Ramblin' Fan » Fendi Onobun

Let The Cuts Begin!

Justin Stine — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 11:02:05 +0000

The Rams began the process of getting the roster to the required 53 on Friday by cutting seven players, and 20 more will be gone by 3:00 p.m. St. Louis time today. There weren’t any shocking cuts today, as the team let go defensive end Damario Ambrose, cornerback Tae Evans, linebacker Pete Fleps, tackle Cody Habben, guard Randall Hunt, cornerback Jeremy McGee and fullback Van Stumon. I know many of you were Fleps fans, as was I, but he never had a real chance to make the team. None of the other guys were shockers either, but we won’t be able to say the same in just a few hours. One piece of good news (at least to some people) is that the team said Friday that they will likely place Mark Clayton on the PUP list to start the season, meaning he will miss at least the first six games.

It is going to be a crazy day for everyone at Rams Park, and as much as I would love to spend all day getting news about the cuts, unfortunately I will have a busy day of my own covering a high school volleyball tournament and going to a wedding of one of my good friends. I will try to keep updates coming on my Twitter account @Ramblinfan, so follow me if you want the news. Also, I want to wish a special good luck to a couple of my favorite players who are on the roster bubble: Danario Alexander, George Selvie, Fendi Onobun, Jabara Williams, and Thad Lewis. I don’t know if all of these guys are going to make it, but I really hope they do.

Rams TE Situation

Matt Schaefer — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:53:03 +0000

Obviously the most talked about camp battle that is coming down to its last days is the WR battle, and everyone has a different opinion. Another position I’ll be watching this Thursday is that of the TE. Coming in to last week, I would have thought that the 2 locks would be Lance Kendricks and Billy Bajema. Kendricks obviously because of his outstanding versatility and athleticism he has shown throughout camp and preseason. Bajema I think would be a lock because A) his inline blocking ability, and B) if they didn’t keep him, the most “senior” memer of the TE group would be Hoomanawanui with a whopping 8 games experience!

Hoomanawanui I still think is going to make the team just based on his performance when healthy last year. However, since the injury bug has continued to plague him this year, I think the Rams will likely have to carry a 4th TE, which will probably be Fendi Onobun.

I watched Fendi closely against the Titans and while he had one bad drop earlier in the 2nd half (I think the ball got there before he was expecting it), he had a couple of nice catches showing great hands on their final game winning drive. His last target was another drop however and at that point his future seemed in question. It’s still very much in question of course but I later found out he played the last drive with a dislocated finger. Given that fact I think he deserves some credit for the grabs he did make and a little slack for the last drop. Hopefully for his sake the coaches see it that way too.

Of course, there is still another TE in camp, Ben Guidugli. He had no catches against either Tennesee or KC, but he did get some time at FB. Both players made the 80 man cut Tuesday afternoon, so both players have one more game to prove their worth.

On one hand, if they like Guidugli as a FB they could keep him and fill dual roles of being the 4th TE AND as a FB, wouldn’t need Brit Miller and would open a roster spot for another position. Ultimately I don’t think that would happen because he isn’t the FB that Miller is and doesn’t have the upside that Onobun gives you at TE with his size and quickness.

Also I think given Fendi’s potential, the Rams will have a harder time hiding him on the practice squad. Guidugli, if they like him enough, could probably be kept on the practice squad with less likelihood that he will be picked up by another team, so my bet is that Fendi makes the final cut.

As always, comments are welcome. Follow me on twitter at @mattschaefer16. Thanks for reading!

DX Checked Out, Illini Mike Hurt

Justin Stine — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 08:06:21 +0000

The Rams have had fairly good luck on the injury front thus far, but it looks like that’s no longer the case. First, let’s start with the good news. WR Danario Alexander missed practice today and got an MRI on his surgically repaired knee. The MRI showed no further damage, which is pretty great news considering his injury history. “It’s not that anything happened,” coach Steve Spagnuolo said. “It’s just that it feels funny on him. We just want to make sure we’re not dealing with anything serious, and put his mind at ease.” DX has had a rough go of it so far this preseason, and I think we need to start at least entertaining the possibility that he could get cut. I’m not saying it will happen, but if you consider that Danny Amendola, Mike Sims-Walker, Donnie Avery, Brandon Gibson, Austin Pettis and Greg Salas seem likely to make it, DX could be in trouble. I could see the team trying to do something like putting one of the rookies on practice squad or maybe keeping 7 WRs, but if not then it could be bad news.

In other unfortunate injury news, TE Michael Hoomanawanui left practice with a strained calf. We don’t know the extent of the injury for sure yet, but it sounds like this could be potentially serious. Illini Mike has a ton of potential, but he just hasn’t been able to stay on the field consistently in his short career. Hopefully this isn’t as bad as we think, but if he does have to miss significant time it could be good for a guy like Fendi Onobun.

Mardy Gilyard missed practice with a thigh bruise suffered in the Titans game, while Dan Muir missed time with an ankle tweak. Jacob Bell and Rodger Saffold were back at practice today, which is good.