St. Louis Rams DT Matt Conrath Elevated to Active Roster

As reported by Adam Caplan of ESPN on Wednesday afternoon, the St. Louis Rams have promoted defensive tackle Matt Conrath from their practice squad to the active roster. The 6-foot-7, 306-pounder takes the roster spot of his fellow University of Virginia alum Chris Long, who was placed on the injured/reserve-designated for return list earlier this week.

The 25-year-old Conrath was released at the cutdown to 53 after spending the previous two seasons on the active roster. He’s always seemed to be a guy who the Rams had high hopes for, and his massive frame matches up very well with the Rams’ regular starters at defensive tackle, Michael Brockers and Kendall Langford.

Conrath, who has played in nine games over the last two years and has registered seven tackles and a sack, lost his roster spot to offseason free agent acquisition Alex Carrington. But after a week on the practice squad, here he is back on the 53-man roster. It’s unlikely, however, that Conrath will dress for a game unless the Rams sustain another injury on the defensive line, as the four-man tackle rotation of Brockers, Langford, Carrington, and Aaron Donald is still intact, while ends Eugene Sims, William Hayes, and Ethan Westbrooks are also capable of playing on the interior for passing downs.

This move negates any possible chance that the Rams will bring back defensive end Michael Sam to fill Long’s roster spot, as he could only be re-acquired if he was signed from the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad to the Rams’ active roster. Instead, the Rams will likely pick up another defensive end to serve on their practice squad. One possible candidate would be Kourtnei Brown, who was released in the cutdown to 53 less than two weeks ago.