The Los Angeles Rams took down the New Orleans Saints in dominant fashion on Saturday, 34-0. With roster spots on the line, several players helped their cases while others potentially slipped. Let's take a look at this week's stock report.
It's going to be very difficult for the Rams to keep Wesley Bailey off the roster . Bailey had 10 pressures against the Saints, which was twice as many as any other player. The last four players to have 10 pressures in a preseason game were Aidan Hutchinson , Trey Hendrickson , Micah Parsons , and Jonathan Cooper. All four of those guys are premier pass rushers in the NFL, and two of them are elite. Bailey did what good players are supposed to do in the preseason, and that's dominate.
It's unclear if Dean Connors was dealing with an injury of some sort, but after scoring two touchdowns against the Chiefs , he only played six snaps on Saturday. Following an impressive performance, many were excited to see Connors in action against the Saints. However, it's possible the Rams are trying to hide him and sneak him onto the practice squad. Last year, they lost Cody Schrader after a good preseason. They may be trying to avoid that.
Heading into the weekend, it was worth wondering if Bennett had started to fall behind Ty Simpson a little bit. Those questions were quickly put to rest as Bennett went 19-for-31 for 181 yards and rushed for two touchdowns. B ennett quickly reminded everyone that he's the player with three previous years of experience in the preseason. He's more experienced in the offense, and that was very obvious against the Saints as he got a more extended look.
It might be within the realm of possibility that Tim Keenan gets cut and then stashed on the practice squad despite him being a seventh-round pick. Keenan was a pick at nose tackle made for the future, but he hasn't been good in the preseason. He had a 32.3 overall defense grade via PFF against the Saints. Among players with at least 40 snaps in the preseason, Keenan ranks 108th out of 110 defensive linemen.
Throughout much of training camp, Hunter has arguably been on the roster bubble. The Rams have three locks at running back, and there's no guarantee they'll keep a fourth. Hunter ran hard against the Saints and has proven to be difficult to take down at the next level. He has seven missed tackles forced in the preseason, which is the third-most among running backs. His three runs of 10 or more yards also lead all running backs. However, his strongest case for the roster will be his impact in pass protection. Hunter is the highest-grade running back in pass blocking via PFF.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/rams/onsi as Stock Report: Which Rams Helped or Hurt Themselves in Preseason Rout of Saints .
