RamView, 7/24: Rams cut Watkins

KOMU-TV (Columbia, Mo.)

No training camp activity at Rams Park today, but there's going to be waiver wire activity, as the team is cutting offensive lineman Rokevious Watkins. Watkins, who was going to be suspended for the opening week of the season anyway due to violating the NFL "substances of abuse" policy, reportedly is well over the weight at which he was supposed to report to camp, and Jeff Fisher has decided to just cut bait.

This is the second straight year of his two-year career that Watkins has shown up overweight and out of shape for training camp. Last year, he rebounded from that well enough to get a spot in the Rams' opening week starting lineup, but injured his ankle during that first game and was done for the season. When Watkins got the one-week penalty from the commissioner, Fisher defended him rigorously. All reports were that he was in very good shape at OTAs a couple of months ago and had worked hard in the offseason to get that way. All the arrows seemed to be pointing up for Rok.

Instead, his NFL stock is now falling like, well, a rock. Watkins has made a young lifetime of bad choices. He was involved with drugs and drug dealing as a youth. His weight was as high as 368 in college; his conditioning was a known issue when the Rams drafted him. (According to last year's training camp roster - YES, I keep those - he reported at 338.) He had whatever offseason screw-up get him suspended and in the NFL's drug program, and now this week, he has reported well out of shape again. It's a pattern that Watkins needs to stop. He's eaten his way out of the league and I'm not sure I'd trust him not to make a dumb mistake that puts himself in jail in the near future.

Watkins' problems weren't hard to see coming. The Rams didn't gamble big, "just" a fifth-rounder, but they knew they were rolling the dice on Watkins all the same, like they've done with other, higher picks.

In Watkins' case, they rolled craps.

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Roster count is now 89; RamView still expecting to be at tomorrow's opening practice.

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Injury update: "day-to-day" turns out to be a terrible way to describe Lance Kendricks' status. Though he was described yesterday in the press as "would play today if there was a game", today, he's expected to be out for as long as three weeks. At this time he's not expected to play in either of the first two preseason games.

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