St. Louis Rams: Who Gets Left Off the Gameday Roster Against Arizona Cardinals?
As the St. Louis Rams head into their Week 4 matchup with the Arizona Cardinals, they’ll once again have to deal with the stress of assembling a 46-man gameday roster and sitting down seven players. While the inactive list will now be much less eagerly-awaited due to the fact that first-round pick Todd Gurley has completed his recovery from a November 2014 torn ACL and made his NFL debut, things are still a mystery with Brian Quick, who was one of the Rams’ top receivers in 2014 before sustaining a season-ending shoulder injury.
Quick has yet to make his debut in 2015 despite referring to himself as “fully healthy”, and coach Jeff Fisher has echoed those sentiments, saying that Quick’s inactivity is a matter of him being behind Kenny Britt, Stedman Bailey, Tavon Austin, and Chris Givens on the depth chart, with special teams ace Bradley Marquez occupying the emergency fifth receiver role on the active roster. It should be interesting to see how much longer Quick is kept on the gameday inactive list without something being done about the situation.
Here’s a guess at who the Rams’ seven inactive players will be against the first-place Cardinals:
QB Sean Mannion
Mannion figures to be an inactive for a fourth straight week, as he remains behind Nick Foles and Case Keenum on the quarterback depth chart.
Reynolds, who is right up there with Daren Bates as one of the Rams’ most important special teams contributors, is inching closer to a return from the MCL injury he suffered in the regular season opener. He’s still not healthy to return this week, though, so the Rams will have to battle on with a slightly-decimated special teams corps for a third straight week.
WR Brian Quick
It’s possible that the Rams may have no other option than to activate Quick this week, as top receiver Kenny Britt has yet to practice while dealing with a supposedly minor shoulder injury. If Britt is able to go, however, Quick seems likely to be part of the inactive list for the fourth straight week. With the fourth-year receiver struggling so much to make it onto the 46-man gameday roster, he seems like a possible candidate to be released next week if the Rams decide to activate suspended running back Trey Watts and restore him to the 53-man roster.
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I’ve gotten this backup offensive lineman active/inactive situation wrong in each of these articles that I’ve done so far, but hopefully the pattern is well-established enough this week that it can be accurately predicted. The Rams have been rotating each of their three rookie backup linemen–Andrew Donnal, Darrell Williams, and Cody Wichmann–onto the active roster week-by-week, and each has been active for one game and been inactive for the other two. Since Wichmann hasn’t dressed since the opener against Seattle, it’s presumably his turn to dress against Arizona, which would leave Donnal and Williams as inactives.
OT Darrell Williams
Williams likely heads back to the inactive list after making his NFL debut against Pittsburgh last week. It’s worth noting that if the Rams do declare a winner of the “competition” among the backup linemen, Williams would have an edge, as he’s the most polished tackle among the group and would be a logical utility backup for starters Greg Robinson and Rodger Saffold.
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DE Eugene Sims
Sims is expected to miss his third straight game since suffering an MCL sprain in the opener against Seattle. He should return to the lineup within the next few weeks and give the Rams’ defensive line a needed infusion of depth.
Alexander is dealing with a groin injury that he suffered last week against the Steelers, and since he hasn’t practiced yet this week, it’s unlikely that the second-year safety will suit up against Arizona. His absence will likely pave the way for cornerback Brandon McGee, who was promoted from the practice squad earlier this week, to play in his first NFL game since last year’s Week 2 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Alexander is a solid contributor to the Rams’ special teams units, but McGee also showed the skills to be successful in that facet of the game as a rookie and should be able to step back into a special teams role without issues.