Many 2020 NFL rookies won’t make it to training camp...

Many 2020 rookies won’t make it to training camp

[ramblinfan.com]

The LA Rams knew it would be tough sledding this season. From the moment the NFL suspended direct contact with NFL Draft prospects, the NFL axis began to spin off-center. The NFL has created a year-round season of events intended to retain the focus of so many fans upon the sport of professional football.

Football is one of the most violent professional sports. The basic premise is 11 athletes in full pads attempt to advance an oblong-shaped football while the opposing team tries to prevent that from happening in alternating turns of possession.

Rams roster basics

Since the sport involves running, blocking, and tackling at full speed, the NFL teams are given large rosters to work with. NFL teams are capped at 90 players after the NFL Draft until a preset date after training camp. Roster cuts come in two forms. The first cut to 75 men and then the second to the season limit of 55.

Players who are not assigned to the active roster have the opportunity to be signed up to the teams “practice squad”. Rosters are further reduced to a limit of 48 players for game day, while the other seven are considered “inactive” for that contest. The roster is further defined must contain a minimum of eight players who play on the offensive line. Teams can expand their 53 man roster to 55 players by promoting a maximum of two players from the practice squad. Too much math? Okay, let’s approach this another way.

Roster reduction from the 2019 roster perspective

At the onset of 2020, the LA Rams signed nine players to future-reserve contracts. The team then added four new players via NFL Free agency, including two new kickers, drafted nine players, and added 22 undrafted rookies after the 2020 NFL Draft. That equates to 44 additional players to the roster. Doing the math, that means that the Rams entered the 2020 season with 46 players remaining on the roster. How could this be?

While the LA Rams faced 18 players leaving via the 2020 NFL Free Agency market, the Rams carried many more than 53 players into the end of the 2019 season. Whether good or bad fortune, the number of significant injuries to Rams players last season translated into many players moving to injured reserve, allowing the team to add a player from either the practice squad or signed from another team to the active roster.

Rams returning 46 is good for 2020

That illusion about the Rams 53 man roster shrinking to just 35 players contracted to return has proven to be fortunate for the team so far. After all, the Rams found that carrying 13 players from 2019 into 2020 only needed a tweak or two from the team’s active roster to be prepared for 2020. It’s that reason that gave the team confidence to draft just one offensive lineman, Tremayne Anchrum, in the 2020 NFL Draft, and added just one lineman after the draft by signing center Cohl Cabral.

Familiarity is at a premium this offseason. We are already aware that the NFL preseason schedule has been cut in half. We also know that the NFL offseason programs have been limited to remote virtual training programs. With each passing day, rookies have lost that day to make a direct connection to other players and coaches. While returning players already have those connections, rookies and new arrivals to the team have yet to enjoy an opportunity to do so.

Schedule upheaval to roster pruning

So the latest news to be reported is perhaps the most damning for all NFL rookies hoping to earn a spot on their team’s active roster. In the latest report, NFL teams will likely have smaller rosters at their 2020 NFL Training camps. Right now, the total is still in question. But it does mean that many LA Rams rookies will not even have an opportunity to practice, train, or participate in either of the team’s two preseason games. Pretty hard reality to face, particularly after signing on with the team.

View: [twitter.com]


This pruning of the training camp roster is separate from previous reports that the NFL was considering expanding practice squad rosters to allow for more players to be available for teams should the active roster face quarantining multiple players due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

Rams roster complications

Even though the LA Rams had a significant number of returning players from 2019, the team was positioned for some extremely heated competition at several key positions: quarterback, linebacker, slot cornerback, offensive line, and kicker. At quarterback, returning veteran John Wolford has only a slight edge over rookies Josh Love and Bryce Perkins. At linebacker, the Rams have many talented players who could all earn playing time if they have the opportunity to do so. At slot cornerback and offensive line, the Rams have plenty of worthy veterans, but talented rookies promised to make things very interesting. And at kicker? The Rams must choose from three very talented kickers.

That will all now take place in much less time than previous seasons, with fewer preseason games, and some cuts will likely occur before coaches ever see the players on the practice field. Even though the LA Rams signing players to the practice squad is weeks away, the initial roster cuts taking place before the team even begins training camp will likely be too soon for the team to consider any of them for that roster.

We’ll analyze the Rams roster to the best of our ability given these circumstances, and try to identify players who are facing being cut prior to the team’s training camp. The first cut is the deepest is a famous song lyric originally sung by P.P. Arnold – The First Cut Is The Deepest (1967) and was written by Cat Stevens. That first cut of the LA Rams roster to ready the team for training camp is not only the deepest, it’s the hardest to justify.