Tag: Raymond Calais

10 players on the Rams’ roster bubble entering training camp

The Rams will need to trim their roster down to 53 players before Week 1 of the 2022 season, putting these 10 players on the roster bubble.

It’s almost the time of the year when training camps commence around the NFL, with plenty of players trying to compete for roster spots on their respective teams. Players will be arriving at training camp for the Los Angeles Rams on July 23 as all eyes will be on certain position battles ahead of the upcoming season.

Unfortunately, not every player on the current roster is going to make the active roster for the Rams this year. Before the 2022 season kicks off, Los Angeles will have to trim their roster to 53 players, meaning that there will be quite a few difficult decisions to make.

Some players are going to have a tougher time than others to earn a roster spot and they’ll need strong showings during training camp to prove their worth. With playing in the NFL being a brutal line of work, here are 10 players that are on the roster bubble for the Rams entering training camp.

Rams RB/KR Raymond Calais out 4-6 months with foot fracture

Raymond Calais will be sidelined for the foreseeable future after fracturing his foot on Saturday.

If the Rams were counting on Raymond Calais to be their kick returner, they’ll have to turn to Plan B. Calais suffered a foot injury on Saturday night against the Raiders that Sean McVay quickly knew was serious, saying after the game that he would likely need surgery.

Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports that Calais suffered a midfoot fracture and is having surgery Monday, sidelining him for 4-6 months. That’s a huge blow for both the Rams and Calais because he was impressing his coaches in practice and the preseason, projecting to carve out a role on offense and on special teams.

With Calais down, even more falls on the shoulders of Tutu Atwell in the return game. He’s the favorite to return punts, it would seem, as he was competing with Calais for reps in that phase. Now, Otis Anderson Jr. could get more reps and if he does enough on special teams, it could be his way of landing on the 53-man roster.

Calais has been with the Rams since he was signed off the Buccaneers’ practice squad last September, just before Week 1.

Watch: Raymond Calais breaks off 46-yard punt return vs. Chargers

Raymond Calais turned on the jets during this 46-yard return.

The Rams are searching for a new punt returner this season after releasing Nsimba Webster before training camp, and they have a few good options. Tutu Atwell is one candidate, and he broke off a nice 20-yard return that was called back by a penalty in the first half against the Chargers on Saturday night.

The next time the Chargers punted, it was Raymond Calais back to return the punt. He turned on the jets and took the punt back 46 yards – with no flags on the field. Calais looked decisive and speedy on the return, providing a spark for the Rams.

Calais has also been returning kickoffs, but he’s clearly more than capable of returning punts, as well.

Brian Allen, Raymond Calais among Rams’ 6 inactives vs. Cowboys

The Rams have six healthy scratches for Sunday night’s game.

The Los Angeles Rams came into the season opener against the Dallas Cowboys at almost full health, aside from Travin Howard and Terrell Lewis’ absences. They didn’t have a single player listed with an injury designation for the game, with even Darrell Henderson Jr. being a full-go after recovering from his hamstring tweak.

Their health was reflected on the pre-game inactives, none of whom are injured. All six are healthy scratches, and none of them are particularly surprising.

What is notable, however, is that Xavier Jones is active despite the Rams having three healthy running backs ahead of him.

Brian Allen has fallen down the depth chart since being a starter last season, coming into this one as a healthy scratch. It’ll likely be Coleman Shelton as Austin Blythe’s backup at center.

Raymond Calais is also inactive, which Les Snead indicated would be the plan after the Rams signed him off the Bucs’ practice squad. Darrell Henderson will likely handle kickoff returns.

Rams like ‘superpower’ Raymond Calais brings with speed, explosiveness

Sean McVay and Les Snead both mentioned Calais’ speed as a reason they liked him coming out of college.

The Rams made three picks in the seventh round of the draft this year, but they probably wish they had an extra one to use on Raymond Calais. The speedy and talented running back out of Louisiana-Lafayette was on the Rams’ radar, but the team instead went with a kicker, linebacker and offensive lineman – and understandably so.

They made up for missing out on Calais this weekend, though, by poaching him off the Buccaneers’ practice squad. Although the move isn’t yet official – Calais has to take a physical first – the Rams are thrilled to have another running back in the mix this season.

General manager Les Snead shared his thoughts on Calais Monday, saying the Rams love his speed and explosiveness, calling it a “superpower.” It’s also more of a long-term move, which Snead often refers to as a “telescopic” view.

“That’s an easy one. Telescopic. And I know this: The odds of him getting a jersey on Sunday Night Football is slim, but we really liked him in the draft,” Snead said. “We like the superpower he brings of explosiveness, speed – and that being able to translate on the football field, looking at his yards per carry when he did touch the football and maybe housing a few of those kickoff returns. The goal is to get him up to speed as soon as possible, but you never know when the telescopic becomes the microscopic based on, does the explosiveness wow our staff as he’s probably giving the defense a look on scout team or the special teams a look on scout team. Or if there, unfortunately, is some type of attrition, which we know happens in this league.”

Sean McVay is optimistic Darrell Henderson will be able to play against the Cowboys on Sunday night, which makes it even more unlikely that Calais will suit up. But if and when he does, he’ll provide help on special teams, too.

Calais was all-conference as a kick returner last season, averaging 28.5 yards per return. He brought back two kickoffs for touchdowns in 2017, too, using his speed to make game-changing plays on special teams.

“He’s got a great returnability, he’s got explosion,” McVay said of Calais. “Did some nice things, that we had heard from some similar people that we know what the Bucs and our coaches evaluated him coming out (of college). I think anytime that you’ve got one of those elite traits with that speed, you’re going to get an opportunity. And that was really the thing that excited a lot of guys to be able to get him in here.”

At the moment, the Rams have four running backs on the 53-man roster: Cam Akers, Malcolm Brown, Henderson and Xavier Jones. Calais would make five, but it’s possible the Rams will send Jones down to the practice squad instead.

They’ll have to make a move by Wednesday and expect to do just that, so we’ll soon know how the Rams plan to fit Calais into the picture.

Rams sign rookie RB Raymond Calais off Bucs practice squad

Is this bad news for Darrell Henderson and his hamstring injury?

Practice squads haven’t even been assembled for a full day yet, but the Los Angeles Rams are wasting no time poaching players from other teams. On Sunday afternoon, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported that the Rams are signing rookie running back Raymond Calais off the Buccaneers’ practice squad.

Calais will revert to the Rams’ 53-man roster, though Los Angeles will need to cut someone in order to make room for him. That gives the Rams five running backs on the active roster.

This is possibly a bad sign for Darrell Henderson Jr., who’s still dealing with a hamstring strain that has kept him out of practice. The Rams haven’t yet ruled Henderson out for Week 1 like they have with Terrell Lewis, but his status is very much up in the air.

Like Henderson, Calais has experience on kick returns, and the Rams could use him in that role early in the season if Henderson is sidelined for a while. Calais was first-team All-Sun Belt as a return specialist in his senior year, averaging 28.5 yards per return.

Because Calais was poached off another team’s practice squad, he must remain on the 53-man roster for at least three weeks before he can be sent to the Rams’ practice squad.

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Ronald Jones is a big fan of the Bucs’ new uniforms

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Ronald Jones seems to be a big fan of the team’s new uniforms based on his recent tweet.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers added some depth to their backfield in last month’s draft by selecting running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn out of Vanderbilt in the third round and Louisiana running back Raymond Calais in the seventh round.

The pair will join Ronald Jones to help bolster the Bucs’ run game, and Jones himself is looking to be a big contributor after a solid 2019 campaign. The former 2018 second-round pick had a decent sophomore season, finishing the year with 724 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 172 carries. Jones managed to take over the starting role before the season ended, and with Peyton Barber now a Redskin, Jones will be looked upon to be the veteran leader of this running back group.

And what better way to celebrate his new role than with a new look? Jones and the rest of the Buccaneers will be sporting new uniforms in 2020, and based on this tweet from Jones, he seems to be a big fan of the new look.

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All the jersey numbers of the Bucs’ 2020 draft class

All the newly drafted Tampa Bay Buccaneers players have already chosen their number for the pros.

The 2020 NFL draft is over, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers walked away with a top-ranked tackle in Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs that they hope can provide stability along the O-line to keep Tom Brady upright next season.

The Bucs also came away in round two with one of the class’ top safeties in Minnesota’s Antoine Winfield Jr. (No. 45 overall), addressing their other major need, which was their secondary.

Here is a list of all seven of the Bucs’ 2020 draft picks, as well as the new numbers they’ll be wearing in the NFL.

OT Tristan Wirfs, Iowa (No. 78)

S Antoine Winfield Jr., Minnesota (No. 31)

RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn, Vanderbilt (No. 30)

WR Tyler Johnson, Minnesota (No. 18)

DT Khalil Davis, Nebraska (No. 94)

OLB Chapelle Russell, Temple (No. 53)

RB Raymond Calais, Louisiana (No. 43)

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Bruce Arians calls RB Raymond Calais a smaller but faster David Johnson

Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians talked about seventh-round selection Raymond Calais and what he likes about the young running back.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers needed to add some talent to their backfield this offseason, and the 2020 NFL draft afforded them the perfect opportunity to do just that.

The Bucs used their third-round pick on Vanderbilt RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn, who has the pass-catching potential to be an effective back in Year 1. But the Bucs weren’t done there. In round seven, with their final pick at No. 245, Tampa Bay went with Louisiana RB Raymond Calais.

Even though Calais is a seventh-rounder, that doesn’t mean the Bucs don’t see a bright future for him. In fact, Bruce Arians had some strong praise for Calais shortly after he was drafted.

Comparing Calais to Johnson is a big compliment given that Arians saw and worked with Johnson up close during their time together with the Cardinals. It’ll be interesting to see how the backfield workload is handled next season, but it’s clear the Bucs have talent and depth to work with.

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Buccaneers wrap up draft by going defense and offense in Round 7

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers went defense and offense in round seven to wrap up their 2020 NFL draft.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers came out winners in free agency, and now it seems like they got quite the haul of talent in the NFL draft.

The Bucs kicked things off on Thursday night by moving up a spot to take Iowa OT Tristan Wirfs. In round two, they went defense with Antoine Winfield Jr. of Minnesota. To wrap things up in the seventh round, the Bucs used their last two picks on both defense and offense, taking OLB Chapelle Russell (No. 241) out of Temple and Louisiana RB Raymond Calais (No. 245).

The Bucs addressed their most pressing needs in rounds one and two, fixing their O-line and strengthening their secondary. They added a running back in round three — Vanderbilt’s Ke’Shawn Vaughn — but Calais might be good to have as an insurance policy behind Ronald Jones and Vaughn. Calais had 886 rushing yards and six touchdowns last season.

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