St. Louis Rams Release RB Isaiah Pead, Promote CB Brandon McGee to Active Roster
After an uneventful, confusing, and sometimes hard-to-watch three-year marriage, the St. Louis Rams finally did the inevitable on Tuesday and released running back Isaiah Pead, their third of three second-round picks in the 2012 NFL Draft (50th overall). In a transaction that truly had the Rams’ mark of trying to justify their draft picks stamped on it, cornerback Brandon McGee (a 2013 fifth-rounder) was promoted from the practice squad to the active roster to take Pead’s place. As previously reported, former New Orleans wide receiver Nick Toon was signed to the practice squad to take McGee’s place.
It probably wasn’t the move involving a 2012 second-rounder that most Rams fans expected today, as there was concern among the fanbase yesterday that the 33rd overall pick in that draft, wide receiver Brian Quick, could end up released after an incomplete report led many to believe that Toon was going to be signed to the active roster, rather than the practice squad. Instead, however, the Rams decided to part ways with Pead in a move that likely would have come next week anyway, as running back Trey Watts is eligible to be activated from the restricted list following a four-game drug suspension. Now that Pead, previously the obvious choice to go upon Watts’ return, is gone, Quick may be at risk if the Rams decide to bring Watts back to the active roster.
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Though he was initially portrayed as the possible successor to Steven Jackson in the Rams’ backfield, Pead never took advantage of the many opportunities the Rams gave him to prove himself. As a rookie, he fell behind undrafted free agent Daryl Richardson on the Rams’ running back depth chart, and when 2013 draft pick Zac Stacy and undrafted rookie Benny Cunningham showed up the next season, Pead became an afterthought. He preserved his lifespan with the team thanks to two major factors: first, a willingness to play special teams, which came into play late in the 2013 season and actually brought him his post success as a Ram, and second, a torn ACL during the 2014 preseason which caused him to spend the entire year on injured reserve, when he likely otherwise would have been released during the team’s final cutdown. Pead looked to be in trouble this offseason, but after Watts was suspended and primary backs Todd Gurley and Tre Mason continued to deal with injuries that kept them out during the early part of the regular season, Pead made the team as a special-teamer and extra back.
Gurley’s long-awaited debut on Sunday, which forced Pead to the healthy inactive list, made it apparent that Pead probably wasn’t going to be on the roster too much longer. He ends his Rams career, and quite possibly his career in the NFL, with 19 carries for 78 yards, 14 catches for 94, and 18 kick returns for 413 (an average of 22.9 yards per return).
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The Rams’ depth at running back shouldn’t be adversely affected in any way, as Gurley, Mason, and Benny Cunningham are all viable backs from scrimmage, and the team also has special teams ace Chase Reynolds, practice squad back Malcolm Brown, and Watts in its running back artillery.
McGee gives the Rams a fifth corner on the active roster, which is a nice asset to have considering that Marcus Roberson is the only legitimate cornerback the Rams had behind injury-prone Janoris Jenkins and Trumaine Johnson (Lamarcus Joyner can contribute as the team’s nickelback, but realistically is too small to play the outside at just 5-foot-8 and 184 pounds). It looked like McGee, whose initial two-year Rams tenure was marred by injuries, was no longer in the team’s plans when they released him at the final cutdown this year. After Week 1, however, he was brought back to the practice squad and now evidently has improved to the point where he earned back a spot on the active roster. If healthy, McGee can be a solid special teams contributor and is a guy that the Rams can plug in if they suffer another injury in the defensive backfield.
Toon gives the Rams some more emergency depth at wideout, and as a two-year NFL veteran, he could put some pressure on guys like Chris Givens and Brian Quick to step up their respective games a bit. He’s not exactly likely to see game action at any point considering his practice squad status, but if no Rams wideouts step up more than they have so far, he might eventually be able to earn himself a promotion with an impressive run on the scout team.