Rams signed linebacker Isaiah Kacyvensk Tuesday after he was released from Seattle. The former Harvard player, can immediately slot into the Rams special teams, giving them some much needed help covering kick returns with Paul Smith out. According to Linehan's comments to the Post-Dispatch, he'll play on all four ST units.
In case you didn't notice, the Rams special teams were anything but special last week. (man, i wonder how many times that "anything but special" line has been used by football writers, sorry.) Detriot racked up a ridiculous 237 yards on 7 kick returns last week. And in each game this season, except for the loss to San Fran, opponents have totaled more yards than the Rams have on kick/punt returns. Opponents are averaging 27.6 yards per kick return against the Rams, 2nd worst in the league.
Isaiah, in addition to bolstering the STs, will be a solid player to rotate into the Rams' LB corps. As recently as 2004, his last year as a full time starter in Seattle, he had 68 solo tackles and 89 total. The Rams rush defense allows an average of 120 YPG, having another solid player to rotate in at one of the LB positions should help that, especially given how much the team's depth falls off behind the starting three.
Nice move by the Rams' front office, and another sign that the waters have calmed after the front office turmoil generated in the past few seasons.