Tag: Russ Yeast

NFL fined Russ Yeast for hit on Deebo Samuel despite no penalty being called

Russ Yeast was fined for a hit on Deebo Samuel last week, even though he wasn’t penalized for the play

Russ Yeast got a letter in the mail from the NFL this week for a hit he put on Deebo Samuel in Week 2. According to Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area, Yeast was fined $4,940 for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Samuel in the second quarter of the Rams’ loss, which might’ve caught him by surprise.

That’s because no flag was thrown on the play for Yeast’s hit, so it’s not as if the officials on the field thought it was an illegal tackle. But apparently the NFL felt it was unnecessary because after reviewing the tape, it fined Yeast – albeit, not a huge amount.

Yeast has started the Rams’ first two games at safety and played relatively well in his first year as a full-time player, making eight tackles thus far, six of which were made in Week 2 against the 49ers.

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How John Johnson’s return affects the Rams’ depth chart at safety

With John Johnson returning to the Rams, it shakes up the depth chart at safety ahead of the 2023 season

The Los Angeles Rams are reuniting with John Johnson, agreeing to a one-year deal with the veteran safety. Johnson’s return alters the outlook of the secondary and it will undoubtedly affect how the depth chart shakes out ahead of Week 1.

Prior to a two-year stint with the Cleveland Browns in 2021 and 2022, Johnson was with the Rams from 2017 to 2020. Johnson quickly became a starter when he joined the Rams in 2017 and became a defensive captain rather quickly, producing 32 pass breakups and eight interceptions in his four years in Los Angeles.

Before Johnson reunited with the Rams, the starting safeties for the 2023 campaign were expected to be Jordan Fuller and either Quentin Lake or Russ Yeast. Fuller was listed as the starting strong safety, while Yeast and Fuller were battling to be the starting free safety.

Considering his previous experience with the Rams, and the fact he’s still a productive safety at only 27 years old, Johnson figures to slide in as the starting free safety this season. That means that guys like Yeast, Lake, and Jason Taylor II will be relegated to reserve or special teams roles to begin the upcoming season.

At the moment, the Rams may not have confidence in either Yeast or Lake making the leap to full-time starter yet. While Johnson’s presence will almost certainly prevent him from starting, Lake has been moving around the defense throughout training camp, even playing dime linebacker in practice.

Besides Yeast and Lake seeing their chances of starting decline, the odds of undrafted rookies Quindell Johnson and Tanner Ingle making the roster have also taken a hit. The same goes for Richard LeCounte III. The five safeties that are expected to remain on the roster are now Johnson, Fuller, Yeast, Lake, and Taylor.

It’s highly improbable that the Rams consider keeping six or more safeties on the 53-man roster, which means that Johnson, Ingle and LeCounte’s best chance to remain in Los Angeles is via the practice squad. Along with bringing experience and production to the secondary, Johnson’s return to the Rams will make it interesting when the team needs to decide their depth chart at the safety position.

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Russ Yeast could be poised for starting role in Rams secondary

Russ Yeast was among the players to earn high praise from Sean McVay entering Year 2 with the Rams

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The Los Angeles Rams will have two new starters at safety this season after letting Taylor Rapp and Nick Scott walk in free agency. We know Jordan Fuller is most likely going to be one of them, but the other spot seems to be wide open.

Unless it isn’t.

During an interview with J.B. Long, McVay talked about three second-year defensive backs who have really stood out this offseason and will be counted on to be key members of the defense. He unsurprisingly mentioned Cobie Durant and Derion Kendrick, two projected starters at cornerback, but he then named Russ Yeast.

He’s not committing to Yeast as the starter next to Fuller, but it’s still a strong statement to say he’ll be a big part of the defense – especially because he didn’t mention another second-year safety, Quentin Lake.

Yeast and Lake are projected to be the top competitors for the second safety spot and Yeast might have an edge in that battle right now.

“I think guys that have really stood out, when you start on the back end: Decobie Durant, Derion Kendrick, Russ Yeast,” McVay said. “Those are three guys that are gonna have – we’re counting on them to be big parts of what we’re doing. And gosh, they’ve taken great steps in the right direction. Aubrey Pleasant does such a great job with that group. Chris Beake, Mike Harris, they’ve got a competitive swag about themselves. Love what they’ve done.”

Yeast was active for 15 games and made one start, but he mostly played special teams as a rookie before eventually getting a shot at safety late in the year. He had 10 tackles in his final three games, including one tackle for a loss.

He’s an aggressive defender and big hitter, which makes him a nice complement to Fuller at safety. Both Yeast and Fuller are primarily free safeties – Yeast played 103 of his 113 snaps there in 2022 and Fuller played 63% of his at free safety in 2021, according to PFF – but the Rams should be able to use them interchangeably in the box and back deep.

Yeast could replace Scott in a more traditional free safety role and as the enforcer in the secondary, which is a valuable type of player for a young defense to have. Yeast certainly seems like a player to watch this summer leading into the 2023 season.

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Grading every rookie from Rams’ 2022 draft class

We handed out grades for each rookie from the Rams’ 2022 draft class.

With the Los Angeles Rams taking an aggressive approach to acquire star players in exchange for early-round picks, the draft becomes even more important when it comes to finding depth and potential starters. The Rams made eight selections in the 2022 NFL draft at a variety of positions and they didn’t make their first pick until No. 104 overall.

After going 5-12 in the regular season in 2022, ESPN ranked the Rams’ draft class from a year ago as the second-least productive group of rookies in the NFL. The 2022 class for Los Angeles was comprised of Logan Bruss, Cobie Durant, Kyren Williams, Quentin Lake, Derion Kendrick, Daniel Hardy, Russ Yeast, and AJ Arcuri.

After getting a chance to watch the first-year players this season, here are our grades for each rookie in the Rams’ 2022 draft class.

Rams rookie Russ Yeast in stable condition at hospital after suffering pulmonary contusion

Rams rookie Russ Yeast suffered a pulmonary contusion in Sunday’s game and is in stable condition at a local hospital

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Russ Yeast left Sunday’s game against the Seahawks with what the Rams called a chest injury. He was questionable to return, but he never made it back on the field. Instead, he was transported to a local hospital because he suffered a pulmonary contusion, Sean McVay said after the game.

McVay said Yeast is in stable condition but he will be kept overnight for further evaluation.

“He’s going to be OK,” McVay said.

Some of Yeast’s teammates showed support for him after the game by heading directly to the hospital to see him. Jalen Ramsey was among them, as were other defensive backs.

After the terrifying situation Damar Hamlin experienced last week when he suffered cardiac arrest and was taken to the hospital, where he’s still recovering, it’s good to see Yeast’s fellow defensive backs coming to his side after this injury.

Russ Yeast questionable to return with chest injury

Russ Yeast, who started in place of Nick Scott, is questionable to return against the Seahawks

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Nick Scott was ruled out by Sean McVay on Friday due to a shoulder injury, making Week 18 the first game he didn’t start all season. He was replaced by Russ Yeast in the starting lineup, but now the Rams are down to their third-string safety.

Yeast suffered a chest injury in the first half against the Seahawks and is questionable to return. This is the first start of Yeast’s career after coming into the NFL as a seventh-round pick this year.

These six underrated Rams have impressed Sean McVay in 2022

With the season winding to a close, Sean McVay pointed to these six players as guys who have made the most of their opportunities in 2022

Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay faced serious adversity in 2022 as his team looked to defend their Super Bowl title and ended up with less-than-desirable results in the process. Not for lack of effort on his part, the Rams currently sit at 4-10 on the season and are starting to look to the future in the final weeks of the season.

He addressed the media on Wednesday at a team press conference and was asked about which players have stood out to him through all the trials and tribulations 2022 has brought for his team. Injuries have played a major factor for Los Angeles, so it was no surprise that the Rams’ depth players were the first that came to mind for him.

“I think when you look at it, I think a lot of those young defensive
linemen,” McVay explained. “I’ve been really pleased with [DT] Bobby Brown [III] and the way that he’s played. I think you’re seeing a lot of opportunities for [DT] Michael Hoecht and then even in the backend, it’s been really good to see guys like [DB] Cobie Durant and [DB] Russ Yeast, [DB] Quentin Lake got a chance to play for the first time, so those are the guys that would come to mind for me whereas a lot of the guys that…[RB] Kyren [Williams] is a guy we want to continue to be able to see. I think he’s done some good things with his opportunities, but those are the guys that come to mind for me.”

It is safe to say that McVay has kept his eye on players who might be able to help Los Angeles achieve a better record in 2023 as his team has suffered their share of defeat over the course of the season. In football, resilience in the face of hardship is a key to success, and McVay seems confident that the guys he has on his roster are capable of making that toughness their primary strength.

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Rams rookie Russ Yeast is changing jersey number to 21

Rams rookie Russ Yeast is making a number change, going from No. 43 to 21

With the roster being trimmed down from 90 to 53 players this summer, a whole bunch of jersey numbers became available. And so rookie safety Russ Yeast is making a switch from his original number choice.

He’ll be going from No. 43 to 21, which was most recently worn by cornerback Dont’e Deayon. Yeast wore No. 2 at Kansas State, but that number is worn by Troy Hill so it’s unavailable.

Yeast made the 53-man roster as a seventh-round rookie and while he may not get much playing time on defense initially, he’ll have a chance to contribute on special teams right away if active on game days.

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 sign all 8 rookies from their 2022 draft class

The Rams have signed all 8 of their rookies from the 2022 draft class to contracts ahead of mandatory minicamp.

It’s been a busy Monday for Tony Pastoors and the other people that handle the financial side of things for the Los Angeles Rams. Besides agreeing on a reworked deal with Aaron Donald, the Rams have officially signed all eight rookies from the 2022 draft class.

The eight incoming rookies for the Rams are Logan Bruss, Decobie Durant, Kyren Williams, Quentin Lake, Derion Kendrick, Daniel Hardy, Russ Yeast, and AJ Arcuri. With mandatory minicamp beginning this week, it’s a positive development for Los Angeles to have all of their rookies signed.

There weren’t any indications that the Rams would be unable to agree to deals with all of their rookies, so Monday’s news shouldn’t come as a surprise. Contract talks with rookies are likely easier for Los Angeles due to them not having any first or second-round picks, making it simpler to navigate salaries and bonuses.

Along with No. 99, the Rams will have all eight of their first-year players from the 2022 NFL draft present for minicamp this week.