A new herd of Rams invades the NFL
Matthew Stafford, Aaron Donald and some men of mystery beat up Seattle.
Nineteen months. That’s right.
It’s only been 19 months since Cooper Kupp nosed his way to the last fourth down conversion, and the Rams held onto to their Super Bowl win in SoFi Stadium.
Time flies when you’re having fun, but it becomes like jail when you’re picking up the pieces of your franchise. That Super Bowl seems more remote than the invention of power steering. Maybe it’s because no one could envision being alive when it happens again.
In the 2022 season the Rams suffered a major Super Bowl hangover, followed by a locust invasion of injuries. They were 5-12. When the 2023 season dawned, Kupp was standing on the sideline with ear buds, idled by a hamstring, and Jalen Ramsey, Odell Beckham Jr., Von Miller and most of the other mercenaries were long gone.
The Rams’ starting lineup on Sunday featured six players who also started in that Bowl: quarterback Matthew Stafford, running back Cam Akers, tackle Rob Havenstein, receiver Van Jefferson, defensive lineman Aaron Donald and linebacker Ernest Jones. It wasn’t just the legends who had left. Useful actors like Nick Scott, Leonard Floyd, A’Shawn Robinson, Greg Gaines and Kendall Blanton, along with the eminence grise, tackle Andrew Whitworth, were gone too.
Obviously the Rams were embarking on The Plunge. Lose enough to get a top pick in the first round, preferably the top pick, which figures to be quarterback Caleb Williams, although his dad says Caleb is making enough coin off his commercials that he can sit and wait to see the drafting order before he decides to leave USC. Fail for Cale? It seems like a workable plan, especially since Rams general manager Les Snead famously said, ’Fuck them picks,’ during that Super Bowl celebration.
But notice what he didn’t say. He wasn’t dismissive of draft picks per se, just the idea that you needed all of them. While Snead was supposedly mortgaging the franchise to stock up on future Hall of Famers in 2020 and 2021 and win the Game That Matters, he also was mining college football for the best mid-round players, and he didn’t stop working when the seventh and final round came and went.
So when the Rams rose up and smote the Seahawks, 30-13, on Sunday, several of the catalysts were guys who Snead took during the shadowy rounds of recent drafts, when military heroes and local ministers are using Roger Goodell’s microphone.
All those new starters and reserves were greeted by a Rams coaching staff that had nine additions, including former U. of Washington defensive coordinator and head coach Jimmy Lake, who had to be higher than Mt. Rainier after this one.
Stir in a dash of no-respect, lean on Stafford and his rehabilitation, ride Sean McVay’s renewed energy, and the Rams were able to put together a desperate and convincing win, easily the biggest surprising of Week One.
This, in fact, was a comprehensive paddling. The Rams outscored Seattle 23-0 in the second half. They ran the ball 40 times and held the ball almost two-thirds of the time (39:23). They scored three TDs in three red zone visits and gave the Seahawks only 180 total yards.
“You never want to see another team, especially somebody in your own division, play harder than you,” said Seattle receiver DK Metcalf, but that’s what happened.
Jones nailed three Seahawks ballcarriers behind the line of scrimmage, and various Rams combined to lay seven hits on quarterback Geno Smith. Two of those hits came from Byron Young, whom the Rams drafted in last year’s third round with one of them picks Snead got from Miami. Young was Tennessee’s most feared defender last year and put on a show at the draft combine, but some teams were reluctant to take a 25-year-old. As far as the Rams are concerned, that makes Young a toddler.
Offensively, the Rams had no marquee receivers. But Paca Nacua and Chartarius “Tutu” Atwell were mentioned prominently in the credits. Both had over 100 receiving yards, and Nacua got himself open enough times to draw 15 pass attempts from Stafford.
Nacua had an impressive week of Senior Bowl practice in January, and said that defensive backs would have a rough time if they found themselves on “Nacua Island.” The Rams took the BYU receiver in the fifth round, and several Seattle DBs missed the ferry when it was time to cover him.
Atwell was Snead’s top pick in the 2021 draft, the 57th overall. The 58th pick, Kansas City linebacker Nick Bolton, has done quite a bit, as has the 60th pick, Kansas City center Creed Humphrey. Atwell, listed at 5-foot-9, had been hard to find. He had 18 catches last year, but on Sunday he had six and took them 119 yards.
Guard Steve Avila, from TCU, was the second-round pick five months ago. Defensive lineman Bobby Brown was a fourth-rounder in ‘21. Notre Dame running back Kyren Williams was a fifth-rounder in ‘22 and scored twice in Seattle. Darion Kendrick had a pass breakup, too – he was the sixth-rounder in ‘22 from Georgia after he’d transferred from Clemson.
Safety Russ Yeast was the 252nd player picked in that same draft. Yeast’s father Craig is in the U. of Kentucky Hall of Fame for his play, and was the head coach at Kentucky Wesleyan. Russ went to Louisville before he transferred for one last year at Kansas State. While at Louisville, he played with Atwell. In scouting terms this is known as a “two-fer.”
Five other Rams starters on Sunday were undrafted free agents, including 40 percent of the offensive line: Tackle Alaric Jackson and center Coleman Shelton. Defensive end Jonah Williams also fits, along with linebackers Michael Hoecht and Christian Rozeboom, the latter a member of the Rams’ practice squad in the Super Bowl year.
Are all these names worth committing to memory? Maybe, if they all stay healthy. There are 16 games of uncharted water ahead, and playoff tickets are a long way from landing in your Apple wallet.
But for one day, the Rams re-established two truths. One is that there are a lot of football players out there, if you’re nimble enough to find them. Two is that, no matter how many Draft Kings or Fan Duels ad campaigns you’re subjected to, keep your money folded and stowed away.