Rams Players on the Bubble, Who Will Make the Cut? Stafford/McVay Best QB/HC Combo in the NFL?

Rams Players on the Bubble, Who Will Make the Cut? Stafford/McVay Best QB/HC Combo in the NFL?

which Rams players are on the bubble heading into the training camp who will make the cut that’s coming up next on lock on [Music] Rams you are locked on Rams your daily Los Angeles Rams podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day what is up ramley and welcome to another episode of Locked on Rams your daily podcast covering your Los Angeles Rams free and available rev get your podcast locked on Rams part of locked on podcast Network your team every day we’re also available over on YouTube so if you haven’t yet do us a huge favor join the party getting close to 14,000 subscribers trying to get that before training camp so head over there hit that subscribe button hit that notification Bell really want to support the channel hit that like button and let us know which of these Rams will not make the cut we’re going to get into that in a little bit my name is Doug McCain you can follow me on exit Instagram at dmac score LA I’ve been covering LA Sports for over a decade the Dodgers for Dodgers Nation bleach report 247 Sports now the Rams 4 locked on and as always I’m joined by the Rams prehab and postgame show host for the Rams flagship radio station he’s about to enter his ninth season already nine Seasons cing your Los Angeles Rams as the Rams preap and postgame show host for the Rams flagship radio station ESPN 710 La you can follow him on X Travis Rogers The Peoples Champ and on today’s episode we’re breaking down six Rams players that might not make the cut that are on the roster bubble we’re also talk about the best quarterback and head coach combinations in the league where does Matthew Stafford and sha McVey rank on that list but first this episode of Locked on Rams brought to you by our friends over at game time download the game time app create an account and use code locked on NFL for $20 off your first purchase terms apply all right Travis let’s get right into it Colin cow Herd on the herd he was breaking down the top head coach and quarterback combinations and I think it’s pretty easy to guess who would come in at number one with the success of Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid who by the way is a big Dodgers fan I was talking to on the field a couple nights ago oh yeah rocking his Dodgers hat and a Hawaiian shirt because I’m a big Hawaiian shirt guy I was like dude I gotta have that Hawaiian shirt loves his Tommy Burgers but coming at number two you had Matthew Stafford and Shawn McVey M coward said at number two I’d go McVey and Stafford I think Matt Stafford because of his years in Detroit was overlooked next to Mahomes maybe the best armed talent in the league sidearm does everything but throw it left-handed big over the top arm I think McVey may be the smartest coach period in the sport I put them at to so nice to see our guys getting some national respect well they deserve it right I mean this is I like you said dmac I think that momes and Reed have clearly established themselves as the the standard that everyone else is trying to get to in the league over the last five six years or so that they got three Super Bowl championships that Patrick Mahomes is doing stuff that is on a pace with what we’ve seen from guys like Tom Brady so it’s hard to argue that anybody should be in the top spot other than those two guys I think where it gets interesting is who comes in after that right those guys have kind of locked themselves into that number one position for the time being who comes in second and that Stafford and McVey are there I think is is is a right accurate the the correct choice but I think it’s also starting to realize what Matthew Stafford is Shawn McVey is is always gotten his flowers right Sha McBay from the moment that he showed up until right now has been the genius the guy that broke the NFL the guy that they’re going to have to rewrite the rules for because they were scoring 40 points a game that you know won a game Monday Night Football where the other team scored more than 50 points and still lost that’s how good of a coach he was he took a team that was a Jeff Fisher 4 and8 Nightmare and turned it into a playoff team the very next season so he’s always been that guy that went oh McVey he’s the man the Stafford part of it I think is what makes it particularly interesting because Stafford like like coward mentioned in Detroit was always looked at with a yeah but yeah but that yeah he’s pretty good but the team never wins yeah he throws for a lot of yards but the team never goes to the playoffs yeah he’s pretty good but Calvin Johnson is this okay well change all of that he goes to a team that has basic functionality and they win the Super Bowl right away he’s been here three years they’ve made the Super Bowl twice excuse me they made the playoffs twice won a Super Bowl they’ve won mostly because Matthew Stafford is that good so I think that’s exactly right the the Detroit Aura era whatever you want to call it is kind of starting to fade and he’s being recognized more for what has happened in Los Angeles and that’s been pretty much nothing but fantastic play absolutely and at the end of the day the NFL in 2024 is a head coaches in quarterbacks league and when you have two Elite people at those positions you have a chance to win the Super Bowl and you are one of the best combinations if you’re Stafford and McVey and I’ll never forget Phil Sims talking about he said the worst thing about getting old as a quarterback is when you hit your mid-30s and you’re between 35 and 40 That’s when everything clicks as far as you’ve seen every defense every coverage that they can throw at you but unfortunately that’s also the time when Father Time knocks on the door we know he’s undefeated so there’s that kind of push and pull where you’re not as athletic your your fast Ball’s not as fast as it once was but your mind is at a point where it can identify anything well the good thing about Matthew Stafford is he still has so much left in the tank as far as just pure armed talent but he has the ability to read every single defense also he has the confidence knowing he’s won a Super Bowl so you’re really getting a peak level of sha McVey and a Matthew staff and I think the difference between sha McVey Now versus a couple years ago is there is more of a CEO type feel I think heading into the season where he’s gonna have his hands on the defense and making sure that Chris schula definitely has the support he needs in his first year as Rams DC but then we also know that offensively he’s a guru as well yeah so a couple of things here I want to go back to the first thing that you were talking about that that kind of that tandem the quarterback and the head coach that is the the dri of success in the NFL I agree with you the the voice of the Rams JB long who I speak with before every Rams game on 710 ESPN he has something that he calls the cqi the coach quarterback injury Index right that those three things need to be on your side for you have a chance to to win a game and to go on a run and maybe make a a run to a Super Bowl do you have the coach sha the Rams right Shawn McVey is going to be there every day his brain is engaged he’s ready to go he’s great do they have the quarterback check Matthew Stafford might not be the best quarterback in the league but you’re not getting probably on to that second hand very far before his name’s coming up so they got that it’s the eye right it’s the injury component of all this that nobody has any control over it’s the gods luck fate whatever you want to call it if that portion of it is good everything else kind kind of takes care of itself so I think the Rams are in a pretty good shape there go back to the second thing you mentioned talking about them uh you know the the the older you get and the more you know but your body starts to deteriorate how long I’ve heard him tell this story before about the elevator Theory right that when you come into the league your athletic elevator is on the top floor right your athletic elevator is way up here your knowledge elevator is on the ground floor then your career starts and they start moving towards each other and when they’re right next to each other is when you’re at your absolute best well Matthew Stafford’s physical elevator has kind of stayed at the top right it’s the only thing that’s come up is that his his mental elevator has gone all the way up to the top and they’re both still there so he has an opportunity to continue to play at a very high level not only because he can still throw the ball through a keyhole but he’s seen everything else there is I mean look at what pton Manning looked like at the end of his career and I’m not saying that Stafford is on Manning’s level he’s not but pton Manning went and won a Super Bowl he couldn’t throw the ball 10 yards in the air right but he was able to do it with his brain he was able to do it by moving guys around with his eyes and I think we’re getting to that point with Matthew Stafford only he still has that big arm left so they’re in a great position at the quarterback spot they’re in a great position at the head coach spot and I don’t think it’s even a little bit far-fetched to have those guys number two behind Mahomes and Reed no doubt about it I think that the only thing I would say is it’s if you have the conversation the next 10 years next 10 years I would would have Patrick Mahomes as my number one but if it comes to head coach I would have sha McVey as my number one over Andy Reid right as far as the youth goes but heading into next season I would have another quarterback under Center by the way when you said The more you know I did see the NBC I’m go cross my head when you said that but yeah there’s no doubt about also too seeing Stafford’s documentary when he’s talking about the gold jacket and wanting to solidify his legacy and cement’s Legacy look he’s going to be a of Famer even if he retired today but the fact that he thinks that he needs to do more to solidify his legacy really said a lot to me about where he’s at as far as just wanting to continue on also really quick before we head to the next segment want to point out the other guys on the list John Harbaugh and Lamar Jackson coming in at three Jim Harbaugh and Justin Herbert at four Sean mcdermit and Josh Allen at number five Zack Taylor laflor on that list with Joe burrow and Jordan love you know you didn’t see on that list Kyle Shanahan and Brock perie where are those guys where are those guys hey I don’t know look Kyle Shanahan is is on any list we’re talking about Brock py we could go a hundred rounds with a hundred different people and get a hundred different answers Lamar Jackson are really he’s look is there another Lamar Jackson that I don’t know about that plays in the league because the one in Baltimore can’t be on that list I mean Super Bowl I get it he’s your man in October and November but Lamar Jackson get out of here hey kind of really speaks to the kind of I think Josh Allen McDermot is someone that probably should be a little higher on that list but coming up at our next s we’re breaking down Rams that are on the bubble heading into the 2024 season that’s coming up next on lock on Rams all right you know Doug and I love baseball Doug and I love the Dodgers and we love talking about them you know it’s even better going to a game going to a major league baseball game during the summer sit outside in the sun have a cold drink maybe some peanuts in a dog but what you what do you need first you need tickets game time that’s where game time comes in you got to put the game time app on your F on your phone and then you can go out and just have a great time at the Ballpark and you don’t even have to do it way ahead of time right this is one of the great things about the game time app is that especially for last minute deals you can save up to 60% by buying last minute for your baseball game all of your sports concerts 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are off and running here on locked on Rams thank you for making locked on Rams your first list in every single weekday free and available revigator podcast locked on Rams part of locked on podcast Network your team every day also a special shout out to those everyday listeners out there watching and listening to every single episode of Locked on Rams can’t tell you how much we appreciate that and you can join that everyday listeners Club too membership is 100% free and you won’t miss a thing about your Los Angeles Rams all right Travis here in our second set I’m going to switch gears and talk about this roster heading into training camp and one of my topics is guys on the bubble guys trying to fight their way onto this roster and the first bubble guy we’re talking about today is Logan bruss now Logan bruss the much malign Logan bruss who was the Rams top draft pick back in 2022 but he still hasn’t played a regular season snap for the Rams McVey did say in the off season that bruss is going to get more opportunities as far as training goes playing at right tackle but Rob havenstein he’s not letting that position go anytime soon he’s still been solid there and I think really at this point when you look at the opening on the roster I think there’s a pretty high probability that he’s gonna be on the practice squad for another year yeah I think you’re probably right Doug this this is one of those picks that I think if the Rams could do it over again they probably would right you’re never going to bat a thousand you’re never going to draft the right guy exactly at the right spot every single time year after year after year you hope to get more right than you got wrong you hope to have more Steve avalas you hope to have more guys like that that just show up and look like pros from Dame one and you put them in the lineup and you never worry about it again unfortunately there are some Logan bruss is in there there’s a two- two out well this kind of splits the differences in the league plays a little bit but hasn’t made a huge impact uh bruss like you mentioned dmac he had even played you know and a lot of it was unlucky right first preseason game a couple years ago he breaks his ankle he misses the whole year with an injury and then last year he was kind of given an opportunity to try to grab one of those spots and it just didn’t work he just he just wasn’t ready for It ultimately it ends up with them going and finding Kevin doson and him kind of taking that job and getting a long-term deal so good for Kevin doson and good for the Rams and finding a player like that he’s a little undersized and and and watching the limited time that we have seen them in there he kind of gets tossed around a little bit he just really doesn’t have you know the weight in the in in the booty that he needs to be on the inside in there and maybe a little bit quicker on the corner might be better for him at a tackle position but it just has not looked like the right pick for the Rams at that point and uh the practice squad maybe I wouldn’t be surprised if they just move on from him at some point yeah I think that you’re right there for sure there’s no doubt about that and you look at what the Rams typically do at offensive line I mean typically I mean we’ve seen them take 10 right last year they had 10 2017 and 2020 2022 though they had eight offensive linemen and also in 2019 and 18 they had nine so anywhere from 8 to 10 you look at the offensive line depth right now we know who the locks are we know that Aller Jackson Jonah Jackson Kevin Dodson Steve AA Rob havenstein those the locks you look at behind that Joe NOP boom he’s valuable dep they haven’t moved on from him Bo Li play a lot of positions right like you could literally four of the five positions and at least be you I can get through a game I can get through a week or two if I have to do it no boom I know that Rams Fans are are down on him but he’s a valuable player because he’s so versatile exactly and that’s something that’s going to play up because we saw what happened in 2022 when the ram season was a season of squid game on Netflix where they were just dying every single game and we can’t have that happen once again but you look at behind that Warren McLendon on the right side and he’s someone that have some versatility as well it wasn’t really an awesome preseason for him last season but then you get the Logan brother types right AJR Curry Zack Thomas Mike mallister guys that are kind of in that tier for the Rams so really it’s going to come down to how he performs during the preseason and if he can really step up and you see the size you see the potential there and what sha McVey said about him during the offseason was I don’t want to give up on Logan yet Jack that he wants to come back because that’s not easy when we draft a player release him and proba a player a little earlier than we would do normally it’s a lot easier for him to say maybe a new ecosystem new environment is better for me so the fact that you’re even starting with that I don’t want to give up on him yet kind of tells you where they’re at with him Doug you took the words out of my mouth whenever a sentence starts with I don’t want to cut you but I mean okay good luck yeah good good luck right hey look you’re great and all but I think it’s time we start seeing other PE that’s what that is right this is this is the nice way to tell someone that you don’t want to be in that relationship anymore and unfortunately for Logan bruss I think that’s where this probably ends up I do too now you also get Zack Evans coming up next and we talked about Colin cardd a little earlier and one of the segments I like for him is where Colin was right where Colin was wrong well what dmac was wrong was on Zack Evans because I was really high on him thinking okay he’s gonna get his opportunity with the injury to kyen Williams last season but you look at the off season the Rams had at that position well you bring back Ronnie Rivers you draft Blake Corman the third round you sign Boston Scott in free agency and Zack Evans really the runway should have been there but the coaching staff just didn’t trust him when KY Williams and Ronnie Rivers were hurt last season so that’s another big indicator about how they feel about him well I I think you said it again you you look at this if if you looked at the Rams draft this offseason if you looked at their activity this offseason signing free agents and everything else you would have thought the Rams didn’t have any running backs right you you would have thought that this was a position that was absolutely nowhere and I understand that Kiron Williams is their guy and he’s a really good player there’s a little bit of an injury history there so I understand the need to bolster the that position but you go and you get Boston Scott like you men when you use one of your higher draft picks on Blake corm to go and do that you resign some of the death like you have like Rivers as you mentioned clearly the people that have seen them the most the Rams coaching staff Shawn McVey Les in particular have seen Zach and and thought you know what we we need to be better there that’s not good enough maybe it’s the running maybe it’s the pass Pro maybe it could be a million different things I’m not exactly sure what it is but when they start bringing in a bunch of other guys who do what you are supposed to be doing not a good sign for you and if you’re low on the totem pole when it comes to running back in the NFL in 2024 that’s definitely not a place where you want to be now next guy we’ll get into is AJR Curry you kind of mentioned a couple seconds ago go and this will be his third season in the National Football League he was a seventh round pick back in 2022 but you mentioned a couple seconds ago the depth of Joe noboom you have Aller Jackson also KT leeston out of Kansas state is another guy that they drafted in the seventh round and they’re high on him and they’re presumably going to give him an opportunity so yeah I mean this is someone who’s looking at being the third the fourth left tackle on the depth chart so it could be hard for him to squeeze on this roster as well yeah it feels you know having covered this team for several years this feels like a player that they want to make work they I I feel like he’s been given some chances here or there whether that’s in the preseason or when guys go down and he gets elevated to the regular Squad like I he he’s a player that just watching from a distance you feel like they want to succeed there must be it’s kind of the opposite of the Logan bruss situation where it feels like they’ve seen enough it’s like yeah I I don’t know what to do here I think what the AJ R curri situation is they’ve seen enough to say there’s enough in there run that back again let’s see if we can get a little bit better here let’s see if he can improve in this situation I feel like he’s kind of they’re they’re on the same coin on opposite sides one guy maybe gets a little bit of the benefit of the doubt one guy maybe doesn’t maybe one is because of where he’s drafted and the other one is and potential and all this stuff but um he’s been around and I I think you know this is these are the battles in training camp that you’re going to see these are the battles that you’re going to see in in the exhibition games the preseason games that it’s not going to be who’s the quarter back is that going to be who’s the you know the starting wide receiver it’s those aren’t the battles it’s who is your depth tackle who is your depth guards the these are the positions to keep an eye on and bruss and our Curry and These Guys these guys are gonna be fighting like crazy for those limited spots absolutely and that’s what the football junkies that are waiting desperately for the gamees to start really look forward to in training camp like you said the top guys you’re not worried about it’s the guys on the fringes that’s the most in intriguing story lines heading into training camp but coming up next we’re going to talk about one of the most polarizing Rams players in the last couple seasons and will he make the cut that’s coming up next on lock on Rams and we are off and running here on lockon Rams thank you for making lockon Rams your first list in every single week day free and available wherever GE your podcast lock on Rams part of locked on podcast Network your team every day okay Travis so next guy we’re going to talk about is Darion Kendrick Darion Kendrick a player that has had more Downs than UPS has shown some flashes you hear people criticizing his lack of speed some of his mistakes silly penalties bad instincts but one of the more interesting developments in the off season if you’re listening to some of this coach speak closely is that they’re looking at possibly trying Darion Kendrick in the slot in the star role and that’s what Chris schula said in the off season now I think with Kendrick yes there are the issues I just said a couple years ago he was benched three times in the last two years he was benched twice last season so I will say if nothing else Daron Kendrick is pretty resilient in trying to find a way to bounce back okay I’m gonna put a positive spin if there is one on getting benched three times okay here it goes I’m gonna give this a shot they keep putting him back out there to bench him again right like there must be something in this is like I’ll go back to a baseball analogy here you good of a pitcher you have to be to lose 18 games in the major leagues you have to be good enough that they keep sending you out there over and over again because you have some basic competency that you’re getting into games you might get hit here and there and you might get roughed up again but they have an opportunity to send someone else out and they don’t they put you back out there again I think that’s a little bit what Daren Kendrick is like that yes there are some frustrations whether it’s blown coverages like you mentioned this when I when you first mentioned his name the thing that popped into my mind were penalties that make you go oh my gosh what is going on out there but there’s some Talent there is some ability and and if they had somebody that they liked more you’d get benched once maybe a second time but when they keep benching you and putting you back out there they obviously have some hope they’re obviously seeing some skills that make you feel like they can uh use him as an NFL player I I don’t know if you can get benched a fourth or a fifth time and still feel great about it but uh the fact that they keep running them back out there I think is the silver lining for DK yeah and that’s definitely something that’s encouraging I mean you look at his overall PFF he had a 59.8 run defense he was solid pass rush I mean in those opportunities he made a couple plays but coverage grade of 60.5 so it’s not like he’s wowing anyone out there and I think when you look at that star roll I mean you have to really really be an instinctive player high IQ player that doesn’t make mistakes so just a thought of him in that role something that’s pretty terrifying to say the least I mean this is someone who I think probably should get an endorsement deal with neutr fall because he makes dude’s hairs fall out so he really kind of helps you from that standpoint but no look in all honesty looking good looking good but in all honesty I think with with Daron Kendrick comes down to the fact that this Ram secondary was one of the areas they needed to address and they did that with Darius Williams and Trey white but last year they had a 46.2 coverage grade as a unit that was the lowest in all of the National Football League according to Pro Football Focus so yeah the idea of bringing guys that were key contributors there back on the field in a season where you’re trying to make up for missing Aaron Donald and finding St the areas it doesn’t make a ton of sense no and I I think that’s the great wild card in all this right is what is this defense look like from a year ago and if it wasn’t great with 99 out there doing what he did it’s probably not going to get better with him not being out there so whatever your weaknesses were I think they get they get uh Amplified magnified a little bit moving forward so I I I think you’re right the back half of the Rams defense is clearly one of the big questions going into this season I think that everybody other than maybe some of those new guys that we’ve talked about that have come in are probably going to be evaluated in a way that’s a little bit different than previous Seasons um I I’m excited to see what it looks like when it’s all said and done I really the defense as a whole I think is the most interesting part about this team coming in uh to training camp here in just a few weeks and and what do you do with number 99 back home in Pittsburgh for now hopefully we’ll see whether or not he ever uh changes his mind but I I I think that’s priority number one for the Rams heading into the camp could not agree more we’re g to pick this up tomorrow we got more guys on the bul we’ll talk about guys like oshaan Mattis Hunter long some more guys trying to fight to make this 53 man roster but that’s going to do it for this episode of lockon rams my name is Doug McCain you can follow me on exit Instagram at dmac corla you can follow the Peoples Champ Mr Travis Rogers Travis Rogers until next time whose house it’s locked on Rams house

The Los Angeles Rams will have some big roster decisions to make for players on the bubble like offensive lineman Logan Bruss, AJ Arcuri, running back Zach Evans, and cornerback Derion Kendrick. D-Mac and Travis break down the bottom of the Rams roster and discuss who will make the cut. Plus, are Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay the best head coach/quarterback combo in the NFL?

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