St. Louis Rams Promote DE Matt Longacre to 53-Man Roster

The St. Louis Rams had an open spot on their 53-man roster following the indefinite suspension of running back Trey Watts for a violation of the NFL’s substance abuse policy earlier this week. They filled that spot on Friday, promoting undrafted rookie defensive end Matt Longacre from the practice squad to the 53-man active roster.

Longacre, an 6-foot-3, 260-pound undrafted free agent out Northwest Missouri State, was the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year in 2014. He had a fantastic preseason for the Rams, recording 18 tackles, a team-leading five quarterback hits, and six quarterback pressures, which also tied him for the team lead. His release at the end of training camp simply came down to a numbers game, with his lack of draft pedigree or previous NFL experience costing him a spot.

With the Rams’ defensive line significantly beat up at the moment, though, there was an opportunity for Longacre to become the 10th defensive lineman on the 53-man roster. Defensive end Chris Long will miss his third straight game on Sunday against Minnesota, and his opposite end, Robert Quinn, didn’t practice all week with a knee injury that has been nagging him for several weeks.

Quinn is listed as questionable for Sunday, and if he can’t go against Minnesota, Longacre would have an opportunity to make his NFL debut. With that said, the Rams usually only dress seven defensive linemen for each game, so if Quinn is inactive, the staff may prefer to just have Ethan Westbrooks back up both defensive end spots and dress defensive tackle Doug Worthington to help limit Minnesota’s run game.

Longacre will be the fourth undrafted rookie to see action for the Rams this season, joining offensive tackle Darrell Williams, linebacker Cameron Lynch, and wide receiver Bradley Marquez.

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