St. Louis Rams: A Final Guess at the 53-Man Roster
The St. Louis Rams finished up their preseason slate with an 0-4 record, capping it off on Thursday night with a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Here’s one final guess at how the team’s roster figures to shape up as the cutdown to 53 players rapidly approaches:
Quarterbacks (3): Nick Foles, Case Keenum, Sean Mannion
There’s not much to explain here; the quarterback depth chart has been pretty well-set since the beginning of training camp, and Keenum will be backing up Foles on Sundays with Mannion likely a gameday inactive during his rookie season.
Running Backs (5): Todd Gurley, Tre Mason, Benny Cunningham, Isaiah Pead, Chase Reynolds
Pead somehow worked himself onto the roster once again, four years after being a second-rounder, and despite rushing for just 75 yards in his NFL career. The Rams will need the extra bodies in the backfield due to an injury to Mason and their continued coddling of Todd Gurley in his return from ACL surgery.
Wide Receivers (5): Kenny Britt, Brian Quick, Stedman Bailey, Tavon Austin, Chris Givens
Givens locked up a roster spot by being the team’s best offensive performer this preseason. It will be interesting to see if and how the coaching staff works him into the offense during the regular season.
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Tight Ends (4): Jared Cook, Lance Kendricks, Cory Harkey, Justice Cunningham
The Rams could probably survive with just three tight ends, but Cunningham gives them an extra blocker and special-teamer that could be helpful on gamedays. He may be expendable, however, if they feel that they need an extra body on the defensive line or at linebacker.
Offensive Linemen (10): Greg Robinson, Jamon Brown, Tim Barnes, Rodger Saffold, Rob Havenstein, Demetrius Rhaney, Garrett Reynolds, Darrell Williams, Isaiah Battle, Barrett Jones
Under this scenario, I’m going to assume that the Rams will use the injured reserve list to their convenience in order to get a full redshirt year with rookie offensive tackle Andrew Donnal, who is currently sidelined with an apparent wrist injury. Thus, they can open up a roster spot for Darrell Williams, who actually turned out to be the team’s second-most-polished rookie tackle, behind Havenstein but ahead of Donnal and Battle.
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Defensive Linemen (8): Aaron Donald, Michael Brockers, Chris Long, Robert Quinn, William Hayes, Eugene Sims, Nick Fairley, Ethan Westbrooks
The Rams may be interested in a recently-released defensive tackle such as Darnell Dockett or Phil Taylor, which could make Westbrooks or even Nick Fairley expendable, but for now it seems as if they’ll probably roll with these eight defensive linemen to start the season. It would be a nice luxury to be able to carry one of their impressive rookie free agent signings, tackle Louis Trinca-Pasat or end Matt Longacre, on the 53-man, but those guys may have to settle for practice squad spots since the Rams have so little flexibility at other positions.
Linebackers (6): Alec Ogletree, James Laurinaitis, Akeem Ayers, Jo-Lonn Dunbar, Daren Bates, Bryce Hager
Hager, the Rams’ first of two seventh-rounders this year, got off to a rough start in the preseason but has been one of the team’s most impressive performers over the past couple weeks. That means he probably edges out special teams ace Marshall McFadden, who looked like the early frontrunner for the last linebacker job. It wouldn’t be the biggest shock in the world to see a scenario where Bates, who’s out indefinitely with a sprained MCL, or Dunbar, who’s not quite as adept of a special-teamer as McFadden or Cameron Lynch, would become expendable.
Cornerbacks (4): Trumaine Johnson, Janoris Jenkins, Lamarcus Joyner, Marcus Roberson
With as little as they need to use a dime package thanks to the athleticism of their weakside linebacker, Alec Ogletree, coupled with the fact that safety Mark Barron almost always acted as the dime back following his midseason acquisition from Tampa Bay last year, the Rams don’t really have an absolute need for a fifth corner if the top four are healthy, and quite frankly there’s not really a fifth corner on the roster right now who deserves consideration for the 53. Undrafted rookies Montell Garner and Trovon Reed or frequently-injured 2013 pick Brandon McGee could be practice squad candidates if the Rams can’t find players from outside to add depth
Safeties (5): Rodney McLeod, T.J. McDonald, Mark Barron, Maurice Alexander, Cody Davis
This is the Rams’ deepest position group, and 2014 seventh-rounder Christian Bryant has even shown enough skills that he could probably earn a back-end 53-man roster spot for a few NFL teams. They’ll likely just roll with this group of five, though, with McDonald, McLeod, and Barron contributing frequently from scrimmage and Alexander and Davis acting as key special-teamers.
Specialists (3): Greg Zuerlein, Johnny Hekker, Jake McQuaide
Check back later this weekend to see projections for the Rams’ 10-man practice squad.