The Los Angeles Rams preseason is nearly upon us. Their three-game slate opens up against the Los Angeles Chargers. Although you might not see many starters on the field, there will be plenty to watch. In a sense, preseason is an audition for some of the players on the Rams’ roster bubble. Let’s break down some of the players that should be watched this preseason.
OG Logan Bruss
The Los Angeles Rams first draft pick from this last year is set to make his debut during the preseason. Many criticized the Tutu Atwell pick last year instead of taking Center Creed Humpherey. Whether Bruss pans out or not, he will be heavily watched as the first pick from this years’ draft. He was currently listed as the second string right guard behind Coleman Shelton. That should be the case for the first couple of games.
It’s pretty common to ease rookies into the NFL at any position. It’s something that the Rams have done with David Edwards and Joe Noteboom. As Bruss gets up to speed to the NFL, we’ll have to wait to see if he can be a permanent solution at right guard.
WR Tutu Atwell
As already mentioned, being the first pick in a draft class gets criticized the most, and Tutu is no exception. Tutu only played minimal snaps all year, after a start on the COVID list to begin the year. He was drafted to be a speedster wide receiver and possibly be the teams’ kick or punt returner. After Brandon Powell filled that role and the Rams other wide receiver depth filled that role on offense, it seems as if there’s no role for him on the team. Tutu supposedly had a great camp which bodes well for the 2021 rookie. If Tutu shows improvement in the preseason games, it’s very likely that he could see increased snaps on offense this season.
Now Tutu jumps over two defenders to grab an under thrown deep ball from Perkins https://t.co/x3xIRqGTwZ
— Gilbert Manzano (@GManzano24) August 8, 2022
DE Daniel Hardy
With the 235th choice in the 2022 NFL Draft, the Los Angeles Rams selected outside linebacker Daniel Hardy from Montana State. Maintaining a solid pass rush was one of the objectives this offseason after Von Miller left. According to Sean McVay “He’s done a good job. He’s got great effort. You can see the athleticism,” McVay said. “I think he’s getting more and more comfortable with the things that we’re asking him to do snap in and snap out.”
Hardy is skilled at making changes along the line, which the Rams routinely demand of their linebackers. Hardy can learn the system and the tempo of the game during this preseason even if he doesn’t get a start during the regular season. On Saturday, keep an eye out for #44 to rush the quarterback.
Rookie Defensive Backs (Decobie Durant, Quentin Lake, Derion Kendrick, Russ Yeast)
Les Snead drafted this offseason to fill a need at secondary and added a bunch of young defensive backs. Along with this years’ defensive backs Robert Rochell and Terrell Burgess need some work in the preseason as well. The only sure starters in this group are Ramsey, Hill, Fuller, and Scott. The other roles are likely going to be filled by who performed the best in the offseason.
Healthy competition is good for the secondary especially for guys like Rapp and Burgess, and the rookies need it to develop well. Les might have found the next starter in this draft.
QB Bryce Perkins
Perkins was the star of last years’ preseason, appearing in all three games. His good performance likely prompted the team to keep him on the roster as a third string quarterback. Perkins is a pretty mobile quarterback and frequently scrambled to make plays out of the pocket. He has backup quarterback upside. However, ith John Wolford behind Stafford as of now, that doesn’t seem to be possible. With that said, the staff obviously sees potential in him which we could see more of during the preseason.
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