One of the biggest decisions the Rams had to make this week was at kicker, where they had three guys competing for one spot. Although it seemed like Lirim Hajrullahu was leading the race over Samuel Sloman and Austin MacGinnis, he wasn’t the last kicker standing.
Instead, the Rams chose Sloman, whom they drafted in the seventh round this year out of Miami (Ohio). Being a draft pick did nothing to guarantee him a spot on the team, but he earned it in camp with a strong performance.
After making their final roster cuts Saturday, Sean McVay explained why the Rams chose Sloman over the other two kickers, and it obviously came down to the wire.
Sean McVay on picking Samuel Sloman as his kicker: "It was really tight all the way through. Sam just made a push the last couple of days. The pop that he has in his leg, the youth that he has … Sam was the guy we felt best about. He played his best in the last couple of days."
— Greg Beacham (@gregbeacham) September 5, 2020
Although Sloman had the worst conversion rate in the Rams’ two scrimmages, he apparently had a great final week of practices in Thousand Oaks. That’s encouraging heading into the regular season, where he’ll be thrown to the fire on Sunday Night Football against the Cowboys at SoFi Stadium.
He was also the youngest of the bunch at only 22 years old, though he’ll turn 23 on Sept. 19.
Sloman also spoke to reporters Saturday and he found out he made the team in the most 2020 way possible: by getting a COVID test on his way into the facility.
Sign of the times…Kicker Samuel Sloman says the way he found out that he made the Rams roster was the fact that he got a COVID test when he got to the facility.
— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) September 5, 2020
[vertical-gallery id=637636]