GAME DAY Rams vs Saints Pre-season game #2

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Again my focus will be on the offensive line. I am wondering if we will see @BonifayRam poster boy in A.J. Arcuri playing LT today? Austin Blaske started last week and handled himself very well. On the unofficial depth chart, Blaske is listed as a right guard and he was not close to the right side last week.

Blake Hance replaced Keegan Trost after the injury, but the depth chart shows Bryce Henderson ahead of Hance. Henderson held up well last week at RT in limited reps. He could get more action this week as he has great size, but Henderson struggles in pass protection or did at Vanderbilt last year so we will see how it plays out.

Beaux Limmer had his best game in years last week and many of the good runs were over the right side, so another opportunity for Limmer to showcase improvement. Bill Murray (not the comedian) played LG, in fact, I believe Murray played the majority of the snaps there, so with Justin Dedich still healing, I expect Murray to get the start although if Arcuri starts at LT, Blaske could slide in there.

Dylan McMahon played the whole game last week at center with checkered results. A few errant snaps and he did not grade out that well in the run game, but he had a key block on the screen TD pass to Dean Connors. I thought he stonewalled most of the nose guards in pass protection and he was the only guy the coaching staff trusted in the pivot besides Shelton, so IMO, that speaks volumes.

Wyatt Bowles came in after Limmer at RG, but overall, no sacks and a few pressures allowed mostly on the exterior. On the Stetson Bennett pass on third and goal, Blaske gave up his only pressure of the game, which forced Bennett to hurry his throw to TE Max Klare, which fell incomplete. Blake Hance also gave up a few pressures, but the magician Ty Simpson with his magical feet was able to move around the pocket and extend the plays.

IMO, the Saints DL will be a better test for the backups, but the continued improvement of Limmer and whoever is playing LT has my interest in this contest for obvious reasons.
Ref. McMahon- your thoughts on "speaks volumes" ...on target there. Just a very small not very strong pure center type who has value for preseason games & a solid PS position upcoming in one week. The main reserve OC (Justin Dedich) in a no show on field in 2026 thus far, with damage to his hike right hand place McMahon increases his chances to make the original 53 MR. This may very well be more a concern than what has been discussed here with ongoings with the OT's. Put me down "concerned' if that injury to JD is bad & JD is PUP'd when season begins.

Austin Blaske might end up being the best Ram UFA OL steal in a long time. Blaske loves to play in the thick of things primarily @ center. Once RT/OG Keagen Trost returns to health, LT Blaske is likely to see plenty of practice reps @ OC. He is much larger & stronger than McMahon & brings a huge amount of power & versatility to the Rams final MR OL as the #9 OL'er. If Blaske gets cut he will be signed elsewhere very fast.

In one week we will see if Beaux Limmer draft selection can finally pay off & earn the open Swing OG position from Trost. The JD & Trost injuries really helps Limmer (in his 3rd season) determination due to his college starts @ OC thus he can be an emergency OC plug there. At this time Limmer appears ready to take a big step.

It will be interesting to see who will play the OT positions today. Henderson/ Blaske/ Hance will see a ton of action. Theoretically you plan on having 4 OT's available to play in PS gm.....thus Rams might be forced to play either David Quessenberry or AJ Arcuri. Of the those two I bet on DQ being the #4 over Arcuri.
 
I guess that makes Jackie Smith 2nd tier TE.
He couldn't 'make the clutch play' either.

I'm not so sure how good Jackie Smith was, wasn't really my era. From what I heard he put up really good stats. I saw Nolan Cromwell play for his entire career, and while he was good to very good, he was not Ronnie Lott, Jack Tatum, Mel Blount. I'm sorry if I'm not elevating him into that class for you. If you want to put him there, please, be my guest.

And by the way, I'm not dropping him to 2nd tier because of one missed catch, I think he was 2nd tier overall, HOW-EVER, if he does make that pick six in the freakin SUPER BOWL leading the Rams to victory, it surely would have elevated him to that top tier. IMHO, of course.
 
Game is on ESPN Unlimited. Not familiar with that service. Anyone know how to get to it (ESPN+, Hulu Live, etc)?
It's showing live at 1pm on Disney+. If you have Hulu Live you can sign into Disney at no additional cost and watch live!
 
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It's showing live at 1pm on Disney+. If you have Hulu Live you can sign into Disney at no additional cost and watch live!
Sweet. I have both as part of a Verizon package along with ESPN+. I need to scale back not add more shit. It’s getting hard to track though. Thx!
 
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I'm not so sure how good Jackie Smith was, wasn't really my era. From what I heard he put up really good stats. I saw Nolan Cromwell play for his entire career, and while he was good to very good, he was not Ronnie Lott, Jack Tatum, Mel Blount. I'm sorry if I'm not elevating him into that class for you. If you want to put him there, please, be my guest.
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... However, ...
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Ah yes, now the quest to figure out how I can watch this fucking game live since it's not on nfl network.
 
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Can't watch on hulu cause i'd have to upgrade sub but i can't do that cause i have an annual promo of $0.99/mo so i'd lose that. Have to do a one month sub for NFL+ i guess but to watch on my large samsung tv will have to move my xbox or a laptop to it because NFL+ app isn't available on Samsung tvs. Swear to god, lets make this as difficult as possible.
 
The sad part of that play was, if Robey-Coleman was playing the way Cornerbacks played in the 80s and 90s, with their heads turned correctly, ya know, the RIGHT way, he would have had an easy pick six Touchdown the other way and would have been a REAL hero. Horrible pass by Brees and could have been ruled an uncatchable ball. That's why I don't have a big problem with the missed flag.
Nah that shit was an obvious pass interference no question about it. Robey-Coleman got there way too early and made contact. Rams got away with one there but happy they did lol
 
Just tried to put the game on and its not on over the air. Gonna have to find a stream.
 
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I had to get the NFL+ for $7.99/mon to watch it. I'll cancel before next billing cycle, but $8 doesn't seem terrible to me as I still remember having to see highlights on TV or read about it in the paper (as a kid).
 
Nice start, Bennet, Presley
looked like a catch from CJ, nice effort either way
 
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