Category: Latest Rams news

Jared Verse won’t dial back his fiery and loud personality on the field: ‘That’s just who I am’

Jared Verse is a vocal and fiery player on the field, and he doesn’t have any plans to dial that back in the NFL

Jared Verse may only be a rookie but he’s going to make his voice heard on the field. He was vocal at Florida State and he’s been the same way during OTAs up to this point, which his teammate Byron Young loves to see.

In the latest episode of “Behind The Grind”, Sean McVay can be heard talking about how important it is to have a vocal leader on defense.

“Dog. You need a guy that has some (expletive) bark to him to go talk some (expletive) to people, too,” McVay said.

Verse is unapologetically loud. He spoke to Stu Jackson of TheRams.com recently and said he isn’t going to dial back his fiery attitude on the field – and he shouldn’t.

“That’s who I am,” Verse said. “I’m not going to shy away from hiding who I am. This is who I am. I talk a lot. I’m loud. I’m vocal. You gonna hear me. I make a play, you gonna see me hyped up. That’s just who I am. I can’t hide it. I’m not gonna pull back from anybody.”

With Aaron Donald no longer in the locker room, the Rams are looking for someone to step up as the leader of the defense. Ernest Jones will unquestionably be one of those guys, as will Kobie Turner, Tre’Davious White and Darious Williams. But it sounds like Verse is doing a great job of making himself heard on defense.

It’s a sign of his confidence and passion, and it stems from the fact that he’s been always felt doubted.

“I mean, it just comes from me always being doubted, and I really like to hear my voice. I want others to hear it, I want to be loud,” Verse said. “I really just like people to hear me. (Well), not even like to hear me, but it gets me more involved. When other people hear you talking, it gets them more involved, and just gives me, like, a lot more energy. It gives those around me a lot more energy, especially when we’re out there making plays. It just gets everybody hyped up and it just hypes me up. It’s more of a mental thing than anything.”

Verse is an essential piece of the defense in Los Angeles, even though he has yet to play an NFL snap. If he can bring leadership qualities in addition to being a productive pass rusher, the Rams will be elated.

Jonah Jackson impressed by Steve Avila’s move to center: ‘He’s doing incredible’

Steve Avila is moving from guard to center and Jonah Jackson can already see he’s a natural at the new position

Steve Avila turned out to be everything the Rams hoped he would in 2023 after they selected him in the second round of the draft. He not only started all 18 games, including the playoffs, but he played every single offensive snap at left guard.

Despite having so much success as a rookie last year, the Rams are tasking Avila with a huge move. He’s switching from guard to center, which is by no means an easy transition for any player to make – let alone one entering his second NFL season.

Jonah Jackson is the reason Avila is changing positions after he signed a three-year deal worth $51 million in free agency to be the Rams’ left guard. Jackson has gotten a front-row seat to Avila’s transition and he’s been impressed by the former TCU lineman’s move.

“That is a big transition. At guard, it’s definitely more demanding physically, but mentally, the pressure’s off. I mean, you just sit there and wait for the guy in the middle to make the call,” Jackson said. “So moving to center, you have to break down a defense like that, understand IDs and rotations and everything. And I think he’s coming along great, especially for a second-year guy. This is kind of a fast flip for him. He probably thought he was going to play guard until free agency and everything happened. But he’s doing incredible. He’s on it. He’s lightning fast with his calls. He’s a damn good player.”

Avila has much more responsibility now as a center as opposed to being a guard, and he’ll need to work closely with Matthew Stafford in order to set protections, ID the Mike linebackers and identify blitzers.

Jackson says Avila is doing great in all of those areas, which has also made his own job easier.

“Yeah, I mean, I’m there, too, just in case, but we haven’t had to do that,” Jackson said. “He’s been on top of it. We follow where he wants to go.”

As for how good the interior of the offensive line will be in 2024, Jackson says everyone will just have to wait and see.

“You’ll see it come Week 1. That’s all I got to say.”

Blake Corum expects Rams to use him differently than Michigan did

Blake Corum talked about what he expects his role to be with the Rams, and that will definitely include catching the ball

Blake Corum was a little bit of a surprising pick by the Los Angeles Rams in Round 3 considering they already have Kyren Williams at running back, but they want to be a ground-and-pound offense with their bulked-up offensive line leading the way. Corum was by far the most productive back in the 2024 draft after rushing for 3,737 yards and scoring 61 total touchdowns in his career at Michigan, and he’ll now join an offense that’s been kind to running backs throughout Sean McVay’s tenure.

For the Wolverines, Corum was primarily a runner, only catching 56 passes in his career. However, he expects things to be a bit different with the Rams. Speaking to Rich Eisen, Corum shed some light on what he thinks his role will be in Los Angeles and he plans to be a true three-down back who can do it all.

“I think they’re just going to use me a little differently than Michigan did,” he said. “I was more so a bell cow for Michigan where I was running the ball 20-plus times a game. didn’t really catch the ball much. But obviously, you see how they use Kyren, who’s a great running back. So I think they’re going to use me like a regular three-down running back – a guy that can catch, pass pro and run the ball. Something Coach Ron (Gould) tells us is ‘No block, no rock.’ So we take blocking here seriously. They want a guy that can do it all and I can do that for them.”

One trait he’s eager to show off in the NFL is his ability to catch the ball. Though he wasn’t much of a receiving back in college, he’s confident he can handle third-down duties as a receiver in Los Angeles.

He left no doubt about whether he’ll get opportunities to haul in passes next season, saying he “definitely will be catching the ball.”

“I think whatever they ask me to do, I’m capable of doing,” he continued. “Going into the draft, something I wanted to prove to scouts and coaches that were watching was I’m a three-down back. I can catch the ball. Even though I didn’t really catch the ball at Michigan besides the Rose Bowl. But I caught the ball my sophomore year. I wanted to show them I could do that. I think the coaches saw that. I definitely will be catching the ball. I think they’re going to use me as a three-down back, someone who can do it all. For me, I’m just going to do whatever they ask me to do because I know I’m capable of doing everything.”

With Williams and Corum in the backfield, the Rams are situated nicely to be one of the best rushing offenses in the league. They’re very similar players, something McVay has mentioned since the draft, which will allow the coach to interchangeably use his running backs no matter the situation.

Kevin Dotson not ranked among NFL’s top 10 guards despite breakout season

Kevin Dotson graded out as the 2nd-best guard in the NFL last year but PFF didn’t put him in the top 10 of its rankings for 2024

Kevin Dotson became one of the Rams’ most valuable and impactful players last season after being acquired from the Steelers. He didn’t start right away but after Joe Noteboom went down with an injury, he stepped in at right guard and was immediately a difference-maker.

Dotson allowed just eight hits on the quarterback and four sacks all year, while also grading out extremely well in the run game; his 88.4 run-blocking grade was the second-best of any guard in the NFL.

Despite earning the second-best overall grade of any player at his position last year, Dotson wasn’t ranked anywhere near the top of PFF’s list highlighting the best guards in football. Dotson came in at No. 12, much lower than most people would have expected him to be after the season he just had.

Dotson is a prime example of a player having the potential to flourish in the right system. Moving to Sean McVay’s wide-zone scheme unlocked a different side of Dotson’s game in 2023, and his 85.2 PFF overall grade placed second only to Chris Lindstrom, while his 88.8 run-blocking grade led the NFL.

His performances in 2023 earned him a mega three-year, $48 million contract extension with the Rams in the offseason, and for good reason. Dotson allowed 20 quarterback pressures in pass protection, providing the perfect interior presence for Matthew Stafford.

Dotson will have a chance to prove he wasn’t a one-year wonder in Los Angeles last season after re-signing with the Rams in March. Now locked in with a three-year, $48 million contract, Dotson has the financial security he was looking for.

Lining up between Steve Avila and Rob Havenstein should yield great results for the Rams’ entire offensive line, potentially giving them one of the best units in football. And the guy playing left guard for L.A., Jonah Jackson, is quite the talent, too. He ranked 30th in PFF’s guard rankings as he enters his first season with the Rams.

Jackson struggled with injuries in his four years with the Lions, but he’s been a starter in every game he’s played in. The four-year veteran earned a 61.0 PFF overall grade in 12 games this past year, including four with a pass-blocking grade of at least 80.0.

There’s a lot to be excited about with the Rams’ O-line heading into 2024 and much of that starts with the two guards on the interior.

Andrew Whitworth among 4 former Rams playing in marquee celebrity golf tournament

Andrew Whitworth and Jerome Bettis are among four former Rams teeing it up in the star-studded American Century Championship golf tournament

The American Century Championship is the biggest celebrity golf tournament around, bringing star athletes and entertainers to the course in Tahoe each and every summer. Everyone from Justin Timberlake to Steph Curry have played in the event, and this year, a handful of former Rams players will be in the field, too.

The American Century Championship announced the participants in this year’s tournament, which will be held from July 10-14, and these four ex-Rams will be teeing it up:

  • Jerome Bettis
  • Ryan Fitzpatrick
  • Baker Mayfield
  • Andrew Whitworth

Fitzpatrick only played two years with the Rams, and Mayfield was in Los Angeles for less than half a season, but they still qualify as former members of the franchise. Like Fitzpatrick, Bettis was drafted by the Rams, spending three years with the organization from 1993-1995. Whitworth, of course, was signed in 2017 and spent five years with the Rams, helping them win Super Bowl LVI against the Bengals.

Among the other current and former NFL stars playing in the ACC tournament are Davante Adams, Tim Brown, Larry Fitzgerald, Dwight Freeney, Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Peterson. For the full field of players, click here.

Where do Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp rank among best QB-WR duos?

Even after a couple of down years, Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp are one of the best QB-WR duos in the NFL

When the Rams acquired Matthew Stafford from the Lions in 2021, he and Cooper Kupp quickly developed a rapport on and off the field. In their first season together, Kupp won the receiving triple crown by leading the NFL in catches, receiving yards and touchdown receptions. He was also named Offensive Player of the Year and won Super Bowl MVP, completing arguably the best season ever by a wideout.

Now three years later, Stafford and Kupp are still viewed as one of the best QB-WR tandems in the NFL. While their numbers from the last two seasons may not blow anyone away, they were both injured in 2022 and Kupp was less than 100% last season, which is a big reason the All-Pro receiver fell below the 1,000-yard mark each year.

Pro Football Focus ranked the 10 best QB-WR duos in football entering the 2024 season and the combination of Stafford and Kupp were third behind Tua Tagovailoa-Tyreek Hill and Joe Burrow-Ja’Marr Chase.

Another combination afflicted by injuries, we have nevertheless seen Stafford and Kupp cook to record-breaking levels when both are healthy. Those injuries have now given the connection competition within the same offense, with Stafford to Puka Nacua another devastating duo last season. But Kupp remains his favorite target.

There’s no question Puka Nacua ate into Kupp’s targets last season, even when both were healthy. Nacua just about became Stafford’s go-to guy, averaging 9.4 targets per game compared to Kupp’s 7.9.

There’s a chance that after the 2024 season, it’ll be Stafford and Nacua ranked somewhere on PFF’s list instead of Stafford and Kupp, but for now, it’s the veteran who gets the nod in the top three.

Jason Garrett wonders how Rams will look without Aaron Donald, ‘the human eraser’

Jason Garrett recently visited Rams OTAs and while he has no concerns about the offense, he wonders how the defense will fare without Aaron Donald

Teams across the NFL all lost players this offseason, whether in free agency, via trade or to retirement. No one suffered a bigger loss than the Los Angeles Rams, however.

Aaron Donald announced his retirement from the NFL after 10 seasons, stepping away from football and the Rams after a Hall of Fame career. Replacing him is nothing short of an impossible task but Los Angeles attempted to do so by focusing a lot of attention on the defensive front in the draft.

Former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett recently visited Rams OTAs and his biggest question about the team is the void left by Donald.

“The big question there is Aaron Donald is no longer a member of the Los Angeles Rams,” Garrett said. “Having gone against that guy a lot, he’s the most disruptive player we ever had to game plan against. And you always had to have two guys on him. You had to have an answer in the run game and in the pass game. And when you’re playing around him and are coaching when he is on your team, it’s an unfair advantage. And now they don’t have that. He was the human eraser. And so now, they drafted the two kids from Florida State. I think they’re excited about them. But it’s going to be a younger team on defense without that superstar, that marquee player, so that’s going to be a big question.”

It’s a question most fans and analysts are also asking about the Rams. There will obviously be a drop-off in terms of interior pressure without Donald in the fold, but will that have a ripple effect on the rest of the defense? Donald always commanded double- and triple-teams but now that he’s gone, offenses will be able to deploy a more standard style of protection up front.

Garrett doesn’t have any concerns about the Rams offense, but the defense is a question in his mind.

“Matthew Stafford is still their quarterback, Cooper Kupp is still their receiver, Puka Nacua is still their receiver, Sean McVay is still calling the plays. I feel good about what they’re going to do on offense. The question is how do you replace 99?” Garrett said.

Jonah Jackson on the main reason he signed with the Rams: ‘No. 9’

Jonah Jackson says Matthew Stafford was the primary reason he picked the Rams: “I knew he could bring us all the way”

Jonah Jackson probably wasn’t lacking suitors when free agency began in March. He quickly signed a three-year deal worth $51 million with the Los Angeles Rams on the first day of the legal tampering period, a huge splash by Les Snead and Sean McVay shortly after the market opened.

There are a lot of things that make the Rams a good landing spot for any free agent, from the impressive coaching staff to the location in Southern California, but it was Matthew Stafford who really drew Jackson to Los Angeles.

During an interview with J.B. Long and D’Marco Farr, Jackson said Stafford was the primary reason he picked the Rams.

“It definitely came down to a few teams but here, obviously, the weather is absolutely incredibly. Every day is beautiful. But, No. 9,” Jackson said. “I had Matthew my rookie year and I knew what he brought to the table and I knew he could bring us all the way. And from the outside looking in, we had a lot of carryover in Detroit and I got along well with those guys. Greg, Brad (Holmes), Jared (Goff) and they all loved it out here and I figured they’re my kind of guys.”

Jackson isn’t yet up to full speed as he recovers from a knee injury suffered late last year, but he’s going to be a huge part of the Rams’ offense once the season begins. At 6-foot-4 and 315 pounds, he’s both literally and figuratively a big player along the offensive line.

He’ll be the starting left guard next to Steve Avila, who’s moved to center, helping protect Stafford once again after he did the same as a rookie in 2020. That year, he played 1,006 snaps and allowed five sacks, but since then, he’s given up just six sacks in the last three seasons.

Watch: Kyren Williams (foot) returned to practice and is looking shifty

Kyren Williams was expected to miss the rest of the offseason program with a foot injury but he returned on Thursday and was looking good

Kyren Williams was dealing with a “foot issue,” as Sean McVay described it, a couple of weeks ago and was expected to miss the rest of the Rams’ offseason program. He had been sidelined but on Thursday, he returned to the practice field.

It was a pleasant surprise for the Rams, even if it is just OTAs, after it was believed that he’d be out until training camp in July. The team shared a video of Williams going through individual drills and he was showing no ill effects from whatever the foot injury was.

He looked quick going through his cuts, moving at seemingly full speed. Williams is established enough that he doesn’t even necessarily need these spring sessions but being the hard worker that he is, he was probably itching to get back out there.

Sean McVay ranked as NFL’s 2nd-best coach, but who is above him?

There’s only one coach ranked higher than Sean McVay on this list.

There were plenty of skeptics when the Rams hired Sean McVay in 2017, handing the keys to a 30-year-old head coach one year after moving to Los Angeles. It didn’t take long for McVay to prove himself because in Year 1, the Rams won 11 games and in his second season, they made it all the way to the Super Bowl.

McVay’s stock has been on the rise ever since, with 2022 being his only losing season – a 5-12 record after Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald all missed about half the season.

Heading into the 2024 season, which will be McVay’s eighth year at the helm, he’s widely seen as one of the top coaches in football. Jarrett Bailey of Touchdown Wire thinks particularly highly of McVay, putting him at No. 2 in his coaching rankings.

McVay took a different approach to his offense last season and turned the Rams into a run-through-your-face power run team with a lot of play action mixed in. Matthew Stafford still has the ability to sling it, and it’ll be fun to see what the offense can do in year two of Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp as a duo. McVay has already been to two Super Bowls and won one. Can the Rams make another appearance in the biggest game of the year? Who’s to say they can’t?

With McVay ranking second, there’s only one coach ahead of him – and it’s a fairly obvious choice. Bailey put three-time Super Bowl champion Andy Reid at No. 1, who has led the Chiefs to back-to-back titles in the last two years.

The majority of NFL experts would put Reid atop any coaching list with how dominant the Chiefs have been under his guidance, even before Patrick Mahomes arrived. He’s a lock for the Hall of Fame but if McVay continues on his current trajectory, he’s going to be in Canton at the end of his career, too.