Rams Roster: Fast 40+ LA Rams roster roundup TE Davis Allen (#7)

One of the rather thin roster spots on the 2022 LA Rams roster was the tight end position. Mid-season, the team decided to purge the roster of any and all players not deemed likely to return for the 2023 NFL season. That purged included veteran TE Kendall Blanton. While that was not necessarily alarming, it did create a bit of a pickle for the Rams roster. You see, the only two remaining tight ends on the Rams roster were veteran TE Tyler Higbee and somewhat disappointing TE Brycen Hopkins

Compounding the problem further, the Rams offensive game plan for the 2023 NFL season appears to be placing more emphasis on the running game than previous years. That leads to a logical conclusion for the Rams to seek 12 personnel packages to augment blocking to support a robust running game. And so, the shopping list for the Rams draft expanded into the tight end position.

But not just any tight end.

Rams seeking Johnny Mundt II

The Rams needed to select very specific type of tight end. One who could put up yards in the passing game, but one who could also do an effective job at in-line blocking to set the edge and give the Rams running game a fighting chance at attacking the defensive perimeter.

Part of the answer arrived before the 2023 NFL Draft, as the LA Rams traded former DB Jalen Ramsey to the Miami Dolphins for a 2023 draft pick and TE Hunter Long. Long was a seldom thrown to tight end who had established a reputation for good blocking skills in the Dolphins offense.

The trick is that until the pads go on and the Rams coaching staff has the chance to see real contact (like that seen in preseason games), the question mark over who will best perform as a blocking tight end will continue. To that end, the Rams drafted Clemson TE Davis Allen. But as he fell to injury, the Rams front office continued to add depth to the position.

A quick summary

Davis Allen is a huge 6-foot-6 250-pound tight end from Clemson University. He played a full four years of college football, and his production was what you might expect from a late Round 5 rookie selection. But that is not to say that he was hapless in the passing game. In fact, he developed into a reliable receiver for the Clemson Tigers over his collegiate career. By graduation, he has amassed 88 receptions for 951 yards and 12 touchdowns.

What I don't like about this signing

The Rams entered the 2023 offseason looking for competition to develop at tight end over blocking assignments. Unfortunately, it will take either a soothsayer or a ouiji board to determine who the better blocking tight end will be. That is due to the fact that both tight ends Hunter Long and Davis Allen fell to injury, and were neutralized throughout training camp.

The Rams can review NFL videos of Hunter Long to get a feel for how well he will play when the season starts. But there is no such option for rookie Davis Allen, who has plunged to the bottom of the initial LA Rams depth chart as a result. Of course, a hamstring injury is nothing to fool with. Unless the Rams manage his workload correctly, rookie TE Davis Allen could experience an even more severe injury that could sideline him for the entire 2023 NFL season.

For now, the Rams have him buried on the depth chart. That may or may not stand if and when Allen can throw on the pads and join his teammates. But it's clearly a hole that he has fallen into, and with so many new faces competing to get noticed, he will need to truly stand out in practices and preseason games to have any shot of sticking on the LA Rams roster for the 2023 NFL season.

Injury is not the fault of Davis Allen. It simply is incredibly disappointing that his NFL career starts out with a deficit.

What I like about this signing

If there is a guy who just 'feels,' like a future starting tight end, Davis Allen checks all of the boxes. He stands 6-foot-6, which matches the height of veteran tight end Tyler Higbee. And while he is listed at 245 pounds on the LA Rams roster, he can surely be expected to put on 5-10 pounds of muscle over the course of the 2023 NFL season to help him handle the physicality of playing in the NFL.

For now, we have to go with what we know, and we know that tight end Davis Allen is remarkably athletic for a tight end who was selected at the end of Round 5 in the 2023 NFL Draft. That was a bit later than some

In terms of blocking tight ends, we are happy to report that Davis Allen generated a lot of buzz from his performance at Clemson. In fact, he was mentioned on multiple occasions as being one of the best blocking tight ends in the 2023 rookie draft class.

While the draft is never a certainty, it's clear that if the Rams were shopping for a blocking tight end who could also contribute on offense by catching passes, they clearly selected wisely. The young man may need refinement in his game at route running, and performing his role as a dangerous offensive weapon. But, just as tight end Johnny Mundt added value to the Rams' offense without the ball in his hands, the Rams may find that Davis Allen's more immediate contributions fall along those lines as well.

What I love about this signing

The rise and fall of the draft stock for rookie prospects is a confusing mishmash of positive and negative reactions. But reports for Clemson TE Davis Allen generally reported positive sentiment, and that his stock was rising in the days leading up to the 2023 NFL Draft. In the end, NFL general managers can end their careers if they try to chase the hot names in the draft.

If the Rams can get Allen suited up, he had a remarkable reputation with Clemson for seizing the moment and performing at his utmost when the team targetted him in the passing game. I believe that a similar experience awaits the Rams coaching staff if Allen can heal up in time to get some snaps in preseason games.

It's bonkers to realize that a guy who was drafted late in Round 5 of the 2023 NFL Draft was graded as possessing the potential to become an NFL starter. Of course, potential is the stuff that gets NFL coaches and general managers fired if it never becomes production. But as the LA Rams try to sort out their 53-man roster, that is something to keep an eye on.

What are his chances of making the roster?

As it stands today, the Rams exhaust all 53-man roster spots just by naming the first and second string players to the roster. Unfortunately the Rams will carry no more than three tight ends, and rookie Davis Allen is listed among the team's fourth string.

He does have a good shot of signing on to the Rams practice squad. That not only keeps him on the path of developing, but it allows the Rams to activate him for a limited number of game days to add to either special teams or the offense.