Rams shockingly release this ILB, but he's not the one fans hoped

LA Rams fans have been anticipating roster moves in preparation for Week 8 for some time. Whether it was the anticipation of moves to restore injured players from their Injured Reserve designation, or simply the prerequisite moves to clear a roster slot to restore a player from IR, the net effect is the same. And buried among the expectations and hopes of fans was the hope that the team would make moves at the inside linebacker position.

The team has finally done so. And yet, it's not a move that the fans anticipated, or wanted.

The LA Rams released one of the team's inside linebackers, former Marshall undrafted inside linebacker Elias Neal. And that shocked many fans. Not so much by the move itself, but from the fact that Neal's release comes with no visible opportunity to rotate in at the inside linebacker position.

To be fair, Elias Neal did see action on special teams. In fact, per his Pro Football Reference profile, he saw action on 63 special team snaps. But in those five games, he failed to record a tackle. And so, he was deemed to be ripe for release as the team strategizes to get OL Joe Noteboom back on the 53-man active Rams roster.

Since trading former starting ILB Ernest Jones IV, the defensive starters at the position - Troy Reeder and Christian Rozeboom - have not exactly met fans expectations. With ten missed tackles between them, and a lot of bad optics on plays where they had made tackles, the fans expected rookies Omar Speights and/or Elias Neal to become alternative options at some point as the season progressed.

And yet, new DC Chris Shula seems to have opted for an alternative route to bolster the team's defense, particularly where the inside linebacker is concerned:

Well, if the defense is going to go with six defensive backs on running situations, it does make sense to divest from an excessive number of ILBs on the roster and emphasize defensive backs. But it seems like the long way around the mountain to get better play out of the ILB position.

Perhaps the team will sign Elias Neal to the practice squad if and when he clears waivers. He certainly showed some promise in preseason. But the Rams have not shown evidence of appreciating Neal's contribution this season so far. And that could mean that his chapter on the Rams roster has concluded.

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