We touch on a bunch of random subjects this episode – including player news, the Rams schedule, a little bit of roster talk, and power rankings across the web.
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[Music] spring is here and you can now get almost anything you need for your sunny days delivered with Uber Eats what do we mean by almost well you can’t get a well groom lawn delivered but you can get a chicken parmesan delivered a cabana that’s a no but a banana that’s a yes A nice tan sorry nope but a box fan happily yes a day of sunshine no a box of Fine Wines yes Uber Eats can definitely get you that get almost almost anything delivered with Uber Eats order now alcohol and select markets product availability may vary by Regency app for details it’s only a kick a jump a block it’s only a serve it’s only a tackle a run it’s only for the fans after all it’s only pressure you got this Adidas hola hello this call is being translated listen to what my phone can do wow wow now tell me about this new girlfriend huh you know what I said language is no longer a barrier thanks to live translate with Galaxy AI on Samsung Galaxy s24 Ultra learn more at samsung.com Samsung account loging required Cosmos we made using the native Samsung dialer this episode is brought to you by Amazon Prime you know Amazon Prime is not just a shipping subscription right it’s got everything including streaming TV and movies on Prime video and of course Prime’s fast free shipping go from watching your favorite shows to getting your favorite things whatever you’re into it’s on Prime visit amazon.com pre to get more out of whatever you’re into [Applause] welcome back Ram fans this is Rams up your favorite LA Rams podcast we are proud members of the fansir sports network that’s ffirst sports.com you can also follow us on YouTube our channel is LA Rams up I’m your host Mark you’ll hear from my co-host Tom on occasion as well hey we’re not Rams insiders we’re just longtime fans who love talking about our Los Angeles Rams let’s get to it welcome back Ram fans episode 457 of rams up and if you hadn’t figured it out I was off the grid there for over a week had some canned episodes to share and Ian Paul and Tom post some stuff too but I’m back trying to get caught up and while I was gone I was taking notes of a lot of little things going on just some observations I’m going to call this my 18 observations going to be all over the place talking about a lot of things related to our LA Rams first item OTAs ongoing Rams have had three so far two more on the 28th and 29th another on the 31st and then June 3rd through 6th followed by the mini camp June 10th through 12th and my second observation out of those OTAs Byron young a little bit bigger 260 lbs that’s been all over the web everybody’s excited about Jared verse and Brandon Jackson but man Byron young and verse they could end up being a great pair of the next few years let’s hope it happens my third observation Cooper Cup on the Julian Edelman podcast had an interesting thing to say sounded a little frustrated with a lot of players or at least some players didn’t name names about guys that show up not quite ready and he’s making the point that essentially it’s a full-time job he sees teammates spending three weeks in the Caribbean and coming back not quite ready to practice about what you’d expect from Cooper cup my fourth observation also out of the OTAs Kiren Williams with a foot issue I wonder if the Rams knew about that or just have an overall concern about the health of the running backs and went out and drafted Blake corm but Kiren should be ready for the mini camp in June we’re hoping observation number five here Michael Brockers retires I love that guy he had some great years with the Rams I’ll always remember that 2014 game against Seattle fourth down play Brockers and Aaron Donald and a couple of others the Mob Squad shut down Marsh on Lynch to seal a win for the Rams Rams 28 Seahawks 26 and that was kind of the coming out party for Aaron Donald I think Rams were not good in 2014 but it was no fault of our defensive line Robert Quinn in the mix there as well my sixth observation let’s go through some schedule notes the Rams get five Prime Time games two Thursday night games which is kind of odd and only two potential cold weather games that would be November 18th at New England December 22nd at the New York Jets and you know what I’m not as concerned about cold weather games now with Matthew Stafford at quarterback that was really a concern when we had Jared golf back there just never had a warm fuzzy about golf performing in cold cold weather Matthew Stafford not really that concerned but the fewer games we have in cold weather the better for our Los Angeles ramps and my seventh observation related to the schedule you know I do my path to the playoffs segment on occasion and I’m going to run through what I think are the key segments of this schedule where the Rams need to get rich so they open up at Detroit and then they go on the road again to play Arizona week two now we don’t know what’s going to happen in that Detroit game but regardless of what happens this game at Arizona is a game they need to win I think it’s good we’re catching them early they’re a very young team and I think they’re on the rise Rams need to get a win there and then weeks 7 through 11 this is another part of the schedule the Rams need to find a way to get rich pile up some W’s they get the Raiders and the Vikings at home then they travel to Seattle a place where they usually play well then they come home against Miami maybe steal a win against the Dolphins man that’s going to be a fun game and then they travel to New England I’m hoping they can get four wins in this stretch minimum three they got to get three four would be great doubt they’re going to be able to sweep all those games especially with Miami there but this is definitely a part of the schedule Rams need to be playing well and then the last two games at home against those same Cardinals and the Seahawks need to wrap things up with two straight wins my eighth observation also about the schedule some scheduling quirks last year the Rams and 49ers played four teams coming off a bu that was a travesty something that the NFL should never allow to happen some teams played zero teams coming off a bu and that’s a big Advantage having that extra week rest not good Rams only have one such game but they did it again to the 49ers 49ers once again two straight years playing four teams coming off a bot that is crazy if I was a 49er fan I’d be pretty pissed if I’m a ram fan I’m kind of pleased actually and worth noting most of the teams that have to travel the most I mean every year they’re pretty much Coastal teams Seattle San Francisco Los Angeles maybe some East Coast teams but the West Coast teams is typically that because there’s such a wide spance of the United States with only a couple teams I mean in between the west coast and Kansas City what do you got the Cardinals and the Broncos but West Coast teams pretty much every year have to travel the most well this year throw the Packers into the mech they’re in the middle of the country but because they and the Eagles have to travel to Brazil piling up some mileage there so the Packers are on top of that list as well along with the Eagles and the West Coast teams as you’d expect observation number nine stat of the Pod not going to steal stat of the day from someone else stat of this pod saw this on Instagram I think it was alltime NFL top 10 most receiving yards per game Tory Holt is eighth on that list and Cooper cup is 10th Rams well represented observation number 10 hey maybe it’s just me but I’m kind of getting tired of these videos demonst ating sha mcvey’s memory we get it it’s incredible let’s move on hola hello this call is being translated AB listen to what my phone can do ab wow wow now tell me about this new girlfriend huh you know what I said language is no longer a barrier thanks to live Translate with Galaxy AI on Samsung Galaxy s24 Ultra learn more at samsung.com Samsung account loging required calls must be made using the native Samsung dialer this episode is brought to you by Amazon Prime you know Amazon Prime is not just a shipping subscription right it’s got everything including streaming TV and movies on Prime video and of course Prime’s fast free shipping go from watching your favorite shows to getting your favorite things whatever you’re into it’s on Prime visit amazon.com/mytv whatever you’re [Music] into this episode is supported by fx’s clipped the scandalous story of the 2014 Clippers owner racist remarks captured on tape and heard around the world the series charted the tape’s impact on a dysfunctional basketball organization striving to win against their reputation as the most cursed team in the league starring Lawrence Fishburn Jackie Weaver Cleopatra Coleman and Ed O’Neal fx’s clipped streaming June 4th only on Hulu this is your typical radio ad while eating a Crunch bar this is automatic of Autos used cars this weekend only we’re having a wheale bring the kids see for yourself it is huge going to make a big splash no other dealer can say they have a whale like this when sound dull turn up the fun with crunch don’t just ride the index seek to outperform it with Fidelity active ETFs learn more at fidelity.com slactive ETFs before investing in any exchang traded fund you should consider its investment objectives risks charges and expenses contact Fidelity for a prospectus and offering circular or if available a summary prospectus containing this information read it carefully while active ETFs offer the potential to outperform an index these products May more significantly Trail an index as compared with passive ETFs Fidelity brokerage Services LLC member NYSC sipc observation number 11 now this Ram roster is going to be pretty young we got some veterans obviously but we got a lot of young players how many rookies and seconde players could be on this roster well we have 14 returning rookies from last year second-year players 10 more rookies this year drafted rookies I’m talking about plus undrafted free agent Alex Ward The Long Snapper he will surely be on this team again so there’s 25 first and seconde players that will likely be on this roster now I’ll talk about some in a second that might not make it plus any undrafted free agents from this year and a couple of guys that stuck around last year on the practice squad that have a shot but I think 25 would be a good guess almost half the roster but of these 25 who is at risk of not making it well of the 20 23 draft picks I think Jason Taylor the safety and Zack Evans the running back could both be in a fight for a roster spot and I would think either Nick Hampton or Osan matthysse both of them could end up making it but one of them could find themselves on the outside looking in now I’m not making predictions here I’d love to see all these guys make it just a reality check on what this roster might look like and who might be on the bubble trying to fight for for roster spots of these 25 guys not including Deshawn Johnson here I think he will be on this roster almost certainly in 2024 draft picks is KV leveston fighting for a spot with Warren McLendon perhaps I don’t think lon’s a shoe in for this roster we’ll see how it shakes out in the preseason Bo limur I think he’s just too evaluable on the interior provides so much flexibility I think he’ll be on this roster for sure unless he’s just a total watch out don’t expect that to happen though observation number 12 this is a trivia question I’m going to give you the answer right away because I wouldn’t expect anyone to know this I stole this from someone else posting it somewhere this was true as of like a month ago I think it’s still true I don’t think any of these guys has announced their retirement St Louis Rams still active in the NFL my list is Greg the leg Rodney McLoud and he’s one that maybe won’t be sticking around that much longer Johnny Hecker Case Keenum another guy maybe hanging it up soon if he hasn’t already and our own Big Rob Rob havenstein observation number 13 now if you’ve been listening to this podcast long enough you know that I’m actually a pretty big fan of Jared Goff always thought that he was better than he was given credit for and he’s starting to prove it in Detroit but this contract by the Lions not a big fan of it 4 years $212 million making him the second highest paid quarterback in the league behind Joe burrow I think they’re going to R the day they gave him this contract but they may not have had a choice he’s playing too well to move on from him to not do this to not work this deal but I still think they’re going to regret it observation number 14 the Rams are probably going to be playing in Australia in 201 25 I should say probably that’s my best guess there have been some rumors about this now remember a couple years ago the NFL announced that the Rams had been granted access to three international home markets including Australia so this is the case of the NFL finally making a Full Throttle foray into Australia via the Los Angeles Rams man that’s one heck of a road trip observation number 15 let’s summarize some of the Power Rankings out there we’ll start with CBS Sports Pete prisco he has the Rams at number nine showing the Rams some love ahead of the Eagles and Cowboys and he had this to say they had a terrific draft but the retirement of Aaron Donald will be felt by the defense even so Shawn McVey will have them pushing the 49ers for the division title bold statement from Pete prisco number nine is kind of where I had him seems a little high looking at it from the outside in though but number nine about where they belong I think and yes definitely ahead of the Cowboys we’re going to have an episode where we take stock of the Dallas Cowboys I think they could be really hurting on the offensive side of the ball despite the presence of Dak Prescott and CD lamb they’re going to have some issues there I think the staff over at the ringer had the Rams rated number 11 fair enough Lindsay Jones one of their staff had this to say the Rams were one of the most fun surprises of the 2023 season and now have an incredibly strong foundation for the future and yes they absolutely do the outlier nfl.com Eric edol had the Rams ranked number 17 behind the likes of the Jags Falcons and Chargers among others man not feeling it Eric think he needs to make a re assessment of our Los Angeles Rams observation number 16 now when the Rams drafted Jordan Whittington full disclosure I really didn’t know who he was maybe heard the name a couple of times was not on our radar he was not a guy that we talked about in any of our mock drafts from what I can remember but I’m starting to love this draft pick if for no other reason than what Steve sarkeesian whittington’s coach at Texas has had to say about the Rams drafting his wide receiver now this is a little bit of old news but it’s worth sharing been meaning to do it for quite a while what did sarkeesian say coach McVey and the Rams are going to absolutely love Jordan Whittington he’ll be a dude all player on the field and in the community for La there’s nobody on our team that was more valuable than Jay wit in helping us build our program and culture in our three years at Texas end quote now does that sound like a guy that Les need and sha McVey would want to have on their team and absolutely that we would want to have on this team man Rams are builing a culture and Foundation that you just got to love and Jordan Whittington is going to fit in absolutely perfectly observation 17 well isn’t it about time this billion dooll industry the National Football League is going to stop using two sticks in a chain to measure first downs to determine if a team has earned a new set of downs they’re going to test an optical tracking system during the preseason and if it works they will implement it during the 2024 season reducing the amount of human air this is way over do my special assistant and I have been talking about this for a while glad to see it happening what I’m curious about is how they present the results because you know stretching that chain can be very exciting sometimes we don’t like the result two links short one link short and it’s all dependent on where that ref thinks the ball was down be interesting to see how they present the results and retain that sense of excitement was it a first down or not have no idea how that’s going to work could be up to the networks actually they’ll probably coordinate with the NFL let’s find a really cool way of letting the fans know whether it was a first down or not observation number 18 and I’m going to switch lanes here on you a year or two ago one of my sports pet peeves was why do umpires tolerate framing pitches never understood that everybody knows catchers try to make balls look like strikes and the umpires just live with it it’s an except part of the game and it results in miscalled balls and Strikes if I’m an Umpire I’m putting an end to it right away tell the catcher you move your glove like that I’m calling a ball stop doing that it’s destroying the Integrity of the game but hey that’s just me everybody seems okay with it but now they’ve taken it to a new level apparently catchers have been moving their glove towards the pitcher into the s swinging Zone trying to catch a ball before it breaks before it leaves the strike zone again making a potential ball looking like a strike and then sure enough what happened Wilson contris it’s his arm smacked by a bat pretty serious injury and he’ll be out for a while JD Martinez taking a hack at contris arm accidental totally contrarious fault but again bottom line framing pitch is I don’t know why they put up with it maybe this will result in some push back against that maybe the catchers will at least think twice about trying to catch a ball before it breaks out of the strike zone I think they’re going to still allow FR aiming pitches no push back on that go ahead trick me all game long I’ll call a handful of ball strikes because catchers are just really good at it [Music] that’s going to do it for this episode remember you can reach us at Rams up Podcast gmail.com and don’t forget about our YouTube channel our handle is at laams up.com till next time keep the horns up stay safe and have fun out there
1 Comment
Interesting observations! 👍