:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/46775970/usa-today-7415757.0.jpg)
"Tree Top" Travis Bond once got hit by a SUV while riding a scooter on campus at the University of North Carolina. That's misleading, though, since the SUV took the brunt of the damage in the collision. Bond wasn't even considering going to the hospital until friends more or less forced him to get seen by a doctor. All things considered, a minor dislocated wrist suggests how tough Bond really is.
[NFL doctors] were actually saying that's pretty intense and were like, "How did you walk away with only a wrist injury?" I told them, "I don't know. A lot of cushion, I guess. I'm a big boy."
Now heading into his third season in the NFL after being drafted in the seventh round in the 2013 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings and skipping over to the Carolina Panthers, Bond is now facing a swell of new names across the line for the Rams in 2015.
Roster Battle
Reminder: The Rams have just a clusterfluckery of names to sort though this year (alphabetical order, first-year Rams denoted by *): Steven Baker (roster preview), Isaiah Battle*, Tim Barnes, Bond, Jamon Brown*, Andrew Donnal*, Rob Havenstein*, Barrett Jones, Garrett Reynolds*, Demetrius Rhaney (roster preview), Greg Robinson, Rodger Saffold, David Wang* (roster preview), Brandon Washington (roster preview), Darrell Williams* (roster preview) and Cody Wichmann* (roster preview).
What makes it tough is the versatility so many linemen on the Rams offer. As we've been saying for weeks, it's going to take a couple practices to see how things settle in to begin training camp.
Expectations
His experience may give him an early leg up on the UDFAs, but the youth movement on the line could carry too much momentum for Bond to avoid.
Chances of Making Roster (2/10)
Sad to say, but I think Bond is too far on the outside looking in. He couldn't quite crack the depth last year on a line that motivated Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher and General Manager Les Snead to overhaul in a single offseason. If he didn't earn a shot from the staff last year, I don't see why they'd prefer him over the new group.