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With this year's rookie class, I see a lot of battles emerging for immediate and long-term roles.

Who wins these battles?

RB1: Darrell Henderson vs. Cam Akers
WR3: Josh Reynolds vs. Van Jefferson
TE2: Gerald Everett vs. Brycen Hopkins
EDGE: Samson Ebukam/Ogbonnia Okoronkwo vs. Terrell Lewis
Nickel CB: Darious Williams/David Long vs. Terrell Burgess

I think Akers wins out over Henderson, who will be more of a change of pace guy. Reynolds may hold off Jefferson for a while, but the Rams have an interest in promoting the rookie as Reynolds is a potential 2021 FA departure. Same goes for Everett vs. Hopkins. The Rams may be hoping that Hopkins can fill that role by the time Everett's contract runs out. Edge and Nickel are wide open. Way too soon to call.

AvengerRam wrote:With this year's rookie class, I see a lot of battles emerging for immediate and long-term roles.

Who wins these battles?

RB1: Darrell Henderson vs. Cam Akers
WR3: Josh Reynolds vs. Van Jefferson
TE2: Gerald Everett vs. Brycen Hopkins
EDGE: Samson Ebukam/Ogbonnia Okoronkwo vs. Terrell Lewis
Nickel CB: Darious Williams/David Long vs. Terrell Burgess

I think Akers wins out over Henderson, who will be more of a change of pace guy. Reynolds may hold off Jefferson for a while, but the Rams have an interest in promoting the rookie as Reynolds is a potential 2021 FA departure. Same goes for Everett vs. Hopkins. The Rams may be hoping that Hopkins can fill that role by the time Everett's contract runs out. Edge and Nickel are wide open. Way too soon to call.

RB1: Malcolm Brown - to start(at least early in the season), but Cam gets most of the touches.
WR3: Josh Reynolds
TE2: Gerald Everett
EDGE: Samson Ebukam
Nickel CB: Darious Williams

Terrell Burgess is probably going to take over John Johnson's spot next season. Johnson is a free agent after this season.

AvengerRam wrote:With this year's rookie class, I see a lot of battles emerging for immediate and long-term roles.

Who wins these battles?

RB1: Darrell Henderson vs. Cam Akers
WR3: Josh Reynolds vs. Van Jefferson
TE2: Gerald Everett vs. Brycen Hopkins
EDGE: Samson Ebukam/Ogbonnia Okoronkwo vs. Terrell Lewis
Nickel CB: Darious Williams/David Long vs. Terrell Burgess

I think Akers wins out over Henderson, who will be more of a change of pace guy. Reynolds may hold off Jefferson for a while, but the Rams have an interest in promoting the rookie as Reynolds is a potential 2021 FA departure. Same goes for Everett vs. Hopkins. The Rams may be hoping that Hopkins can fill that role by the time Everett's contract runs out. Edge and Nickel are wide open. Way too soon to call.

Excellent questions, Avenger.

FWIW, I agree with your takes on the first 3.

At Edge I’m gonna say Ebu starts in base but Lewis comes in on passing downs, even in September. As the season progresses I see more and more snaps going to Lewis and Lewis becoming the ‘starter’ by midseason.

Nickel? OMG! Any of those 3 could become the ‘starter’ there, but here’s my left field swag, anyway. Either Long or Williams beats out Hill outside because both are better in man coverage than Hill and I think Staley prefers man coverage. Whichever doesn’t become the outside starter becomes the nickel. Burgess will become a hybrid LB type for this season and will be groomed to replace JJ in ‘21.

How’s that for putting my neck on the chopping block? Lol.

Don't overlook Obo on passing downs. This can can really do the "dip" when he's rounding the tackles

As always, so hard to say. I think we were all expecting a lot of touches for DH last year, didn't happen.

Still i think Akers is RB1 with Brown as his backup and DH the change of pace back...

I'm not convinced there will be a RB1, 2 and 3. It could be they're all going to play a lot, with equal status. I do believe this much: for all the angst and worry, we seem to have significant depth across the board. RB, WR, OL, TE, EDGE, DL, OLB, DB with ILB being the one spot with no experience. That's not a bad outlook.

I do think Akers was drafted with the idea of making him the RB1. I'm thinking maybe they aren't fully convinced Henderson can carry the load. Henderson will battle with Brown for carries. Brown is the most seasoned back. But in this league you need an explosive back. Its possible they go running back by committee. It worked for the 49ers.

I don't know about early on, but I wouldn't be surprised if Jefferson ends up WR3 before the end of the season. He's got better route running skills than Reynolds. And he might be faster than people think.

I think Everett will be the TE2. Hopkins has potential but I'm thinking he might be watching more his rookie year. Everett needs to break out if he wants his second contract to be a good one. We've been waiting for that 3 years now. I'm beginning to wonder if it will happen.

Lewis should see some time as a situational pass rusher. Although if he can play the run I think he becomes a starter right away. He is the one guy with first round talent. He needs to prove he can stay healthy though.

I don't see Burgess starting his rookie season. But he can get his share of snaps with certain defensive packages. His versatility is like Rapp's. If he shows something he'll be a contributor sooner than later.

May the best man get the most carries, then the 2nd best and so on.

Also may our team managers figure out who would do the best against the next opponent on a weekly basis and call that players number.

I like the unpredictability. And if its effective we could be a tough out.