"Scrimmage" report, 8/7/15

RamView, August 7, 2015
Training Camp Report
from Lindenwood University
Pretty typical Rams “scrimmage” of the past seven years, with the defense way ahead of an out-of-sync offense that has work to do in just about every phase. Let's hope this is the year the Rams prove it really is too early right now to judge how the offense is going to play, because there's getting to be kind of a track record.

* QB: Nick Foles attempted some throws I'd better not see him try again this preseason, let alone the regular season. He threw some nice short passes into tight coverage, usually to Jared Cook, but threw several into coverage downfield that never should have left his hand. The qualifier – he probably would have gotten sacked on most of those throws and probably was just giving a receiver a chance to make a play. Hard to tell. Foles did not get many strong pockets. At least one of those seemed to be his own fault for not adjusting protection to the side of the formation the blitz was (obviously) coming from. From one rare solid pocket Foles did get, he tried to force a short ball to a well-covered Cook and got it broken up and intercepted. He also missed Cook and Stedman Bailey on corner routes. Too many throws he shouldn't have made, and should have made, to give Foles a high grade tonight. And I never got to see him take a shot deep. On the plus side, Foles made a terrific play-fake to set up a slant to Stedman Bailey for a big gain to open 11-on-11. I was looking right at it and would swear he gave the ball to Benny Cunningham and then took it back from him. I have an established bias, but Austin Davis looked like the best of the backups, which goes hand-in-hand with him getting the most solid pockets to throw from. At the same time, he hung in well and delivered from collapsing pockets several times, including a red zone TD to Isaiah Pead. Case Keenum's first 11-on-11 throw was a one-hopper on a two-yard quick hitch, and I kind of tuned him out after that. Davis and Keenum aren't supposedly that different in size but Keenum seems to play much smaller. I would say they both had some accuracy issues in 7-on-7. Disappointingly, Sean Mannion only got to work with the rookies and only got to rush a couple of bad throws, one of which should have been picked off. If Foles (and the rest of the offense) are still getting dialed in at this point, fine. But there can't be many performances like this one for the Rams to go anywhere in the regular season. I don't think any of the 11-on-11 “drives” led to a TD.

* RB: The offense ran almost nothing but pass plays (which could have been part of their problem), so not a lot of action here. Especially with Tre Mason out due to hamstring tightness and Todd Gurley glued to the sideline running 60-yard shuttles. That made Benny Cunningham RB1, with Pead and Trey Watts taking turns at RB2, which sure looks like an elevation for Pead to me. Watts had the best run of the night, a 20-yard TD run where he read the defense perfectly, bounced the run outside and had no one left on his side of the field who could catch him. He did drop an easy dumpoff pass in 11-on-11, though. Pead seemed to get the most carries but didn't appear to break off anything big, usually running wide. Nobody got anywhere up the middle. No fullback section this week but Justice Cunningham looked a lot better blocking 1-on-1 than I thought he looked last week. I think he was the only guy who blocked Ethan Westbrooks all night.

* Receivers: Kenny Britt got the night off. Stedman Bailey got Britt's starter's reps and flashed some of his form from last training camp. He is yet to return to that level, though. Jared Cook is clearly Foles' #1 target, and this scrimmage was like a typical game for Cook. Enough short catches to make you think he's got something going, then an annoying drop. Tavon Austin didn't have a really productive scrimmage personally, but more on that later. He got stripped after a red zone catch near the goal line but fell on the ball. Brian Quick had another groan-inducing drop. His drops I've seen have come in the middle of the field where contact would be waiting for him. He looks confident and catches well at the sideline. I hope he can lose the no-contact beanie pretty soon, I think the idea that he can't go all out is affecting his game mentally. The longer the dropped passes continue, the more it looks like he's had a setback compared to last year's near-breakout. The sleeper receiver of this pretty-sleepy group could be Lance Kendricks. He's quietly playing well, running good, smooth routes and catching well. There's not much pressure from the bottom of the depth chart. Chris Givens showed nice acceleration taking a quick route for 20. Bradley Marquez made a nice sliding catch. The last play of 11-on-11, I hoped they would put something up for Isiah Ferguson, who's 6'5” with a 40-something vertical, and Davis did put one up deep... and Ferguson broke off his route. They don't drop anything in warmups, but I'm ready to get consistently sharper play out of this unit.

* O-line: The struggle was real tonight for the offensive line, which had a lot of trouble with the d-line's speed and committed at least five false starts. I thought Rob Havenstein got called for 1 or 2. Garrett Reynolds got one for sure, because he got pulled. Havenstein and Jamon Brown and Greg Robinson all had difficulty with speed rushes 1-on-1. Robinson's difficulty continued in 11-on-11; I figure Robert Quinn for 3 sacks. Not only was Foles was under persistent pressure from the front four, at least a couple of blitzers would have gotten to him completely unblocked. The night in a nutshell: Foles drops back. Quinn would have sacked him. Foles scrambles over to Quinn's side. William Hayes would have tracked him down. Foles fires a pass into downfield coverage, nearly picked off. It'll be a long season for Rams fans, though a short one for Foles, if these struggles continue. You know how they say, if you have two starting QBs, you don't have one? What does that make three centers? Negative one? Demetrius Rhaney was actually with the ones tonight, which to me is a pretty big stretch. Michael Brockers just ran over him in 1-on-1, the middle run game got nowhere, and there were blitz protection and timing problems all night. Tim Barnes was C2, Barrett Jones C3, with some action as the goal line TE. Jones got driven back to the QB by Westbrooks on a late pass but held up much better in the run game. The second line did the best job pass-protecting and picking up blitzes. So, yeah, of course I can't remember that unit, other than Barnes and Reynolds, listed as a guard but playing RT. Andrew Donnal's listed as a T but played guard. The line highlight of the night was probably Rodger Saffold holding his own against Aaron Donald 1-on-1. Beyond that, though, gotta go to work. I'm sure a much more even run-pass balance than tonight's will help.

* Defensive line: The star backup of the night was Ethan Westbrooks; nearly every single rep he had was good. He was nearly unblockable, spent a lot of the practice in the backfield, and he was doing it all from defensive tackle, often right over the nose. He looked so good at DT (granted, he didn't have to stop many runs) I don't see why the Rams couldn't go with 8 on the d-line on the final roster and just use him all over. Robert Quinn had a dominating night pass-rushing. Aaron Donald nearly beat Pead to a handoff to blow up one run. Chris Long sat out again, but Sack City looks like it's open for business.

* Linebackers: A strong outing for the LB unit as well. Akeem Ayers really “flashed” here as an all-around LB. He was very effective blitzing, and made an excellent play in coverage in the red zone. He ended up with zone responsibility for Tavon, and Foles tried to exploit it, but Ayers not only stuck to his man, he stripped the ball loose. Ayers' athleticism is really showing for me now. Alec Ogletree had skin-tight coverage and broke up a pass for Cook that resulted in a Janoris Jenkins INT. Marshall McFadden picked off a pass in 7-on-7. Jo-Lonn Dunbar, though, got beat for the Pead red zone TD. Daren Bates continued to look good as an edge run defender. Bryce Hager blew up a run in the rookie session and continues to look good with that group. You're going to have to fight him and me to keep him off this team somewhere.

* Secondary: Tonight's practice has me gaining confidence in this group, even with E.J. Gaines out due to a foot injury. Maurice Alexander was also out. Janoris Jenkins, though, seems to be at the top of his game. He had an interception off a deflection, a nice pass breakup in 7-on-7, solid coverage all night and Foles basically wouldn't throw at him. Trumaine Johnson also had a nice 7-on-7 breakup. The smaller receivers made catches in front of him in soft coverage, which is pretty much what you're going to get from TruJo. Lamarcus Joyner looked very sticky in coverage; I believe he had coverage on the deep corner to Bailey that just missed. Cody Davis did a nice job bringing deep help on that play. Speaking of bringing it, Mark Barron delivered the biggest pop of the night on a run play. Jacob Hagen looked good in run support with the rookies, but Montell Garner completely muffed a very catchable interception opportunity.

* Special teams: The special teams highlights were a Brandon Washington “kickoff return TD” and the return of Legatron. Greg Zuerlein hit everything once again, which included squeaking a 64-yard FG over the crossbar. Also, Johnny Hekker throwing 40-yard passes in warmups. He was the Rams' most clutch QB last season, after all.

* Strategery: A lot of work on the passing game tonight, probably tilted three-to-one. There weren't many plays run for Tavon, but there were several Tavon plays run. There's a too-cute-by-half fake flanker end-around that turns into a pass to the flanker in the flat. I guess the idea is the defense takes their eyes off him when they recognize the fake. There was a quick hitch thrown against the grain that gave Givens room to take off for 20. Foles exploited soft coverage by TruJo and hit Tavon with a quick slant for a nice gain. He had Tavon iso'ed on Ayers another time but Ayers made a fine play. The play-action to Bailey out of the slot that opened 11-on-11 is a play Tavon easily could take to the house. Foles was definitely looking for Tavon, and the Rams definitely have plays drawn up to take advantage of Tavon, though he wasn't always the one running them tonight. The best bit of trickery was Barrett Jones running a route in the end zone out of the goal line jumbo package, but Davis hesitated to pull the trigger on that and hit Bailey for the TD instead.

DRONE!

* Cheers: This looked pretty easily like the lowest-attended of the Lindenwood scrimmages, thanks in part to the inconvenient Friday-at-5:00 starting time. Lucky for me my boss is a big Rams fan and let me knock off a little early. The shady press-box side of the stadium was packed, but the other three sections were pretty sparsely populated. I'd guess 4,000-4,500. I'm pretty sure it's been over 7,000 in the past when it was held later and on a Saturday. Unlike past times here, I had little trouble getting a good parking spot or getting out afterward. I saw no “Keep the Rams” signs, which I understand were banned from Rams Park while NFL Network was there this week. I couldn't say whether they were banned tonight. Not banned tonight: DRONES. There was a quadcopter hovering over the field, though I don't know who was operating it. Either the Rams or Bill Belichick.

* What's next?: That'll do it for RamView's training camp coverage. Heck, that about does it for training camp in St. Louis; the last one fans here can attend is Tuesday, then the Rams go to play Oakland Friday, and then on to, well, you know. The Rams shellacked the Raiders 52-0 last regular season, and the Silver and Black has not likely forgotten that, which could make for some interesting moments. (OMG, I just remembered they have Ray-Ray Armstrong. Get your penalty flags ready.) The main thing to watch for the Rams is how well the offensive line is coming together and that there aren't any major injuries. With starters likely to go a quarter at the most, I doubt anything else out of this game will be important. Let's get the 2015 season off to an effective, healthy start.

-- Mike

Injury report, 8/6

The Rams' injury report heading into tomorrow night's open practice at Lindenwood University:

* The big one is E.J. Gaines, whose foot was injured when he got stepped on during Wednesday's practice. He's expected to be out at least two weeks and there's some concern he has a plantar fascia injury. So much for TruJo getting challenged for the starting spot. I think this is a big injury; Gaines was the Rams' best corner in many of last year's games.
* Tre Mason may be out the next few days after being pulled from today's practice due to tightness in his hamstring. How many RBs has the Fisher/Snead regime drafted? Five? RB1 tomorrow night will be UDFA Benny Cunningham, and RB2 may be UDFA Trey Watts.
* The rest of the injury list:
- Todd Gurley, knee, limited to individual drills
- Brandon McGee, knee or foot, out a few days
- Korey Toomer, high ankle sprain. That might mean he'll be lucky to return before the season starts.
- Cody Wichmann, calf, PUP
- Doug Worthington, ankle or foot, out of action wearing a walking boot

Back in action: Chris Long and Mark Barron.

The injuries in the secondary have led the Rams to pick up another free agent DB, at Devon Wylie's expense. And, of course, if you are from FREAKING AUBURN, you are ten times better than any possible candidate out there, so welcome aboard Auburn DB Trovon Reed. He's 6'0", 190 with a whole season's experience at corner. He was a WR his first three years at AUBURN. He did have three INTs last season.

Training camp report, 7/31/15

RamView, July 31, 2015
Training Camp Report from Rams Park

So far, so good for the opening day of training camp 2015 for the Rams. The rookie class is off to a pretty good start and practice looked pretty mistake-free. Aaron Donald still cannot be blocked by human beings and RamView is still long-winded. Are you ready for some football?

* QB: The offense was about as exciting and risk-taking the first day out as a Hillary Clinton stump speech, so no one really hurt their stock. Nick Foles got a lot of reps and worked with backups more than I remember Sam Bradford ever doing. He hit Jared Cook for one long TD 7-on-7. That was about all of 7-on-7 I watched, because they do it the same time as 1-on-1 line drills, so almost all the passing I saw was pretty short. I do like the arm Foles shows on short out routes. I never thought that throw was a strength of Bradford's, and it sure wasn't for Shaun Hill or Kellen Clemens. Foles has got better zip on that throw than I've seen in a while. Most deep balls 11-on-11 were bailout throws because, in reality, Foles would have gotten drilled by somebody. I'll only see this practice and next Friday's, so I doubt I'll see enough to decide if Foles' deep ball will be a concern. Austin Davis came out first at QB2 but that really looks like a timeshare with Case Keenum. Sean Mannion had a couple of hiccups in the final 7-on-7 drills mostly for rookies but didn't have a bad day. His release looks a little weird but he throws a good-looking ball. Sure, a lot of passes only traveled a few yards in the air, but everyone's timing looked good. I'll take it for starters.

* RB: Todd Gurley participated in position drills but not team drills. He didn't show any sign of his knee injury to me, but I think the Rams are very smart to play it safe with him so far. Tre Mason showed a little power running through some arm tackling, as did Trey Watts. I think that's a good development for Mason because he didn't have a lot of success up the middle last year and needs to improve there. Sweeps or leak-out routes for him were usually blown up, making the RB star of the day... … … oh man should I go here?... … oh, ok, Isaiah Pead. He also shows no sign of his knee injury from last year. Every rep I saw him take was good. He hit the hole quickly, used his blocks well, made himself small in the hole – he didn't get touched without making a nice gain. At a minimum, it looks like Pead will put up a good fight for a roster spot. More power to him.

* Fullbacks: Yes! A fullbacks section! Pretty disappointing blocking today in the backfield, though. Lots of blitzers got there, or would have, in 11-on-11. Bennie Cunningham, who is usually quite good at it, didn't look good in blitz pickup drills and wasn't getting his hands placed properly. Corey Harkey was disappointing, which I hate to say when he's one of my faves. Got beaten in 1-on-1 drills and had a false start 11-on-11. Justice Cunningham didn't look like he had much business doing any of this and UDFA Zach Laskey looked completely outclassed. There's a lot of work to be done here, but Bennie and Harkey stayed after practice to do some extra work, so hopefully this'll turn around quickly.

* Receivers: Jared Cook scored a long TD down the seam in 7-on-7, one of the few standout receiving plays. There were some drops, though I'd blame two of them on the QB. Kenny Britt (now wearing #18, or I'm dyslexic) couldn't come up with the ball on a deep corner route that was well underthrown. Tavon Austin (wearing #1, I don't know if that is a permanent move) couldn't make a tough semi-diving catch over the middle that I think Foles led too much. Austin made a nice gain early on off a quick screen with a shake-and-bake. The disappointing drop was Brian Quick's, who had a very nice throw go off his hands to deny a nice gain. Quick oddly played much of this practice with a special teams beanie over his helmet, maybe that's like the red jersey for QBs. He stayed and worked with Foles after practice, so again, there's hope for a quick turnaround. Farther down the depth chart, a WR who “popped” a bit was Damian Williams. He always seemed like the fastest guy downfield on special teams drills and he made a nice overhead grab in traffic in 11-on-11. Alex Bayer made a nifty intentional one-handed grab of a fastball from Mannion (I think) in 7-on-7. Again, there's a lot unseen to be making many judgments on the receiving corps. No deep game and not a lot of attempts to get it to Tavon.

* O-line: Good and bad here, which is something of an improvement because the o-line has been getting completely outclassed early in recent camps. Several of the youngsters are holding their own. I wanted to draft Jamon Brown, so I'm biased, but he looked strong in 1-on-1s against Nick Fairley and Michael Brockers. Good footwork, didn't get beaten around his shoulder and showed excellent anchor. Rob Havenstein did not fare poorly against William Hayes 1-on-1. The rookies were not the raw meat I feared they'd be for Sack City. Having said that, there were a lot of protection issues on that side 11-on-11, but enough of that was blitz-related that I'd still say both rookies had good enough first days. Robert Quinn embarrassed Greg Robinson on their first 1-on-1 rep, with just a rip and a speed move around him for an easy sack, but Robinson won the second rep just as clearly, stoning Quinn on an attempted spin move. Tim Barnes appears to be the first-string center in what's probably a three-way timeshare. I just find it so disappointing that someone besides Barnes isn't already a clear leader here. Barnes did actually hold up well one rep, but not the other, I believe against Brockers, and that's what Barnes is. He doesn't have the anchor or power to hold up at center. These guys are all lucky right now I cannot remember who Doug Worthington pancaked. Also, it's a good thing Aaron Donald is a Ram, because Rodger Saffold can not handle him. Saffold might have been the most disappointing lineman of the day. Then again, Brandon Washington looked really bad twice 1-on-1 against Louis Trinca-Pasat, who I believe scored a pancake. Time's running out on that project, and the Jamaican, Darrell Williams, who looks completely outclassed, but the Isaiah Battle Project actually didn't get off to a bad start. At backup LT, he was stacking some people up in the running game. Youth was served pretty well the first day, and Saffold only has to face Donald in practice.

* Defensive line: Some unexpected absences. Chris Long did not appear to participate in anything. I also don't remember seeing Eugene Sims. That's probably on me. The other unexplained absence is the #94 jersey, because Robert Quinn was wearing #2, and if not for his distinctive profile, I could have mistaken him for a big wideout. He looks skinny, though still lethally effective without having to expend a lot of energy. Aaron Donald picked up from his impressive rookie season, just blipping past linemen before they could get to him. Ethan Westbrooks impressed me. Hard not to when he's killing Justice Cunningham every rep 1-on-1, but I thought he was getting there 11-on-11 as well. I would have lost a lot of money in the defensive lineman pancake pool, because it wasn't Michael Brockers or Nick Fairley getting them, it was Doug Worthington and Louis Trinca-Pasat. Worthington ran over somebody whose number I couldn't get, and vice versa, I'm sure. Washington was not ready for LTP's quickness off the snap. Wonder how that matchup'll go tomorrow. Way down the depth chart, I don't remember Matt Longacre winning 1-on-1, but his number seemed to pop into view a lot 11-on-11.

* Linebackers: Sorry, I still suck at linebacking. I thought Daren Bates stood out with the 2's. He did a good job sealing the edge on some runs. I like how he's developing into a more and more complete player. Bryce Hager had a number of successful blitzes. Akeem Ayers was the victim of Cook's long 7-on-7 TD, but I can't believe having Ayers cover a TE deep down the seam is the ideal role for him. That was a scheme win for the offense.

* Secondary: Another disappointment for me is that E.J. Gaines was at best sharing the CB1 opposite Janoris Jenkins with Trumaine Johnson. Gaines should be getting all those reps over TruJo as far as I'm concerned. I really can't explain what went on today other than a lot of mixing and matching. It looked like Lamarcus Joyner and Marcus Roberson were the 2s; I wasn't even sure what Gaines' unit was for a while. And it was Gaines who made the best play I saw, perfectly shutting down Chris Givens on a rare deep route. Hearing now that Mark Barron was a no-go today, I believe Maurice Alexander got that role with the 1s. The secondary wasn't tested much, and I didn't learn much. Down the depth chart, Jacob Hagen had the only pick I saw all day, in rookie 7-on-7, and recalling the positive ball-hawking comments I saw in his scouting reports, I doubt that will be the last we hear from him. I liked Montell Garner in that session, too; he jumped a couple of slant routes well and wasn't afraid to get physical. Oh yeah, this is a Jeff Fisher team. Feisty.

* Special teams: The Isaiah Pead conspiracy started on special teams. The team opened practice with kick coverage the first twenty minutes, and the unit with Chase Reynolds, Daren Bates, Bennie Cunningham, Corey Harkey and Stedman Bailey on it would be the #1 unit, right? Pead was on that unit, along with a couple of other names I wasn't expecting, Korey Toomer and Marshall McFadden, though both were on teams last season. Well, be more aware than I was that those guys have legitimate shots at roster spots. Alexander was also on that unit, which very much pleases me. Interesting names on the #2 unit included Tre Mason and Jo-Lonn Dunbar. I even saw Alec Ogletree doing some teams work, if my brain wasn't too baked. Greg Zuerlein closed out practice going 4-for-4 from 30, 35, 40, and 45 (pfft, chip shots). I believe backup kicker Michael Palardy also ran the table.

* Strategery: This was the least tricky practice I've ever seen, though THANKFULLY, no inside handoffs to 170-pound RBs. Lots of play action, pretty even run distribution (end vs. middle), lots and lots of short passes. Based on today, the plan again this year is for a lot of 16-play scoring drives. Other than the one designed screen for Austin, I didn't notice much meant to get him the ball in space, though that one effort worked well. Many release-valve throws to the backs, but I get fooled every year into thinking that's going to be an offensive wrinkle. It's the first day; I'm sure they're saving the fumblerooski-triple-flea-flicker-flanker-throwback for tomorrow.

* Cheers: Well, I'd prefer not to go there from the very first report, but the name I heard mentioned the most in the crowd today, not favorably, was “Kroenke”. The Rams Park staff didn't seem to mind the several keep-the-Rams-in-St.-Louis signs, though. It looked like a good crowd for a Friday afternoon; I wouldn't be surprised to hear attendance in the 1,500 range. There are some downgrades. Last year, the rail went all the way around the near fields and afforded some access to the back fields; this year, it cuts off where it used to, just past the season ticket holders' section. There wasn't a concession stand on the hill like last year, just one beer guy going around, and he ran out of water before the end of the day. Might want to make sure to bring enough along if you're attending a practice this year.

* What's next?: RamView's only other planned training camp report will be from the scrimmage at Lindenwood University next Friday night. I want to thank everyone who's been reading these over the years. We all know it's very easy to make too much out of what goes on during one day of training camp, or my Hall of Fame bust of Quinton Culberson wouldn't have quite so much dust on it. I think I've gotten more right than wrong over the years (if just barely); thanks for putting up with these brain dumps.

-- Mike

Training camp starts today at 3:30

This is a corrected training camp schedule. My original training camp post had today's opening practice starting at 5:30. The Rams and Post-Dispatch websites confirm that it's 3:30. Would be nice to get there at the right time. Bifocal problem on my end, apologies.

Fri July 31 - 3:30
Sat Aug 1 - 3:30
Sun Aug 2 - 5:30
Tue Aug 4 - 3:30
Thu Aug 6 - 5:30
Fri Aug 7 - 5:00 scrimmage at Lindenwood University
Sun Aug 9 - 3:30
Mon Aug 10 - 3:30
Tue Aug 11 - 5:30

-$-

Rookie free agent profile: Imoan Claiborne, DB, Northwestern State

Northwestern State University

Imoan Claiborne, 5'10" 193
DB, Northwestern State

Rankings
NFLDraftScout: #425 player overall, #43 cornerback. 7th round-free agent grade.
Nawrocki: #24 CB, just missed top 150 players. Grade: 5.24, should make a roster and contribute on special teams. 5th-to-6th round pick.
Kiper: #196 player overall, #29 CB.
Draft Countdown: #35 CB. Not in top 256 players. Late round-free agent grade.
Sports Illustrated: #201 player overall, #28 CB.
Scouts Inc: #230 player overall, #30 CB. Grade: 42, borderline draft prospect. 

Biography/Honors
2014: Third team FCS all-America. Team captain. Played in the Senior Bowl. Started 11 games at RCB. 47 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, one sack, 4 INTs, 7 pass breakups, one forced fumble, 3 fumble recoveries.
2013: Second team all-Southland Conference. Team captain. Played in 11 games, starting 10 at RCB. 37 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, one sack, 4 pass breakups, 2 INTs, one returned for TD.
2012: Played in 9 games, starting 6 at right CB. 18 tackles, 2 pass breakups, 1 INT (returned for TD).
2011: Redshirted (academic).
2010: Played in 5 games. Special teams / backup corner. No statistics.

Academics: Has been accepted to graduate school. Majored in general studies. Went from academically ineligible his sophomore year to the dean's list and earned Academic Trailblazer Award as most academically improved student-athlete.
Twitter: @CiRockafella (Imoan's tweets are protected!)


Medical

2014: Missed one-plus games due to a bruised spleen.
2013: Missed one game due to injury (undisclosed).

  
Pro Day Stats
(Not invited to NFL Combine. Times for safeties at the Combine in parentheses)

40-yard dash: 4.61 (4.57)
10-yard split: 1.55
Vertical: 39" (Would have tied for second among safeties. Average was 35")
Broad: 10'0" (9'11")
3-cone: 7.28 (Only one DB at the Combine ran a worse time, but it was Landon Collins. Safeties averaged 7.02)
Shuttle: 4.58 (Easily worse than any DB at the Combine. Safeties averaged 4.21)
Bench: 13 (17)

Scouting Report
Pluses: Feisty, (uh-oh, I smell a Jeff Fisher DB here) confident press-corner who mirrors receivers well off the line and in short areas. Disrupts routes when he gets his hands on his target. Has impressive feet and flips his hips well. Very good change of direction. Very fluid. Good range and recovery speed. Attacks ball aggressively in the air. Good leaper who competes well for contested balls. Showed good footwork, coverage downfield and ability to find the ball at the Senior Bowl. Took advantage of limited opportunities he had with teams usually throwing away from him. Alert in zone coverage. Recognizes route combinations well. Good range and recognition allow him to come off his assignment to make plays. Willing run supporter. Breaks down well in space. Not afraid to challenge blockers and avoids blocks well. Physical and competitive. Special teams experience at gunner and in kick coverage. Hard worker in classroom and on the field. Was projected by some pre-draft as a 3rd-to-4th rounder.


Minuses: Doesn't have the size or long speed to line up outside of the slot. Projects at best to slot corner or safety. Gambler mentality, can be overaggressive trying to jump the ball. Gets fooled by double moves. Gets caught peeking into backfield. Does not stay with his receiver when play breaks down. Can be indecisive in combination coverages. Slow reacting to receiver breaking off route. Uses his hands too much downfield. His anticipation skills disguise his lack of elite burst or extra gear to recover. Better defending throws in front of him than having his back turned to the QB. Late to turn for ball in trail technique. Struggles to get off blocks. More of a wrap-and-drag tackler. Picks and chooses his battles and will make the occasional "business decision".
Compares to: I'd say Rodney McLeod. SI says Brett Grimes. Many say Jeremy Lane, who's similar in size and also went to Northwestern State.

Fun Facts
Imoan is named for actress/supermodel Iman; their names are pronounced the same. His mom Stephanie liked the name when she saw it during the credits of a movie but, not knowing who Iman was, thought it was a man's name. Not to make fun of Mom - she put off getting heart surgery so she could watch Imoan's senior season of college. Imoan was an all-state kick returner his senior year in high school, returning two kickoffs and 5 punts for TDs.

Really good feature article on Imoan here.


RamView
The Rams' online roster lists Claiborne as a CB, but his Combine performance was more like that of a safety. He'll be limited to the slot if the Rams keep him at corner; if they don't, he'll get the whole other hurdle of having to learn another position. The Rams already have several slot corners who are better athletically, and several free safety candidates experienced there and probably also better athletically. Claiborne's agility is a concern to me and I think he'll have to guard against getting faked out of his boots all training camp. Now, Rodney McLeod, another CB/S tweener with similar size and speed (though much better agility), made the team three years ago as a UDFA, but Claiborne's up against a deeper secondary than 2012's. We'll have to see how he starts out as a slot corner and he'll definitely have to shine on special teams.

Chance of making team: 35%.

Sources: Northwestern State athletics, Waco Tribune, The Town Talk (Alexandria, La.), NFL.com, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Sports Illustrated

Gurley full-go for training camp

We interrupt the parade of rookie free-agent profiles with big news from Rams Park: first-round pick Todd Gurley has passed his team physical with flying colors and is cleared for full participation in training camp. He will start camp on the active roster.

There will be a rookie on PUP to start camp, but it's 6th-round pick Corey Wichmann, who's still recovering from an unspecified leg injury suffered during OTAs.

Now we get to be nervous Nellies for a couple of months hoping that Gurley's knee holds up. He'll be back at it 8-9 months after tearing his ACL last November. That recovery timeline did not work out very well for Sam Bradford or Jake Long. ACLs were a 12-month recovery up until Adrian Peterson returned in 9 months three years ago and nearly broke Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record.

In NFL news, Tom Brady's 4-game suspension was upheld by the league. More importantly to Rams fans, LeVeon Bell's was cut to two weeks. That means his first start of the season will be in the Dome when the Steelers visit September 27th.

At the risk of being a bad Rams fan and sort of defending Brady, I am scratching my head trying to figure out how DUI and marijuana possession is half as bad as maybe letting the air out of some footballs.

-$-

Rookie free agent profile: Jacob Hagen, FS, Liberty

Liberty University

Jacob Hagen, 6'2" 205
FS, Liberty

Rankings
NFLDraftScout: #392 player overall, #17 free safety. 7th round-free agent grade.
Nawrocki: Not ranked; Nawrocki's draft preview listed 14 free safeties.
Kiper: Not in top 300 players.
Draft Countdown: #36 safety, not in top 256 players. Late-round / free-agent grade.
Sports Illustrated: Not in top 300; 13 FS listed.
Scouts Inc: #45 safety. Grade: 30, borderline draft prospect.

Biography/Honors
2014: First team FCS all-America. FCS ADA Top Collegiate Defensive Back. First team all-Big South. Started all 14 games. Team captain. Led FCS with 8 INTs. 108 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 7 pass breakups, 15 passes defended, 4 forced fumbles and a fumble recovery returned for TD.
2013: Third team FCS all-America. First team all-Big South. Started 11 of 12 games. Led Big South (3rd in FCS) with 6 INTs. 61 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 6 pass breakups, 13 passes defended, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
2012: Played in 11 games, starting 10, all at free safety. 46 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, one INT, 3 pass breakups, 4 passes defended and a fumble recovery returned for TD.
2011: Played in all 11 games. 30 tackles, 4 pass breakups, 4 passes defended.
2010: Redshirted.

Academics: Majored in sport management.
Twitter: @Jhagen27


Medical

No injuries reported



  
Pro Day Stats
(Not invited to NFL Combine. Averages for safeties at the Combine in parentheses)

40-yard dash: 4.63 (4.57)
10-yard split: 1.59
Vertical: 36.5" (35")
Broad: 10'4" (Top 5 among safeties. Average was 9'11")
3-cone: 7.01 (7.02)
Shuttle: 4.43 (Would have been worst time by a safety. Average was 4.21)
Bench: 22 (Tied for second. Average was 17)

Scouting Report
Pluses: Explosive athlete with ideal size for the position. Moves smoothly, has good feet and flips his hips well. Natural ball-hawk, always around the ball. Makes plays all over the field. Willing run defender. Versatile defender against the run and the pass. Has good hands, a large catching radius and cornerback-quality ball skills to cash in on his interception opportunities. Long strider, covers a lot of ground. Tracks the ball well. Creates turnovers while still playing fundamentally sound. Diagnoses play quickly. Breaks down well in space and accelerates into his tackles. Heavy hitter who looks for the turnover. Has special teams experience. Cerebral player who lets his play do the talking. Hard worker on the field and in the film room. Well-suited to play as a hybrid safety/linebacker in nickel situations.


Minuses: His athleticism is better than his actual play. Needs more work in the weight room. Makes poor decisions in single-high safety role and gives up big plays and TDs. Commits too early. Gets fooled by double moves. Gets fooled by intermediate crossing routes and gives up his deep responsibility jumping them. Takes some bad angles. Makes too many shoulder tackles. Prone to missing tackles or overpursuing while going for the big hit. Inconsistent motor. Needs to improve that and play with more discipline. 

Compares to: Cody Davis

Fun Facts
Jacob enjoys playing chess. He's from the Jacksonville area and was a Jagwires fan growing up. He isn't the first Liberty product to suit up for the Rams; there was Samkon Gado in 2008-09.

RamView
The Rams front office continued its knack for finding very good safety prospects after the draft with this year's signing of Hagen, who sounds like a bigger-hitting version of Cody Davis. I'd prefer if he were faster, and given his level of college competition, his decision-making problems are troubling, and this is not an area I feel the Rams have been good at coaching up. However, his size is ideal. His special teams experience - he's played on every unit - will come in handy since he'll have to excel there. And even at the lower FCS level of competition, you really have to like his record for taking away the ball. Jacob should be able to make a strong run at Davis' roster spot. The main reason he's not closer to 100% is that there's a lot of interesting competition at DB in this year's camp. If the Rams only keep 8 DBs, it could be Davis, Hagen, Brandon McGee, Maurice Alexander and several others competing for just one spot. (9 seems likelier, with Jenkins and TruJo in their walk years.) Just on his dimensions alone, though, I'd expect Hagen to have an inside track for a practice squad slot.

Chance of making team: 50%.

Sources: Liberty University athletics, The News & Advance (Lynchburg, Va.), NFL.com, DatabaseFootball.com, USA Today, New Era Scouting