5 LA Rams players most hurt by no OTAs this year

Running back

The LA Rams signed Southern Methodist University running back Xavier Jones to the roster after the 2020 NFL Draft, and his arrival was unheralded. Well, we talked the young man up at length, but we are one of the few to do so. While it’s true that undrafted players have a tough climb to make it in the NFL, Jones is a rather special player.

Los Angeles Rams

He stands 5-foot-11 and weighs a robust 208-pounds. While his draft profile is full of descriptors like average and standard, he has plenty of unique and admirable traits that earned him a spot on the Rams 53-man roster. Starting off, he runs hard,and anyone in a position to tackle him quickly realizes that he is not a one-pop-and-drop sort of rusher. He is a player defensive players must gang tackle.

Jones is a powerful rusher, but fast enough to break out for huge gaines. It was his ability to seperate and take it to the house that allowed him to become the NCAA’s top scorer in 2019, averaging nearly two touchdowns per game. He is big enough to cause problems for defensive backs, agile enough to elude linebackers, and small enough to get past hulking defenders at the line of scrimmage as they try to shed blockers.

Starting from the undrafted ranks, Jones climbed a huge mountain to get to the 53-man roster. But now, with the addition of Maryland running back Jake Funk in the 2021 NFL Draft, Jones has competition from a player whose power and speed and equivalent to his own. The onely way to overcome a drafted player is to outplay him on the field. Unfortunately, Jones will enter a compressed training camp at the bottom of the depth chart once more.