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Rams make 2 practice squad moves to address special teams
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- Rams make 2 practice squad moves to address special teams
The Los Angeles Rams are making roster moves at a fast and furious pace , all centered around the special teams. That continued Wednesday with the officially announcements for signing edge Garrett Nelson, cornerback Damarion "Pepe" Williams to the practice squad, and kicker Blake Grupe to the roster. In corresponding moves, the Rams jettisoned edge Jamie Sheriff and kicker Harrison Mevis.
While the addition of a place kicker was expected, the Rams inking of Nelson and Williams comes as a big surprise.
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It may simply be the normal give-and-take that occurs on the practice squad as the season marches along, but could the Rams brain trust really expect this pair of lower-tier players to add more to to the team than just filling in practice squad place settings? It is likely quite accurate and certainly fair to say that both are unknowns to Rams fans.
Who are they and what do they bring to L.A.'s roster this season?
Who is EDGE Garrett Nelson?
Nelson had cup of coffee stops with five different teams and spent two seasons in the United Football League before signing with the Rams. The 26 year-old effort-based edge defender, has not recorded a single rep in NFL regular season play. At 6'3" 248 lb., he sports a well put together frame, shorter arm length at 31 5/8" and big 9 5/8" hands. Was an outstanding wrestler in high school and it shows in his contact balance and understanding of how to use leverage..
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Originally signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent back in 2023. Let go in final cuts, he was quickly signed to the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad (PS) and released three weeks later. He was a member of the UFL's San Antonio Brahmas in 2024 and 25 for their spring/early summer schedules. The fall of 2025 saw Nelson ping pong through training camp and practice squads. He started off with the Denver Broncos training camp, was let go in final cuts, and moved on to the New Orleans Saints PS until October, when he was again released. He settled in for the rest of the season, by re-signing with the Denver PS.
2026 has been just as busy. Nelson was inked to a reserve/futures contract by the Broncos in January, only to be cut in May. The Seattle Seahawks brought him in, but released him a day later. New Orleans claimed him off waivers for a second stint and again let him go at the end of August. He was a street free agent until the Rams added him to the PS this week.
Finished his college days at Nebraska with 32 straight starts. Played both standing and with a hand in the dirt, tallying 167 tackles, 26 for loss, and 12 sacks. He also tabbed four each of passes batted down and passes broken up in coverage.
Substantial amount of NFL preseason film on Nelson. He's one of those players with the "hair on fire" play style. He's a linear player, not a loose-limbed guy with twitchy agility and change of direction. Better as a run stopper than pass rusher. Not an explosive mover, but has good get off and hustles in pursuit which helps him appear to play faster.
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While his arm length is just okay, Nelson works hard and does a good job of setting the edge and taking on blockers. He keeps his outside shoulder free to keep the action turned in and gets a wide base and his hips into holding a gap. Has good awareness following the ball and straight line pursuit looks good. He's the guy who going to hustle after every runner and get his share of hustle tackles. On the negative side, If linemen get a hold, he struggles to disengage and can be moved, nor is he going to quickly get lateral into position to block a path.
As a pass rusher, Nelson doesn't show a full toolbox of moves, pretty much limited to bullrushes. Pretty accurate striker, but not a great hand fighter with chops and swipes. Although he gets off the snap, there's no shake and bake to get his opponent off balance, nor the dip and bend to get around the corner. He does however, have the ability to mirror the quarterback when stymied and pursue for clean up sacks.
There's film of him on kick block and kickoff coverage. That could be his main path to getting on the field. With his 4.93 forty time he's not a burner, but he hustles every minute on the field banging into guys and actually zoning in on returners pretty well for a bigger guy. Watching him on kickoff coverage, there's no reason to think he could not also get work done getting down range on punts.
Who is CB Damarion "Pepe" Williams?
Fiesty, aggressive slot corner who showed promise coming out of college, but hasn't been able to secure a role in the NFL. Williams has been with three previous outfits before joining the Rams and hasn't participated in any measurable regular season action since 2022. At 5'10" 182 lb. with 29 5/8" arms and 8 3/4" hands the 28 year-old lacks prototypical NFL cornerback frame, but he play's with an attitude and physicality that's much bigger. He was a First Team JUCO All-American before moving up to D1 football.
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Drafted by the Baltimore Ravens at #141 of Round 4 in the 2022 NFL Draft. As a rookie, Williams saw action in 14 games. In 2023, he made the opening roster, but only played in one game, losing the season to injury. He suffered an ankle injury and the screws set to stabilize ended up cracking the bone, forcing a second surgery.
In 2024, the Ravens waived him and signed him to the practice squad, but cut him loose for good in October. The Seattle Seahawks added him to their PS for the rest of the season and offered him a reserve/futures contract at its conclusion. Seattle let him go in 2025 final cuts. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers grabbed Williams up and followed the same protocol, PS followed by futures contract for 2026. Two month's ago, Williams was again injured and placed on the Injured Reserve List, rather than stay there all season, he accepted an injury settlement and became a street free agent until the Rams signed him to their PS Wednesday.
After his aforementioned junior college tenure, Williams advanced his game to the University of Houston. He started 33 of 34 games over three seasons, garnering 167 tackles, 10.5 for loss, picked off three passes, and broke up 24 more. At both the JC and university levels, Williams provided special teams work as a returner of punts and kickoffs.
The biggest thing that stands out on both his college and pro film is his willingness to stick his nose in tackling. Despite the lean frame, Williams plays with an aggressive, combative nature,. Taking into consideration his size and skillset, he appears best suited in the pro game to slot/nickel work and zone coverage, looking in at the play in front of him and making the best use of his anticipation, read/react, and downhill burst skills. He has however, in his history, shown the versatility to line up anywhere in the secondary.
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With a 4.53 forty, he's not liquid fast, but showed stellar burst and the ability to maintain it on 1.53 10-yard and 2.59 20-yard splits. Williams is not a long strider to close ground on longer routes, his is short area speed. While he shows good ball skills and plus hand/eye coordination, he appears to have some ball tracking issues when lined up outside, turning his back to run the quarterback, and running downfield with opposing receivers. Because of he's quicker than fast, he can provide sticky coverage underneath.
With his competitive nature and willingness to tackle, there would appear to be a path to play time as a gunner on special teams. Again, he does have return work in his college background, but I couldn't find a record of any as a pro. It's hard to project him into many cornerback snaps, simply because the Rams have gotten solid coverage out of the current unit.
Moving the needle?
Little if any, realistically. Taking a look at it from an optimistic view, both Garrett Nelson and Damarion Williams have the potential to help out on special teams coverage units, even if their use is limited to their ration of three weekly practice squad elevations. In a way, their addition does improve the practice squad and thus, the entirety of the Rams roster, even if just incrementally.
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In theory, Nelson fits the over-achiever role the Rams favor and could put a little heat on the L.A.'s backup edges, Wesley Bailey and Desjuan Johnson, who been very quiet in limited work. Nor has Josaiah Stewart shown the improvement many expected from an increased workload, for that matter. Williams is harder to project, he has shown flashes of outstanding play, but injuries and inconsistency have plagued him to date. He, in particular, must be able to show a little something on special teams
These are the quality of personnel transactions Rams fans can expect. Without some financial hocus pocus, the Rams just don't have the salary cap space to make moves that would go to any lengths on improving the roster. According to overthecap.com, L.A. has only a shade over $700k in available cash. The damage was set in off-season planning, these are the types of moves that teams make just to put a finger in a leaky dam.
