*This is a 'banger', as the kids say...slick scouting and intel chock full through this thing. Enjoy.
So many notes for general football and fantasy football purposes which is wild that it happens in such a miserable game that resulted in a 34 to 0 blowout of the Saints by the Rams. I got a bunch of notes here, and we'll get to them in the player notes section, but let's first just talk about the game overview for a moment.
This was definitely a ‘ the score was indicative of what really happened’ game. But what you need to know beyond that is...this was backups against backups, and while the Saints have some pretty decent backup talent, the Rams just decimated them with their backup talent. I'm talking second, third, and fourth strings...the Rams are loaded.
I would make the argument right now that the Rams' first team is the best on paper in the NFL. I would argue the Rams' backups are the best backup unit operating that I've seen this season. Therefore, it only stands to reason that the Rams have the best overall roster, coaching staffs, and organization in the entire NFL.
... Oh yeah, Aaron Donald (who retired early, and was not old by defensive lineman standards) is about to join ‘this thing’.
... And potentially Tyreek Hill among others are going to migrate here as well. You want to win a Super Bowl, come join this roster in any way you can get onto it even on the practice squad.
Player Notes...
-- OK, we need to start the analysis of the players in this game by seeing it through the lens of a trade that just happened: the Rams sending Jarquez Hunter (12-68-1, 0-0-0/0) to Miami for their old WR Tutu Atwell (0-0-0, 0-0-0/0).
I think people are making way too big of a deal about this trade.
I think if I give you some deep scouting analysis of the two players exchanged, maybe it will help you process the deal and its ramifications.
1) Jarquez Hunter sucks and was about to be cut by the Rams.
2) Tutu Atwell sucks and was about to be cut by Miami.
Two nothing players got traded for each other. It's not any deeper than that. There was no hidden message about Puka Nacua. This does not affect Terrance Ferguson. At best case, this is Atwell—with good experience in this offense—coming back to be a No. 5 or No. 6 wide receiver, or he goes to the practice squad where the team can get to him if they need him.
You think my statements above aren't true? You think I'm being hyperbolic on the players involved? Well, let me explain a little deeper about the Rams' depth chart at both running back and wide receiver, and then maybe it'll make some more sense.
-- Rams RB report...
Ronnie Rivers is going to be the #3 RB for the Los Angeles Rams. He has been for the past two years. He was not forced to play in this game involving the backups.
The #4 RB on the Rams, in my estimation, is 2025 UDFA RB Jordan Waters (10-54-0, 1-4-0/1)...a six-foot-tall, 225 lb good-looking/legit RB prospect. But he probably won't make the team because he's easy to put on the practice squad and doesn't offer much beyond just being a running back, but he’s decent young runner. We got to watch him in this game working ahead of and with Jarquez Hunter, and for the second year in a row, I'm saying the same things about these guys...Waters is superior to Hunter in every way. It's not even a debate.
The #5 RB on the Rams, in my estimation, is somebody who may make the 53-man roster because he can do some other things, but the Rams are so loaded with talent I would assume they're not going to have him on the 53-man roster, but instead try to put him onto the practice squad...where he will likely be intercepted and taken by some other team...and that's UDFA running back Dean Connors (2-5-0, 0-0-0/1). If you had high hopes for Jake Funk, then Connors is a lesser Funk...if I can put it in perspective for you.
Then the #6 RB for the Rams was Jarquez Hunter...thus, now he is the #4 RB for Miami to help them get through the next week or two of practice while they have Ollie Gordon II and Jaylen Wright injured and they don't want to put all of the practice work onto De'Von Achane. As soon as everybody is healthy at running back for Miami, Hunter likely goes to the practice squad or free agency.
Hunter is not going to make it in the NFL. I said that last year when I saw him in the preseason, and I forgot about him when I talked about guys like Jaydon Blue and Kaleb Johnson being instant ‘RC knew something was wrong instantaneously’ rookies in the preseason...that I was ultimately right about. My batting average is high on sensing the hidden-problem rookies. Hunter is in that class. And it looks like Eli Stowers is gonna be in that class too. Therefore, the Rams really didn't trade anything of value away to Miami. Miami had a desperate need for a camp running back because they've got several minor injuries, so the Rams took advantage and sent them a nothing prospect, a guy they were about to cut.
-- In return for Hunter, instead of getting some convoluted swap of 6th and 7th round picks, the Rams settled for Tutu Atwell. Very likely because Hunter is bad, and Miami's need is just temporary due to injury, the Dolphins were not gonna give any draft picks or anything of note to the Rams for an RB they were about to cut. So, Miami needed to match the exchange of the Rams' junk prospect with a junker of their own—a guy Miami was about to cut in Atwell, who looked dreadful in the preseason.
What the Rams' plan for Atwell is upon acquiring him, I don't 100% know... But you have to consider that the Rams had to get something in this deal, something that was as close to 0 value as Hunter was. So they got Atwell. Maybe they're gonna keep Atwell on the 53-man roster, or it’s just as likely they might cut him and put him on the practice squad. That's the Atwell valuation right now. Let me prove it to you by discussing the Rams' backup wide receivers that worked in this game.
For context, let me lay out the Rams' starting trio at wide receiver... Which is really a starting duo, and the third guy barely sees the ball: Puka Nacua, Davante Adams, and Jordan Whittington. They are the three best wide receivers on the Rams. Clearly. Not even debatable. Atwell isn't even close to breaching that top three... Just like he was a failure at it last year and then the Rams let him walk to Miami where he signed a league-minimum contract—that's how much the Rams value Atwell.
The 4th best wide receiver on the Rams is Konata Mumpfield, who didn't have to play in this game, letting you know what his status is.
I'd say the fifth best wide receiver on the Rams is a toss-up. It's probably Xavier Smith, who also didn't have to play in this game. Or it's C.J. Daniels (8-68-0/13), their rookie 6th-rounder who looked very solid here. Good hands but sometimes has bad drops. Good tracking skills. Decent route runner. Good blocker. Daniels is a promising enough rookie.
Therefore, I'd say there's a three-way tie for the 6th WR on the Rams. Atwell may lead that race because he's so experienced. Rostering Atwell allows the Rams the freedom to put promising UDFA 2025 WR Brennan Pressley (4-35-0/6), who is better than Atwell but not as experienced, on the practice squad. And the other option for the sixth best WR on the Rams is journeyman Alex Bachman (4-48-0/4), who I would take over Atwell all day long, but the Rams can very likely put him on a practice squad as well, though they do risk that he's a journeyman who goes somewhere else looking for an opportunity. But I bet Bachman is a professional receiver who vibes with McVay and would love to stay on the practice squad of this team because that very likely means he's going to get a Super Bowl ring.
Keep that in mind: whoever the Rams want to put on the practice squad, those guys will have choices to go elsewhere to try to get more playing time for their career, but in this unique situation, they can also stay on the Rams' practice squad and help them in their destiny to win the Super Bowl and get a ring for their efforts. It wouldn't surprise me if both Atwell and Bachman happily went to the practice squad.
So, in summary, give me a break with Atwell and Hunter. It's a meaningless minor NFL move and neither has a future in fantasy.
-- The reason that the Rams blew the Saints out in this game to move to two wins and no losses in the preseason, and ultimately three wins and no losses because as I write this (I’m late) the Rams' backups beat the Chargers' first-team offense for a series or two and then all their backups after that... The reason is the Rams have two solid or legit backup QBs. Not QBs who are going to step in for an injured Matthew Stafford after Week 1 and carry the Rams to the Super Bowl, just backup QBs that are better than probably most any other team's two backup QBs in the entire league.
Stetson Bennett (19-31 for 181 yards, 0 TD/0 INT, 2-9-2) started this game and was his usual competent preseason self. He's got some talent for sure, but I think he might melt down if he got into a big boy NFL game and had to carry the Rams. He's a little bit worrisome on the mental side.
Ty Simpson (8-12 for 73 yards, 0 TD/0 INT, 3-10-0) was the second QB in and finished the game, and Simpson is probably already better than Bennett, allowing for Simpson's lack of experience. That's as of this very minute. Every day that goes by ahead, Simpson is going to start pulling away from Bennett, and ultimately Simpson should be a competent starter-level QB in short order. Simpson has a better build and a much better mental makeup/grit that Bennett doesn't have.
-- FYI, the New Orleans Saints played in this game as well. Let's talk about them for a minute...
Saints RB REPORT:
Kendre Miller (6-22-0, 0-0-0/1) is back from injury and he looks like his normal self... A slippery runner who never seems to have a full breakout or can ever stay healthy. But he is back, which matters because Alvin Kamara is out.
Devin Neal (2-7-0, 0-0-0/0) played in this game after Miller. I thought Neal was hurt, but apparently not because he was in this game and looked fine.
Audric Estime seems to be the clear #2 RB while Kamara is out. So much so is that the case that Estime didn't even suit up for this game.
The battle for #3 RB is between Neal and Miller, and I think that will go to Neal CLEARLY...because Neal is a good blocker, and a Samaje Perine type important piece for the Saints...more than Miller. And Miller will be cut and go fight for his career as a journeyman from there.
-- Saints WR REPORT:
Just one note... Bryce Lance (0-0-0, 2-16-0/2) looks pretty darn good to me. Of all the youngsters, contenders, and pretenders for backup WR spots for the Saints—which is especially important given the injury to Jordan Tyson—Lance clearly looks like the most talented... Even over Bub Means (0-0-0, 1-5-0/4), who is also pretty talented.
-- One last note, a defensive note: Lorenzo Styles Jr. (6 tackles, 0.0 sacks, 0 TFLs, 1 PDs, 0 INTs) looks a whole hell of a lot better than his much higher drafted brother Sonny Styles looks in the NFL right now.
-- I had a Saints friend of mine write me up a little something on the kicker issues with the Saints, and why we need to take Charlie Smyth DOWN in projections. Here it is, his words, not mine...but I am going to run projections as if it is the truth. I trust my football friend...
* I took his report that he sent me on the fly that he dictated out on an e-mail and sent to me, and I ran it through Gemini to clean it up for punctuation and any grammar or misspellings. So here’s their joint work:
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Look, man, let’s just be completely honest about what’s happening in New Orleans right now: NFL head coaches do not want to be out there sweating out a 34-yard field goal in Week 3 while praying to the Gaelic gods that their kick-off hit the right trajectory. Kellen Moore took one look at his special teams unit in camp and said, "Yeah, absolutely not. Get me a guy who’s made a living in this league".
Enter Daniel Carlson.
The Irish Experiment Hits a Wall
Charlie Smyth is an electric story. The guy comes over from Ireland via the International Player Pathway, looks like he has a rocket launcher attached to his hip, and bangs through 56- and 57-yarders late last season after Blake Grupe got kicked to the curb. Everyone wanted him to be the guy. The fans loved it; the media loved it—it’s awesome.
Here’s the issue: kicks inside the 40-yard line count for the exact same three points as the 55-yard bombs, and Smyth couldn't hit the routine ones.
Throughout camp, beat reporters watching every single rep logged Smyth right around 78% accuracy. In practice! Without 300-pound defensive linemen screaming off the edge to murder you. If a guy is hitting 78% on a pristine practice field in Metairie with no rush, he’s going to make a head coach age fifteen years by October. Then he goes into the preseason opener against Jacksonville and yanked a 52-yarder wide left. The mechanics get erratic, the contact angle shifts, and suddenly you’re watching a guy push chip-shots to the left like he’s playing golf on a windy Sunday.
The UFL Contender Didn't Help
Now, you’d hope Tanner Brown—who the Saints dragged out of the UFL after he was out there casually booting 63-yarders for the Louisville Kings—would step up and take the job. Nope. Brown was even more of a wild ride. He missed four field goals under 40 yards between practice and games, including a brutal 39-yard miss in the Rams game.
So now you’ve got a camp battle between a guy who can only hit long-range missiles and a guy who can’t hit anything under 40 yards. That’s not a competition; that’s a host situation.
Why Daniel Carlson Is the Adult in the Room
That’s why the Saints called Daniel Carlson. Is Carlson coming off his best year? No, he hit 81.5% with the Raiders last season, which is why they let him go. But Carlson is a two-time All-Pro who has poured through over 220 career field goals in the NFL. He’s 31 years old, he doesn't get rattled, and he knows how to handle operational timing under real pressure.
The Saints basically realized they have a team trying to stay relevant in the NFC, and you simply cannot hand the keys to an unproven project who is struggling with basic down-to-down consistency. Smyth has all the leg talent in the world, but Carlson was brought in to be the actual professional killer who just puts the ball through the uprights so Kellen Moore doesn't blow an ulcer on the sideline.
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