RamView, 9/8: Rams extend Laurinaitis

Photo - STLToday

* If you've been like me, and have been wondering, "What happened to that contract extension the Rams were supposed to sign James Laurinaitis to before the season starts?", you can stop wondering. The Rams and Laurinaitis have agreed to a new deal, just in time for the start of the season. It's for five years, and he'll get $23.5 million guaranteed. Total contract value is $41.5 million.

Congratulations to James; glad he's staying around for a while.





* The Rams' official injury list for tomorrow in Detroit has just three players, all defensive tackles, all out:
Michael Brockers (ankle);
Matt Conrath (knee);
Darell Dorell Scott (knee).

The new guy, Kellen Heard, who played for Mike Waufle in Oakland, figures to play a significant role tomorrow. Also, Sam Bradford will start despite an ankle sprain from 47 weeks ago.

Detroit has two doubtfuls in their secondary: hard-hitting safety Louis Delmas and cornerback Chris Houston. Would be nice if the Rams could exploit the absence of two starters back there.

* Ex-Rams wire:
- The Jagwires cut Keith Toston in order to activate Maurice Jones-Drew.
- The Saints reached an injury settlement with Marquis Johnson and waived him from injured reserve. He'll be able to sign with another team this season as a result. Assuming he's ever healthy for a couple of weeks in a row. He was playing well for the Saints before suffering a knee injury in practice three weeks ago.
- The Dolphins re-signed Ray Feinga.

-$-

RamView, 9/6: Wednesday practice report

* Injury list. The Rams listed just three players as not participating in Wednesday's practice, all of them defensive tackles:

- Michael Brockers (ankle)
- Darell Dorell Scott (knee)
- Matt Conrath (knee)

The first two should definitely be out for Detroit Sunday. The rest of the team is full-go (even Sam Bradford, now in his 47th week of recovery from a sprained ankle). That includes Harvey Dahl, Eugene Sims, and no-longer chillin' Darian Stewart.

* Transactions. The Rams completed their practice squad by re-signing WR Brandyn Harvey. Um, okay.

Catching up with former Rams:
- Michael Hoomanawanui is now on his third team this week. The Patriots have signed him from Washington's practice squad to their 53-man roster.
- The Bills signed Ruvell Freaking Martin.
- The Ravens waived Danny Gorrer.

-$-

RamView, 9/4: Practice squad and depth chart updates

* Who were the ultimate winners of some of this training camp's position battles? According to Nick Wagoner, the Rams' depth chart for certain positions reads as follows:

- Though he didn't even start Thursday night, or all preseason, for that matter, the Rams are currently listing Rokevious Watkins as the starting left guard. Wagoner believes now that Watkins will start for the Rams in Detroit, though he's careful to note that the depth chart is not official.

- The starting safeties are listed as Quintin Mikell and Darian Stewart, who's barely done anything in 2012 due to a hamstring injury. Pending a report that Stewart is done "chillin'", I think we can expect Craig Dahl to be the actual starter beside Mikell.

- Rocky McIntosh is listed as the starting strongside linebacker. Seems like somebody around here recommended the Rams sign McIntosh last year. Just sayin'.


* Sorting out the practice squad:

The Rams impolitely do not list their practice squad on their website like many other teams do, but by all indications, these are the current players on the squad:

Tim Barnes
Mason Brodine
Aaron Brown
Cory Harkey
Nick Johnson
Chase Reynolds
Brandon Washington

That's a man short of a full practice squad. I had DeAngelo Peterson as a practice squad player over the weekend, but he never actually made it there. The Redskins picked him up after the Rams cut him and put him on their practice squad. The Rams had then actually planned to put Michael Hoomanawanui on the practice squad - he was eligible? - after cutting him Sunday, but in stepped... the Redskins? AGAIN? to put a waiver claim on him. Given the choice of should I stay or should I go, Illini Mike decided for a change in career scenery and went to D.C. To make room for him on their practice squad, the Redskins cut... DeAngelo Peterson.

I'm a little surprised the Rams' practice squad is not full. They need to fill it, or the players they have on it will not be eligible to stay on it as long. So who knows, maybe Peterson will be back. I'd favor picking Tom Brandstater back up - he is actually eligible - but I'm a lot more nervous about having only a rookie free agent behind Sam Bradford than some.

-$-

Rams roster move scorecard (updated 9/2)

Additional moves by the Rams since the cutdown to 53:

Sunday 9/2:
* The Rams on Sunday cut presumed starting left guard Quinn Ojinnaka and tight end Michael Hoomanawanui. The guess here is that Robert Turner will take over there until Rok Watkins is ready. Just the switch to Turner is probably an improvement over Ojinnaka, who seemed to miss a lot of blocks in preseason play. However, Howard Balzer says it's going to be Wayne Hunter, so you might want to go with that.

Hoomanawanui was cut to make room for an extra offensive lineman. The Rams picked up Ty Nsekhe, a tackle, from the Colts and Shelley Smith, a guard from the Texans. Nsekhe is a monster 6'8", 325, a former Arena League player, believe it or not, for the San Antonio Talons. He's played in the AFL the past five seasons, with the Talons, Philadelphia Soul, Dallas Vigilantes and Corpus Christi Sharks. He scored three TDs with Philadelphia, so I'm thinking monster blocking tight end. He's a 26-year-old out of Texas State, but I believe the Colts were his first NFL camp.

Shelley Smith, last I was aware, was one of ESPN's NBA reporters. I'm not sure when she bulked up enough to play guard in the NFL. Also, you'd think the NFL's first female player would have been a much more newsworthy event.

Oh, there's also a 6'4", 300 guard the Texans drafted in the 6th round in 2010 out of Colorado State. He's yet to appear in a regular-season game and was out all of last season due to an ankle injury. Rotoworld called him a "good athlete with long-term upside in a zone-blocking scheme." PFW ranked him the #10 guard in that year's draft, and he had the best vertical leap of any guard at the 2010 Combine. 30-plus college starts. Strong, quick-footed, recognizes the blitz well. Appears to have a bit of a history with ankle injuries, though.

The Rams also added 6'2" 320 tackle Brandon Washington to the eighth and final slot on the practice squad. Washington was cut by the Eagles, who drafted him in the sixth round this year from Miami. RamView's Combine notes on Washington: should have stayed in school. He needs a lot more coaching. His kick-slide footwork was atrocious, like he was trying to skip backwards. And talk about playing out of control - he nearly veered off the course running the 40. And he looked like a horror show when he was on course, like a very large Pekingese.

Washington played right guard for the 'Canes as a sophomore and left tackle last year. Pro Football Weekly called him a disappointment at LT, saying it looked at times like he was "playing while wearing an inner tube," but ranked him as a 4th-5th round prospect for his physical upside. Light on his feet, explosive pull blocker, good lateral movement, good range. Needs to gain a lot of strength and needs a lot of polish on his technique. The Eagles had been working him at guard according to reports.

Finally, Jerome Murphy has already been claimed by, guess who, Steve Spagnuolo and the Saints. He'll be coached by fellow Spagvaney Era refugees Ken Flajole and Andre Curtis.

Saturday 9/1:
* Traded Greg Salas to New England for a late-round pick in 2015.
* Lost Sammy Brown on waivers to Miami.
* Signed RB Terrance Ganaway, the Jets' sixth-round pick this year. Hilariously, the Jets have already cut half of their 2012 draft, and Ganaway was the only Jet player to score a TD this preseason. Big back, 6'0, 240, out of Baylor, where he ran for 1,500 yards and 21 TDs last year, his only year there as a full-time starter. Straight-line runner, tough inside runner, liability in pass protection.
* Signed DT Kellen Heard, who was with the Bills last year after spending 2010 on Oakland's practice squad. Apparently the NFL has a one-Kellen-per-team limit. He's 6'6", 340, and had 21 tackles, 2 sacks and a forced fumble last season. 5 tackles this preseason. Actually played both ways at Memphis, also lining up at guard. Scouts Inc. ranks him as a good backup. Massive, can defend the run at the point of attack and can push the pocket against the pass, but plays too high, has no range and needs a lot of work as a pass rusher.
* Heard will take the roster spot of Jerome Murphy, who was cut Saturday evening. Could be a tough road from here for Murphy. Safety/corner tweener, blew a lot of assignments his rookie year, missed his whole 2nd year due to injury, and cut by a team that appears to believe it's better off keeping Quinton Pointer. (The Bradley Fletcher trade rumor appears to have been a bad one, however.)

* Practice squad:
Tim Barnes
Mason Brodine
Aaron Brown
Corey Harkey
Nick Johnson
DeAngelo Peterson
Chase Reynolds
Brandon Washington

One to go. Barnes is a nice move; I should have realized he had practice squad eligibility. Gives them some insurance at center and also worked out at guard.

Additional moves this weekend will be updated right here.

-$-

Ex-Rams waiver wire watch

Roster updates from around the league:

Ex-Rams cut: none
Ex-Rams on roster: Paris Lenon

Most interesting cut: they named John Skelton their starting QB but cut his brother Steve.

Ex-Rams cut: none
Ex-Rams on roster: none

Most interesting cut: CB Dominique Franks

Ex-Rams cut: Tony Wragge
Ex-Rams on roster: Danny Gorrer AND Billy Bajema? You're kidding!
Coaching staff: running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery
Most interesting cut: Wragge or OL Cord Howard

Ex-Rams cut: Ruvell Freaking Martin, Fendi Onobun
Ex-Rams on roster: Ryan Fitzpatrick

Most interesting cut: LB Tank Carder (signed by Browns)

Ex-Rams cut: David Nixon, Roger Allen, Bryant Browning (on practice squad)
Ex-Rams on roster: K Justin Medlock
Coaching staff: offensive line coach John Matsko, assistant wide receivers coach Rickey Proehl
Most interesting cut: CB Darius Butler

Ex-Rams cut: Jabara Williams, K.C. Asiodu
Ex-Rams on roster: none
Coaching staff: head coach Lovie Smith, linebackers coach Bob Babich, assistant defensive backs coach Gill Byrd
Most interesting cut: DE Chauncey Davis

Ex-Rams cut: none
Ex-Rams on roster: Bruce Gradkowski, Andrew Hawkins, Brian Leonard
Coaching staff: quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese
Most interesting cut: LB Rodderick Muckleroy
Most interesting player to make roster: LB Vontaze Burfict

Ex-Rams cut: none
Ex-Rams on roster: Thaddeus Lewis, John Greco, Reggie Hodges, Chris Ogbannaya
Coaching staff: head coach Pat Shurmur, wide receivers coach Nolan Cromwell
Most interesting cut: Seneca Wallace

Ex-Rams cut: none
Ex-Rams on roster: none
Coaching staff: defensive line coach Brian Baker
Most interesting cut: LB Baraka Atkins

Ex-Rams cut: none
Ex-Rams on roster: Lance Ball, Justin Bannan
Coaching staff: secondary coach Ron Milus
Most interesting cut: T Ryan Harris

Ex-Rams cut: Dominique Curry
Ex-Rams on roster: none
Coaching staff: offensive coordinator Scott Linehan
Most interesting cut: WR Patrick Edwards
Most interesting player to make roster: QB Kellen Moore

Ex-Rams cut: Daniel Muir, Demarco Cosby, Anthony Hargrove
Ex-Rams on roster: Ryan Pickett
Coaching staff: outside linebackers coach Kevin Greene
Most interesting cut: QB B.J. Coleman
Good luck with this joker as your backup QB: Graham Harrell

Ex-Rams cut: Jimmy Saddler-McQueen
Ex-Rams on roster: Donnie Jones
Coaching staff: assistant head coach / defensive line coach Bill Kollar
Most interesting cut: NT Lonnie Fangupo. Loved this guy at the Combine. And the Rams need DTs.

Ex-Rams cut: Jermale Hines
Ex-Rams on roster: Gentleman Kris Adams (!), Donnie Avery, Josh Gordy, Justin King, Scott Lutrus (IR). Um, I'm thinking King made some of those WRs look really good in camp.
Most interesting cut: WR Quan Cosby

Ex-Rams cut: none
Ex-Rams on roster: Laurent Robinson, George Selvie, Keith Toston. How do you like that?
Coaching staff: assistant head coach / quarterbacks coach Greg Olson, running backs coach Sylvester Croom
Most interesting cut: CB Leigh Torrence

Ex-Rams cut: Mikail Baker
Ex-Rams on roster: none
Coaching staff: special teams coach Tom McMahon, special teams quality control coach Derius Swinton
Most interesting cut: WR Junior Hemingway (practice squad)

Ex-Rams cut: Jonathan Wade, Ray Feinga
Ex-Rams on roster: Sammy Brown, Richie Incognito

Most interesting cut: LB Josh Kaddu

Ex-Rams cut: none
Ex-Rams on roster: none
Coaching staff: defensive line coach Brendan Daly
Most interesting cut: CB Chris Carr

Ex-Rams cut: Bobby Carpenter
Ex-Rams on roster: Greg Salas, Daniel Fells, Brandon Lloyd
Coaching staff: offensive coordinator / quarterbacks coach Josh McDaniels
Most interesting cut: QB Brian Hoyer
Why you never waste roster space on Olympic athletes: placed Jeff Demps on injured reserve. How long was he there, a week?

Ex-Rams cut: Cord Parks
Ex-Rams on roster: Scott Shanle, Chris Chamberlain (injured reserve), Marquis Johnson (guess what, injured reserve, AGAIN)
Coaching staff: defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, assistant head coach / linebackers coach Joe Vitt, wide receivers coach Henry Ellard, secondary coach Ken Flajole, assistant secondary coach Andre Curtis, defensive assistant/linebackers Brian Young
                                            Most interesting cut: Luke McCown

Ex-Rams cut: none
Ex-Rams on roster: none
Coaching staff: defensive coordinator Perry Fewell, cornerbacks coach Peter Giunta
Most interesting cut: DT Marcus Thomas

Ex-Rams cut: Josh Brown, Damario Ambrose
Ex-Rams on roster: Jason Smith
Most interesting cut: DE Jay Richardson

Ex-Rams cut: Hall Davis, Terrail Lambert
Ex-Rams on roster: Ron Bartell
Coaching staff: senior offensive assistant Al Saunders
Most interesting cut: Roscoe Parrish

Ex-Rams cut: O.J. Atogwe, Mardy Gilyard
Ex-Rams on roster: none
Coaching staff: special teams coordinator Bobby April
Most interesting cut: QB Mike Kafka

Ex-Rams cut: Mortty Ivy
Ex-Rams on roster: Shaun Suisham, Jamie McCoy (practice squad)
Most interesting cut: S Myron Rolle

Ex-Rams cut: Phil Trautwein
Ex-Rams on roster: Randy McMichael
Coaching staff: secondary coach Ron Meeks
Most interesting cut: QB Jarrett Lee

Ex-Rams cut: none
Ex-Rams on roster: Larry Grant
Most interesting cut: TE Konrad Reuland

Ex-Rams cut: Alex Barron
Ex-Rams on roster: none
Most interesting cut: Kellen Winslow

Ex-Rams cut: Teryl White
Ex-Rams on roster: Gary Gibson
Coaching staff: senior offensive assistant Jimmy Raye, special teams coordinator Bob Ligashesky (really? He has an NFL job?), assistant offensive line coach Steve Loney (really? HE has an NFL job?!?!)
Most interesting cut: LB Rennie Curran

Ex-Rams cut: none
Ex-Rams on roster: Will Witherspoon, Zac Diles, Leger (DOOZER) Douzable (injured reserve)
Coaching staff: defensive coordinator Jerry Gray, wide receivers coach Dave Ragone
Most interesting cut: C William Vlachos

Ex-Rams cut: Bryan Kehl, Marlon Favorite
Ex-Rams on roster: London Fletcher, Adam Carriker
Coaching staff: defensive coordinator Jim Haslett
Most interesting cut: Neil Rackers



These are all based on the team website rosters, the ESPN.com cut list, and my own memory, so blame any mistakes on the first two sources.

-$-

RamView, 9/1: The cutdown to 53

Photo - ESPN

The Rams released 21 players Friday to get to the league roster limit of 53 for the start of the regular season. Given the riverboat gambler's spirit they showed at times on draft weekend, none of the moves should have been complete surprises. But there are still some eyebrow-raisers...

* QB: Starting at QB, where the Rams released veteran Kellen Clemens as well as Tom Brandstater. They'll go with rookie free agent Austin Davis as the only backup to Sam Bradford. I would have kept 3 QBs; this is an astonishing gamble, imo. Bradford has been fragile going back to his senior year at Oklahoma. He takes 11 months or more to recover from ankle sprains. He's behind a very-unproven offensive line, to be charitable. The Rams went through 4 QBs last year. There's no way in hell they're going to get by with 2, short of Bradford suddenly turning into Brett Favre.

* RB: Ovie Mughelli, Ben Guidugli, Chase Reynolds. The most disappointing cut to me is actually Reynolds. Thought he did everything on special teams and late in games to earn a roster spot. The first of a couple of good special-teams players I'm surprised they let go. Brit Miller fools another coaching staff into thinking they've got a starting-quality fullback. At least he's an excellent special teamer they kept.

* Receivers: Nick Johnson, Corey Harkey, DeAngelo Peterson. Along with Reynolds, all should have a solid shot at the practice squad. Austin Pettis' suspension weeks 1-2 allowed the Rams to cut only 21 players to reach the 53-man limit.

* Offensive line: Tim Barnes, T-Bob Hebert, Joe Long, Brian Mattison, Jose Valdez. Ultimately no surprises here. T-Bob is T-bad. Mattison made too many pass-blocking mistakes. I like Long for the practice squad.

* Defensive line: Cornell Banks, Mason Brodine, Vernon Gholston, Jamaar Jarrett, Scott Smith. No surprises again, other than the list at this position being a little shorter than I expected. I thought Smith earned a PS opportunity.

* Linebackers: Aaron Brown, Sammy Brown. Despite looking pretty lost earlier in camp, Aaron Brown, the first of the Rams' two seventh-round picks in April, ranks as a surprise to me. Especially because he must have been drafted for his special teams play, and he looked good there. Would sure think he's being looked at for practice squad. Spoiler alert: Sammy Brown has already been claimed by the Dolphins, so the Rams miss out on a chance to stash a pass-rushing specialist prospect. He's a better fit for Miami's system anyway. Also, good thing they didn't try to get Austin Davis through waivers.

* Secondary: Kendric Burney. No surprise again; Burney just wasn't very good.

* Survivors: RamView went 17 for 21 on the second round of cuts. I would have kept Clemens, Mughelli, Reynolds and Aaron Brown. The Rams kept four players I'd all call surprising:

- Quinton Pointer. What can I say about the man I gave a 0.1% chance of making the roster? First of all, good for him. Second of all, I wish I would have had a third run at updating the free-agent odds. He was clearly improving by the Dallas game, and is certainly the most improved player from the beginning of camp. I would have bumped him up to at least 20%. But third, this is still a bizarre move. What happened to keeping your best 53 players? I really do not get trading Josh Gordy, and the Rams are apparently now trying to trade Bradley Fletcher, so you can keep Quinton Pointer? Especially when we've seen no proof Pointer can cover anyone alive man to man. He made some special teams plays, but I'd hardly call him better than Reynolds or Aaron Brown. Good for Pointer, but I'm still quite puzzled.

- Matt Daniels. Another head-scratching move. Rodney McLeod ripped the fourth safety job out of Daniels' hands at the beginning of camp and kept it for good. Daniels never stood out to me at anything. Jim Thomas speculates the Rams have to keep 5 safeties because of "just chillin'" Darian Stewart's never-healing hamstring.

- Greg Salas. I let the radio crew talk me into projecting a Salas cut Thursday night. Why not just keep 5 WRs when it was likely Pettis would just come in and take his job anyway? Spoiler alert, though: Salas has been traded to the Patriots for an unspecified late-round pick in 2015. Everyone keep your eyes on this year's mediocre college sophomores, then.

- Darell Dorell Freaking Scott. Has never made a play in his career, and STILL the guy just won't die. And he's supposed to be out at least two weeks into the season, what good does that do a team already dangerously short at DT? I'll speculate the Rams are going to rush him back into action. Hell, he's more experienced than anyone else they can replace Brockers with; if he can go, he could be an opening day starter.

The Rams do have more moves pending. I'll do my best to get to them all ASAP.

-$-

RamView, 8/30

Thursday night's recap is finally up at ramview.com...  Link

* Positives: Sam Bradford sharp, running game and starting o-line effective, Robert Quinn forcing a sack/fumble, Janoris Jenkins pick-six, Greg Zuerlein mashing from 59.

* Negatives: Michael Brockers injured, backup QBs flounder, refereeing pitiful.

* Huge qualifier to the positivies: Baltimore played almost none of their starters.

* Injuries: Brockers is going to miss at least the first month of the season due to a high ankle sprain, and as we all know, those can last for 46 weeks or more. Matt Conrath was pulled out of the game and is believed to be injured. No details have been forthcoming from Rams Park.

* The Rams are 8.5-point underdogs at Detroit next Sunday. Kickoff at noon.

* I'll be catching up with the many moves the Rams have been making throughout the weekend. Sorry to be the world's slowest reporter; I'm always behind the 8-ball with Thursday night games, and mystery computer problems haven't helped me much, either.

-$-