The NFL changed things up this year when it comes to roster cuts. Rather than having multiple cutdown days, there’s only one: August 29. On that day, every team will have to go from a 90-man roster to only 53 players for the start of the regular season.
Some positions are easier to trim than others, just based on the numbers and talent gap between the projected contributors and the reserves. Others are much more difficult because of the depth there.
Sean McVay already has his eyes on five positions that will be tougher for the Rams to trim because there’s still so much competition happening there. On Sunday, he mentioned the offensive and defensive lines, as well as the receivers, cornerbacks, safeties and wide receivers as positions that will be difficult to cut down.
“I think there’s a lot. I think you’re looking at a lot of competition still upfront with our offensive line, at that receiver position. You’re seeing some really good stuff going on our defensive front, across the interior and exterior parts of that line. We’ve got some depth at safety where guys are trying to figure that out. We’ve got corners that, we’re getting one of our guys that we project as a big time factor for us coming back,” McVay said. “So there’s not anything that I can say is kind of set in stone. You start to have an idea as some of these things start to materialize, but there’s still a lot of competition and a lot of evaluation for us to be able to get to those final cut downs here in a couple weeks or a week and a half or so.”
On the offensive line, the Rams could keep as many as 10 players. The wildcards in that group are expected to be Zach Thomas and A.J. Arcuri beyond the nine who are expected to make it. On the other side of the ball, the defensive line has very little sorted out; the Rams still don’t know who their two starters next to Aaron Donald will be. It’s possible they’ll only keep six or seven there.
At wide receiver, Lance McCutcheon, Austin Trammell, Tyler Johnson and Xavier Smith all could be fighting for the final roster spots. At safety, Jason Taylor II and Tanner Ingle are players to watch in the final preseason game, while Shaun Jolly, Jordan Jones and Cameron McCutcheon are battling for spots at cornerback.
The final preseason game and this week’s joint practices with the Broncos will help the Rams sort out these spots, but regardless, there will be some difficult calls to make next week.
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