Training camp stock report, 8/11

Busy weekend for the Rams training camp stock market. The bell is ringing. The bulls are running. The bears are running. The bulls are running into the bears. I swear I even saw some people jump off of window ledges! Here’s RamView’s assessment of who’s up and who’s down:

STRONG BUY (best performers): OJ Atogwe, Donnie Jones.

BLUE CHIPS (well-established high performers giving little cause for worry): Josh Brown, James Butler, Steven Jackson, Leonard Little, Randy McMichael, Will Witherspoon. Little got an upgrade because he’s really been tearing it up so far.

SMALL CAPS (younger players showing significant upside): Keenan Burton, Kenneth Darby, Daniel Fells, Bradley Fletcher, Larry Grant, John Greco, Justin King, James Laurinaitis, Chris Long, Laurent Robinson, Cliff Ryan, Darell Scott, Jason Smith, David Vobora, Jonathan Wade. Upgrade for Burton, who was looking progressively stronger in camp even before Donnie Avery’s injury opened up a starting position for him. Upgrade for Greco, who’s seeing some work at center. Downgrade for first-round pick Smith, who’s been struggling significantly after a fast start.

VALUE STOCKS (steady veterans with some upside): Victor Adeyanju, Ron Bartell, Jason Brown, Mark Bulger, Chris Draft, Adam Goldberg, James Hall, Richie Incognito, Mike Karney, Chris Massey. Draft, Hall and Incognito are all having excellent camps. Bartell’s on the fast track to blue chip after reassuring performances this past weekend.

EARNINGS SURPRISES (veterans performing much better than anticipated): Craig Dahl, Samkon Gado, Gary Gibson, Hollis Thomas. Gado jumps up here for his versatility.

CDs (steady but not exciting): C.J. Ah You, Billy Bajema, Alex Barron, Jacob Bell, Kyle Boller, Antwon Burton, Eric Butler, Tim Carter, Chris Chamberlain, Ronald Curry, Brooks Foster, Tye Hill, Todd Johnson, Eric Moore, Antonio Pittman, Mark Rubin, Roy Schuening, Mark Setterstrom, Derek Stanley, Phil Trautwein. Pittman moves off the ‘sell’ list because they’re giving him more looks. New safety Rubin started off camp on the right foot with an INT yesterday. Schuening’s downgraded because his play is leveling off a little. Setterstrom’s downgraded because of Greco getting work at center, but he could bounce right back. Ah You moves up because he’s been tearing up fellow third-stringers.

PASSBOOK ACCOUNTS (players with uphill fight to make the roster): K.C. Asiodu, Brock Berlin, Ian Campbell, Dominic Douglas, Jerome Johnson, Tim Mattran, Keith Null, David Roach, Daniel Sanders. Bad combo for Berlin, falling to this level the same time Null rises to this level. But Berlin’s play has been shaky, while Null has shown early signs of improvement.

STOCKS WITH HIGH BETAS: Donnie Avery. Avery was having one of the best camps of anybody on the team before breaking a bone in his foot at last Friday’s scrimmage. Now you have to wonder about his long-term durability; he fought injuries all of last year, too.

PROMISING MICROCAPS (young players performing surprisingly well): Quincy Butler, Nate Jones, Chris Ogbannaya, Cord Parks. Butler is this year's break-out hit.

PINK SHEETS (young players with long odds of making the roster): Roger Allen, Marcus Brown, Jarrett Byers, Sean Walker, Eric Young. Downgrade for Young, who hasn’t looked good.

EARNINGS DISAPPOINTMENTS: Adam Carriker, Quinton Culberson. Argh, Carriker’s injured AGAIN.

SELL: Joe Klopfenstein.

DE-LISTED: Classy Eric Bassey (waived, torn ACL).

Reminder: Past performance is no guarantee of future results.