Will Jake Hummel be this year’s promising player poached from LA Rams?

The LA Rams seem to face a familiar pattern each year, particularly when and where it all comes down to restocking and then paring down for the 53-man active roster. The team invariably will elevate some undrafted rookie to the 53-man roster. The Rams roster will undoubtedly leave a position or two a bit too shallow for the comfort of some fans. And the LA Rams roster will inevitably waive a promising inside linebacker who will be signed by another team before the Rams can re-sign that player to the practice squad.

In 2019, the Las Vegas Raiders poached promising young inside linebacker Dakota Allen before the Rams could re-sign the young player to the team’s practice squad. In 2020, the same event occured once more, as the Rams waived inside linebacker Clay Johnston, fully intending to re-sign him to the practice squad. Instead, he signed on with the Carolina Panthers practice squad to reunite with his father and a number of his former college coaches.

In 2021, the LA Rams suffered a defection as well, this time by wide receiver Trishton Jackson who was waived by the team, again with the intention of signing him to the practice squad. Instead, he signed on with the Minnesota Vikings.

This year, the watch is on again, but this time the radar is trained upon LA Rams undrafted rookie inside linebacker Jake Hummel. Despite signing on with the LA Rams after the 2022 NFL Draft, Hummell has been performing like a battle-tested veteran on the team

He has certainly done his part with the opportunities afforded him during the team’s three preseason games, a fact that LA Rams head coach Sean McVay made a point to mention in his press conference after the Rams’ final preseason game.

Now, here’s the problem. The LA Rams typically carry three to four inside linebackers on the roster. of that number, we know that the team will have veteran ILB Bobby Wagner and Ernest Jones filling both starting roles on the Rams’ defense. We also know that Travin Howard is injured, and is expected to return to the roster sometime during the season.

The team’s unofficial depth chart displayed both ILB Christian Rozeboom and Jake Gervase as higher on the depth chart than Hummel. But even if Hummel has moved up a spot on the roster, will the Rams add him to the 53-man while trying to find room for extra DBs and WRs this year?

Why fight tradition? If the LA Rams waive Hummel, or any inside linebacker in an attempt to slide them over to the team’s practice squad 24 hours later, there will be multiple teams who could be on the lookout to sign them. And for what it’s worth, Hummel is good enough to start for some NFL teams.