Countless times in recent years, the Los Angeles Rams have relied on unproven players to come in and become starters on either offense or defense. Cory Littleton is a great example, going from undrafted rookie to future starter at inside linebacker.
Micah Kiser has risen after being a fifth-round pick, as has Sebastian Joseph-Day, a former sixth-rounder himself. Travin Howard was supposed to be a starter last season before injuring his knee in a scrimmage, while Troy Hill has developed into a versatile cornerback.
It’s lesser-known players like them who have helped keep the Rams competitive and successful in the last few years. And given the way their roster is constructed, a new group of unproven players will need to step up next season and beyond.
Les Snead was asked Wednesday about which players stand out as relative unknowns who the team really likes. He ruled out John Wolford and Van Jefferson because they’re no longer unproven players, but he did mention Xavier Jones as a player the Rams were ready to play late last season.
“A good one that might be is Xavier Jones,” Snead said. “Heck, we were ready to run him down the stretch there in important games, but Cam (Akers) was able to get through it and be the warrior. It’s players like him where I call those the sophomores, they may have played on special teams. I can mention a lot of them, because even the runner we claimed, (Raymond) Calais, from Tampa. … Joe DeCamillis comes here and he was a big fan of Calais as a returner in Jacksonville and now he’s a Los Angeles Ram.”
Snead then pointed to two offensive linemen who he seems to like a lot: Tremayne Anchrum and Chandler Brewer. Anchrum was a seventh-round pick last year and only played three offensive snaps, while Brewer opted out due to the pandemic.
The Rams could use depth on their offensive line, so Anchrum and Brewer could be players to watch.
“I think we like big Tremayne Anchrum,” Snead said. “Didn’t necessarily play in games, he did dress for a couple of games, but going back to those camp practices, you definitely saw some things there. A very interesting one is getting a Chandler Brewer back from an opt-out, who actually played well in our San Francisco game when we went up there. That game still bothers me that we lost that game, even though it might not have mattered at all. He played well, so it’s those moments.”
And finally, Snead looked at the defensive side of the ball. He didn’t name names on the defensive line, but he pointed out the four players that Los Angeles kept on its practice squad all year – a good sign for their chances to make the team next season.
Those players were Marquise Copeland, Eric Banks, Jonah Williams and Michael Hoecht, all of whom signed futures contracts with the Rams.
“All those defensive linemen we kept on practice squad. I probably can’t even name them all, but there were four of them and we kept them for a reason and liked them,” Snead said. “The linebackers speak for themselves and the safeties because a lot of those guys got to play. Even someone like Mr. (J.R.) Reed that we signed from Jacksonville. Someone we really liked in the draft, didn’t get him, he went to Jacksonville and then we ended up signing him.
“It’s players like that – not household names, not sexy – but sometimes you have to take the knowledge that you have and make a bet on them to help play a role. The poster childs of that working out: Sebastian Joseph(-Day), Troy Hill, Darious Williams – even to an extent, the Kenny Youngs, and the Troy Reeders and people like that.”
If the Rams are forced to cut players such as Young, Michael Brockers, A’Shawn Robinson the younger linebackers and defensive linemen could be asked to step up. The same goes for the offense, where Malcolm Brown may not be retained and Austin Blythe could leave in free agency.
There are holes for the Rams to fill and it’ll help them immensely if some of their unproven players can become starters the way Hill, Joseph-Day, Reeder, Kiser and Williams have.
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