Los Angeles Rams position battle update: Preseason Week 2

The Los Angeles Rams preseason opener against the Oakland Raiders shed some light on a couple of the position battled I looked at last week in addition to identifying a couple of new places where competition is heating up.

Cliff Notes version: I was wrong about Greg Gaines and competition at the back end of the WR and CB could get feisty.

Nose Tackle

Sebastian Joseph-Day v. Greg Gaines

I’ll take this one on the chin. I undersold Gaines before seeing him on the field and he looks to be every bit the NT the Rams thought he’d be. He might not have won the starting NT gig yet, but he seems to be well on his way to a timeshare with Joseph-Day at the very least.

Wide Receiver

KhaDarel Hodge v. Mike Thomas

While stats might not back it up, Hodge showed out against the Raiders and Thomas would do well to take notice. Thomas hasn’t done much with his roster slot since being drafted while Hodge has scarcely looked bad when given the opportunity.

Cornerback

Kevin Peterson v. Darious Williams

I’ll preface this by saying both Peterson and Williams could lose this battle. Both played well against the Raiders and both are trying to convince the Rams to carry a 6th CB. Those decisions usually imply some sort of special teams prowess, so it might suit these youngsters to get comfortable in the special team room with John Fassel.