The preseason may not be glamorous and exciting like the regular season or playoffs – especially for a team like the Rams that rests its starters – but it certainly serves a purpose. It gives younger, unproven players a chance to show they deserve a roster spot and an opportunity.
The Rams kick off their preseason slate on Saturday against the Chargers and Sean McVay already has a handful of players he’s excited to see take the field – Tutu Atwell and Robert Rochell among them.
“I’m excited to watch Logan Bruss play and A.J. Arcuri. A lot of these young players,” he said. “There’s a handful of second-year guys. You want to see if a lot of the good stuff Robert Rochell has done translates into some of the real game action. Want to see Daniel Hardy play with that effort and intensity that he’s played with. I could go on and on about a lot of guys, but Tutu is a guy that’s done a really nice job,” McVay said. “We’re working through exactly what his role in the preseason looks like and those are things that will pretty much finalize that we kind of talked about last night and then working towards today.”
McVay mentioned Wednesday that six defensive backs won’t play in the preseason, including Jalen Ramsey and David Long Jr. But he did say that players who are expected to play a role in the regular season will still get snaps in the preseason.
It’ll be interesting to see if Coleman Shelton is one of those players because he’s separated himself in the right guard battle, so if he doesn’t play, it might be a sign that he’s locked up that job over Logan Bruss.
Atwell has a chance to be the No. 4 receiver and a contributor on offense, but McVay wants to see how he plays in game settings after not getting many opportunities last season. He should be on every fan’s radar this weekend.
