Rams camp report roundup: 8/1

by Ryan Van Bibber on Aug 1, 2008 7:24 AM CDT in 2008 training camp

A week is in the books. Still no Steven Jackson, but this time next week we ought to be seeing him in camp. For now, here's a look at the day in camp notes.

Around the Horns

Gradkowski? Berlin? Yawn.
From the "Too Good to Be True" pile, Darius Vinnett (who? yeah, that's what I said) "has improved his skills considerably." With Brown out for a few weeks and Hill sitting out Wednesday with a sore hammy, the CBs lower on the depth chart have the chance for some extra time. Is this a classic camp flash in the pan or are the Rams going to have some nice depth in the backfield?

From the official site:

Nick Wagoner has good things to say about the d-line in his report from yesterday. Carriker is a guy to watch this season. You just kinda figure on him for his reliability, but 2008 looks like a coming out party. Don't think of it as a battle between James Hall and Chris Long for the RDE starting spot. Long will still get his reps; second overall picks just don't spend much time on the bench, except for QBs. Having Hall, Long and Little has advantages: 1) Rotating three DEs gives the Little a few snaps off and helps keep his legs fresh all season. 2) Can you really have enough talent on the D-line? Exhibit A, New England's only loss last season.
Just when I said the defense looked to having the best camp so far...guess who? Bulger and Holt making it look easy.
A Roy Schuening sighting.

Some more links

This John Greco getting work, and looking good, at guard story is all over the place. If Setterstrom's out too long, I wonder if we could see another position battle on the o-line.
ESPN's Mike Sando answers some questions about the Rams offense and thinks it could be poised to take a leap forward from the past couple seasons. I still don't get the "no depth at WR" thing. Holt, who's knee injury appears to be history and who's not over the hill in WR years, should be the go to guy. Bennett isn't working out of the slot as much this year, which I think helps him. He's no #1, but he'll run routes and catch plenty of balls with corners double teaming Holt and the middle of the field covering McMichael or watching for Jackson. As for the third spot, I'll be really, really shocked if Dante Hall emerges from camp in that role. Avery or Burton have to learn a chapter of the playbook for somewhere in the neighborhood of 50-60 receptions this season, and ought to be able to handle those specific plays. I think we'll be surprised by how much WR depth the Rams end up with.

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