It was a busy day for the Los Angeles Rams on Tuesday as they trimmed their roster down to just 53 players. It’s always difficult to predict who the Rams will keep and who they will cut, and that remained true this year with the team cutting Logan Bruss and keeping the likes of Zach Thomas and Zach VanValkenburg.
This is only the Rams’ initial 53-man roster and there are still plenty of moves still to come in the next few days, but at least we now have some clarity heading into Week 1 of the regular season.
Here are seven big takeaways from the Rams’ initial 53-man roster.
1
Stetson Bennett earns QB2 job
It’s not a huge surprise, but it is worth noting that Bennett is officially the Rams’ No. 2 quarterback. His performance in the final preseason game was concerning and disappointing but the Rams haven’t lost faith in him backing up Matthew Stafford.
Had Los Angeles kept Brett Rypien on the roster, too, there would’ve been some question about whether he or Bennett was the No. 2 option behind Stafford. Bennett may not have played well this summer but he’s not expected to take the field anytime soon unless Stafford goes down anyway.
2
Not much depth at inside linebacker
The Rams only kept three inside linebackers on the 53-man roster, which was expected all along. It’s usually a position they go thin at, especially this year with Ernest Jones and Christian Rozeboom being the clear-cut top two.
Jake Hummel will be a special teams player and backup in case someone goes down with an injury, but don’t expect Rozeboom to play a ton of snaps, either. It’ll primarily be Jones on the field as the lone inside linebacker, given how frequently the Rams use nickel and dime packages with five and six defensive backs out there.
3
Every drafted rookie made the team
The Rams had the biggest draft class in the entire NFL this year, selecting 14 players. Incredibly, all 14 of them made the 53-man roster, meaning they make up more than a quarter of the active roster.
Desjuan Johnson and Jason Taylor II were believed to be on the bubble, as was Ochaun Mathis, but the Rams ended up keeping them on the initial roster. Mathis is a candidate to be transferred to injured reserve, though, which would cause him to miss the first four games of the season.
4
No kicker on the roster
The Rams went all offseason with only one kicker on the roster: Tanner Brown. But on the final day of roster cuts, the Rams moved on from Brown, leaving them with no kicker on the team. It was always a possibility that Brown would be released and the Rams would replace him with a more experienced player, but this happening so late in the summer with no backup on the roster is somewhat surprising.
Brown only made two of his four field goal attempts this preseason, which is a small sample size but his 39-yard miss against the Broncos may have been the final straw. Los Angeles must now find a replacement.
5
Class of undrafted rookies fails to stand out
The Rams are usually pretty good at finding some undrafted gems but in a year where there were some golden opportunities for rookies to make an impact, Los Angeles’ UDFAs failed to capitalize. Other than long snapper Alex Ward, the Rams didn’t have a single undrafted rookie make the team this year. Not even kicker Tanner Brown, the only kicker on the team, made the 53-man roster.
Last year, the Rams had three undrafted rookies make the team: Lance McCutcheon, Keir Thomas and Jake Hummel. This year, only one did – and he’s a long snapper.
6
Logan Bruss is the biggest surprise cut
Bruss missed his entire rookie season with a torn ACL and he’s now found himself off the roster. He was the Rams’ top draft pick from a year ago, being selected in the third round, but Los Angeles shockingly released him on Tuesday. He has yet to play a single game for the team after he was believed to be a future starter at guard.
The Rams tried to move him to right tackle this summer but even that didn’t work. He’s a candidate for the practice squad and hopefully he can develop there. But there’s no getting around the fact that he was cut a year after being a third-round selection.
7
Shaun Jolly makes it over Robert Rochell
Jolly had been working this offseason as a backup nickel corner behind Cobie Durant. Rochell, on the other hand, is strictly an outside cornerback and he struggled badly in the preseason finale against the Broncos. He was buried on the depth chart last year and barely got any playing time even when Los Angeles dealt with injury after injury, but that doesn’t make this cut any less surprising.
A fourth-round pick from 2021, Rochell leaves the Rams as a big disappointment.
