July 2020 brings LA Rams to training camp, are they ready?

July changes everything

While some NFL teams are a completely new set of coaches, the LA Rams are only partially different.  Partially the same in that the team continues to have the same head coach, and many of the team’s positional coaches are the same. Continuity exists, as players who have had head coach Sean McVay know what to expect, and what is expected of them.

Many of the team’s players are returning as well. Not only is the team returning players from the 2019 active-man roster, but the team signed nine players to future reserve contracts in January 2020. The team also made it a point to re-sign a number of pending free agents. On defense, the team re-signed defensive end Morgan Fox and Michael Brockers. The team brought back cornerback Donte Deayon as well.  The Rams also re-signed Coleman Shelton, Johnny Mundt, Austin Blythe, and Andrew Whitworth on offense.

What a difference the off-season makes

Different in that the team has three new coordinators: offensive, special teams, and defensive coordinators. Of course, we’ve talked about them at length. New offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell will be fine-tuning the team’s offense and be a rapid response to offensive breakdowns. New special teams coordinator John Bonamego will be working to repair a declining special teams unit that has seen better days.  And finally, defensive coordinator Brandon Staley will be working to change the Rams defense from overpowering strength to cunning deception.

Also, the team is different, as all NFL teams are different, through the addition of free agents, 2020 NFL Draft rookies, and NFL rookies signed to the team after the draft.  The Rams added four free agents, nine players via the draft, and 22 players signed after the draft. That all comes out to 35 new players or nearly 39 percent of the team’s roster changing from a year ago. 35 players who are learning about the LA Rams, and in most cases, about the NFL, for the first time.