the lab Network hope everyone has had a great week so far the weekend is upon us and guess what live football is here obviously the Hall of Fame game was last week but we had two preseason games last night and the Rams play this weekend against the Dallas Cowboys they had joint practice up in Oxnard just yesterday so skinny T and I are going to get all up into that and then you know pseudo preview the game it's hard to preview preseason games but we'll just kind of talk of what we're looking for some matchups we're looking at and stuff like that so excited football it's finally back it felt like a long offseason even though there's always stuff to talk about now we can talk about real live football first and foremost skinny T how are you doing on this Friday doing good man uh went and checked out some comedy last night down at Largo I don't know if you've ever been there but uh they do a bunch of different kind of showcases one comedian will kind of host and bring out a few people uh brought out Jud appow whoa yeah that's a he did a you know funny 10 minutes it was it was a good time yeah I mean one of the greatest comedic directors of our of Our Generation I think yeah certainly definitely certainly up there where's the lgo it's uh over on lasena um if if if you guys here are here in town or ever come definitely check out Largo and see what what's playing out there because you you might end up uh you know it's La so you never know who's gonna turn up and do a set maybe maybe Jed AP yeah I mean some of the best fun nights in LA and New York has this too but are going to comedy shows like the people that come out for those like I remember going to um you know Laugh Factory or the um what's the real big one what's the big yeah Comedy Store it's like just the even not the comedic Act that show up that just randomly is amazing I remember being in the restroom and peeing next to Dane Cook he just showed up out of nowhere I'm like what up Dane um but just the people like show up to just like hang out and watch it's like and this is on like a Tuesday night in Hollywood so if you're new to LA or haven't done that yet that is like the LA experience go to a go to a comedy show and a small one don't go to like I mean not obviously you want to go to the big Headliners those are fun but the small ones at Laugh Factory Comedy Store like just on a random weekday night those are the ones to go to where you can experience like the LA experience go get some tacos after there's nothing more La than that speaking of which I'm going to speaking of big shows I'm going to Luke Bryan tonight at The Forum con little little throwback to Matthew Stafford and Cooper Cooper cup and puking a COA on stage singing Revival right yeah well that was um oh did I screw it up again Zack Brian Zack Bryan okay it's annoying because there's Zack Bryan there's Luke Bryan and there's Luke comes they're all too dang similar um but I'm seeing you yeah Luke Bryan at the Kia Forum um first I haven't been to a concert in I don't know how long so me and the wife are going should be fun well have a good time yeah uh we're goingon to have to go check out the comedy club that's close to us the ice the Ice House well we're we're definitely have to make an even I know right here I still haven't been right here in Pasadena lived here almost seven years never been just reopened so yeah that's true it was closed forever after Co yeah um yeah we'll definitely have to check that out but glad you're doing well show as always brought to you by our friends at Ben on line head to Ben on line that AG you today use our promo code believe tell them the guys at the ram skinny sent you plenty of fun prop bets uh you still got baseball if you want live sports Olympics ends on Sunday but there's some Olympic bets in there um but preseason football I mean I I don't advise betting on preseason football lot of variants lot of variants lot of variants but if you're a degenerate and want to place to do it bet online or just wait till week one in uh in early September or you can place those Futures on Stafford win MVP Rams win total over under eight and a half take the over not I'm not a expert so that's just what I'm going to do don't heed my advice but Ben line. AG promo code believe is where you can all do that Dallas Cowboys I guess they're not in town they always have training camp in Oxnard um they've been here how long they've been in Oxnard forever I feel like even before the Rams and Chargers moved back to LA um and it's so their training camp is so interesting to me because it's just like in a field in between a bunch of homes it's not even like a nice not that it's not nice oxnard's beautiful but but it's not even like a facility it's literally just like a open field in between a bunch of like Condominiums is that weird to you and they just like set up some bleachers it's it's weird um and you know like looking at all the different setups for different teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers go way out of town they're kind of off the beaten path yeah you know um LMU uh you know not not I mean almost a similar Vibe because just on the other side of the fence um across one end zone was was just a neighborhood very nice neighborhood nice Vons there there you go Vons or John's in that area Vons yeah I do love JNS though love me some John's yeah John's is great um yeah it seemed like the old old school NFL it was like a thing of like make training camp far away you get away from even if you're in state you're still far away I remember the Broncos when I lived in Denver used to do it up in grey which is like two hours Northeast of Denver like a little Cow Town they would always do it up there um and I think a lot of teams would do that far and then now the vast majority just do it at the facility and they they just make their players stay in like a hotel for two weeks or whatever near the facility um but they're still right there the Cowboys are still one of the ones that uh keep it out of state I guess they have a national brand so they figure they can kind of play into that but yeah the place they do it in Ox I've always I remember when they were on Hard Knocks it was just always interesting to me that yeah because even like the Chargers were at a they were at a park Jack Hemet which the cowboy boys are or the Raiders are at now but it was like a it was it still felt like a training camp because it was a big Park open area like this is literally just like one football-sized field in between a bunch of Condominiums and like the players stay like at those Airbnb condos basically is where they stay like I just always thought that was interesting fascinating I I've been waiting for my opportunity to bring up the fact that I'm I'm reading George plimpton's book Paper Lion where he uh infiltrates the Detroit Lions 196 five or 14 team um and and tries to pass off as a as a rookie quarterback um but that that that one is set at a a boy school um outside of Detroit near uh Dearborn which uh you know that old you know a little old school football we just got to bring that up but five five teams down here in Southern California doing their um offseason training camp uh it's it's it's kind of incredible that they're all descending here I mean it's not incredible because we understand how amazing it is yeah but uh yeah it's uh it's it's cool that they're all kind of circulating around here yeah I mean they know it's a it's a football Mecca I mean SoCal like yeah Rams and chargers are new still building Rams fan base is great and growing but I mean there's a ton of just NFL fans here and so they can play into that and who doesn't want to do training camp in in SoCal I mean if you're no matter where you're in the country not a bad place even when it's hot here it's not as hot as it it's hotter in Minnesota than it is here it's hotter everywhere than it is here basically and we're complaining about the heat um so that tells you how it how it helps last thing and then we'll get to actual like the joint thing I don't necessarily want this obviously because for us it'd be more of a pain but could you ever see the Rams doing training camp like in St Louis for a little bit just so they try to rekindle some of that fan base no no I think I think Stan grank is probably person Ang GR in those parts of the world so I wouldn't imagine I wouldn't imagine that uh they escape and you know they got work to do they got work to do to build their fan base around here we're trying to do our part for sure um and raising awareness and and hype and excitement and uh uh you know just shining uh the light on on a great football organization um so but no I I I would hope that they keep everything Southern C California focused and you know Tak it on the road occasionally more I wouldn't mind to see something out in San Bernardino area going to move to Woodland Hills so I mean that's going of move things into the valley a bit but yeah yeah hot there it's hot in the valley that's for sure much hotter there um which the facility should be opening here any day they said they were like five or six days behind but I think uh next week or so they should be actually in there practicing so I'm sure that I still can't believe how fast they built that yeah like just a year ago they was like oh here's where it's gonna be it's like an empty parking lot or an abandoned like mall and it's like done already it it's one of my favorite catchphrases that I use in my regular life which is it's amazing what money can do yes yes you can xite things very quickly when uh the price is right so go up to Oxnard they'll join practice with the Cowboys obviously they will play the Cowboys this weekend at Sofi which we'll get to um but little news and notes from uh from the practice it seems like uh overall good showing for the defense yet again not a ton of news regarding the offense outside of maybe some individual players but what have you heard seen wrote about what what are can are your takeaways at all from what you know from this joint practice well they're keeping it pretty clean out there there's not the the skirmishes that uh we've seen in the past you know I remember back to the uh the Cincinnati Bengals in Rams joint practice where Aaron Donald's got two Bengals helmets one in each hand uh just terrifying everybody I I can't imagine what that's like just run in the other direction at that point so that's that's encouraging uh kind of cropped up a little something uh interpersonal activity a little extracurricular activity there but uh died down pretty quickly so that's that's good to see um good news about C cam kinchin coming out um just making plays out there overall it just seemed like a much more um even back and forth rather than it seemed like the Chargers joint practice was um was was the Chargers show uh it seemed like they got a ton of turnovers the Chargers did in this one lots of lots of forced fumbles which was great to see um that was a big question of of mine is can this uh defense creat some turnovers and some chaos in the way of uh of turnovers um because they were one of the low worst worst teams are creating turn turnovers last season and and those and those are kind of the the big the big plays that uh change games and you know you see a couple of those go your your in your favor early last season and and there would have been more more W's in the in the Rams column so that that that's definitely good to see um you know Dak Prescott was asked about uh Jared verse because Jared verse had a great day got in the back field a whole bunch and I guess uh I guess uh the rookie is chirping at the the old veteran once he's getting into the back field and um deck Prescott said he earned it he said he was getting into the back field a lot and and you can talk uh if if you're if you're earning you can walk talk you can walk exactly what do what do you think about uh what do you think about a rookie uh chirping at a guy like Dak Dak Prescott good bad indifferent I mean I would never do it um I was never a trash talker anyway when I played in my sporting days um but yeah I would wait till you earn it on Sundays not just in a in a padded scrimmage or practice but you know sometimes it does exude confidence and I think that's a good thing especially at that position when you're an edge rusher there certain positions you have to have a little bit more Swagger obviously DBS and and are one of the most known receivers obviously known um but I think Edge now is becoming one of those as well that um yeah you you can you can bring the trash stock as long as you can back it up and based on what Dak said he did back it up now let's see if he backs it up on well he probably won't won't play this weekend but we'll see if he backs it up hopefully in the in the actual season but um yeah I don't have a problem with it it's just not something I would do but hey love to see it confident rookie yeah and it's something I saw out at training camp as well he was I actually ended up asking Chris schula about it cuz he he was talking a lot and so I said is he you know taking on a leadership role he's like Chris Scher was like well no I mean Michael hoy's pretty much the leader for that for that room but you know people want to play like him but you know anytime you see like that kind of that kind of uh you know player it's uh you know rookies are gonna make rookie mistakes and yeah um you know I don't I don't know if somebody's gonna try to put him in his place at some time or what have you but uh you know uh it's fun to see I always liked when uh Darren Kendrick would do it even though he wasn't really necessary backing it up but uh yeah I think I mean cam kinchin is is one of those guys that kind of lets his his game do the talking for him he he he's kind of an intense intensely focused guy I think I mentioned that last time that was a takeaway from training camp that I had was that uh he he was uh he he he seems to be earning a rookie that's doing his earning uh before uh before he's he's talking too much but uh yeah kinch's got one of those forc fumbles um Troy reer also Quinton Lake uh also noted for a for a forced fumble so really good really good things from from the defense again I you know I'm still curious it's so hard to tell without those those offensive linemen in there exactly what the offense offense looks like I've I've been saying it kind of week over week over week over week that uh you know this team is kind of going to go the way this offensive line does and um at this point it's inconclusive what the offensive looks like what the offense looks like without without those guys in place yeah no 100% like firstly I'll just say yeah it's great to see the defense continuing to play well and improve obviously there seems to be which I I think most coaches say there is but there definitely seems to be a point of emphasis on you know causing turnovers smacking at footballs for for fumbles I mean those are game-changing plays that can swing game wide open they can swing them back in your favor if you're down I I don't have to it's everyone knows this it's Common Sense turnovers are are huge game swinging plays so if they can have an emphasis on that and we've seen results in these practices with the Chargers and now the Cowboys I think that's that's got to be exciting to see and uh hopefully that carries over into the regular season um there was um a clip I think it was Jordan that posted it but Jordan rodrig but there's these new footballs that I'm assuming are just for practice not for for games obviously but they have some sort of sensor in it that when you're not gripping the ball right it like beeps um so you know if you have the technology might as well uh might as well use it and so hopefully that benefits the offensive side and the defense obviously is eating on the other teams maybe not using that technology correctly and forcing it so but um yeah offensively I mean we haven't really this happened after we recorded last but signed as we were hoping would happen and we talked about it in our show Les sne and Sham mcve must have watched as they always do signed some reinforcements to the offensive line that the biggest name or the maybe the most well-known name Conor McDermot started uh five games for New England last year um so that I think is a good signing former six round pick at UCLA so welcome home back to LA um and they also added um Alec lindström and Matt casy who both played in the UFL last year um and casy had uh short stin in the NFL as well on practice squads throughout so add three names um you mention not knowing what this offense will truly look like without its starters in place in the offensive line I don't think that um changes by adding these however just your thoughts on on the mcder signing because I actually really like it I think uh this to me well I'll ask you first and I'll answer so just your thoughts on the mcder signing yeah it's a it's a nice veteran uh addition um to add to kind of a what looks like now a very thin depth at at uh uh offensive line and he's he's played both left and right tackle so they give that gives him some um some versatility there and you know just a guy that's been out there before that's seen it before whereas you know you think about sticking a guy like Zack Thomas or Bo limmer or Logan bruss out there you know they just don't have that kind of experience that would help them in in real game situations so I think that's I think it's great um you know I don't think it moves the dial on anything in terms of who who want they want as as the starters in that but um something that's needed for sure so I agree I like it it could literally or it's seen as a depth piece for sure like they they have who they want as they're starting five however I don't think that means that he can't compete and push these guys and potentially end up getting into kind of like a position where maybe he ends up like a Kevin doson like transformation right like Kevin doson they traded for in training camp last year was a guy that played for Pittsburgh but had a down year um and then exploded with the Rams last year and now obviously got a big contract and is seen as the the future you know guard moving forward and I'm not saying MC durman's going to do that but a guy that has played meaningful NFL snaps and can come over here now has you know tremendous size and could potentially be a guy that uh that pushes for one of those spots and it at very minimum is a great depth piece but maybe pushes and here's kind of I was looking up some some numbers in PFF we say all the time is not the end all be all like these grades are you know it's typically not to sound offensive but it's typically some low paid intern at living at home still that's like doing these grades because there's so many players they have to grade like I had a buddy that used to work for PFF and he's like yeah our our like grading our graders are just like the low I just don't want to sound disrespectful entry level entry level there we go thank you that's the best way to put it entry level guys doing it so it's very um subjective you could say but if you look at Kevin doson last year or two years ago finished with a 64.4 grade with the Steelers and was credit with 12 penalties comes over here to the Rams in the Rams system sham mcve system and new offensive line coach New pieces around him finished last year with an 85.5 grade and only two penalties and McDermot last year had a 67.8 overall grade which actually was higher than aleric Jackson Steve Avala and Coleman Shelton who all started on the line so he had a better grade than those three starters was only credited with three penalties and two sacks so I mean at 68 310 pounds you never know this could end up being like the signing you look at all these signings in the offseason cam curl Jonah Jackson like who knows maybe Conor McDermot becomes the best signing of the offseason or maybe he's just a camp body that not even on the teamweek won but either way I love the signing because they need they needed reinforcements badly you know if if if they're able to get him to that kind of Kevin Dotson kind of level where he actually earns as a starting spot I'm going to start throwing Ryan Wendell's uh name the hat for I don't know assistant coach of the year or whatever um Ryan Wendell the uh he he was added as the offensive line coach uh comes out of the Patriot system played played there um uh you know he's the architect of this offensive line really um and you know you hear about these these mythic uh kind of positional coaches uh thinking of uh the guy that's at Tennessee now with his son or with yeah with his son that's a the head coach I can't think of his name it was at Cleveland there for a long time their off oh the offensive line coach I said head coach I remember Canalis is their head coach but um yeah yeah yeah oh no Canalis is Carolina too many coaching changes anyway continue yeah but uh just you know if if the Rams can get one of those Mythic guys and get him to stick around for a little while which offensive line coaches kind of I think they do a little bit more than that but uh yeah he's got to be he's got to be right up there that's yeah it's fast fting Bill Callahan is theill Callahan yeah one of the great great offensive line coach like yeah you think of great offensive line coach he's like top three probably so yeah um and then his son Brian Callahan head coach yeah totally that's a name like totally forgot he was a new head coach Brian cian like because there's what eight new head coaches this off season that was one I did not remember at all I knew I knew uh what's his name was out Arthur Smith I just no idea who was the head coach oh Mike Mike Vel was before him but Arthur Smith in Atlanta oh Arthur Smith was in Atlanta see we're just La Focus you know La Focus yeah Arthur Smith was the OC at Tennessee and the Falcons coach he's now rahee Morris obviously of the Rams the head coach of Atlanta so anyway but no I agree what Ryan Wendell is doing and this preseason which we're gonna get to now will be I want to point out one last thing go ahead about the joint practice Matthew Stafford catches his own pass for a touchdown a bobbled pass that he caught athletic play for for for an old man we like to see it as uh you're you're nearing old man status I'm I'm deep into Old Man status I mean I love it but I hate it based on that article you said where he like thought his career might be over after his thumb injury from catching a two-point conversion potentially so just just bat those babies down in scrimmages in a game sure you're going to win the game scrimmage leave that alone I'll just say he's still got it he's still got it that's the only thing I want to say he's still got it I mean he's great guy's great I mean Caleb Williams yesterday coming out saying he's a top two quarterback the NFL yeah that's incredible love that yeah CJ stred a couple months ago said the same thing yeah exactly so I mean his peers certainly respect him and he's not an old man yet so but Sunday Cowboys at Rams there'll be live football we will see no starters per usual so do you want to go positionally or do you want to just go who are you looking forward to seeing well let's go who do we think should see more of just real really quickly look at some of these guys so McVey comes out and he says that even garoo is not going to start um so I mean I was I was really looking forward to seeing what garoo was GNA look like at at something like full speed sure you were I'm sure you were it would look the same at half speed I think gosh this is this is quickly become a uh anti- Jimmy Garoppolo podcast some yeah I mean was a Niner so I guess it makes sense um yeah and just looking at the options out there I just I think there was much better options to be a backup but and we and we could quickly become a Jimmy Garoppolo Pro podcast but we're not going to see him so there there's no new evidence to change our opinion exactly into something anyway so are there guys that you don't think are gonna play that you want to you wanted to see see more of okay let's start with that that's good I like that and then we can get to maybe some guys that will play looking forward to so that aren't going to play I mean keeping it with the offensive line since we talked about that um I mean I'm trying to Joe noou I would think is not gonna play just because he's basically a starter right now based on injuries and he's been with the team long enough um I just think he's a guy that probably needs reps but he's also shown injury history and so that's obviously a concern uh but you got to have you got to have live reps I I I totally agree with MC mcvey's philosophy since he's been hired he has not played starters in in preseason I mean he kind of started that he was like one of the first ones to literally no Starters play any reps in preseason most teams will do like a series or two week one two quarters in week two and then shut it down week three back they used to have four weeks um but he's never done any of that from day one and the Rams have relatively always been one of the healthiest teams in football um so the evidence shows that he's what he's doing is working however we've seen the last two years obviously two years ago being the peak of injuries and then last year some bumps and bruises they've sometimes come out of the gate slow I mean they started what three and six I mean can you attribute that to playing no preson I'm not saying that not saying starters playing two series is going to change your your opening season record but when there's Fringe guys I think they do need those reps as especially the offensive line needs that continuity um going in and so the fact that your three starters are injured and then potentially your biggest depth piece probably won't play either that's I would like to see no boom play some but at this point none of the stars are playing anyway so now you're just kind of getting what you're getting out of you know real depth pieces like is there anything with Logan bruss can he show you something that gives you confidence that he can be a depth guy at this point or is that ship sales I'm assuming Conor mcder will get some reps because it's in a new system now he's a veteran so he might not but because it is a new system and uh he is new to the team I would think he'll get some just to get up to speed he hasn't been with the team all offseason so just getting up to speed in that but yeah I would like to see Joe no boom I'll toss it to you though yeah I think I think defensively I have a lot more guys that I'm really interested in that I don't think will will play but on the offensive side I want to see Blake corm I understand to totally why they will definitely not put him in there um he's going to be featured big in big in the offense but I'm just curious was that I was out at training camp but training camp no there's no tackling you know pads some days pad no pads other days so it's really hard to tell what the what the running game looks like um another one um Davis Allen just because uh really interesting things last year as a as a offensive weapon um but I want to see how he how he's improved as a blocker I can wait till the regular season to see that but but I'm curious now for that on defense though you think he won't play you think Davis alen won't play just because higgy's injured so they're preserving Parkinson and Allen probably I I think I think that's what they'll opt to do maybe one maybe they'll play a couple I but I doubt it I mean why even risk it at that point but I mean on defense Bobby Brown's the big name that I really want to see that probably won't play that uh I you know he he topped out at like not even 30% of snaps last year that he played you know Kobe Turner moved right past him real quick other guys have have done that as well he's in a contract year um and I'm curious what he what he would look like uh you know playing an entire game can he can he get the pocket pressure and be a run stuffer that that we've seen just a guy taking up room in the middle um and uh let me let me come on that real quick for you next player because at this point and I I never like want to sound disrespectful these players they're they're obviously a lot better than me at anything but at this point and I've Loved Bobby Brown since the Rams drafted him he's proven nothing in the NFL like has yet to prove anything that he can be a starter like he's proven obviously he's made the team he's been a depth piece but he's not proven in really any capacity and based on even your reporting and and everything at training camp like he's leaving practice early he's in mcvey's dog house some and so to me he needs to play and we need to see him in real live reps and I I just yeah so I totally agree with you like I don't know if they will Parton me I'm like 50-50 that he'll play I feel like 50% because of being somewhat in the doghouse and based on not proving anything that they will play him and then I'm also thinking because he is slotted as like a starter on the depth chart that they're they just don't play starters so um but I agree with you he's one I would definitely want to see out there for at least at least a quarter yeah that's probably all the guys that I mean all all the guys that I just know are just going to be they're not going to be out there um I'm just there there's so many things I'm curious about on the defense but you know I don't know if it's worth it going into all all all those ins and outs because I think we're actually going to see we're actually see some of the pass rush depth um and we're get to see Trey Tomlinson out there and cam kenin out there a bit I would imagine yeah I would think so um here's one do you think we'll see Russ yeast feel like he kind of some supplanted himself last year as a real quality player but as we've heard and as you saw like Quinton lake has really taken a stringle hold as as potential rep guy in in the secondary when you look at the the back end I mean I think in this unofficial depth chart JN Johnson is starting next to cam curl so yeast is technically right now a backup do you think we see him or is he done enough where they're they're like nah we don't need to see out there let's give it to all the new guys it's funny all of the sudden the Rams have like the best safety depth in the league I know for real I wanted Justin Simmons and I was like well they clearly I don't think they need it you know Cameron curl has Prov he's had a great Camp he's he's done really good stuff cam kinchin we already talked about Quinton Lake who's now Nickelback but also can play safety he's going to move around a lot so I'm guessing Russ East has has got something to prove um he and Kobe Kobe Durant I think we're gonna see the both of those guys out there and it'll be interesting to see what you know especially Trey Tomlinson Kobe Durant Russ East what they're going to look like as as the back end because those guys were starters not that long ago yeah and they and and the Rams are going to they have some decisions to make uh over the next couple years to see who's you know are there any long-term guys here from that draft class from that 2022 draft class and 2023 draft class um so and they they they they need some of these guys to really pan out for them um one so they don't they can stop using so much draft capital on on the back end but Darius Williams is 31 he's on a three-year contract but he's 31 already um John Johnson I believe is on a one-year contract travius White's on a one-year contract yep um so and qu lake is one of those guys from the 2022 class six sixth rounder that's uh uh is is proving to to work out but uh is that a second contract there never know Rams don't do that often don't do that often um yeah so we'll see I would anticipate yeast to play some so so let's do this now let's talk um who do you few guys we don't have to go through a whole list but who do we know is going to play that you're really looking forward to seeing out there whether it's a rookie or a a free agent or or a vet that just you know is fun to watch I'll start if you want so you can think about it and I'll just do I'll do the low hanging fruit like everyone got to see steady be out there right everyone wants to see steady Benson or Ste ston Bennett um out there slinging it as you mentioned Jimmy G probably will not play so I'm assuming we'll see I don't know if McVey will do first half STS and Bennett second half dresser win or if we'll see three quarters of Bennett one of win we'll see all four of Bennett or maybe just one of Bennett to get his feet wet and and give the rest of the show to dress or win so um but I'm excited to see where he's at I mean obviously sat at all last year with with mental stuff obviously his health and all that is most important um but now you know it's back to business and you know he is a member of this team and and by all accounts seen as a potential future of this team even though me and you don't really agree with that but that's what as of right now um and obviously you're going to say that you're never going to say you don't believe in a guy but um similar to Bobby Brown we got to see it and I know it's you know he's only into his second year but you know got to see what's there and the only way he's going to really prove that is in the preseason um because barring outside of injury he's not going to play for another three years as long as Stafford's under contract so excited to see him his growth his maturity his chemistry with the receivers his knowledge of the the offensive Playbook I think we saw a lot of in preseason last year before he took a lead from the team um showed some fun characteristics but also didn't look like he had a full grasp the offense it's a lot of like you know didn't let players develop left tuck the ball and run forc some things which you expect a rookie to do um so to seeing where he's at now I'm excited to see kind of how that that growth has happened in you know 365 days yeah it's such a such a fascinating thing um yeah I I would play him at least the first half if not more I mean I think you know let him let him go out there and let him learn and and and and that's the best way to do it so I think definitely three quarters I'm I'm most curious about the the three to four guys they're going to stock behind uh the starting three wide receivers um yep by all accounts Ty Tyler Johnson Jordan Whittingham and Xavier Smith have had a better Camp than tutu Atwell um that's what I saw that's what I've heard from the other beat reporters we're all in agreement there um you know we we we've gotten off the 2 two train about halfway through last season probably I think yeah but it it's gonna be I mean Jordan wington just has some incredible upsides just some really explosive interesting things that he can do there Xavier Smith is just fighting for his job uh you know he really wants it and uh you know similarly to Tyler Johnson he spent last year mostly on the practice squad um after you know getting some significant playing time on on the Buccaneers uh as a Super Bowl winner um you know catching some passes in that season and in the playoffs as well so um that just kind of mix and and and just I I want to see you know that I think we're GNA learn learn a ton about who's in who's out I'm not even entirely convinced that tutu is gonna play in that game I'd love to see him be thrown out there just to see you know as as a competition really yeah um you know he he's probably feeling it for the first time that he's fighting for his job yeah I think I mean by all accounts he certainly is I mean you the three guys you just listed puts them at six receivers and if all three of them had a better camp and and give you a little more size versatility Xavier Smith is can be a return man so it's not and tutu hasn't even done that anyway um so it gives you more optionality there you know I think he certainly is and we've always rooted for 2 two but I think the cho cho is out on 2u um at this point unless proven otherwise and that's kind of the theme I guess of the show is what have you proven thus far and can you prove that in this preseason and that's the opportunity for these young Rams uh and older Rams in this preseason since no Starters play this is a huge opportunity for these guys because some teams view these as tuneups for the regular seasons the Rams view these more as tryouts for for the team and so what can these guys prove and tutu certainly on that bubble uh of needing to do that and does he give you enough upside to warrant sixth or seventh receiver or are one of these younger guys even a even a drake SCS an undrafted free agent are these guys give you more upside than potentially him so um yeah that's a good one 22 is definitely one that I will be interested in if he doesn't play then that tells you he's probably at least for now in a good spot for a for a roster spot which I think would be surprising if I'm being honest yeah yeah definitely um I I mean I it's hard for me to say that they're going to cut him at this point or TR or whatever but uh yeah very it's a it's such a curious case uh such high hopes and such great he's got he's got good talent in a lot of ways but uh you know it's just never translated yeah so all right well I'll give one more name then you can give one more um I'm excited to watch Omar Spates I think when when when he was signed as an undrafted free agent there's a lot of hype because of just his collegiate career and haven't you know hasn't done it I don't say hasn't a t but hasn't like made a name for himself at training camp um so I'm curious to see how many reps he gets is he a guy that gets like a full half or is he a guy that's in there in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter um is he on special teams at all so Omar Spates I think is a name that uh has been fun per year reporting hasn't been a huge influence within the defense uh of of Camp so kind of excited to see where he sits and if he can be one of those undrafted guys to to potentially push to make a spot yeah the linebacker spot is is actually one of the probably the hottest contested Camp battles that you could see uh somebody rocking up the dep chart really quickly uh Spates is one of them Okun fasi is also a name to watch as well I think he's probably gonna get the uh probably the starting reps I would imagine maybe Jay Cel but uh he he'll definitely be out there I'm on defense I'm most interested interested to see kind of the The Edge rusher rotation because we got two guys going into their second year that kind of had that quintessential Rams Edge rusher feel to them where there was like a low draft guy but had like a ton of like athletic up upside but then we saw nothing from them last year and those guys are Nick Nick hampt Nick Nick Hampton and Osan matthys those two guys but then they got a couple of young guys breathing down their neck uh the the main one being Brennan Jackson who was drafted this last year in round five five um you know so I'm curious to see if any of those guys can make a a splash in in that kind of edge rusher that would really solidify a a really interesting group of edge rushers that are untested so far Jared verse Byron young one year under his belt but still you know still question marks uh without Aon Donald right there so I'm yeah that's uh that's that's probably my my biggest question and what I what I'm really looking forward to Tyler Davis is another guy um another drafted guy that I'm really really eager to see um you know is he is he in there with Laurel merchon and dwan Johnson um you know yeah it'll be it'll be interesting to see yeah I think the rotations are what everyone should watch for this Sunday um as to not necessarily who's going to be like a number two on the depth chart but just in terms of can they be a contributor exactly and how good this team feels about that depth and that rotation um if it's steady rotation and they feel good about all guys if it's like one guy getting a lot more reps than another then obviously you know you can see that's the clear-cut confidence level in that and and maybe you know just not much upside to another player so so those are always things to watch for in these preseason games and to get at so I mean should we give a score prediction oh sure I unless there's another player you want to talk about or anything you want to add no no um I I didn't even really give it any thought because I with the final score of these games is completely irrelevant completely okay I'll start I think the Rams for whatever reason never never win many games in preseason just because they don't play ever any starters and their their depth is always work in progress we've talked about a lot they really take chances on guys which is what I think makes them such a fun organization to not just be a fan of but to follow um but it it takes some grooming and and obviously some slot play and I think some of I think the Cowboys will probably play some starters for not I'm not gonna play Dak and whatnot but I'm sure they'll play some starters at some position levels so if I'm giving a score I'll go uh 1713 Cowboys yeah meaningless game yeah I'm gonna do I'm going to say I wonder if we're going to see cardi the new kicker I wonder if he's going to make a I would think so have to yeah you go you gotta think so uh I'm gonna go 20 to 13 if card's playing Cowboys but if he's not playing it's like 20 to three yeah it's all on cardi it's a cardi and Sofi um last thing and we'll wrap up hearing Jerry Jones talk to reporters it's got to make Rams Fans feel pretty good where they stand with with les sne and Stan Kony and whatnot I mean one of the great owner GMS in the NFL history will be a Hall of Famer but I think it's time for him to kind of step aside just just based on what he says it's like what is this guy talking about yeah I'm sure you saw all that yeah yeah yeah you know CD lamb is an important you know they got one of their offensive linemen out as well in a contract dispute no uh you know also looking to that team to the north as well with how they've dealt with iuk at this point where you know they're they're a really interesting case because they're suffering from the disease of me but they don't have any trophies uh to stick on the Shelf to like at least have that to point to they've just been a really successful team but uh you know Rams Fans you got it you got it good you know we didn't really you know they kept everything in house with the the Matthew Stafford thing and he was there for the first day of training camp uh you know there hasn't been any of this this contract nonsense they they get it done they they they pay players what they're worth uh they and they keep everything they keep it inhouse uh for the benefit of everybody so and if if there ever is a dispute they just move on quickly all right we'll just deal you and uh we'll move on not that there not that there was anything with Jaylen Ramsay per or whatever or Todd Gurley I mean they were all under contract but I think they just they've proven like hey let's just let's not draw this out and have all this media speculation like again like you said the biggest media speculation was around Stafford but there was really nothing to it that we heard of and it got done before the season started and he was at all offseason workouts and um yeah so I just Jerry Jones just makes me laugh he's and if you cover the cowboys he's probably great for sound bites and and clicks because of what he does but like yeah I'm like CD lamb not a priority um yeah to get done and it'd be one to say like I'm not concerned because I'm confident but to just say like yeah it's not a priority your best player is not showing up to work that that's got to be a little concerning and one of the most famous stories of of any free agency ever was EMT Smith holding out they lose like the first two or three games and like oh all of a sudden they got that deal done yeah yeah and the fact that that this Dak Prescott thing keeps coming up over and over again it's just it's it shows you why they haven't won a Super Bowl in a in a very long time or playoff game for that matter yeah exact I mean if auk ends up getting dealt and signs a $30 million Pere deal I mean Cowboys are just looking even more dumb than they already are because in CD Lamb's not taking less than that not I'm not nothing against auk but auk's basically had one good season I mean he's he's been a solid player first round pick but last year was his first like great season outside of that he was he was good always good and gives you optionality but I think last year was first year over thousand yards receiving wasn't it I think it was his second but this one was definitely I mean he and Pie obviously have a great connection and I mean the fact that you would want to get out of that system they make it so easy for those receivers to to put up those those kind of uh seasons and to go to a place like Pittsburgh or the Patriots I mean good luck to you good luck to you wherever you end up I mean hey to each their own I I have no problem with guys getting paid what they think they're worth definitely but uh if you truly would rather play with Russ and the Steelers or whoever's gonna start in New England versus a team that was just in the Super Bowl then more power to you yeah not what I would do but hey never mind that's that's not even us to deal with that's the N well you know what's what's five million dollars between friends really I mean that's the the thing I I mean obviously it's it's a lot for us it's a ton of more than I'll ever make in my entire lifetime but when you're making that much like to me I always compare it to this and it's not like an exact Apples to Apples comparison but like if I'm in a really good spot making $100,000 and another company that is I think worse off but they're offering me$ 120,000 like is that 20 grand really worth the move because when you're comparing like that like literally what's 28 million versus 29.5 million like it's so much money like is that like obviously in in real terms that's a lot of money when you look at it as like a normal person 20,000 like does that really change your life that much more than you already had changed that's how I look at it if it's me making 100K to go somewhere to make a million yeah that's a huge difference like for sure but 20,000 there's a a crazy statistic that came out about like B basically if if if you're making $50,000 your your happiness in your life doesn't change until you start making like 500 million or something like that I'm I'm pulling those numbers completely out of out of thin air uh but there was a statistic out there like that and you know money can do other things other than happiness uh but uh yeah and it makes sense because I've over my life like I've gradually made more still don't make like a lot but made more and more and I remember always saying like man if I could just make a little bit more like I could do this if I could just make like oh this much more nothing's changed that little bit more ends up just going to taxes or some other fee you have or whatever like yeah unless I'm going from what I'm now to like million plus a year like yeah we're not seeing any difference no which is unfortunate but yeah know it is what it is we're doing what we love right that's what that's for sure with that being said uh thank you all for tuning in this is the ram skinny on the lafp network if you're not already subscribed to the YouTube channel Rams lfb please go do that that would be a huge help for us you can always catch the show on lfb network.com or if you want the audio version wherever get your podcast Apple Spotify just search Rams skinny Rams play Sunday Cowboys we'll have I don't know we're gonna start doing lives every week uh every game day after the game during the season I don't know if we'll start that preseason yet we'll we'll we'll play it by ear this Sunday we might do it if we're feeling like it but for sure we'll be back Monday doing all our recap but for sure after week one we're going to start doing uh live shows so hope everyone would want to hang out with us after the game and leave your comments and drop your thoughts and hey if we get enough comments on this video of like you want us to start Sunday after preseason then maybe we'll just have to do that so um but thank you all for tuning in that's skinny T I'm Ryan Dar everyone have a great weekend enjoy the game live football baby we're back we're back we're back what is Hangover we are back you get a football and you get a football can't wait can't wait looking forward to everyone enjoy talk to you'all soon [Music]