Tag: Kendall Blanton

Sean McVay: Rams didn’t waive Kendall Blanton to keep more WRs

Sean McVay said the Rams didn’t waive Kendall Blanton so they could keep more wide receivers, saying it’s “a total separate thing.”

Fans have been trying to wrap their head around the Rams’ decision to waive Kendall Blanton on Saturday. It’s not necessarily the fact that Blanton was waived, but the timing of it.

This was just the second wave of cuts, and the team opted to keep tight ends such as Jared Pinkney and Roger Carter Jr. over Blanton – a tight end who played a sizable role in their postseason run last year. Sean McVay offered somewhat of an explanation for the move, saying it wasn’t related to the Rams’ desire to keep more wide receivers.

He told reporters it’s a “total separate thing.”

McVay added that it’s about finding the best ways to utilize the 11 players on the field, and that the Rams have other options when it comes to aligning players at tight end.

In addition to Tyler Higbee and Brycen Hopkins, who McVay said he’s been impressed with, they can use Cooper Kupp in that sort of blocking role attached to the formation.

With Blanton gone, the Rams might keep only Higbee and Hopkins at tight end, knowing they also have Jacob Harris if they want to keep him on the 53-man roster, too.

Commanders claim Kendall Blanton off waivers from Rams

Kendall Blanton didn’t have to wait very long to find a new team after being waived by the Rams

Kendall Blanton didn’t have to wait very long to find a new team after being waived by the Rams. According to Field Yates of ESPN, the Commanders claimed Blanton off waivers.

The tight end reverts to Washington’s 85-man roster, which will need to be trimmed down to 80 players by Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET. Blanton was shockingly waived by the Rams on Saturday despite playing a key role during their Super Bowl run last season.

He caught a touchdown pass in the divisional round against the Bucs and had five receptions for 57 yards in the NFC Championship game. Blanton was competing to be the Rams’ No. 2 tight end with Brycen Hopkins, which made his release so surprising.

Rams waive Kendall Blanton, 4 others in 2nd round of cuts

The Rams cut their roster down to 80 players Saturday, and Kendall Blanton was surprisingly among the 5 players waived

The Los Angeles Rams wrapped up their second week of the preseason on Friday night, losing to the Houston Texans, 24-20. They had until Tuesday afternoon to trim their roster down to 80 players, but they wasted no time cutting five players to get down to the limit.

Shockingly, Kendall Blanton was among the five players waived by the Rams, which leaves Brycen Hopkins as the No. 2 tight end. Raymond Calais, Jairon McVea and A.J. Rose were also cut by the Rams.

J.J. Koski was waived with an injury designation, so if he’s not claimed by another team, he’ll revert to injured reserve.

Blanton was competing with Hopkins to be Tyler Higbee’s backup and helped replace Higbee late last season. In the playoffs, Blanton caught seven passes for 75 yards and a touchdown, including five catches for 57 yards in the NFC title game.

He played 43% of the snaps in the Super Bowl, helping the offense as a blocker while being held catchless.

The Rams now have Higbee, Hopkins, Jared Pinkney and Roger Carter Jr. left on the roster at tight end.

At running back, Trey Ragas, Kyren Williams and Jake Funk are battling for the RB3 spot now that Calais and Rose have been waived.

6 training camp battles to watch for the Rams

The Rams will begin training camp soon and there are plenty of position battles to keep an eye on.

Training camps are right around the corner in the NFL, which means we’ll soon have football on our television screens again. It seems like forever ago that the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl, but the reigning champions have their sights set on defending their title in 2022.

Throughout the offseason, the Rams made a flurry of moves, most notably adding Allen Robinson and Bobby Wagner. While those two guys aren’t at risk of having limited playing time in the upcoming season, there will be a handful of position battles taking place at training camp for Los Angeles.

With mere days until training camp begins for the Rams, let’s take a look at six training camp battles that fans should keep close tabs on.

Kendall Blanton and Justin Hollins went to see LeBron play in the Drew League

Kendall Blanton and Justin Hollins went to see LeBron play in the Drew League and accidentally angered fans watching the stream

Over the weekend, LeBron James made his first appearance in a Drew League game since 2011. He played in the pro-am league, which is based in L.A., at King-Drew Magnet High School and the place was absolutely packed to see him take the floor.

According to the NBA’s website, about 2,500 fans were in attendance, nearly double the normal capacity of the gym. Kendall Blanton and Justin Hollins were both there to watch LeBron play, taking in the experience for the first time.

As fun as I’m sure the game was for the two Rams players, they also enraged fans who were trying to watch LeBron online. They accidentally blocked the camera of the live stream, which fans were not happy about.

As you can see from the replies to Overtime’s original tweet, there were a lot of upset viewers – though their outrage probably subsided once the camera situation improved. Someone even called them the “Bootleg Morris twins.”

Sebastian Joseph-Day pointed out some of the angry replies on Twitter, but Blanton wanted everyone to know they weren’t the enemy.

Rams TE Kendall Blanton is in awe of the contracts NBA players are signing

Kendall Blanton can’t believe the money some NBA players are getting in free agency

NBA free agency started on Thursday night and teams wasted no time throwing loads of money at some of the biggest stars in the league – and at some other, well, non-stars. Nikola Jokic agreed to a five-year, $264 million deal with the Nuggets, the biggest deal in NBA history.

Bradley Beal and Devin Booker both got more than $220 million, too, and even Lu Dort got $87.5 million from the Thunder.

As is the case every year, fans and players from other sports are in awe of the sizable deals NBA players are signing this offseason, and they’re guaranteed – unlike the majority of contracts in the NBA.

Rams tight end Kendall Blanton is looking at some of the contracts and he’s amazed at the money players are getting.

NFL players sign some massive contracts, too, but there’s still a pretty big gap in guaranteed money in comparison to NBA deals. It can’t be ignored the fact that every NFL team has 53 players on the roster, whereas NBA teams are limited to 15 players during the regular season.

So there’s a lot more money to go around to fewer players overall.

The 14 Secret Superstars of Super Bowl LVI

From Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd to David Long Jr. and Nick Scott, here are 14 underrated players who could make all the difference for the Bengals and Rams in Super Bowl LVI.

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Throughout Super Bowl history, winning teams have been buttressed just as much by unexpected players as they have been by established superstars. Who expected Malcolm Butler to pick off Russell Wilson’s skinny slant in Super Bowl XLIX, or Nick Foles to put up an MVP performance in Super Bowl LII, or for David Tyree to make that helmet catch in Super Bowl XLII, or for Rod Martin to pick off three passes in Super Bowl XV?

We can go all the way back to the first Super Bowl, when Packers receiver Max McGee blew up the Chiefs’ triple stack defense for seven receptions, 138 yards, and two touchdowns — most likely with very little sleep from certain extracurricular activities the night before.

So, when we get heavy into the 56th version of the NFL’s biggest game, here are 14 under-the-radar players who could have a similar transformative impact, and their potential ascents turning into rings for them, and all of their teammates and coaches.

Here are the Secret Superstars of Super Bowl LVI.

4 potential unsung heroes for Super Bowl LVI

Under these bright lights, the underdogs always make their name heard.

The Super Bowl is usually, historically, all about the stars.

The Starr’s. The Montana’s. The Rice’s. The Brady’s.

But none of the faces of the league’s biggest stage would be as successful or famous if it weren’t for lesser-heralded names stepping up in the clutch.

If Desmond Howard doesn’t have a historic kick-return effort, Brett Favre’s Packers never win the Super Bowl. The Greatest Show on Turf Rams don’t make the “Gateway to the West” the “Gateway to the Best” if Mike Jones doesn’t make a game-saving tackle on the one-yard line. Eli Manning’s Giants wouldn’t have stopped the 2007 Patriots from undefeated greatness if not for a practice squad player like David Tyree making the catch of his life–maybe the best catch in Super Bowl history.

When the Bengals (+4.5) and Rams take the field on Sunday for Super Bowl LVI, chances are it’ll be another role player stealing the limelight to seal a win. The peak of the playoffs is for the underdog, after all. Here are the likeliest out-of-nowhere hero candidates for Cincinnati and Los Angeles.

All odds and numbers courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook.

Kendall Blanton came up big for Rams in NFC title game vs. 49ers

Kendall Blanton was asked to step up for the Rams in Sunday’s win over the 49ers and he delivered an impressive performance.

The “next man up” mantra has been uttered for years in the NFL. Players that are considered backups are told to be mentally and physically prepared to contribute at any moment.

Kendall Blanton’s moment came in last night’s NFC title game between the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers. In the first half of the contest, Tyler Higbee — the starting tight end for the Rams — exited the game with a knee injury and was ruled out to begin the second half.

With Blanton being the only other right end on the roster, he logged 61 offensive snaps (79% of the team’s offensive snaps). And while some may have expected him to be tasked with a strictly run-blocking role, the Rams utilized Blanton in the passing game and he was highly effective.

Blanton finished Sunday’s victory with five receptions for 57 yards, which were both personal bests for the third-year tight end. The Missouri product had six catches for 55 yards and a touchdown in his other 13 appearances this season, with his first career touchdown coming in last week’s divisional-round game versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

He even had more catches and yards than star tight end George Kittle, who caught just two passes for 27 yards in the 49ers’ loss.

You never know when your number is going to be called and Blanton made the most of his opportunity against the 49ers, making crucial plays to help the Rams advance to the Super Bowl. One of those plays came at the end of the third quarter when Los Angeles designed a flea-flicker that developed into a screen to Blanton, which is a play design that I can personally say I’ve never seen.

The screen to Blanton helped set the Rams up for a touchdown to begin the fourth quarter, fueling their 10-point comeback to defeat their NFC West rivals. Even though it would be nice to have Higbee back in time for the Super Bowl versus the Cincinnati Bengals, at least the Rams know they can rely on Blanton to step up if need be.

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Backup TE Kendall Blanton catches TD pass for Rams

Little-known TE Kendall Blanton caught a TD pass for the Rams

Matthew Stafford has plenty of great targets among Los Angeles Rams receivers.

Kendall Blanton isn’t one of the familiar ones.

That is why it surprised the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday in the NFC Divisional Round game at Raymond James Stadium when Blanton caught a touchdown pass to give LA a 10-0 lead after the PAT.

Blanton is a backup tight end who had all of 4 receptions for 37 yards in the season. He played college football at Missouri and was undrafted in 2019.

Per his Wikipedia history:

Blanton is a backup tight end who had all of 4 receptions for 37 yards in the season. He played college football at Missouri and was undrafted in 2019.

Blanton signed with the Rams as an undrafted free agent on April 29, 2019. He was waived on August 31, 2019, during final roster cuts, and was subsequently signed to the team’s practice squad one day later. The Rams promoted Blanton to their active roster on December 3, 2019. He made his NFL debut on December 12, 2019, playing four snaps on special teams.

Blanton was waived at the end of training camp on September 5, 2020. He was re-signed back to the Rams’ practice squad on September 6, 2020, where he spent the entirety of the 2020 season.

Blanton signed a reserve/futures contract with the Rams on January 19, 2021.He was waived during final roster cuts and again re-signed to the Rams practice squad to start the 2021 season.

Blanton was elevated to the active roster on October 24, 2021, for the team’s Week 7 game against the Detroit Lions. He was signed to the active roster on October 30.

It is easy to see why injured Rams DB Jordan Fuller was so happy for Blanton’s success.