[aeneas1]

pretty much the same for the raiders - here are their projected starters, the red text guys didn't play:

[safer]

Did any of our rooks stand out?

[Indrid Cold]

If you recorded to watch, my advice would be find better use of your time.

No one really stood out. Thomas had a few plays, gotta believe he's a lock for the 5th WR spot. Rapp had a couple of nice plays. Travon Young looked ok. Bigger than I thought. Gaines playing very late in the game...is he further behind than advertised?

Evans played RT, LT, RG in that order. Edwards played LT and RT. Backup OL and CBs (of course we sat the top 4) looked...well, not great.

[snackdaddy]

It was really hard to get a gauge on that game. The offense was totally sluggish. Bortles wasn't sharp. Allen was worse. Didn't see what I wanted to see. But it was the first preseason game and I got the sense that it was more important to the Raider fan base to win this one. When you're coming off a losing season you like to excite the fan base early. Even if its just preseason. The Rams have nothing to prove.

[Elvis]

They had Miller on kickoffs and he can punt so i guess that's why they only needed one camp leg for these games, like they did with Ficken last year...

[max]

One thing I got out of the game is that playing QB Allen is a total waste of everyone’s time, including every other player on the field when he’s playing.

[TomSlick]

I’m afraid to tell them the Easter bunny is not real.

Heresy! Sir, I've been asked by the fine family run PAAS organization to reframe yourself from such malicious rumors.

[Elvis]

https://theathletic.com/1130109/2019/08 ... on-opener/

An undrafted rookie seizes his moment as depth players get experience in Rams’ preseason opener

By Vincent Bonsignore

OAKLAND, Calif. — A moment of clarity arrived for Landis Durham in the early hours of Saturday morning in Napa, Calif., of all places. It’s about as far away as you can imagine from Plano, Texas, the hometown of the Rams’ outside linebacker. But when you’re an undrafted rookie free agent just trying to open enough eyes to make a team, you don’t quibble about logistics when powerful forces descend on your behalf.

So Durham didn’t argue or question or doubt the confidence he awoke with at the Rams’ hotel ahead of their preseason opener against the Oakland Raiders.

“When I woke up this morning I just had a feeling,” Durham said hours later, trying to find the right words to explain it.

He didn’t have to, really. The seven tackles he came up with Saturday night against the Raiders, including a sack he’s been dreaming about his whole life, were more than enough clarification.

Saturday night was not a particularly good one for the Rams in a sluggish 14-3 loss to the Raiders. It wasn’t exactly set up to be, given Sean McVay’s decision to play only backup players, except for two projected defensive starters. He wasn’t trying to win as much as he was trying to keep his key players healthy, and in that regard it was a successful night.

On the other hand, while the scoreboard took a back seat to the safety of his starters, there were opportunities for a bunch of young Rams to state their cases as backups and special-teams contributors and even rotational pieces this year.

Durham among them.

He woke up with an inkling that something big was in store. By nightfall, he had seized his moment as one of the Rams’ defensive bright spots. Time will tell what it means for his future, but given how Justin Lawler recently went down with a foot injury and Ogbonnia Okoronkwo has been banged up throughout training camp, an opportunity has opened for a job behind outside linebackers Dante Fowler Jr., Clay Matthews and Samson Ebukam.

Durham, with his size (6-foot-3, 255 pounds) and speed and obvious nose for the ball, planted himself firmly on the Rams’ radar Saturday with his performance.

“I thought he did a nice job tonight. You felt him on a couple of plays,” said McVay, who also pointed out Josh Carraway and Trevon Young, both of whom are in the mix at outside linebacker,

“With Lawler being down it’s really a good look to see who establishes themselves as that fourth outside linebacker behind Clay, Dante and Samson. There’s going to be some good things to look at from that group.”

Durham was still trying to process everything afterward.

“It’s crazy man, just being in this moment,” he said. “That’s what I’ve been playing football for my whole life. To come in here in this historic stadium — you know, a football field and a baseball field at the same time — that shit’s crazy. I enjoyed myself thoroughly.

“There’s a lot I still have to work on. I look forward to getting back to meetings and everything, watching film. But It was a whole bunch of fun out there.”

Mixed night for young linemen

The Rams opted not to play new starting offensive linemen Brian Allen and Joe Noteboom, who have held down the center and left guard positions, respectively, in place of departed veterans John Sullivan and Rodger Saffold.

That was a clear vote of confidence from the Rams’ coaching staff, which wanted to evaluate Allen and Noteboom over the last two weeks in joint-practice settings against the Chargers and Raiders before making a determination whether the second-year players needed preseason reps. That they watched from the sidelines means they are making the necessary progress.

“We felt good about the work that they got this week and really talking to them,” McVay said. “Where’s their mindset? Those guys are always going to be players that want to compete but I think they felt like they’re in a good place.”

That created a long night for the Rams’ very young offensive line backup hopefuls, the majority of whom are rookies or second-year players. In fact, only center/guard Aaron Neary has played NFL snaps among the Rams’ reserve linemen, and that occurred two years ago. Neary, it should be noted, will not be available for the first four games of this season while serving a suspension for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy.

So, barring any moves between now and the start of the regular season, the Rams will have an extremely young and inexperienced offensive line reserve group.

That means the snaps that group got on Saturday — including rookie tackles Bobby Evans and David Edwards and second-year guard/center/tackle Jamil Demby and guard Jeremiah Kolone — were incredibly valuable.

That’s because those players are going through a transition to the NFL, and because the Rams’ coaches have to decide how comfortable they are going into a season with so much uncertainty behind their starting offensive line.

As expected, Rams offensive line coach Aaron Kromer was aggressive in mixing up the unit into the third quarter. Edwards, a fifth-round pick from Wisconsin, got the starting nod at left tackle while Evans, a third-round pick from Oklahoma, got the nod at right tackle, but then they flipped spots in the second quarter.

Aside from a holding call assessed to Edwards in the first quarter and Evans getting beat on a speed rush by Raiders defensive end Arden Key for a sack, both rookies acquitted themselves fairly well for their first go-around.

Edwards was projected as a second-round pick in the 2018 draft but opted to return to Wisconsin for his senior year. A lingering shoulder injury last season hampered his play, and his stock fell as a result. He dropped to the fifth round, where the Rams happily secured him. His size, athletic ability and technical aspects are all apparent, and he flashed them often in a productive debut. He needs to get bigger and stronger, but the tools are there to work with and he’ll benefit from the tutelage of Kromer.

For Edwards, the walk-up to Saturday’s game during joint practices with the Chargers and Raiders proved to be invaluable.

“I felt like I got my feet wet in terms of playing like game-like situations against the Chargers and Raiders,” he said. “So I felt comfortable coming into tonight.”

Likewise, Evans appears to have an NFL future and will go into the Kromer lab this year intent on being ready to assume a bigger role down the road. For now, though, he appears a step or two behind Edwards in the development process and it showed in the struggles he had on some pass- and run-block assignments. Evans is a bit short for a tackle at 6-4 and it’s still unclear whether he profiles better at tackle or guard. There is plenty of time to get that figured out, though, including three more preseason games.

The question the Rams will have to eventually ask is, how comfortable are they going into a season with the two rookies being one snap away from potentially becoming starters?

Taylor Rapp shines

The Rams selected safety Taylor Rapp in the second round last April out of Washington and envisioned him making an immediate impact as a sub-package rotational piece.

He has not disappointed thus far in training camp, as he quickly showed up as a solid cover safety on tight ends and running backs and as a run stopper when deployed closer to the line of scrimmage. Rapp has looked poised and confident with each new responsibility the Rams have put on his plate, and by last week he was getting first-team reps in some nickel and dime packages.

“His last week has been outstanding,” McVay said. “I think he’s really getting the confidence where he knows exactly what’s going on and is able to make the seamless adjustments with whatever defensive call that we’ve activated and it’s been really, we’re seeing the guy we loved so much watching tape at Washington and he’s really starting to play where he’s not thinking, he’s just reacting, and that’s what makes him a special player.”

It’s no surprise, then, that Rapp had a strong first game, being exactly where he needed to be in pass coverage and run support while knocking a pass away and coming up with an open-field tackle to deny the Raiders first downs on a pair of third-down plays.

In both instances, his awareness of situational football was apparent.

“It’s very important. I learned that when I first got to college,” he said. “It just elevates your game so much just being aware of down, distance and sticks. All that stuff. Concepts that can come out of different down and distances.”

[AltiTude Ram]

I think it was interesting to see Shane Waldron call plays.

He could be the next McVay disciple to get a head coaching look.

It also allowed McVay to be more in tune with the entire team. I don't expect it to carry over into the season but still interesting to see the coaching staff using preseason games to develop as well.

[moklerman]

First half observations.

I thought Bortles looked solid enough. Nothing spectacular but didn't make any mistakes or get hurt. Thought his receivers struggled though. Was it #11 that dropped a few passes? Not a whole lot to glean from the offense other than whether or not guys can hold onto the ball. The rookie RB showed a couple of hints of explosiveness but didn't really break anything. As someone already mentioned, WR Thomas looked like he could catch. And, it's probably just my imagination since I know the name but Proehl looked like he was really solid catching the couple of punts that I saw. Didn't really do anything with them but it didn't seem like an adventure for him just to catch it.

I think I recall #19(Watson?) dropping a pass or two. Seems like a really quick player but doesn't seem like he has the hands or size to survive. Allen just looked like a camp arm level QB. Fumbled a couple of times and generally didn't impress. Overall, just didn't seem NFL caliber.