Rams report, 9/20

Reuters

A few notes from the world's slowest blog:

* Injury report for Sunday:

Out: besides Trumaine Johnson and Barrett Jones, Brandon McGee is out for Sunday due to a foot injury;

Questionable: Tavon Austin (knee), Corey Harkey (knee), Shaun Hill (quad).

All indications are that Austin will not play, with Stedman Bailey replacing him in the slot and Austin Pettis handling punt returns. Shaun Hill is also not expected to play, giving Austin Davis a second straight start. And while Hill is much likelier to be good to go after the bye week, if Davis plays well tomorrow, I would see no reason to sit him for Hill. Somebody will have to explain to me how exactly Shaun Hill won the starting QB job so decisively otherwise. Because he didn't.

For Dallas, linebacker Justin Durant is out and Rolando McClain (groin) is doubtful; could be all backups at LB for them. Dez Bryant (back) is questionable; I just don't think the Rams have much excuse not to devote extra attention to Demarco Murray because they're afraid of Bryant, which has been their issue the past two meetings.

* Transactions: Bailey has been re-activated; Kevin Reddick was cut from the practice squad and Matt Conrath sent back to the practice squad to clear a spot for Bailey.

Zimbio/Getty Images

The Rams also added cornerback Jemea Thomas to the practice squad and cut Justin Veltung. Thomas is listed at 5'10", 195 and started every game his last two years at Georgia Tech. He was their top cover corner but played all over the secondary and also returned kicks and punts. His Tech bio calls him a great open-field tackler, one of the hardest hitters on the team and one of the most talented and versatile DBs in the ACC last year. A small, not quick, but tough in-the-box safety with 9 career INTs and 8 pass breakups last season. New England drafted Thomas in the 6th round this year but released him in the first round of cuts. The Cowboys picked him up for their practice squad but waived him on Tuesday.


The current practice squad: Denicos Allen, Emory Blake, Kourtnei Brown, Christian Bryant, Conrath, Garrett Gilbert, Mike Remmers, Brad Smelley, Thomas and Brandon Washington.

* Rams alumni report:
- Detroit signed Danny Gorrer;
- Chicago cut Matthew Mulligan.

* The Rams are 1-point underdogs Sunday but fans are picking Dallas in straight-up pools at an 82-83% clip. Vegas has been a lot higher on the Rams than the public so far this season. We'll see whose faith is rewarded tomorrow.

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Hall of Fame 2015 update

Twelve former Rams are among the 113 modern-era candidates for the next Pro Football Hall of Fame induction class:


* Jerome Bettis (four-time finalist, finished in top ten in last year's voting)
* Isaac Bruce (first-time nominee)
* Stephen Davis
* Henry Ellard
* Kevin Greene (three-time finalist, finished in top ten in last year's voting)
* Torry Holt (first-time nominee)
* Chuck Knox
* Sean Landeta
* Orlando Pace (first-time nominee)
* Clark Shaughnessy
* Dick Vermeil
* Kurt Warner (first-time nominee)

Pre-Rams era St. Louis candidates include Don Coryell, Ottis Anderson, and for some reason, Bubba Baker. Relatives of current Rams also nominated: Tim McDonald and Marty Schottenheimer.

The list of 113 modern-era players and coaches will be narrowed down to 25 semifinalists sometime around Thanksgiving. When the field is lowered to 15 finalists, they will be joined by three other candidates. This year's lone Senior finalist is Mick Tingelhoff, who was the Vikings' center for 17 seasons with six Pro Bowls. New to this year's process will be the addition of two "Contributor" finalists, who have yet to be selected for the next class.

The "contributors" do not take any spots away from players; the Hall has changed the maximum class size from 7 to 8. I still think it's a bunch of garbage. First of all, coaches are not "contributors" for the Hall's purposes; they still have to compete with the players and still suffer the competitive disadvantage. Second, though it may work out and get deserving candidates like George Young, Tex Schramm, or Steve Sabol into the Hall, from here, it looks more like a bald attempt to cram in a scumbag like Eddie DeBartolo, whose undeserving candidacy has flagged in recent years thanks to an influx of deserving players. Or Paul Tagliabue. Yes, Roger Goodell's work these days is making Tagliabue look like Franklin Roosevelt in comparison, but Tagliabue is still an undistinguished commissioner, who of course, did more to obstruct St. Louis having an NFL team than he did to help. Would be pretty disgusting to have some of the heroes of the Greatest Show have to share a dais with either of the two.

So this year's voters have a number of tests to pass before I declare them to be a bunch of ignorant monkeys. All four of the Greatest Show candidates should be semifinalists. (Actually, there's five, including Vermeil, who should join them.) DeBartolo and Tagliabue didn't become worthier candidates just because the Hall made the road easier for them. Neither should make the Hall, and preferably, neither would be nominated.

Warner and Pace, along with Junior Seau, are considered favorites to be first-ballot Hall of Famers. Warner and Pace should make it this year, but we'll see. Warner had three fantastic seasons, struggled for five years and then had three good seasons. He went to just four Pro Bowls and isn't all that high on most passing career charts. A lot of voters appear to see Pace as only the third-best tackle of his era, and Will Shields is still sitting there and went to more Pro Bowls.

The Rams' two likeliest Hall of Fame entrants for 2015 are favorites, but they're not locks. Let's hope it works out for them much more like Super Bowl XXXIV than XXXVI.

ESPN

 

One last note: I see Richie Petitbon on the list of nominated coaches; that is surely not for his 4-12 career record as Redskins' head coach but for his 12-year career as their defensive coordinator. Is there any good reason, then, that Jim Hanifan is not on this list? I think that's another oversight that needs to get corrected.

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Robert Quinn signs extension

AP

The Rams have signed Robert Quinn to a four-year extension that will keep him on the team through 2019. The deal is for $66.5 million, with $41.2 million guaranteed. It sounds like it's really a 6-year contract that replaces his current contract. It is the biggest contract in team history paid to a veteran player or to a defensive player. (Sam Bradford's $78 million rookie contract takes the cake for largest contract in team history.)

Excellent work by the Rams front office to get this done now, and congratulations to Robert.

I know nothing about the cap implications of Quinn's deal and will have to update here when details come out. They had so little room under this year's cap they had to re-structure Chris Long and Austin Pettis just to be able to fill the roster, so I can't believe there's any hit this year. If the cap hit starts next year, Bradford might as well not expect his summer plans to involve Rams Park.

Update: the Rams would gain $8 million in cap room next year by cutting Jake Long, $6 million by cutting Kendall Langford, $5 million by cutting Jared Cook, all three of which could easily happen. They also get Cortland Finnegan's $6 million of cap space back. Bradford's cap hit next year is over $16 million. They'll hit 2015 with a lot of cap flexibility and a lot of options.

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Rams report, 9/12: Bailey's back

* BREAKING NEWS: The Rams and Robert Quinn are reportedly close to a new multi-year deal, says Yahoo Sports. We now return you to your regularly-scheduled report.

AP

* With the NFLPA and the league agreeing to a new drug testing policy, players who had been suspended under the old policy will not serve their full suspensions. For the Rams, it means that Stedman Bailey will return to the roster sooner than expected. Some sources report Bailey is eligible for Sunday's game, others report not so fast, the agreement is not yet official. I think it's safe to say Bailey will be back for the Dallas game. The Ram offense can use any boost it can get.

* Matt Conrath was promoted from the practice squad to fill Chris Long's spot on the roster. DE Kourtnei Brown, who spent this summer in Rams camp, was added to the practice squad.

* Injury report for Sunday:
Questionable: Shaun Hill (quad), Lamarcus Joyner (back). Hill has not practiced all week but will be a gametime decision Sunday. Jeff Fisher is not honoring the "you have to practice to be able to play" rule where Hill is concerned. If he can go, he's playing.

Tampa Bay's already dealing with a mess of injuries in week 2. Both of their starting defensive ends are out for Sunday. Michael Johnson is out due to an ankle injury and Adrian Clayborn has been put on injured reserve for the season due to a torn biceps. The Rams can probably afford to triple-team Gerald McCoy now. If they fail on the edge against Tampa's backups, I don't see a lot of reason to have hope for them the rest of the season. In fact, Tampa's backups are also banged up. Logan Mankins and Doug Martin are questionable for Tampa due to knee injuries, so the Rams don't have much of a reason not to win on both sides of the line of scrimmage.

But, they're the Rams. They'll find a way.

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Rams report, 9/10: the hits just keep coming

AP

Does it get any worse than losing your home opener 34-6? You be the judge:

* The Rams may roll into Tampa Bay Sunday with Austin Davis as their starting quarterback. He is getting the majority of snaps in practice with Shaun Hill still slowed by a quad injury. The best news I have is if Tampa Bay can lose to Derek Anderson, they can lose to anybody.

* The worst news I have is that Chris Long will be out for at least 8 weeks due to the ankle injury he suffered Sunday. The injury requires some sort of "unique" (Jeff Fisher's word) surgery that the Rams are keeping under wraps. Because, you know, it's this kind of secrecy that has made them such a successful football franchise.

Long has been placed on the injured reserve with the option to return. No word yet on who got the roster callup to fill his spot. Chris will be sorely missed just for his leadership. A healthy William Hayes could fill a lot of Long's shoes, but coming off multiple offseason surgeries, he didn't look up to speed Sunday and was a liability in run defense. Long's absence will also make it a lot less risky for teams to double-team Robert Quinn. Sack City's going to be a ghost town the way this season's going already.

Salem (Ore.) Statesman-Journal

* Future Rams update: When I watched the Michigan State-Oregon game Saturday night, I foolishly assumed the Rams wouldn't have a shot in the first round at either QB on the field, but now that the Rams are playing like a team that's going to draft first, they're going to have their pick of the whole college contingent.

The simple rundown: Marcus Mariota (Oregon) = Colin Kaepernick, Connor Cook (Michigan State) = Sam Bradford. Mariota's a strong, accurate thrower; he reads the field well and gets the ball out quickly. His best attribute, though, may be his terrific feet. His pocket movement is exceptional and he makes himself very difficult to sack.

Cook is much more the classic pocket QB. He rarely runs, though he threw very well the handful of times he rolled out. He also threw well but was noticeably worse under pressure than Mariota, making some poor decisions and showing next to no mobility. The comparison to Bradford is pretty uncanny, going all the way down to the brace on Cook's left knee.

Both these QBs are going to be drafted high in 2015. They can both make all the throws. With the offensive line playing the way it did last week, the Rams will be much better served going after someone like Mariota, who can keep plays, and himself, alive when he has to.

* The Bucs are 4-point favorites Sunday and are being picked straight-up by 90-92% of fans. 3:05 Central kickoff if you can bear to watch.

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Rams report, 9/6

Getty Images

* Injury report for Sunday:
Probable: Maurice Alexander (excused absence), Jo-Lonn Dunbar (shoulder), William Hayes (chest), Jake Long (rust).
Questionable: Eugene Sims (knee)
Out: Trumaine Johnson (MCL), Barrett Jones (top-secret back injury).

Could have surprising importance if Sims is unable to go. He's important to the defensive end rotation considering Hayes has yet to play in 2014, and he's a key special teams contributor. On the Vikings' side, Everson Griffen is questionable due to illness but is expected to go. The Viking pass rush doesn't seem really deep to me. If the Ram o-line can weather the early rush tomorrow, they might be able to gain steam at the line of scrimmage as the game wears on.

* Practice squad move: The Rams signed offensive lineman Mike Remmers and cut Sean Hooey. Remmers, 6'5" 300, was originally signed by the Broncos as a UDFA in 2012 and was in camp this year with the Vikings. All four teams Remmers has been a member of in his short career are on the Rams' schedule this year. He appeared in his only career game with the Chargers last season and has also been with the Bucs. He was a three-year starter at Oregon State, at right tackle in 2009 and 2010 and left tackle in 2011. From the tiny amount of scouting material available, I'm not sure what Remmers brings that Hooey doesn't. He's smaller, so perhaps he is also quicker.

The practice squad is now: LB Denicos Allen, WR Emory Blake, S Christian Bryant, DT Matt Conrath, QB Garrett Gilbert, LB Kevin Reddick, Remmers, TE Brad Smelley, WR Justin Veltung and OL Brandon Washington. Yes, I'm stupid enough to try to keep track of this.

* Looks like E.J. Gaines will start at corner across from Janoris Jenkins, so, the Rams will start their sixth-round pick but not start either of their first-round picks.

* Alumni report: Tampa Bay cut Quinton Pointer.

* Go Rams! I'll do my best to have RamView out sometime late tomorrow night, but work complications may push it back to Monday night.

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Rams report, 9/4

AP

Let's get this season started already!

* Not starting, however: Greg Robinson. The Rams will start Rodger Saffold at LG, Davin Joseph at RG, Jake Long and his 50 shades of rust at LT (and he was limited in practice today, so, no, still rusty), and leave the #2 pick overall on the bench. Robinson isn't deemed ready to go yet, too much of a liability in pass protection. Unlike Long, I guess, who only cost the Rams their starting quarterback in his only attempt to play this preseason.

Now, I'm as reactionary as anybody, but I'm not going to join the critics who are already declaring Robinson a bust before he's played a down in the NFL. (Aaron Donald's not starting, either; is he also a bust?) I will agree it's very disappointing the #2 pick in the draft isn't starting. When you draft an offensive lineman #2 overall, he ought to be able to start over Joe Barksdale, or a guard (Joseph) anybody could have picked up off the waiver wire this year, or a gimpy tackle probably being rushed onto the field so Cleveland could hand him his hat in a preseason game. And hey, there's Jake Matthews, the guy RamView wanted to draft, starting for the Falcons at LT. None of this is helping Robinson look good.

But I think the Rams themselves are the biggest reason Robinson isn't looking good. It's as if they drafted him without really having a plan for him. You're a tackle, but you're going to start out here as a guard, but we're going to flop you back and forth between guard and tackle all of training camp and during preseason games. They drafted Robinson thinking he was the best player available, not because they had a plan that made the best use of him.

Joseph's re-emergence at RG isn't unwelcome, and I feel like we saw enough good out of Robinson in preseason to think he's still on track as the "tackle of the future". It's too bad the future isn't now, though, that the Rams haven't put Robinson in the best spot to succeed right off the bat.

* Wednesday's injury report:
Out: Trumaine Johnson (MCL, 4-6 weeks), Barrett Jones (back, time frame of return closely-guarded state secret)
Limited: Jake Long (rust), Jo-Lonn Dunbar (shoulder), William Hayes (chest) (Chest?), Eugene Sims (knee).

* Transactions: Justice Cunningham was cut to make room for Case Keenum on the main roster. Cunningham has an ankle injury, so if the Rams are looking to bring him back to the practice squad, it won't be for a few weeks.

The Rams also made a practice squad move, cutting Matt Daniels and replacing him with Brad Smelley.

An interesting transaction in New Orleans: after cutting both their kickers to get to the 53-man limit, they have picked Shayne Graham back up and cut QB Ryan Griffin. Will the Rams now make a play for Griffin? After Sam Bradford's knee blowout last season, the Saints were worried enough about the Rams taking Griffin off their practice squad that they called him up to their main roster.

* Alumni report:
- Michael Sam has joined Dallas' practice squad. Please tell me they're doing this for reasons other than trying to get inside info because they're playing the Rams in two weeks.
- Buffalo signed D.J. Morrell to their practice squad.


* The Rams are 3.5-point favorites Sunday, which I find hard to explain with Adrian Peterson on the other side of the line of scrimmage and Sam Bradford on the other side of the surgeon's scalpel again. I would have expected a pick 'em line. You don't want gambling advice from me, anyway, so I'll leave it at that.

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Rams acquire Case Keenum

ESPN.com

With an apparent eye toward stockpiling weak arms, the Rams have claimed QB Case Keenum off waivers. He was cut by Houston after their trade with New England for Ryan Mallett.

To his full credit, Keenum is the all-time NCAA leader in passing yards, touchdowns and completions. However, he was not drafted in 2012, signing with the Texans as an undrafted free agent and spending that season on their practice squad. Arm strength was a major issue - at the 2012 Combine Keenum didn't look capable of throwing any sideline route or even a deep dig - as was his size, as he probably goes 5'11". He also has a torn ACL in his past medical record. (Of course, that's one less than Sam Bradford.)

Keenum closed out last season for the Texans after Matt Schaub imploded, though, and he showed some positive traits. He's good with play-action. He buys time well with his feet. He plays without fear and trusts his receivers. He isn't afraid to go deep and has surprising success with it. He threw 9 TDs (unfortunately, it took 8 games) and 6 INTs. On the negativc side, he fumbled six times (losing two), still doesn't have a lot of experience playing directly under center, throws off his back foot and is still too easy to read. He completed just 54% of his passes and has a career record of 0-8.

Keenum sounds basically like Austin Davis, except with half a season of starting experience, so I'm not sure they're gaining a whole lot. My choice probably would have been Mike Kafka, but that was before Tampa picked him back up for their practice squad. Keenum's certainly got an experience edge over Garrett Gilbert, though, who's now on the Rams' practice squad, and it's wise of the Rams to have a third QB on the main roster. They've at least got a little professional starting experience behind Shaun Hill now.

The Rams will have to release a player to add Keenum to their roster but haven't announced who yet.

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