LA Rams: Travin Howard leads stiffer ILB competition in 2021

2020 undrafted additions

While the NFL and NFLPA were compromising on a bare minimum of time to prepare teams for the 2020 season, the opportunities for undrafted rookie players were, for all intents and purposes, driven to almost no chance of making the team at all. And yet, the LA Rams did carry Christian Rozeboom on the 2020 practice squad. He was joined there by ex-CFL inside linebacker Derrick Moncrief.

Rozeboom is a good-sized 6-foot-2 and 230-pound athlete who, for a linebacker on the larger scale, moves incredibly well from sideline to sideline. It’s that range that has made him one of the most intriguing candidates in competition for a role this year.  His undrafted status and his need to be coached up were too much to overcome in 2020.

Now, with a year of LA Rams coaching under his belt, Rozeboom is one of the players who could rise rapidly in training camp.

Next up on the list is former CFL linebacker, Derrick Moncrief. Moncrief is 6-foot-2 and 220-pounds and was activated for one game in 2020 when he played on coverage units of special teams. He is a safety/linebacker hybrid, a very popular mix in the NFL right now, and certainly has given Moncrief plenty of phone calls to inquire about any mutual interest. Originally signed to the Las Vegas Raiders, he was waived once the Raiders added free-agent inside linebacker Cory Littleton. Moncrief had a successful career in the CFL and was even a former CFL All-Star.

While neither Rozeboom nor Moncrief has an easy go of it this year, they will at least get a full look at the position.