St. Louis Rams Release RB Terrence Franks, Sign DT Marcus Forston
The St. Louis Rams made a minor adjustment to their 90-man training camp roster on Saturday evening, releasing running back Terrence Franks and signing veteran defensive tackle Marcus Forston to take his place.
Franks, a 5-foot-9, 203-pounder, had been signed by the Rams out of Texas State following the draft in April. It was painfully obvious to any follower of the Rams that Franks would either need to have one of the best training camps in recent memory or be blessed with a rash of injuries to other Rams running backs in order to have a chance of making the team. He was behind Todd Gurley, Tre Mason, Benny Cunningham, Isaiah Pead, Trey Watts, and Malcolm Brown on the depth chart and was also competing for reps with fellow UDFA Zach Laskey, who can play tailback in addition to his listed position of fullback.
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Forston, an undrafted free agent in 2012, was with the New England Patriots from the time he entered the league until being released in August of last year. He shifted between the active roster and practice squad in 2012 and 2013 and played in a total of four games, registering three tackles. As seen in the photo accompanying this article, Forston attended the NFL’s inaugural veteran combine in Scottsdale, and according to footballgameplan.com, he looked to be in great shape and showed exceptional explosiveness in bag agility drills.
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Despite his late arrival to the party, it’s quite possible that Forston could contend for a spot on the 53-man roster. The Rams only had four defensive tackles on their roster–Aaron Donald, Michael Brockers, Nick Fairley, and Doug Worthington–who had ever played in an NFL game, and they didn’t draft any during this year’s draft. Undrafted rookie Louis Trinca-Pasat actually appeared fairly likely to survive the cut to 53, but he’ll obviously need to step up his game now with a more established veteran like Forston competing with him. With swingman Ethan Westbrooks also on the roster, the Rams could probably survive with just three dedicated defensive tackles, but since Donald and Fairley are unusually light for interior defensive linemen, the Rams may want to carry a player who’s more comfortable backing up Brockers as the nose tackle. Forston, last listed at 6-foot-3 and 305 pounds, might be a good fit for that role.