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On the tight end position. I have some concerns about Roland Williams, and I'm starting to think Ernie will really help this team and the sooner he can come back, the better. Williams has all the potential as a receiver. He is bigger, faster, and more athletic than Conwell. He showed very good potential as a receiver last year, and I find it sort of ironic that he was billed primarily as a blocker coming out of college. He rarely caught the ball at the ball at Syracuse, and yet, the area in which he's struggling the most now is as a blocking end. Outside of Joe Jacoby, who is an enormous liability in the passing game, the Rams do not have a solid blocking tight end. Williams often seems to have trouble getting push on the strong side linebacker in the running game and also suffers breakdowns in pass protection too frequently for my comfort. He worked very hard in the offseason and he's an awesome physical specimen. You should see the guy play basketball! Mike Martz has said good things about him as well, so there is reason to be optimistic that he may develop, but he doesn't appear to be there yet and more importantly, I think the Rams still consider Ernie Conwell to be the starting tight end and that says quite a bit. Chad Lewis has shown some flair catching the ball, but he is a very one dimensional player. Get well soon Ernie!
Gruttadauria seems to have won the center job and with Flannery's injury, Tucker has secured the backup job. He has played very well and I think he would have won that job anyway. At left guard I expect Spikes to start sooner rather than later. Nutten is decent until he does, but it has to be Spikes' job to win.
On the defense. At strong safety, despite the opinions of Bernie Miklasz and Jack Snow, it appears to me that Billy Jenkins has made great strides and Bush is not as close as some would lead you to believe. Billy has been making excellent decisions that I've seen. He is always around the ball as we know and he's holding his own in coverage this season, perhaps with a deeper understanding of the defense. At the very least for Jenkins I expect to see him starting with Bush perhaps taking his place in the first nickel. But I wouldn't even concede that because Jenkins has been very strong in the nickel package. I have yet to see him badly beaten or out of position, although I have often seen him make solid aggressive plays on the ball, including multiple interceptions... more than anyone in the secondary outside of Dex.
Now the middle linebackers are a different story. The middle linebacker position is the hottest battle in camp by far. It's a complete tossup. I think it's pretty clear which guys are strongest in which areas and that all of these guys have distinct talents, but the coaches are just looking for the guy who puts it all together the best. Fletcher is great in coverage, very fast from sideline to sideline, but struggles when the play comes right at him... he is just not very big and although I love his heart and his attitude, I wonder how well suited he is for a Rams defense that lacks a lot of bulk up front. Styles also gets down the line to the sideline much quicker than anyonbe gives him credit for. Do not lament the loss of Eric Hill, because in Styles, we already have a better version of Eric Hill at this point in his career. Styles is extremely strong and holds up the best at the point of attack as well as getting strong pursuit down the line. Styles' only weakness is pass coverage. He is not on par with Fletcher or even Clemons in this area. Clemons is the guy that is perhaps the most complete player of the three IMHO (contrary to what Jim Thomas writes). He is big and strong and can fight his way through a block. He has also come a long long way in coverage. With Mike Jones getting limited reps, Charlie started alongside London Fletcher in the nickel packages. He is the best pass rushing linebacker on the team outside of Leonard Little, and he can also get back in coverage and hold his own... even make some plays... he received several attaboys from the coaching staff for his efforts in coverage on Tuesday. The problem with Charlie is that he often reads the play wrong, and although he does appear to be improving, the other two seem to have a firmer grasp on their role in this defense. Right now, with the Rams defense, I'd take my man Lorenzo Styles, but it's very close.
In my opinion, the defensive line is the most underrated unit on the team. Perhaps JT thinks they're too undersized to stop the run. Whatever. I disagree and strongly. Sears looks very good. Better than I expected. He's solid against the run, much bigger than I remember him, and he gets some push up the middle. Zgonina is Mr. Universe. He's a 290 lb. rock. He can stop the run, but alot of guys can stop the run, the skill that is rare is the ability to penetrate and put pressure on the quarterback. That's why Farr and Agnew are the starters. But I think Zgonina and Sears will make up a nice rotation at DT. Throw in a young guy like Hyder or Alton Weaver and you have a pretty solid unit. Of course it would be nice to have all pros all over the field, but the problem right now is not that they need to trade for more players, they just mostly need to get their backup defensive ends healthy. You have to remember that in watching that Raider game--and perhaps it will be the same way for more preseason games--with Sears starting and Zgonina down and the starting ends out of the game...ie. after the first quarter... you were mostly watching a bunch of young defensive linemen who are not even going to make this team. I'm not so worried... but if you can get me Bill Johnson, then get him already:)
On Sellers and his release. The guy was not well. I'm surprised they could even release him without some sort of an injury settlement. I do not believe he would pass a physical if they had tried to trade him. Some Rams fans have the wrong picture of this guy in the first place BTW, he is not a physical guy with size... he is very slight of frame. Perhaps it's a testament to just how poor the level of competition is in Europe that he's not even among the top 8 or 9 receivers in camp, probably not even if he were healthy IMHO. Also, looking at what's happened to him and to David Thompson this preseason, how beat up Tom Nutten was last year going into the season, and the problems LP is having in San Francisco now, I think it takes a little of the lustre away from the whole concept of the NFL Europe. Granted, often times these are players that would not even get a shot if it weren't for distinguishing themselves over there, but there are also guys like Thompson and Sellers who may have the stuff to make an NFL roster except for the fact that they are fighting such an uphill battle with injuries. They are heading into training camp on the heels of playing a ten game season and they are competing with 80 other guys who are fresh off of 6-8 months of rest and relaxation and light workouts with weights.
I usually try to be very open about my opinions about individual players because I'm no expert and I have no doubt that others would have more insightful comments than I were they to see as much of the team... but there is almost zero doubt in my mind that just about anyone who actually saw Sellers on the field in camp would feel as I did. He had no chance of making this team because in his present condition, he was not even in the same class as most of the other fringe receivers who are battling for roster spots... Mac Cody, Tony Small, Kevin Knox, and Daniel Jones were all light years ahead of him on the field.