St. Louis Rams: Who Gets Left Off the Gameday Roster Against Pittsburgh Steelers?
As the St. Louis Rams face their third opponent of the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers, at least one significant change may be in store for the team. All signs point to 2015 first-round pick Todd Gurley making his NFL debut this week and potentially giving the Rams’ backfield a huge boost. That will be a major plus for the offense; however, his addition to the 46-man active gameday roster will force the Rams to make a tough decision on who to sit down. This choice will be especially difficult for a team like the Rams that has so many dedicated special teams players but doesn’t necessarily have a whole lot of backups who are actually capable of contributing from scrimmage. With that in mind, here’s a quick guess as to who will have to sit for this week’s matchup with Pittsburgh:
QB Sean Mannion– Mannion has been inactive for the first two weeks of the season, and there’s no reason to think that will change this week. The third-round pick is on the 53-man roster more because of the Rams’ future plans for him than his ability to contribute at the NFL level right now.
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RB Chase Reynolds– Reynolds is still battling a knee injury that he suffered in the regular season opener. The special teams ace will likely miss another week or two before he’s ready to contribute again.
RB Isaiah Pead– With Gurley likely to return this week, there’s not too much of a need for Pead on the active gameday roster, as Gurley, Tre Mason, and Benny Cunningham (plus Tavon Austin) should be able to handle the load in the backfield. While Pead is a current member of the Rams’ core special teams group, he shouldn’t be missed too much since the team includes so many other apt special-teamers, such as Daren Bates, Cameron Lynch, Bryce Hager, Bradley Marquez, Cody Davis, Maurice Alexander, and Stedman Bailey.
WR Brian Quick– Until Quick, the Rams’ most prolific receiver over the first half of 2014, returns to the lineup, there’s no reason to think anything is going to change in regards to him being a healthy scratch on Sundays. The Rams evidently value Kenny Britt, Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey, and Chris Givens more than him as a wideout, and they’d rather have Bradley Marquez, their special teams MVP thus far, active as the emergency fifth wideout than Quick, who doesn’t have experience as a special-teamer. It should be interesting to see if he works himself back into the mix anytime soon, or if he becomes a candidate for trade or release as the season moves along and the roster evolves.
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OG Cody Wichmann– After dressing for Week 1, the rookie sixth-rounder was a healthy scratch last week against Washington as fourth-rounder Andrew Donnal returned to health and made his NFL debut as a backup lineman. Wichmann will likely be stuck in street clothes until another offensive lineman goes down with an injury.
OT Darrell Williams– After looking like a prime candidate to be the Rams’ top swing tackle entering the regular season, Williams now seems likely to spend the entirety his rookie season as an inactive. He may be a candidate for demotion to the practice squad in a couple weeks when running back Trey Watts returns from suspension.
DE Eugene Sims– Like Reynolds, Sims is dealing with a knee injury suffered in the regular season opener. His absence will be felt as the Rams defensive line deals with the Steelers’ physical offensive attack, but he should be able to return soon and give the pass rush a boost.