Sweet! Come meet the LA Rams new Jolly Ramster!

The LA Rams are getting hammered with injuries right now. So far, the team has suffered multiple injuries of varying severity at offensive linemen, running backs, wide receivers, outside linebackers, and even defensive backs.

At some point, we’ll work back over the extensive list of the LA Rams roster transactions, but for the time being, just keeping up to date on the steady stream of players been placed on and taking off the Rams’ active and practice squad rosters have been commanding most of our time.

The latest addition to the team’s roster is a lightly scouted but high-ceiling prospect named Shaun Jolly. He was signed by the Cleveland Browns after the 2022 NFL Draft. He was cut from the roster, but re-signed to the Browns practice squad for the 2022 season. That is where he was signed by the LA Rams to join their active roster:

Now, the question is, who is Shaun Jolly?

The two things that jump off the page in almost every draft profile I’d reviewed can be summed up in two ways:
Cons
Lacks the ideal size for an NFL cornerback
Pros
Incredibly explosive, athletic, and productive. Dangerous in pass coverage and with football in his hands.
He was described as a ball hawk by Sports Illustrated, a descriptive term that is almost guaranteed to pique the LA Rams’ interest. He was described by Bleacher report as someone who possesses very good ball skills.

The Jolly Rams-ter

While Shaun Jolly did not show up in the Cleveland Brown’s first preseason game, he most certainly did in their remaining two.  He recorded three tackles against the Philadelphia Eagles and six tackles in the finale against the Chicago Bears. Against the Bears, he was credited with a quarterback sack, and two tackles for a loss.

He also is credited with a strip sack, forcing a fumble that was recovered by the Brown defense, as you can see by clicking this link.

While the LA Rams are known to be quite creative in finding players to restock on their roster, the team seldom uses the option of signing players to the active roster from another team’s practice squad. But so far this season, the Rams have signed both Takk McKinley from the Tennessee Titans practice squad and now Shaun Jolly from the Cleveland Brown’s practice squad.

By doing so, the Rams automatically commit to keeping that player on the active roster for a minimum of three weeks time. Much like Takk McKinley, let’s hope for more.

In examining Jolly’s draft profile(s), I cannot overlook the similarities that he appears to have with former LA Rams star DB Darious Williams. Here’s what I mean:

Name            Shaun Jolly         Darious Williams
Height           5-foot-9             5-foot-9
Weight          177-pounds      184 pounds
Arm length   30.375 in           30.75 in
Wingspan     73.625 in            73.00 in
40 yd dash   4.52 sec              4.44 sec
Vertical          36.5 in                 39.0 in
Shuttle           4.13 secs           4.34 secs
3 cone            6.95 secs           6.85 secs

Both Shaun Jolly and Darious Williams were described as possessing the traits of a ball hawk. Both were cited as being undersized for NFL competition. But both were noted as having the type of huge upside that makes adding them to the roster a low-risk, high-reward. As you may recall, the LA Rams claimed Williams off the Baltimore Ravens waiver wire. Now, the LA Rams have acquired another defensive back prospect from the AFC North Division.

Hopefully, Shaun Jolly’s chapter with the LA Rams will be as action-packed as that of Darious Williams.

Stay Tuned.