Rams Shaun Dolac admits his motivation: 'I've been told I wasn't good enough.'

When it comes to the Los Angeles Rams, the door of opportunity swings wide open for anyone who wants it badly enough. It's not necessarily a matter of choice or preference. Because this team has had to learn how to find contributors, rotational players, and even starters without the benefit of early draft choices in the annual NFL draft, the team has developed a unique survival strategy over time.

That strategy is to uncover every rock, scout every school, and find passionate football players whose love of the game sets them up to succeed in the NFL. They are not necessarily the biggest, strongest, or fastest athletes. But when they put on the pads and step onto a football field, they become fierce competitors who show up in highlight reels.

Still, some positions have a glass ceiling as to how successful those lightly-scouted undrafted players can rise in the Rams' depth chart. Undrafted quarterbacks won't win a starting role in this offense. But there are other positions where undrafted players have earned starting roles and played well for the Rams. The team's starting left tackle, Alaric Jackson, never heard his name in the NFL Draft. Neither did DB Jaylen McCollough, who led the team in interceptions in his rookie season despite limited defensive snaps.

And then there is the promotion of undrafted IOL rookie Justin Dedich to start several games for the Rams. And ILB Omar Speights' promotion to starter after the injury to Troy Reeder, who is himself an undrafted player.

So projecting an impactful role for undrafted Buffalo Bulls rookie inside linebacker Shaun Dolac is not unheard of. After all, the Rams have frequently entrusted their inside linebacker role to undrafted players.

So what about Shaun Dolac might give him the determination to prevail in training camp competition? Like many Rams players who excel, he has been told repeatedly that he is simply not good enough. As a result, he uses that to fuel his passion and drive to prove them wrong:

We've laid a lot of praise and optimism at Dolac's feet. We've already touted him as a fan favorite in training camp. We cited him as one of the undrafted rookies to keep on your radar. We even connected his success as something that could cement the legacy of Rams DC Chris Shula. That's a lot of hyperbole for a young man who has not even donned the pads in training camp yet.

The thing is, there is nobody in pads right now. Young quarterbacks and receivers are playing catch in T-shirts and shorts, and wowing NFL analysts. It's that time of year for the bar to be low and optimism to be at its highest. So when a guy signs with the Rams with Shaun Dolac's potential, it's going to create buzz. That goes for any NFL team, not just the Rams.

It's more prominent with the Rams because the team lost starting ILB Christian Rozeboom (another undrafted linebacker) as well as veteran ILB Jake Hummel to free agency, and drafted Chris 'Pooh' Paul Jr. and signed Shaun Dolac to join free agent veteran Nate Landman to compete in training camp.

But Dolac is so gifted and versatile, he could be deployed in multiple ways. He could be a traditional linebacker. He could play as a third-down linebacker who brings superb pass coverage while not diluting run defense. Or he could take on a hybrid LB/DB role in this defense, finding places to plug in and play in ways that give this defense a distinct advantage.

The Rams had frequently sought big physical safeties to use in nickel and dime sub-packages on passing downs. Has the front office stumbled onto a new and innovative solution? Can Shaun Dolac be a nickel and dime linebacker? I suppose the correct response here is to say: 'No, he isn't good enough to do that.' After all, that is the phrase that has motivated him to prove the skeptics wrong in the past.

Who am I to deny him that extra bit of motivation as he competes in the NFL?

As always, thanks for reading.

Here are recent Rams Schedule articles you may enjoy