[Elvis]

http://www.espn.com/blog/los-angeles-ra ... -rams-cuts

Nelson Spruce, Sam Rogers, Cory Harkey among notable Rams cuts

6:19 PM PT
Alden Gonzalez
ESPN Staff Writer

The Los Angeles Rams made 34 cuts on Saturday, trimming their roster to the NFL-mandated 53 players. Here’s a closer look at the final moves:

Most significant move: It wasn't a cut; it was the fact that Aaron Donald remained on the reserve/did not report list. The star interior lineman is still holding out, with the Rams hopeful that he will at least join them for the start of practice on Monday and give himself a real chance to be available for Week 1 against the Indianapolis Colts. With Donald still not there, the only solidified starting down lineman in 3-4 base sets appears to be Michael Brockers. The Rams kept five other defensive linemen: Morgan Fox, Louis Trinca-Pasat, cannonTyrunn Walker, Tanzel Smart and Ethan Westbrooks. They all have a chance to see significant playing time. Mike Purcell was a somewhat surprising cut here.

Trading for familiarity: The Rams sent a 2018 seventh-round pick to the Washington Redskins in exchange for tight end Derek Carrier, who spent the past two years under former Redskins offensive coordinator and current Rams coach Sean McVay. Carrier joins the Rams as the No. 3 tight end, replacing Temarrick Hemingway, who fractured his fibula in the third preseason game. Carrier, who played 465 offensive snaps the past two years, is a 27-year-old with 28 career catches. He was used mainly as a move tight end, bringing reliable hands and good route-running ability. McVay called him a "good athlete" who will also contribute on special teams. ESPN's John Keim sees him as a better blocker in space than he is in-line.

Second-string offensive line: The Rams surprisingly let go of 2015 sixth-round pick Cody Wichmann and will go with three backups on their offensive line. Andrew Donnal, who can contribute as both a tackle and a guard, will be their swing guy. A knee injury sidelined Donnal for most of the summer, but he returned to practice on Saturday. Darrell Williams is the backup tackle and Austin Blythe is the backup center.

Youth at quarterback: The Rams -- for now, at least -- will go into the season with two quarterbacks. It's 22-year-old starter Jared Goff and 25-year-old backup Sean Mannion, who have combined to throw 218 NFL passes and represent one of the youngest -- if not the youngest -- duos in the NFL. Veteran Dan Orlovsky was cut, but McVay said it's possible that Orlovsky could rejoin the team after Week 1. Orlovsky's contract became fully guaranteed if he was on the roster for the start of the season.

No fullbacks: Veteran Cory Harkey and 2017 sixth-round pick Sam Rogers were among those cut, which means McVay will not have any real use for fullbacks in his offense. Harkey spent the past five years as a blocking tight end and fullback under Jeff Fisher and was also one of the core locker-room leaders. Rogers was a do-everything fullback at Virginia Tech who may still find his way onto the practice squad. McVay said cutting Harkey was "certainly a difficult discussion because of the type of player, the type of person he is."

Spruce is loose: Local product Nelson Spruce joined the Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2016 and became a fan favorite with a big performance in that year's preseason opener. But Spruce suffered a knee injury in that game, never played for the Rams last season and didn't make the team this year. He was cut, with an injury designation, as the Rams chose to stay with their six solidified receivers -- Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, Tavon Austin, Pharoh Cooper and Josh Reynolds. Shakeir Ryan was also cut, which means that Austin, bothered by a hamstring injury all summer, will be ready to return punts in Week 1. Austin impressed McVay with the way he was moving around on Saturday.

Not drafted, not a problem: Running back Justin Davis (USC), tight end Johnny Mundt (Oregon) and defensive back Dominique Hatfield (Utah) made the team as undrafted free agents. Davis, who impressed with his elusiveness during the preseason, is the third running back, behind Todd Gurley and Malcolm Brown. (The Rams opted against keeping Aaron Green as a fourth running back.) Mundt is the fourth tight end, after Tyler Higbee, Gerald Everett and Carrier, though he may find himself on the practice squad if the Rams need to open up a roster spot. Hatfield may be in line to get some playing time after the surprising cut of cornerback Mike Jordan. He's an option on the outside, along with Kevin Peterson and primary backup Nickell Robey-Coleman.

Rams moves

Released (28): DT Omarius Bryant, WR KD Cannon, OL Parker Collins, K Travis Coons, CB Carlos Davis, OL Michael Dunn, OL Jake Eldrenkamp, DB Tyquwan Glass, RB Aaron Green, DB Isaiah Johnson, DB Mike Jordan, OL Alex Kozan, OLB Willie Mays III, LB Cassanova McKinzy, WR Paul McRoberts, OLB Andy Mulumba, OL Pace Murphy, LB Folarin Orimolade, DB Aarion Penton, NT Mike Purcell, FB Sam Rogers, WR Shakeir Ryan, DT Casey Sayles, WR Brandon Shippen, OLB Carlos Thompson, OLB Davis Tull, G Cody Wichmann, TE Travis Wilson.

Terminated vested veteran (2): TE Cory Harkey, QB Dan Orlovsky.

Waived/injured (4): LB Kevin Davis, LB Josh Forrest, WR Nelson Spruce, RB Lenard Tillery.

Injured reserve (1): TE Temarrick Hemingway.

Physically Unable to Perform (1): RB Lance Dunbar.

Reserve/Suspended (2): CB Troy Hill, WR Mike Thomas.

[/zn/]

With the Wichman cut, that "let's pick all OL" draft is fast becoming one of the worst in history.

Well, as a rule, teams that pick multiple OL in the same draft are just going to have some busts in there.

Right now out of 4 OL picks in that draft they got 2 starters and a "6th man" in Donnal. Williams, a UDFA from that year, is depth. That's pretty good, at least on paper. Depends on how they play this season, obviously. But losing the 6th rounder from those 4 picks (Wichmann) isn't bad. So far anyway.

[aeneas1]

Lol.
I really wonder if Brown will be the starting RG, week 1.
I'd say 50-50 at best.

the brown thing is interesting imo... in the first two preseason games he and havenstein were kept on the field when whitworth, saffold and sullivan were taken out, for a drive or two, as if mcvay was clearly letting them know that they needed more work... but in the third preseason game brown was allowed to sit with whitworth, saffold and sullivan, while havenstein had to stay on the field for another couple of drives, it was as if it was a reward for brown, i.e. perhaps he earned the sit with #1s... then again maybe they stayed in for a couple of more drives in the the first two games because they're much younger and less experienced than the other three guys.... whatever the case, it will be interesting to see how it shakes out... i'm still kind of chuckling over that brown at rt and have at rg thing, that sure didn't last long, ha ha...

[Indrid Cold]

Well, as a rule, teams that pick multiple OL in the same draft are just going to have some busts in there.

Right now out of 4 OL picks in that draft they got 2 starters and a "6th man" in Donnal. Williams, a UDFA from that year, is depth. That's pretty good, at least on paper. Depends on how they play this season, obviously. But losing the 6th rounder from those 4 picks (Wichmann) isn't bad. So far anyway.

I'll admit I mistakenly thought GRob was the 1st rounder that same year, not Gurley. So was giving it more of flame-out grade b/c of that. But I'd question whether "they got 2 starters and a '6th man' in Donnal." They've got dudes from that draft filling those positions on the depth chart...out of necessity. The true thing you wrote "is on paper." Yeah, we'll see after the season. Right now, not filled with confidence and thinking the 5 years of Fisher (organizational failure, not all his) failed to develop a single OL. Love one or all three of the holdovers to prove me wrong. But if Gurley and Goff are good, won't matter much.

[/zn/]

I'll admit I mistakenly thought GRob was the 1st rounder that same year, not Gurley. So was giving it more of flame-out grade b/c of that. But I'd question whether "they got 2 starters and a '6th man' in Donnal." They've got dudes from that draft filling those positions on the depth chart...out of necessity. The true thing you wrote "is on paper." Yeah, we'll see after the season. Right now, not filled with confidence and thinking the 5 years of Fisher (organizational failure, not all his) failed to develop a single OL. Love one or all three of the holdovers to prove me wrong. But if Gurley and Goff are good, won't matter much.

They developed a few OL from 2012-2015, including Barksdale.

One reason they didn't draft OL this year is because they liked some of the picks from 2015, so they aren't there just out of necessity--they had a choice. As we're both saying let's see what the season shows and whether they were right.

[Indrid Cold]

They developed a few OL from 2012-2015, including Barksdale.

One reason they didn't draft OL this year is because they liked some of the picks from 2015, so they aren't there just out of necessity--they had a choice. As we're both saying let's see what the season shows and whether they were right.

Ok, we developed the RT for Oakland. Who else?

Yes, I'll give these guys the benefit of the doubt this year. Hav looked good in his first season. Brown is a potential Pro Bowler according to JF. Not writing anyone off yet. But I think the reason they didn't draft OL this year, is that they looked at the receiving core and said "wow that's shit!" Better place to start...and it's a process.

[Elvis]

the brown thing is interesting imo... in the first two preseason games he and havenstein were kept on the field when whitworth, saffold and sullivan were taken out, for a drive or two, as if mcvay was clearly letting them know that they needed more work... but in the third preseason game brown was allowed to sit with whitworth, saffold and sullivan, while havenstein had to stay on the field for another couple of drives, it was as if it was a reward for brown, i.e. perhaps he earned the sit with #1s... then again maybe they stayed in for a couple of more drives in the the first two games because they're much younger and less experienced than the other three guys.... whatever the case, it will be interesting to see how it shakes out... i'm still kind of chuckling over that brown at rt and have at rg thing, that sure didn't last long, ha ha...

I thought maybe they wanted to see what Wichman looked like next to Havs, if so, i guess they didn't like it very much...

[Elvis]

Ok, we developed the RT for Oakland. Who else?

Yes, I'll give these guys the benefit of the doubt this year. Hav looked good in his first season. Brown is a potential Pro Bowler according to JF. Not writing anyone off yet. But I think the reason they didn't draft OL this year, is that they looked at the receiving core and said "wow that's shit!" Better place to start...and it's a process.

Not to mention signing Whitworth and Sullivan let them focus elsewhere in the draft...

[/zn/]

Ok, we developed the RT for Oakland. Who else?

The OL in 2012 did not follow conventional "draft em" strategies. As a result there's a long list of players who came in, having played poorly before or who did nothing before, and played well for the Rams. They then pretty much all priced themselves out of the Rams budget in free agency. They all, with the exception of Barksdale, then went on to do nothing after the Rams. So the pattern is did nothing before the Rams, did well with the Rams, did nothing after the Rams (except Barksdale).

The Rams OL was effective in that period when it was healthy. In the first 8 games of 2012 they were massively beat up (they played 9 different guys at center + the left side combined). Then when it was relatively healthy, from the 2nd half of 2012 through most of 2013, it did just fine. The numbers show that for the 2nd half of 2012, and in 2013 PFF ranked them 13th in the league. In that period Wells and Long (in 2013) were both healthy too.

So essentially the Rams built a line out of pick-ups and both high and low market free agency.

Who were all the guys who came in and played well with the Rams, but didn't before and didn't since?

Richardson, Turner, Williams, Smith, and Barksdale (again, an exception to "didn't since"). Later, Reynolds.

The strategy worked but then injuries and free agency killed it. That's when they started drafting guys.

In terms of what they have now, they need to prove themselves in the line of fire, but until I see otherwise, I personally believe they are going to do fine. I think people are overworrying this one. If I am wrong about that it;s easy enough to say so, so we'll see.

One point I want to emphasize though. Keeping Williams, Brown, Havenstein, and Donnal was not necessity it was a choice. Kromer looked at who he had before the draft and they decided as a team not to bring in anyone from the draft. They signed Whitworth and Sullivan and the rest were just pick-ups as UDFAs or cuts (Eldrenkamp and Blythe). So this staff is using the same strategy as 2012/13---high and low market free agency and pick-ups. The difference is, they inherited some young draft picks, and consciously decided to go with them and not draft anyone.

....

...

[PARAM]

Ok, we developed the RT for Oakland. Who else?

That's about it. If we give them Havenstein and Brown that's 3 but they've yet to establish themselves and if they do, how much credit goes to Fisher's clan and how much to Kromer? They couldn't develop Barrett Jones or Greg Robinson, two so called "studs". Before 2015, when they took 4 OL in the draft, they took 5 from 2012-2014 and none worked out. It seems they relied on experienced vets (had to), or at least brought them in with more frequency than rookies. Jake Long, Davin Joseph, Scott Wells, Chris Williams, Harvey Dahl and Barry Richardson.