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Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Rams-Cardinals: Stock up, stock down

Let’s just say the Rams are looking at a nice stock up column with not so much to fill out the stock down portion

The Los Angeles Rams are fresh off a massive win in week two versus the Arizona Cardinals.

The Rams simply dominated this game from start to finish. They double-down at home in week three versus the Los Angeles Chargers. But before we get to that, let’s take a look at who’s in the stock up and stock down trends:

Stock Down

RB John Kelly

This doesn’t even have anything to do with John Kelly himself. Malcolm Brown was the only RB outside of Todd Gurley who was active in week one with Justin Davis joining him in week two. After Gurley left the game with cramps sometime in the third quarter, Brown jumped in and the play didn’t falter at all. Brown had a massive pancake block where he destroyed Cardinals ILB Josh Bynes on a blitz pickup. Brown had 12 carries for 46 yards and proved why he’s worthy of being the second RB right now. Although Kelly looked electric in the preseason, it’s hard to see any road to playing time right now.

Stock Up

WR Brandin Cooks

Cooks was a man amongst boys on Sunday. He registered seven receptions for 159 yards. Cooks is being used short (screens), intermediate (crossers/digs), and deep (posts/verts/corners). The Rams have a well thought-out and concise plan to use their weapon, and it’s worked to perfection so far. Cooks simply looks unstoppable at this point.

KR/PR JoJo Natson

Natson only got to return one kick which went for 22 yards. His strong performance stems from the punt return side of it where Natson had six returns totaling 133 yards (22 yards on average) and a long of 60. He looked electric, explosive, and decisive. Look for Natson to continue to impress as a return man.

P Johnny Hekker

Hekker only got to punt the ball twice in this game (41 yards on average, long of 60) though it was the extra curriculars that put him here! K Greg Zuerlein pulled his groin in the pregame warmup and that made Hekker the defacto kicker. Hekker went 1/1 on field goal tries (20 yards), kicked off, and even went 1/1 on extra points!

CB Aqib Talib

Talib was tremendous in week two (also week one) as he was shutdown in his coverage. Talib was targeted three times and didn’t allow a catch per pro football focus. Not only that, but he was breaking on the ball like a hawk registering two pass breakups. The trade for Aqib Talib is looking absolutely brilliant at this point in time.

RG Austin Blythe

Blythe was an absolute monster throughout the entire game. His run blocking was pristine as he collected three pancake blocks by my count. Not only that, but he did a great job in pass protection too as I counted only one slip up. He’s not the biggest or strongest guy but Blythe simply does the little things well. He’s a very smart player who’s mobility works in the offense and he’s gelling perfectly with the starting offensive line right now. There’s no way the Rams should pull Blythe from the starting right guard spot.

DT Ndamukong Suh

Suh was an absolute freak on Sunday. He absolutely destroyed rookie C Mason Cole the entire game, both in the run and pass. Suh did a tremendous job collapsing the pocket when the Cardinals did decide to pass, and he played downright possessed when playing the run. I mean he affected nearly every single run and nearly ruined the Cardinals’ running game on his own.



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