Sean McVay shared some insight on who could replace Brian Allen and Bryce Hager on the 53-man roster.
The Rams made two expected moves official on Tuesday, placing Brian Allen and Bryce Hager on injured reserve. Sean McVay said Monday that Allen is out for the year, and last week, he said the Rams were planning to place Hager on IR with a shoulder injury.
That opens up two roster spots for the Rams, which they’re expected to fill soon. McVay said on ESPN’s “The Coach McVay Show” Monday night that the Rams would like to add players who have taken the field recently – so that there’s tape available and they’re likely in better shape – suggesting that the Rams might claim someone off waivers and possibly promote a player from the practice squad.
“There’s a couple guys that we feel like in-house are possible candidates to pull up from the practice squad,” McVay said.
As for players they might add in free agency or off waivers, he had this to say:
“There’s always guys out there and Les (Snead) and his group do a great job of kind of keeping an open eye on what those things look like,” he said. “Ideally, you want to be able to find somebody that’s played recently so you have some tape to evaluate and they’re probably in better shape. But I think we’ll probably be more inclined to use, ‘All right, if somebody hits the waiver wire that’s maybe been on a roster recently comes available’ or just using our practice squad to upgrade somebody.”
Chandler Brewer and Jeremiah Kolone are the only offensive linemen on the practice squad, so they would seem to be the obvious candidates to be called up with the Rams lacking depth on the front five. Neither player should inspire much confidence, but at least they provide some insurance if another injury occurs.
As for a potential waiver claim, the Panthers did just release guard Bryan Witzmann, who the Rams might have interest in. He could come in and back up David Edwards and Austin Corbett at guard, who are expected to start in Week 11.
In free agency, John Sullivan would make some sense for the Rams. He was their starter at center last season and although Los Angeles moved on from him this year, that was with the belief that Allen would be a viable replacement.
With Allen gone, it’s possible Sullivan could return to L.A. and take back his starting job in the middle of the line.
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