SB Nation - Donnie Jones

Rams 13, Texans 16: Rams lose a close one

VanRam — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:10:04 -0000

The little things dragged the Rams down today.

Credit the St. Louis Rams for playing a good game, despite losing their 13th contest of the season. The results were especially encouraging given the team's extensive list of players on injured reserve or the sidelines.

The offense did a much better job moving the ball than they did against the Titans last week. Nevertheless, they just don't have the talent to overcome the slightest mistake, say a rookie QB under pressure and throwing the ball blindly down the field for an easy INT. The worst part of it was that the Texans scored on the ensuing drive, giving them a lead the Rams could not overcome. You can go line by line through the play-by-play and find those difference makers that better teams can play through and keep driving the ball for results.

On the other side of the ball, the Rams defense had a good day, except for getting burned again and again by the deep ball. Oshiomogho Atogwe and Bradley Fletcher are greatly missed by this Rams secondary, which is not to say that Craig Dahl, filling in for Atogwe, didn't play well; I just the chances for the Rams to play the ball more with Togs in the lineup. Still, despite Andre Johnson's 200-yard day (196 actually) the Rams kept him out of the end zone and limited Houston to just one touchdown. They really did a good a job as a unit missing so many starters.

I know we have the "Draft Suh" contingent here, but I would still have liked to see the Rams get the win. The close ones are the toughest to take, no matter how much you expect it. It would have been a huge stride forward for the organization. Nevertheless, Spagnuolo's group showed lots of promise and made it easier to see what GM Billy Devaney was talking about in his Friday chat with fans when he said the team has fewer holes to fill.

Keith Null

Once again the rookie from West Texas A&M showed real moxie. He was poised and bounced back from mistakes. Null even showed showed some emotion, something fans were pleasantly surprised to see from their QBs. Two fumbles resulting from bad snaps reminded us that the spread offense and DII football remained a part of Null, and the INT was the definition of a rookie move. Experience should cure that. Maybe I was a bit premature in dubbing it the best performance from a Rams QB this season, very premature, but it is clear who should start the next two games, the last two games of the season.

The Offensive Line

This group had become such a team strength until injuries started to take their toll. Jacob Bell went to IR and Richie Incognito got himself released, leaving the Rams without both starting guards this week. Mark Setterstrom, on the left, and John Greco, on the right, did well for themselves today. It was a little rough in the running game in the early going and at times throughout the game. It's important to remember, however, that the Texans have a strong front seven on defense. It's clear this unit is better with Jason Smith, but this group had a decent outing today, certainly better than they did last week. I still like out depth at guard.

Once again Alex Barron weakened the unit as a whole. He let Mario Williams get around him to recover a fumble. The troubled tackle's most egregious offense came on the last drive of the fourth quarter when he got beat and Null got sacked for a loss of 8 yards. That made it 3rd-and-19. Game over. I don't see how the Rams can bring back Barron in 2010.

Special Teams

Hats off the special teams once again. Not only have the Rams found a solid return man with good vision to match his speed in Danny Amendola, who averaged 31 yards on kickoff returns, they've got a good group of blockers and coverage guys assembled. Josh Brown was nails on the distance shots today, hitting a 52-yarder to make him 5 for 6 on FG attempts of 50 or more yards. Donnie Jones is really getting jobbed by the fact that he's not even in contention for a Pro Bowl nod.

Rams missing from "All Fundamentals Team"

VanRam — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:02:58 -0000

More photos » by Ted S. Warren - AP

Can the Rams' Donnie Jones, left, buy some attention for his excellent punting skills?

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The All Fundamentals Team has been announced by the NFLPA and USA Football Association. Players are selected based on "the combination of their fundamentally sound play and their commitment to community."

Nobody from the St. Louis Rams made the list, though you could make the case for a few names. Those include:

RB Steven Jackson - Every week, injury or not, he gives 110% and says nothing about the fact that the team can't win despite his work. What else is there to say? Ryan Grant was the RB named.

P Donnie Jones - Is there a better punter in the league? Apparently. The All Fundamentals selection committee thinks Brian Moorman from the Bills is a better punter.

And, what, no Kyle Boller for throwing mechanics? Booo.

Take a look at the All Fundamentals Team and the skills the players were selected for. What other Rams could qualify?

Breaking down the Rams defensive breakdown

VanRam — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:19:20 -0000

More photos » by L.G. Patterson - AP

Seattle Seahawks running back Justin Forsett (20) dives into the end zone for his first TD of the game. What happened to the Rams run defense in that game?

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Being a Luddite, I don't own a TiVO, and even if I did, I'm not sure watching the St. Louis Rams get eaten up by the Seahawks last Sunday would be worth the time or hard drive space. The NFL does keep short videos of game highlights on their site, cleverly inserting them into the play-by-play section for each game. Wanting answers for what happened in the running game, I went back and watched the videos of Forsett's 25- and 26-yard runs along with his two TDs. Here's what I noticed.

On Forsett's 25-yard run in the first quarter, Seattle is lined up in the basic I formation. On the snap, the blockers push to the offense's right, and the Rams front seven goes sliding that way too. As Forsett cuts left to an open field, OLB David Vobora goes wide around the Rams DE locked up with the Seattle blocker, coming in behind Forsett and is easily pushed aside by Forsett's lead blocker, after Forsett is into the second level. SS James Butler, playing back, comes in on Forsett, but is easily beaten when the running back cuts out wide toward the sideline.

The second long run by Seattle's running back came on their first drive of the fourth quarter, right after a Rams three-and-out and a Donnie Jones punt that put the ball on Seattle's 49-yard-line, ugh. Second-and-six, Seattle lines up in another I formation, this one with an extra blocker in the backfield. As soon as they snap the ball, Rams the Rams front four are engulfed by single blockers. That's not the problem, as Clifton Ryan gets off his man and starts sliding down toward his left side, where the Forsett is coming. As Ryan moves toward the hole where the ball is coming he's stopped when he runs into OLB Paris Lenon getting pushed back by the blocker he ran up and engaged at the line as soon as the ball was snapped. MLB James Laurinaitis obviously sees the Seattle runners coming and he moves over to stop them but is pushed aside by Forsett's lead blocker.

On Forsett's first TD, from the 3-yard line, Leonard Little sees him but gets moved off Forsett because he can't quite shake his blocker. Laurinaitis gets a quick hit from Seattle's right guard, gets off him with no problem but is far enough from the lane that he can't make the tackle in time. Clifton Ryan does get around his blocker and almost has Forsett, but it looks like he either didn't get around in time or missed the tackle. James Butler comes up behind Ryan and the Seattle LT but can't make the tackle because he's stuck behind Ryan and the blocker he sheds. A better angle, coming to the inside rather than around, and Butler would have tackled Forsett for no gain or even a loss.

Gap assignments gone awry? Substandard players getting faked out and overpowered? You decide. What should have happened here and how do you fix it?

The Bears don't have much going for them in the running game and a banged up offensive line - the same could have been and was said about the Seahawks - so the Rams have a chance to do it right this weekend. Stay tuned to see if they get it fixed.

Send This Arizona Cardinal to the Pro Bowl: Ben Graham

Andrew602 — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 10:00:16 -0000

More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP

Ben Graham has been a steal after the Cardinals picked him up late last season.

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In honor of Ben Graham's 5 punts inside the Titans 20 yard line on Sunday, he is up next for Cardinals Pro Bowl consideration. After the Cardinals shuffled through a several punters last year (and year before!) they settled on the former New York Jets Ben Graham. He immediately provided better punting, something the Cardinals needed down the stretch of the season and in the playoffs. This season he's had a full year under his belt and has had career bests in punts inside the opponents 20 and net average after 11 games. In 2006 Graham had 26 punts downed inside the opponents 20 yard line, while this year he has 30. In 2005 he recorded a 37.9 net average but he's already punting for a 41.1 average going into the Vikings game.

Let's see how he stacks up to the NFC competition.

Punters	Team	Punts	Net Yards	Net Avg	In 20
Andy Lee	SF	66	2,747	41.6	20
Ben Graham	ARI	62	2,546	41.1	30
Donnie Jones	STL	56	2,289	40.9	18
Mat McBriar	DAL	53	2,147	40.5	29

A mere 0.5 yards is what separates San Francisco's Andy Lee's net average from Graham's. Graham, however, has ten more punts downed inside the 20 while attempting four less punts then Lee. Donnie Jones has a slim chance considering he's on the 1-10 Rams and bad teams rarely send many players to the Pro Bowl (Steven Jackson goes before Jones!). The biggest competition on the list is Mat McBriar from the Dallas Cowboys as he already has made the Pro Bowl with Dallas; he is having another solid year after coming off of foot surgery. Graham has slowly been improving over the coarse of the season. Some consider that Graham doesn't have a chance to make the Pro Bowl in Miami but it's likely he will if he can keep up this same pace and the Cardinals defense can utilize the field position he creates (with ample help from LaRod Stephens-Howling et. al.). Do you think Ben Graham can be the first Cardinal punter in the Pro Bowl since Scott Player in 2000?

Rams 20, Jacksonville 23, F/OT: New route, same result

VanRam — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:50:20 -0000

More photos » by Phil Coale - AP

Jacksonville held Steven Jackson in check, and that was too much for the Rams struggling offense to overcome.

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The St. Louis Rams had a much better effort today, but - stop me if you've heard this one before - it just wasn't enough as they lost in OT to the Jacksonville Jaguars. A quick recap:

The Offense

Again, the Rams offense just wasn't very good, but they really got hurt when Donnie Avery left the game. That took away a desperately needed dimension to the Rams offense. The Jacksonville run defense was tough; Steven Jackson got a measly 50 yards on 16 carries. The offensive line didn't have their best day opening holes for Jackson. One thing I noticed watching this game was that our blockers consistently had trouble getting to the second level. Jacksonville's safeties were in the box on almost every play, so it seemed, and they led the day in tackles. The blocking was much better; Bulger hit the dirt just one time...if only he had anyone to throw the ball to.

It's kind of funny, but the passing game continues to be a strength for the Rams, except on third down. Speaking of third down, the Rams were pathetic, converting just 4 of 12. And third down wasn't the only problem area. The offense sputtered enough that they only had 11 total first downs to Jacksonville's 33. That's right 11 Rams first down to Jacksonville's 33. Which gives you some idea of why the Jags had 492 yards of offense to our 262.

The Defense

Our defense has definitely improved from the product on the field that last three seasons. If our offense had any competency whatsoever the defense is good enough that the Rams could win some games. That's not to say our defense is good. They took some ill-advised penalties today too.

Gary Gibson is missed. DT has to be a priority for this team before next season. The Jones-Drew ground game eventually got to them, but they were on the field for more than 40 minutes, 42:12 to be exact. We just don't have the depth for that kind of exposure.

The line had more pressure from the ends, including a nice back to back sack series. They also did a good job getting pressure, that resulted in two INTs, including Leonard Little's that made it a game.

The secondary had it's moments, both good and bad. Is Bartell still aching? He got burned twice in the first half for big plays. You could argue, not convincingly, that Holt's 41-yard catch was just a nice play, but he got burned bad on Sims-Walker's 35-yard catch. Four pass interference penalties hurt, though the Jaguars didn't get points on any of those drives.

Ultimately, the defense suffered because they were on the field twice as long as the offense, and they're just not good enough to keep any team out of the end zone for 42 minutes.

Special Teams

Donnie Jones didn't have his leg today; Josh Brown did. Danny Amendola has been the find of the season, averaging 31 yards on 4 kick returns.

Ultimately, it was a disappointing effort for the Rams, who lost their 16th in a row. Maybe things would have been different with Avery. Still, at this point, it's hard not to wonder if they won't end up winless this season.

Should the Rams be more aggressive on 4th down?

VanRam — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:52:53 -0000

More photos » by Ted S. Warren - AP

You'll get 'em next time, tiger.

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Let me set up the situation for you. It's the middle of the first quarter, and the St. Louis Rams have the ball back after the defense picked up its second turnover of the game, which is still tied with no score.

The fumble, forced by Will Witherspoon and receovered by James Laurinaitis, gave the Rams their best field position so far, at the Seattle 38-yard-line. On two prior drives, the Rams never made it across the 50. The resulting drive is looking just like the last two. An incomplete on first down, and an 8-yard run by Jackson is wiped out thanks to a Donnie Avery 10-yard holding penalty. 2nd-and-12; the Rams get five freebie yards thanks to an Aaron Curry offsides.

That's followed by more keystone kops routine. An incomplete pass, and then a fumble recovered by Bulger and thrown away for an imcomplete. 4th-and-7 on the Seattle 35-yard-line. The Rams punted it down to the 4-yard-line, showing off Donnie Jones' stellar leg, but was that the best call?

I'm inclined to think it was not. This study from Advanced NFL Stats breaks down the recommended options on 4th downs, and the Rams, in that situation, were right between going for it and kicking a field goal.

Going for it might have been a little bit of a problem, since the Rams offense was not exactly in prime form. (Had they run the ball more than once on that drive, that might not have been the case). Had I made the call, I would have brought the field goal team out to make the score 3-0.

That's risky, since it would have been a 52-yard attempt. Before you point to Brown's missed 37-yarder, remember that was later in the game. Josh Brown is no stranger to kicking field goals at Qwest Field, and has nailed his share of long ones there too. He hit a 43-yarder there last season, his first with the Rams, and in 2007 he nailed a 52-yarder against the Saints. The week after that, he hit 48-,45- and 43-yard three pointers to help bury the Rams. Over his career, Brown is 19-for-30 on FGs of 50 yards or more.

Hitting a FG there wouldn't have been a sure thing, but even if it hadn't worked, the defense was still playing sharp enough that keeping Seattle out of the end zone after turning the ball over at their 35-yard-line was not such a daunting task at that point.

Teams like the Rams have to play more aggressive football, and that means squeezing every chance they can out of every down, including 4th. They'll need to be against Washington this week.

Broncos unhappy with Brett Kern?

John Bena — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:17:08 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

4 months ago: Denver Broncos punter Brett Kern takes part in drills during a scrimmage as part of NFL football training camp at Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

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For all intents and purposes, Broncos P Brett Kern had a decent day on Sunday in Cincinnati. He punted the ball 8 times, averaging 42.5 yards per boot. There were two 50-yarders in the group as well. Of course, in a game that was determined by a big play late, every punt matters and the team might be focusing on the 28-yarder that came midway through the 3rd quarter with the Broncos leading 3-0.

Could that be the reason the team worked out a pair of punters yesterday? Coming in for a look were Britton Colquitt, who was with the team throughout camp, and rookie Justin Brantley from Texas A&M. Brantley was 3rd in the nation last year with a 45.7 average.

While 8 punts is a lot, you need only look at the punting stats from Week 1 to see why the Broncos might be kicking the tires on some available punters.

This past Sunday, two other punters - Donnie Jones (Rams) and Andy Lee (49ers) - also had 8 punts. The difference in average is astounding. Lee averaged 49.1 yards (42.3 net) while Jones was even better - 50.8 yards (44.8 net). As stated above, Kern averaged 42.5 yards (36.4 net). That is 6 yards per kick, or about 50 yards of field position in a game.

If Kern's hold on the punting job wasn't tenuous before, perhaps the message has been sent that every kick matters.

Grading the Rams: Week 1 @ Seattle

3k — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 23:48:05 -0000

That was not pretty. That is all. Grades after the fold.

QB: C+

Bulger doesn't deserve the blame for the offensive woes. He forced very few throws, and the ones he did came after the game was "decided." Still, to throw less than 200 yds., less than a 50% clip and no TDs prevents me from giving him in the B range.

HB: C-

This is as much for the playcalling as it is a condemnation of Jackson's play or the O-line. Any game where Action Jackson doesn't get 20 carries signals a failure, especially when he fails to tally a single reception. We needed more from him today.

WR: D

Robinson and Avery made themselves available in the 2nd half, but by then it was too little too late. Too often did we see Bulger in the pocket waiting for one of his receivers to get open. Robinson proved he was more than a preseason flare and Avery ran some solid routes underneath late in the game, but Donnie didn't register a reception longer than 16 yards. Poor showing.

O-line: D/B/F

The three grades are essentially for run blocking/pass blocking/Incognito. When you have a talent like Steven Jackson, you have to give him opportunities to succeed. He had very few today. On the other hand, Marc Bulger had something he enjoyed very rarely in 2008: time to throw. The Seahawks registered just three sacks despite multiple examples of Bulger waiting in the pocket and accepting the sack as a last resort. The final game is self-explanatory for anyone who watched the game. Incognito registered the first offensive play of the game after an interception in our end zone pushed the momentum in our favor with a false start. It was an omen of the kind of game he would play. Two unnecessary roughness penalties and the occasional absent-minded tomfoolery later, Cogs would at last be pulled to the bench.

I'll say this. I've been a defender of Incognito's ability as a blocker and the fact that he brings more fire than anyone on offense and arguably the team. But if he can't control that fire within the confines of a play and effect his skills on a defensive line instead of the referees, then we'd better off without him.

D-line: B/F

Outside of Julius Jones' 62 yard scamper, he was held to just 55 yards on 18 carries. That's a testament to the tenaciousness of our D-line, especially Gary Gibson who should make Adam Carriker an afterthought. Unfortunately, the pressure we saw on run defense was absent in the pass. Chris Long, Leonard Little and James Hall combined for 10 tackles... and 0 sacks against a line that was without two starters.

LB: B

James Laurinaitis is an NFL MLB. He finished with 14 tackles, 10 of them on his own. You can point to his overpenetration on the first TD, you can look at plays when his lateral movement put him a second behind where he should have been, but the reality is that he played exceptionally well for his first NFL game. Witherspoon looked like a true WLB and Vobora was anything but irrelevant. A solid showing.

DB: C+

Hard to put these guys in the "C" range after coming out so strong, but the Seahawks ran the kind of offense we needed to run. To counter, the DBs should have played a tighter first ten yards until Hasselbeck showed a willingness to go deep. We saw flashes of ability from Bartell, Wade and King - that's a great sign. And the duo of James Butler and O.J. Atogwe is as good as advertised. They came out ready to play.

ST: C

I wanted to give this a C-, but Donnie Jones is the best punter in the NFL hands down. He does as much as you could possibly ask of a punter and more with every opportunity. Josh Brown, on the other hand, had one chance to help the Rams and failed. Against his former team, you would have hoped he could quiet the opposing crowd and give the Rams a 3-0 lead. Keep hoping. Donnie Avery's fumble on the opening kick gave a possession and momentum to Seattle at one of the worst times he could have done so. Luckily, our defense was more than capable of dealing with the turnover.

Coaching: D-

So many penalties, two burnt time outs early, some simple playcalling (both in terms of timing offensively and to sit off the blitz defensively when Seattle had committed to the quick pass) earns this grade. And putting 12 men on the field for the FG attempt at the end of the half turned a 7-7 game into a 14-0 nothing one. A 14 point swing just before the half is difficult to bring to the locker room. Were my expectations higher? Definitely. Will they remain so? Certainly. Am I worried? Without question.

The Rams leave this game knowing they beat themselves early on with penalties and soft offensive play. These are correctable faults, but they were at the end of the first drive, quarter and half, and we saw little change. This is a tough final score to stomach simply because we came out with a desire defensively, and a childish hyperactivity on offense. You can give "credit" to the crowd, but any NFL player who can't play in a hostile environment without containing their emotions and providing their skills to their teammates shouldn't be on the field in the NFL. Get to work, Coach Spagnuolo. You have a lot to do.

Rams 23, Jets 20: New era starts off right

VanRam — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 03:28:07 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

New York Jets running back Shonn Greene (23) is tackled by St. Louis Rams linebacker Chris Chamberlain (57) during the second quarter at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., Friday, Aug. 14, 2009.

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And so the first game of the Spagnuolo Era of St. Louis Rams football is a win. That's right a Rams win.

In way, this was the perfect game to usher in the new era for St. Louis Rams football. Not the most well-played game, but a scrabbly effort that got results.

Some of the big stories we saw tonight:

The first game of the Spagnuolo Era is a win! Come on, preseason or not, it's enjoyable to see that.
Marc Bulger and the West Coast Offense: so far, so good.
The run blocking is solid. Four running backs had runs of 10 yards or more.
I don't know that they get an "A" for this game, but the linebackers look much better than last year. Still have some work to do though. They missed that end around that got the Jets downfield for a FG.
The veterans played much better than the rookies. Stating the obvious, but looking at the notes the young guys got burned for the most glaring stuff, e.g. Darby and Ogbonnaya in pass pro and Justin King. That's about what you'd expect for the first game of the preseason. That's not to say the rookies look bad.
Maybe it's overselling two passes, but I think Keith Null is going to be exciting to watch in the preseason. Could he play his way ahead of Boller?
The run defense is much better this year. Remember how we got gashed against the Titans to open the preseason last year?
Um, did anyone notice Steven Jackson out there with the defense? He picked up a tackle in the 3rd quarter. Is there anything the guy can't do? Yes, pass protection.
Randy McMichael was the only starter to get flagged for a penalty.

I'd be lying if I said that the first quarter, the one with the starters, wasn't a little disappointing. Too see Bulger get sacked three times damn near gave me a coronary. But seeing those plays you can see that it had more to do with the offense being unprepared for the full frontal assault from the Jets starters - think if Jenkins had been playing - much more than it had to do with a faulty offensive line. In fact, the breakdowns in pass protection happened behind the line of scrimmage, though the Goldberg looked a little overwhelmed a couple of times. Bulger was looking good, and I was anxious to see them get some momentum...and then came that sack on 2nd and 6th on the second drive of the game. Add to that McMichael's false start penalty that put the Rams at 3rd and 18...

In fact, that was the worst stretch of the game for the Rams. Donnie Jones, to quote shostag from the comments, looked like he was in midseason form on the punt to end that drive, and the gods gave the Rams a break with a Jets penalty on that punt. Unfortunately, right after that, Justin King for burned for 48 yards, making the rookie Sanchez look good and precipitating a flood of message board posts at the PD's Rams Talk tomorrow about why we should have drafted him. The Jets ulimately scored on that drive, using another play of 20+ yards to get there. The combination of a foiled offensive drive and a couple defensive miscues made it a close game, closer than it needed to be.

The sync between our front seven and defensive backfield looks to be the weakest link right now. Did any of the cornerbacks impress? Quincy Butler seemed overly concerned with playing the ball more than the receiver, giving my theory of camp hero some credibility. Justin King is in the same boat right now.

The veterans dominated the front seven, leaving the rookies in the dust as far as looking comfortable on the field and making plays. Little got a sack right off the bat, and James Hall recovered the fumble on the same play. Those two will be really important in the Rams defense this year. What's the deal with our young draft picks on defense? Adam Carriker is at risk of being a perpetual injury. Chris Long had a rough night; however, I think Long's the kind of guy who'll have the game tape on his iPod for the flight home. I'll be more concerned with Long if he continues to struggle in the preseason. Tye Hill wasn't horrible.

The run defense did well, though they didn't face three of the Jets starting o-linemen. The Jets averaged just 3.6 yards on 28 running plays. They got burned for more than 10 yards just once, on Shonn Greene's 34 breakaway in the 3rd quarter. A better run defense means better games this season. Unless...

I think Marc Bulger and the receivers might be okay in this offense. If they can get pass protection ironed out in the backfield, this could be a good offense.

Players who made an impression, good or bad:

Starting with the first team...

Marc Bulger - He didn't pass much, but his 4-for-4 night for 77 yards was refreshing. I'll be anxious to see more in the games ahead.

Steven Jackson - I'm not worried about him, but I would like to see more than two carries next time.

Laurent Robinson - He had a great 50-yarder from Bulger.

Randy McMichael - 25 yards on 2 catches, yeah, he's going to like the West Coast Offense.

Keenan Burton - Where was Burton tonight?

Kenneth Darby - Not a good night, when compared to the impression he made with the Rams late last season and in practice this year. Decent night returning a kick though.

Alex Barron - Looked fine on the left side. No penalties, and no sacks because of him.

Samkon Gado - You can make fun of his name all you want, but the guy played a nice game on special teams and in the second half. I caution against reading too much into his night; this is a player who has experienced regular season success playing in the second half of a preseason game. Of course, the half-full version starts with the fact that he's a player who has had regular season success.

Jason Smith - Granted, he wasn't playing against the starters, but he looked good tonight. The Baylor product opened running lanes and popped Vernon Gholston in pass protection. If Gholston has been as good as the Jets are saying he has in camp so far, this is particularly encouraging. To me, Smith earned his shot with the first team when practice starts again.

Chris Chamberlain - Led the team with four tackles and looked ferocious.

Larry Grant - played a good game too.

Justin King - That's not the camp player I remember.

Quincy Butler - Has to prove in the next game that he's more than just a camp success story.

Tye Hill - Has to do more than that to eek out a spot, much less a starting gig.

Bradley Fletcher - Had a nice pass breakup. I'll be watching him closely in practice and the next game.

Derek Stanley - Has a a long way to go before he's given the punt return job.

Alright, who are we missing?

Oh yeah,

Keith Null - Threw rockets, twice. He now has more preseason TD passes than any other Rams QB. I think this guy could play himself into the number two role, and based on what I saw tonight from Boller, the number two job isn't all that secure either.

We'll have more on the game tomorrow. For now, rest easy, the first game of a new era of Rams football is a win! A win!

A look at ALL of the St. Louis Rams rookies

VanRam — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:31:00 -0000

With rookies in the mix for training camp today, I started thinking about just how many rookies are on the current St. Louis Rams roster. Sure, we know the big name guys from the draft, but there's a lot of other guys in camp this month with every intention of working their tails off in an effort to make the team, even though most of them won't find spots on the 53-man or even the practice squad roster.

Rather than go name by name, let's see if we can field a full team, offense and defense, with rookies currently on the Rams roster. (Note: I'm using the official position designation for each player from the roster listed on the Rams official site).

OFFENSE

LT: Jason Smith

LG: Roger Allen III (this is a player coveted by a number of teams after and before the draft. He has a real shot to make the final cut or the practice squad for the Rams.

C: Daniel Sanders (read more about Sanders here).

RG: ...and here's where my theory falls apart. Allen is the only rookie listed as a guard. If you expand the definition to include players who have never seen an NFL snap, then Roy Schuening fits here. Speaking of Schuening, he'll really have to work hard in camp this year to compete for a spot, even a practice squad spot.

RT: Phil Trautwein

QB: Keith Null (Nulls is essentially competing with Brock Berlin for the third QB job, and I'm predicting he'll earn that spot).

HB: Chris Ogbonnaya

FB: Jerome Johnson

TE: There are no rookie TEs on the Rams right now. Again, expanding it to include guys who haven't played an NFL snap, you can list Eric Butler.

WR (2): Brooks Foster, Jarrett Byers, and Sean Walker

DEFENSE

DE (2): Ian Campbell and...C.J. Ah You falls under the expanded definition, after spending the entire season on the Rams practice squad last year.

DT: (2): Darell Scott and that's it, nobody else at DT even fits the expanded definition, though there are several guys vying for a spot they're unlikely to get now that the Rams have signed Hollis Thomas.

LB (3): James Laurinaitis, Dominic Douglas, K.C. Asiodu

S (2): There are no rookies on the team to play either safety position. Only Eric Roach meets the expanded definition.

CB (2): Bradley Fletcher, Cord Parks

Other than potential return men, there are no rookie specialists on the team, not that you'd need them with K Josh Brown and P Donnie Jones. As camp moves along, we'll keep track of this list, with an eye on which rookies get cut and which rookies are making the most of their audition.