Tag: Taylor Rapp

Watch: Jalen Ramsey and Taylor Rapp go at it in Rams’ huddle on first drive

Jalen Ramsey appeared to take a swing at Taylor Rapp’s helmet in the Rams’ huddle on Baltimore’s first drive.

The Rams’ defense allowed two plays of 10-plus yards to the Ravens on Baltimore’s opening drive Sunday, which led to some apparent frustration from Jalen Ramsey.

After Marquise Brown’s 13-yard reception over the middle, Ramsey took a swing at Taylor Rapp’s helmet, shoving his head in the huddle. Things didn’t escalate further than that but Rapp was not happy about it.

Here’s a view of what happened, and it’s obviously not a good look for the Rams this early in the game. Fortunately, Aaron Donald cleaned things up by making a tackle for a loss on third-and-3 to get the defense off the field.

4 Rams players to watch vs. Ravens on Sunday

Here are four players to keep an eye on for the Los Angeles Rams during Sunday’s showdown with the Baltimore Ravens.

The month of December was extremely kind to the Los Angeles Rams, who have posted a 4-0 record in the past four weeks. That has them sitting at the No. 3 seed in the NFC and atop the NFC West. Next up on the schedule is the Baltimore Ravens, a team that the Rams have not beaten since 2003.

With two weeks remaining in the regular season, there are plenty of playoff implications. Los Angeles is vying for the No. 1 seed in the NFC while simultaneously focusing on securing the NFC West for the third time under Sean McVay.

The last time these two teams met, Baltimore thrashed Los Angeles at The Coliseum by the score of 45-6 in Week 12 of the 2019 season. While the Rams hope for a different outcome this time around, here are four players to watch in Sunday’s pivotal road game versus the Ravens.

4 Rams players to watch vs. Cardinals on Monday

Here are four Rams players to watch when they take on the Cardinals in what is a decisive game on Monday Night Football.

Back in Week 4, the Los Angeles Rams hosted the Arizona Cardinals for a matchup between two undefeated teams in the NFC West. We all anticipated getting a back-and-forth game, only for the Rams to get blown out at SoFi Stadium for their first loss of the season.

While some may label this week’s contest as “just another” regular-season game, it’s far from it. Even Aaron Donald admitted that the team is treating this week’s rematch with Arizona like it’s a playoff game. The Rams still have an outside chance of securing the NFC West, and to achieve that, they’ll need to defeat the Cardinals on Monday Night Football.

The last time we saw Los Angeles on Monday Night Football, we witnessed them get routed by the San Francisco 49ers in Week 10. Ahead of Monday night’s pivotal showdown with another divisional foe, here are a few players from the Rams to keep an eye on during the game.

Which colleges are the Rams’ 2021 snap leaders from?

These are the five colleges that hold the highest snap percentage on the Los Angeles Rams this season.

Across the NFL, there is an endless number of players from different colleges and backgrounds. Some colleges have proven to be better at producing NFL talent than others, but there are still small-college players that overcome the odds and achieve their dream of playing professional football.

For the Los Angeles Rams, there are a couple of colleges that are obvious when it comes to leading the team in snaps this season. But through the first 12 weeks of the regular season, here are the colleges that are in the top five for the percentage of snaps played for the Rams.

It shouldn’t shock anyone that Georgia comes in at No. 1 for the Rams this season. Matthew Stafford is a Georgia alum and is fifth on offense with 685 snaps, putting him behind only four of his offensive linemen.

The other Georgia players on the Rams are Leonard Floyd and Sony Michel, who have combined for 694 total snaps. Floyd has seen the fifth-most snaps on defense this season, only behind Taylor Rapp, Jalen Ramsey, Aaron Donald, and Jordan Fuller.

Wisconsin is the college with the second-highest snap share on the Rams with David Edwards and Rob Havenstein leading the way. Edwards and Havenstein have been on the field for nearly every snap on offense as they have both accumulated 1,399 offensive snaps together.

After Georgia and Wisconsin, Washington comes in as the college with the third-highest snap share. Rapp leads the entire team with 733 snaps this season, while Greg Gaines (421 snaps) and Coleman Shelton (9 snaps) are the other Washington products on the Rams.

Ramsey is the sole reason why Florida State cracks the top five as the Seminoles would be higher on the list if Cam Akers wasn’t sidelined with an Achilles injury. The All-Pro cornerback is second on the roster with 722 snaps through the first 12 weeks.

Similar to Ramsey, Austin Corbett is single-handedly helping Nevada make the top five as he’s the lone Nevada alum on the roster. The former second-round pick of the Cleveland Browns is tied for second on the offense with 695 snaps.

Even though this doesn’t tell us much about the makeup of the roster, it’s interesting to see where some of the Rams’ key contributors played in college.

Taylor Rapp wins NFC Defensive Player of the Week for two-interception game

Taylor Rapp pulled down two interceptions against the Giants and won a weekly award for it.

After a somewhat rocky start to the season, Taylor Rapp broke out in a big way on Sunday against the New York Giants. The third-year safety picked off Daniel Jones twice, had another pass breakup, four total tackles and a quarterback hit on a perfectly timed blitz, shining at MetLife Stadium in Week 6.

For his efforts, he earned NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors for the first time in his career. Prior to Sunday’s game, Rapp had three career interceptions, so this was certainly the best performance as a pro thus far.

In addition to winning Defensive Player of the Week, Rapp also had one of the highest overall grades from Pro Football Focus for Week 6. He was 16th in the NFL with a grade of 90.5, standing out against the pass and in run defense.

Rapp has started all six games this season, making 41 tackles with two picks, four passes defensed and a half-sack.

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Taylor Rapp performs well in Week 6 amid criticism from fans

Taylor Rapp performed well in Week 6 versus the New York Giants amid recent criticism from fans of the Los Angeles Rams.

The Los Angeles Rams were able to handily beat the New York Giants in Week 6 by the score of 38-11. While the offense of the Rams garnered the majority of the attention of fans and media alike, the defense had one of its best performances of the season. Among the players who stepped up on defense, Taylor Rapp had arguably the best outing of his career in Week 6.

Rapp finished Sunday’s contest with five combined tackles, a quarterback hit, three pass breakups, and two interceptions. The third-year safety’s performance in Week 6 came at a perfect time as fans have been extremely critical of his play to begin the season.

Ahead of the Rams’ showdown with the Giants, I listed Rapp as a player to watch in Week 6. It’s safe to say that Rapp responded well to all of the criticism by giving the ball back to the offense twice in a blowout win on the road.

Rapp isn’t well-known for his coverage skills, so seeing him make plays against the pass was a positive development for the defense in Week 6. Consistency is something that the Rams would love to see from Rapp as they hope to see more from the Washington product moving forward.

For those that were calling for Rapp to be replaced at safety, it appears you will have to wait even longer for that to transpire.

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Giants dominated by far superior Rams, 38-11, in Week 6

The New York Giants were manhandled by the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, losing by a score of 38-11 and falling to 1-5 on the season.

The New York Giants opened Week 6 as 7.5-point home underdogs against the Los Angeles Rams and that briefly ballooned to +10.5. And that’s probably where the spread should have stayed.

After taking a brief first quarter lead, it was all downhill for the Giants from there. They failed and were beaten in every aspect of the game, leaving a half-empty MetLife Stadium to boo.

Injuries were again the theme as several players were lost, but that will not and can not be used as an excuse.

Following their latest loss, New York now falls to 1-5 on the season with no real breaks coming in the immediate future.

Watch: Taylor Rapp picks off Daniel Jones, Darrell Henderson Jr. scores 4 plays later

Taylor Rapp picked off his first pass of the season to set up the Rams’ third touchdown of the afternoon.

Much has been made about the Rams’ struggles on defense this season, but Raheem Morris’ unit came up big on a couple of plays against the Giants Sunday. Ogbonnia Okoronkwo had a strip-sack in the first half to set up Cooper Kupp’s touchdown, and a couple of drives later, Taylor Rapp pulled down a takeaway of his own.

He picked off Daniel Jones in the second quarter, perfectly playing underneath coverage against Evan Engram. He returned it to the Giants’ 14-yard line, giving the Rams perfect field position again.

Four plays after Rapp’s interception, Darrell Henderson Jr. punched it into the end zone for six points. That put the Rams up 21-3 over the Giants, their third unanswered score of the afternoon.

4 players to watch in Rams vs. Giants

Of the players suiting up in Sunday’s game, here are four players to watch when the Rams square off with the Giants in Week 6.

The Los Angeles Rams will hit the road to face a hobbled New York Giants team in Week 6. Los Angeles was able to bounce back from a disheartening performance versus the Arizona Cardinals in Week 4 by defeating the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night Football in Week 5.

The offense of the Rams continues to hum along nicely with Matthew Stafford operating it. While Stafford misses throws here and there, he’s performed well in his first five games in Sean McVay’s offense. It doesn’t hurt to have an assortment of weapons that includes Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, Van Jefferson, DeSean Jackson, Tyler Higbee, and Darrell Henderson Jr.

Do you know what does hurt, though? Having multiple starters on offense sidelined. The Giants come into Sunday’s showdown with the Rams having Saquon Barkley and Kenny Golladay likely out, while Daniel Jones, Kadarius Toney, Sterling Shepard, and Darius Slayton are all uncertain to play.

Given the fact that several Giants players may not suit up, Los Angeles is the heavy road favorite on Sunday. Ahead of what could be labeled a ‘trap game’ for McVay’s squad, here are four players to watch on the Rams when they face the Giants in Week 6.

4 potential trade targets for the Lions before roster cutdowns

Every Wire team editor named one player who could be traded in the roster cutdown period. These four players make the most sense for the Lions.

The roster cutdown period will see hundreds of players suddenly available in the coming days. If the Detroit Lions are seeking a specific player or position that is expected to be cut by another team, making a minor trade instead of waiting through the waiver wire claim or open market is a shrewd way to build up the bottom of the roster.

Our Wire network of editors listed one player from each team who is a good candidate to be traded in the next few days. Obviously, not all will be dealt, but it’s a good look at what types of players and positional talent will be available after the final preseason games this weekend.

Here are four players whose names came up on the Wire list who would make sense as trade targets for the Lions.

Gardner Minshew, QB, Jaguars

Minshew is the best young quarterback available. He’s never going to get ahead of No. 1 pick Trevor Lawrence in Jacksonville and the Jaguars like what they’ve seen from veteran C.J. Beathard too. While Minshew isn’t a likely successor to Jared Goff, he does represent a more skilled and feisty backup option than either David Blough or Tim Boyle in Detroit. Neither has impressed enough to avoid being replaced.

N’Keal Harry, WR, Patriots

The sales pitch to acquire Harry isn’t a great one. A former first-round pick who has not panned out at all in New England, harry is also battling injury issues this preseason. A conditional late-round pick would secure his services at a position where the Lions are clearly seeking long-term potential, and Detroit does have the cap room to take on the remainder of his rookie contract.

Antonio Gandy-Golden, WR, Football Team

Gandy-Golden is the victim of circumstance in Washington. The Football Team’s fourth-round pick in 2020 out of Liberty lost most of his rookie campaign to injury and COVID-19, and the team appears to have moved on already. His size and playing style are quite similar to ex-Lions WR Kenny Golladay. While it was a different regime, the Lions did coach Gandy-Golden in Senior Bowl week in 2020.

Taylor Rapp, S, Rams

Rapp is a hyper-athletic box safety who bagged 100 tackles as a rookie in 2019. Lions GM Brad Holmes knows him well as the leader of the scouting staff that tabbed Rapp in the second round of that draft. The Rams defense doesn’t really use that kind of player anymore. Rapp would be an instant upgrade over Will Harris in that “big” safety role and can even play some hybrid LB/S.