Nearly 2,000 miles.
That’s the distance DL Bryant Jones traveled from his alma mater, Mississippi Valley State, to LA to join the Los Angeles Rams. It’s a trip he knows well having grown up in Riverside.
His LA roots might help him adjust to the culture of LA off the field, but his on-field pursuits over the next two months will matter more if he’s going to stick around the Rams facility.
Roster Battle
Jones is far beyond the top line for the Rams; instead, he’s competing at the back trying to either show off one specific trait that the coaching staff might be coveting or simply responding to their demands throughout training camp and the preseason.
Aaron Donald, Michael Brockers, John Franklin-Myers and 2019 NFL Draft fourth-round pick Greg Gaines are locks for the active roster. Sebastian Joseph-Day and Tanzel Smart are well-known to the staff. And Morgan Fox, should he be angling for defensive end work over outside linebacker opportunities, is certainly going to motivated to come back from last year’s ACL injury in organized team activities in May.
So Jones is working with the back of the D-line roster with Marquise Copeland and Boogie Roberts trying to stick around.
Expectations
Not expectations per se, but an LA kid coming from an HBCU? That’s definitely a story to get behind.
Chances of making the roster (0.5/10)
The practice squad is probably Jones’ best bet and even at that special teams will play a factor. The Rams just have too much talent at the top of the depth chart to allow for much space on the 53-man roster.