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The Rams have released safety David Roach. Roach played in 15 games as a rookie for the Rams last season and he had 15 tackles. The Rams have signed 23-year old safety Brett Johnson to replace him. Johnson has no game experience during the regular season but he was with the Eagles last year. This shouldn’t be much of a loss for the Rams as Roach was little more than a special teams player.
The Rams didn’t have much of a chance last night. The offense was overmatched as they only had the ball for 23:12 last night. A.J. Feeley started the game and he completed 3 of 6 passes for 19 yards. Sam Bradford got his first taste of the NFL last night and he completed 6 of 13 passes for 57 yards. Keith Null was so-so completing 4 of 8 passes for 30 yards. Thaddeus Lewis finished up the game by completing 5 of 6 passes for 46 yards. Keith Tolston led the way on the ground for the Rams last night with 16 yards on 4 carries (4.0 ypc). He also caught 2 passes for 5 yards last night. Chris Ogbonnaya only had 8 yards on 5 carries (1.6 ypc) last night but he also caught 4 passes for 31 yards (7.8 avg). WR Danny Amendola only caught 1 pass for 5 yards but he really stepped up on special teams last night. He returned 2 kickoffs for 40 yards (20.0 avg) and 3 punts for 102 yards (34.0 avg) including a 93-yard return for a TD. The Rams finished up with 33 yards rushing (2.5 ypc) and they passed for 117 yards last night.
The D didn’t play much better than the O for the Rams last night. Linebacker Josh Hull led the way for the Rams’ D last night with 8 tackles (1 tackle for a loss). CB/S Marquis Johnson pitched in with 8 tackles and 2 passes defensed last night. The Vikings finished up with 78 yards rushing (2.5 ypc) and 336 yards passing last night.
24-year old WR Danny Amendola came out of nowhere last season for the Rams. He played in 14 games for the Rams last season and he returned 66 kickoffs for 1,618 yards (24.5 avg). Amendola is a very dependable return man but rookie Mardy Gilyard will compete with him for his job. Gilyard was a 4th round pick out of Cincinnati last April has speed to burn. Amendola is more dependable but Gilyard’s has the speed to go all the way at any time.
PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE RAMS KICKOFF RETURNERS in 2010: B
The Rams have signed 28-year old kicker Shaun Suisham. He played in 14 games for the Cowboys & Redskins last season and he made 20 of 24 field goals (83.3%). He also connected on 25 of 26 extra points last season to finish up with 85 points. Suisham has played in 57 games in his five years in the NFL and he has made 87 of 110 field goals (79.1%). He has also made 101 of 103 extra points as he has 362 points in his NFL career. Suisham will be the kicker for the Rams on Saturday Night due to Josh Brown having tweaked his hip during practice earlier this week. Suisham probably won’t be with the Rams very long unless Brown’s injury is more serious than they expect that it is.
UPDATE: (8/17/2010) - The Rams have released Suisham as Josh Brown now appears healthy. He made an extra point in the pre-season opener but he didn’t get any shots at kicking a field goal.
It appears that the Rams are going to go with rookie 2nd round pick Rodger Saffold as the starting LT in 2010. He was a solid run and pass blocker in college so the Rams hope that he will be able to handle the blind side in the NFL. LG Jacob Bell excels as a pass blocker but he will need to get better with his run blocking. Center Jason Brown is the leader of this unit as he’s smart and hates to lose. He is a leader both vocally and by example as he’s a good run and pass blocker. It looks like Hank Fraley will be the starting RG for the Rams in 2010. He is a veteran who knows all of the tricks. Jason Brown will be the right tackle for the Rams in 2010. Brown is a really solid run blocker but he will need to improve his pass blocking soon.
PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE RAMS O-LINE in 2010: C+
