Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Comparing the Vikings with the Rams ft. USA Today's Cameron DaSilva

Episode Date: June 21, 2021

Matthew Coller and Sam Ekstrom are joined by Rams reporter Cameron DaSilva so they can question the heck out of the Rams. Matthew isn't buying that Matthew Stafford is going to elevate Los Angeles past what they were last year and asks Cameron to talk him into it. Cameron breaks down why the Rams wanted to move on from Jared Goff and talks about the salary cap hell that the Rams might have gotten themselves into by making these top-heavy moves in recent years. They wrap the show by playing Ram, Ram or Ram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to another Purple Insider Roundtable. Matthew Collar here, Sam Ekstrom as well, and joining us for this episode, Cameron DaSilva. He is the managing editor of the Rams Wire with USA Today, covers the Rams. And Cameron, I'm going to start right off by telling you something about the Rams. I'm very skeptical about them, and I've sort of made fun of the idea of the Rams being great this year on this show. So why don't we just start there and you can give me a reaction to me saying, I don't think it's going to work. Yeah. It's, it's really been one or the other with everyone that I've talked to. Everyone's either like, they're going to be Superbowl favorites and legitimate contenders or Matthew Stafford has done nothing in the playoffs and he gets hurt

sometimes. And I'm skeptical of Deshaun Jackson and all that they've done. But I honestly, I'm not a Rams fan, so this isn't Homerism. I do think they're going to be a legitimate Super Bowl contender this year. I think Stafford with McVay, they're going to do some really good things. And I mean, he hasn't, obviously he had Calvin Johnson, Marvin Jones, Kenny Galladay, he had plenty of good receivers you guys know covering the Vikings. But this group that he has here, it's a good mix of route runners. And you got Deshaun Jackson being a deep thread. And I don't know what they're going to do with Tutu Atwell, but he can do some stuff. And he's fast

and small and shifty. And then you got Tyler Higby at tight end. So he has no shortage of weapons. He's got the number one ranked defense from last year. Obviously, they they lost a lot of depth last year. Not necessarily blue chippers, but guys that round out a starting lineup or a roster pretty nicely, like John Johnson, Troy Hill, Morgan Fox, Gerald Everett, Josh Reynolds. Is that a concern for you that some of those role players are no longer on the team? I wouldn't say it's a major concern because the way that they've drafted, they've kind of drafted a year ahead. So with Troy Hill, they had David Long that they drafted a couple of years ago. They drafted Taylor Rapp and Jordan Fuller and Terrell Burgess within the last two years. So they can fill in for

John Johnson. Fuller was actually started last year as a rookie but um they did lose some key players austin blight their center they they had a chance to sign he signed for basically pennies with the chiefs um they opted to let him go they're going to move austin corbett over to center and that kind of creates a hole at guard um morgan fox who was a defensive end kind of a lesser known guy. He was their, I would say, pass rush specialist as that five technique. He's going to be tough to replace. John Johnson and Troy Hill, I mentioned. And then Michael Brockers, who they traded away. He's not a dominant guy.

He's not a good pass rusher necessarily, but he's a good run defender. So they're, like you mentioned, they did keep all their guys. They re-signed Woods and Kupp last year ramsey and they have donald obviously um but they do really their roster is constructed very top heavy where they have a lot of big name guys and then they need their draft picks and mid-round picks uh to kind of come through and and uh and play well as starters so here's the thing cameron you're speaking to your future. We already saw this happen in Minnesota. Okay.

Coming off of 2017, the Vikings went to the NFC championship. They had the number one defense. They got to the NFC championship with a quarterback that the team wasn't really in on in case Keenum. And then they got a new quarterback and they kept their stars and they said, ah, this is the final piece. It's the quarterback. So we're going to run it all back. And oh yeah, I guess we got some depth issues and guess we'll have this guy go and this guy go because we can't afford them anymore. But ah, we have all of our stars. We're bringing it all back.

See, this is why I'm skeptical of it because we've seen it before. And I feel like in a lot of ways, we've seen it with multiple different places in the NFL where they get so far. And then they feel like, oh, we have to make that sort of big splash or the big risky move. And that's getting Matt Stafford. The other part of saying we've seen it is we've seen Matt Stafford and we've seen him with some pretty good teams come through and play the Vikings. Not over the last couple of years under Matt Patricia, but in the past with Jim Caldwell. And there's some fundamental problems with Matt Stafford, as exciting as he can be. So I guess that that is my main argument against this is a lot of against them being a legitimate Super Bowl contender is kind of like, I don't know that top heavy exactly gets you there versus strength across the board. And I definitely don't trust Matt Stafford to take you there.

Yeah, those are all fair points. They're one injury away at cornerback from being in somewhat of a little bit of trouble. Same with safety. They don't have good pass rush depth on the outside. They have Leonard Floyd and then a bunch of guys who have never really been starters in the NFL. Along the defensive line, you have Aaron Donald and Sebastian Joseph Day, who are really good players. A'shaun Robinson is there, but he didn't do much last year. Along the offensive line, they have a bunch of younger guys who can play a few positions, but

if Andrew Whitworth goes down like he did last year, they're in a little bit of trouble. So there's a few positions like that where they're kind of top heavy, and then the depth is going to be tested if an injury does occur or somebody doesn't play up to the standards that they're expecting. It's tough to sustain this type of roster for years and years and years because you do have to draft so well. There's only so long you can go without having the first round pick. Rams are going to go from 2017 to what, 2023? They're not going to have one. 2024 is their next one or something like that. So it's crazy that the way that they've done this,

I applaud them for taking an aggressive approach and going against the grain for what most teams have done. But it's going to be tough for them to continue to resign, resign their own guys and, and bring back their core players. Like Darius Williams, he's a really good corner. Next year is going to be an unrestricted free agent. I don't know if they're going to be able to afford him. So it's going to be tested over time. I think this year they're going to be good, but year over year, it's going to be tough to say. Yeah, they did a nice job of wriggling out of

cap purgatory to keep that core intact, I thought. And now maybe they'll benefit from that cap going way up, maybe like $25 million last year or next year. But I have a two-part question for you. Do you get the sense that the luster has sort of like a worn off of Sean McVay at all? And if it hasn't, is there a lot of faith that he will be able to get the most out of Matthew Stafford? And if it has, is there skepticism with what he'll be able to do with that new quarterback? I don't necessarily think there's skepticism of what he's going to do with Stafford. I think a lot of fans and analysts expect him to have a really good year with Stafford with a quarterback who has seen every defense, who's played in all kinds of offenses,

who knows how to make the right reads and, and is not necessarily the most mobile quarterback, but he can win off platform and out of the pocket and things like that. Whereas Jared Goff was kind of a slow processor. Didn't always make the right reads. Didn't see blitzes when they were coming. And when the play did break down, he was honestly one of the worst quarterbacks in the league. He just didn't,

he didn't have the freelancing ability that I think Matthew Stafford will have. So I think in that regard, Sean McVay is going to look better with the way that he's calling games. And I don't know how much you watched the Rams last year, but it was very conservative and kind of boring offense, a lot of checkdowns, a lot of short passes, and just letting Robert Woods and Cooper Cupp get yards after the catch. And you can only do that for so long. And McVay said it this offseason. He said, the way, if you're going 10, 12 plays down the field every time, your margin for error is so slim.

You have to have these explosive plays to take advantage of. And they just didn't do that. So I don't necessarily think there's any skepticism of what he's going to do with Stafford. But some fans have grown a little tired of his conservative calls and screens on third down and runs on third and long and, and things like that. But I think that's going to change with Stafford coming in, being a more aggressive and strong armed quarterback. So talk me into Matt Stafford being different than he's always been. Okay. So yes, you have the weapons, but we've seen Matt Stafford with weapons and he's had some great games against the Vikings. And so again, I'm not saying that

Matt Stafford can't play football and he's made some of the most ridiculous throws against the Vikings I've ever seen. I mean, there are some times where he's off the back of his foot. It's 30 yards rocket down the field. The other thing I've seen though, is him get sacked 10 times in a single game by the minnesota vikings last year they had a chance to beat the vikings and he throws what two red zone interceptions wasn't sam or at least one to eric kendricks that was in the end zone and it's just this sort of like with him a home run hitter that when he's hot he's really hitting him out of the ballpark but then when he's, I think this is the reason he ends up around 500 a lot when his teams are even good is because he has a lot

of these sort of peaks and valleys. And the other thing too, everyone praises the ever loving hell out of Matt Stafford for being tough. And I don't doubt that he's tough, but he's also injured all the time. And this is another, this has to be another thing that as you run through the scenarios in your head what can the rams be that this sort of comes up so those those are my criticisms which i'm sure you'll agree as a journalist are reasonable but talk me out of them like talk talk me into matt stafford is going to be different in la than he has been in a decade in detroit so the injury thing is is definitely something they have to take into account. He, this off season, he rattled off the injuries that he played through, which a lot

of people didn't even realize. I think it was with the Detroit Free Press in an interview, and it was like his thumb, his shoulder, his ankle. It was so many different injuries that you couldn't even imagine. And he played the season through them them but when you're playing hurt you're not playing 100 you're not at your peak you're you're you're limited a little bit and i think he's healthy now he had thumb surgery it was just a minor cleanup type thing he says he's healthy um but as far as his style of play on the field i think the fact that he's going to have mcveay whose offense is really predicated on making these easy reads open receivers a lot of great route combinations that get guys open really easily so Stafford's not going to necessarily have to try to fit these tight window throws constantly and

next gen stats as Jared Goff is like one of the least aggressive quarterbacks throwing into tight windows and because he didn't really have to and he still had decent numbers and I know he had some boneheaded interceptions that that cost them but it wasn't necessarily because he was trying to fit these difficult throws into tight windows they were just stupid throws that he shouldn't be making so I think with with McVay coaching Stafford obviously he's he's going to have a completely different offensive system than what Stafford has been in before. And he's talked about the learning curve and how he has to get up to speed and things like that. And I think this offense is going to fit him well. It's going to include some deep shots, but it's also going to include a lot of crossers and routes that

fit his eye well. And he's going to have a lot of open receivers. See, this is mind-boggling to Vikings fans because the Vikings aren't allowed, it seems, to have more than two relevant receivers. Like two is the maximum. The Rams have like six. Talk to me about the Rams wide receiver depth chart because in addition to Woods and Kup,

they've got Van Jefferson, the young kid, they add Atwell, they add Deshaun Jackson, and they've got some other names as well. So tell me about how that's going to look. Yeah, it's tough to say exactly how the playing time is going to shake out because Robert Woods and Cooper Cupp are going to play the majority of the time. But Sean McVay loves to play 11 personnel. He loves to have three receivers on the field. And he said part of that was the fact that he had Brandon Cooks. And having any of those three receivers on the sideline was just pure stupid because they're all so talented. So why are you going to keep them on the sideline to put a tight end out there? So Robert Woods and Cooper Cupp are going to get the bulk of the targets, I would say.

I think they're going to run more intermediate, deeper routes than they have in the past. And then you have Van Jefferson, as you mentioned. He's kind of a similar player to them, which is why I was a little bit surprised by the pick last year when they made it. Because he's not a burner. He's not a big body guy. He's just a pure route runner who wins with strong hands and getting open, which there's nothing wrong with that. But he's kind of similar to what the Rams already have. And then you inject two smaller, faster receivers with Jackson and Atwell into the offense.

And Jackson, I think, is going to be their true deep threat, but we saw him in Washington with McVay, and it wasn't just him running deep every – it wasn't running fades and go routes every time. He's going to get him involved with screens and crossers and allow him to use his speed, whether it's getting upfield or breaking to the sideline and, and things like that. The plan for Atwell, I don't know what that is really. I don't know when we're going to find that out because right now I would say

he's fifth on the depth chart and there's only so much you can do to get a guy who's five, nine, one 50 involved purely on offense. I think he's going to return punts. He's expecting to, at least he's going to compete for that job. But I think he's going to take some handoffs and catch some screens and run some deep routes, but he's not a guy who obviously is going to win jump ball scenarios or, or really catches in traffic.

You can't expect him to do much of that. So I don't know what his role exactly is going to be, but they're going to try to get him the ball. And they should because he's a second round pick. I thought that was an odd selection considering their depth chart and um just taking someone with such an odd like height weight combination that usually doesn't work out but uh i want to i want to circle back to what you were talking about with jared goff because this has always been interesting to me the idea of and we deal with this conversation here in minnesota all the time what the supporting cast means to the quarterback, including the system, the wide receivers, who's calling the plays, how much help they need, the ability to go off schedule. I mean,

it's like looking in the mirror when we're talking about this. Now Jared Goff is in the Vikings division. And I, I guess if I wanted to be very aggressive about this, which I have in commenting about it from time to time, there's a part of me that thinks Sean McVay did not really succeed last year himself. And the supporting cast fell apart with the offensive line. And he kind of went,

uh, that guy did it. And it was, you know, Jared Goff did it. It was not me. And it was not the front office for not, you know,

filling out that offensive line. After a few guys left, it was, uh, office for not, you know, filling out that offensive line. After a few guys left, it was, uh, the guy, that guy. And then they trade a lot involved to get rid of Jared Goff, who I've always felt was a pretty solid NFL quarterback. And when you look at those years, when the team is stacked, I mean, he's terrific. The offensive production is terrific. They're in a Superbowl. I guess I wonder how much of it was Jared Goff is flawed or bad and how much of it is, uh, we need to be able to pin this on somebody else so we can keep up the weird geniuses type of, I don't want to say it's a facade for sure, but it usually is in football. Yeah, I think it's a mix of both. I think Jared struggled with the mental aspect of the game last year with just recognizing defenses and that game against the Dolphins was just absolutely atrocious. And they just lined up in man coverage every time and sent eight rushers at the quarterbacks or six, seven rushers at the

quarterback every time. And it seemed like he didn't know what was coming, even though it was clearly there before the snap. It's tough to say because the offensive line did have some injuries last year. Whitworth went down and there were some issues the year before when Rodgers sat full buff. So they've been trying to find a good guard combination. But the offensive line was good enough last year, I would say. I mean, he had time. He wasn't under pressure constantly. But it's hard to say exactly whether McVay is just trying to point the finger at Jared struggling or the fact that he didn't have Brandon Cooks

and there was no deep shots. They didn't really have a deep receiver. So the offense was kind of condensed. But I think Jared is a quarterback that you can win with, but he's not a quarterback who you're going to win because of. He's not going to lead you to a Super Bowl with a poor supporting cast. But if you have him with Robert Woods and Todd Gurley and Brandon Cooks and a stout offensive line and a great play caller, you can win with him. And the Rams made it to the Super Bowl with him in that fashion. You guys saw him firsthand when he played the Vikings on that Thursday night game a couple of years ago, and he had the perfect passer rating and went crazy. He looked like an all pro. So he was kind of up

and down the last two years. He struggled and made struggled and, and made mistakes that you don't want $134 million quarterback to make. So I think that frustrated McVay. And, um, I think there was some underlying frustration that not everyone saw publicly, but, um, it was, it's a little bit of both the supporting cast got worse and Jared also regressed a little bit in that time. Obviously, they spend a very high first round pick on Jared Goff and it doesn't work out and they decide, well, we don't want a first round pick ever again. So I'd like to remind Cameron that the draft actually does start on Thursday.

It doesn't start on Friday. Can you speak a little bit more to sort of that approach? Because you mentioned earlier that that might not be a sustainable team building method if they continue seeking stars in exchange for first round picks. And especially, you know, a fringe star like Matthew Stafford, who may or may not be an upgrade. Do you think that's going to bite them at some point? Yeah, it definitely could. I mean, when so there's nothing wrong with trading a first round pick and more to get a guy like Jalen Ramsey, because he's clearly worth more than what the Jaguars have gotten in return. Caleb on chase on and try to CTN. And I think there was one other player that they might have gotten from that trade.

But you have to account for the fact that you have to give them a hundred million dollar contract after a season and a half, which they had to do. So that kind of blows up your salary cap a little bit more than a first-round rookie obviously would. The same goes for Brandon Cooks. They traded a first-round pick for him. He's a good player. He's probably better than most of the first-round rookies that were in the 2019 draft, I think, is the pick that they gave up for him, or 2018. But you had to give him the big contract and that bit them

because he spent two seasons. He was good, but now you have all this dead money that he left behind when they traded him to the Texans. So it's a difficult strategy to sustain. They'll argue that Jalen Ramsey is worth more than two first round picks because he's been an all pro. And I don't think you can argue against that because he's been so good for them so far but you have to think of the cap ramifications of making a trade like that and stafford's the same way you're trading two first round picks and you're taking on his contract which isn't terrible but in a couple years you're probably gonna have to give him a new one if you're keeping him around, which you should because you gave up two first round picks. So it's hard to build a team that way. They've done it and made the playoffs in three or four years with McVay. So obviously it's worked out, but down the stretch, I think you could see them

maybe shifting their focus a little bit more and trying to build build through the draft and i know less need loves mid-round picks and he's he's hit on so many of them but at some point you need some younger proven talent that is not going to cost you an arm and a leg on the salary cap hey everyone summer is here and you're trying to get out on the golf course but if you're like us here at purple insiders spending all day golfing isn't always an option. That's why you need to check out Birdie Golf in Woodbury. I'll give you an example. My wife is new to golf and she's intimidated by the big courses, but at Birdie Golf, she could come and play without the pressure. You can make golf a family experience at Birdie Golf. Bring the kids, still get all of your swings

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Call 651-998-2200 today, and I'll see you there. Folks, if you are pumped up about how the Vikings did in the draft two zero zero today, and I'll see you there. Folks. If you are pumped up about how the Vikings did in the draft and now the schedule's out, it is a great time to get yourself a skull flag or bud grant shirt. And of course there's much, much more. If you go to soda,

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They are classic. All of SodaStix apparel is screen printed here in minnesota on super soft super comfy shirts and hoodies you will love it follow them soda stick co on twitter go to soda stick.com for your original minnesota sports inspired goods code purple insider for free shipping so many of these things sound familiar cameron. They do because the Vikings, they trade away a first round pick for Sam Bradford. And as much as we respected what Sam Bradford did as a Viking, it didn't work. I mean, he played one year. They didn't make the playoffs. The next year he got hurt. So they wasted that pick. And the guy that was drafted by Philadelphia got a strip sack to win the Super Bowl so it's like you know then then they miss on first round picks as teams do when they're drafting in the 20s or beyond and you know we've seen it really hurt the Vikings and they've had to spend and spend and spend in this offseason to rebuild and that feels like your future of with this team where if those middle round picks stop hitting which they will then it becomes even more difficult to fill the

roster out. So it's going to be interesting to watch this Rams team and how they manage that over the next couple of years. I do want to ask you since the Vikings play the whole division, what you think of the division? Because I think it has the potential to be the toughest division, maybe in football, but it also has the potential to just be like kind of just okay. I mean, when you think about the different questions about each team that it's one of those, like on paper,

it could be really, really tough for the Vikings. But when those games come around, that might depend on whether Trey Lance is playing or if Cliff Kingsbury figures out how to like run an NFL offense, right? I mean, it seems like there's a lot of different question marks here when it comes to the NFC West. Yeah. You have question marks with, with every team.

I think the Rams are the best constructed team and the team that's set up best to really have a double digit win season. Whereas the Seahawks, you have questions about the defense and the supporting cast around Russell Wilson with the offensive line. The Cardinals, Kyler Murray, is he going to continue to take the next step? Is Cliff Kingsbury going to actually design routes for DeAndre Hopkins that he should be running instead of these short little quick outs that they did all the time against the Rams.

The 49ers, you don't know who their quarterback is going to be. You don't know if they're going to be able to stay healthy. You can say that about every team, obviously. But that being said, if everything goes according to plan with how all these teams are constructed, I think it's going to be the best division in football. I think they're probably going to beat up on themselves a little bit just because they're so tough and they know each other so well. But it's going to be a tough division to beat. I think they can easily send two teams to the playoffs. I think the Seahawks are always going to be in contention, obviously, with Russell Wilson, no matter what he has around him.

He has two great receivers. And then the 49ers, if they can stay healthy and run the ball and that defensive front can stay healthy, I think they're going to be a team that's going to be tough to beat too. Reverse question, Cameron. What is the perception of the NFC North who the Rams all have to play? I don't think it's great. I think there's questions, like I said, about the NFC West. There's questions about every team.

The Bears, you don't know who their quarterback is going to be. Obviously, Matt Nagy doubled down on Andy Dalton being the starter for week one already and giving Justin Fields no chance, essentially. But the Lions, I don't think are going to be very good. The Packers, you don't know what's going to happen with Aaron Rodgers. I think he's going to stay there. And if he does, they're probably the favorites in the NFC. And then the Vikings, it's just kind of, is that defense good enough? Is there more than just

Dalvin Cook and Kirk Cousins on offense? And I mean, they have some talented teams in that division, I think, but I don't think it's perceived as one of the better ones from the outside. Yeah, I think that you're right, that with at least the recent acquisitions by the Vikings, their defense looks filled out, but it's also a lot of new players trying to get together. And Vegas is still putting the Vikings as a mid pack team. They did not change the wind total because the Vikings got Sheldon Richardson, as you would not have expected. And just like with, but just like with Matt Stafford, I think it's totally fair to look at the quarterback and say, I mean, you got to prove you can win more than 10 games before anybody puts you down for more than 10 games. And at least for

now, we sort of don't know what's going to go on with Aaron Rodgers, but if he does play quarterback for the Packers, they're the favorites. Totally. Them and Tampa Bay are the runaway favorites in the NFC. And then it's everybody else. I'm curious about your opinion about the sort of NFL at large with this next season coming up, because last year was so freaking weird. Like we just like, I don't even know what to do with it. There were times where I thought that it borderlined on like, this doesn't even count last year because it was so straight like we got a wide receiver playing quarterback for the broncos is this right you know you're going to lambo the vikings get a big win in lambo with no fans i mean okay i mean i guess you beat them but like come on right is this like just a fair assessment teams came into minnesota beat them with no fans where it's generally very difficult.

I wonder how you think things getting back to relatively normal across the league will impact just what we see in general from the NFL this year. Yeah, I'm excited to see fans back in the stands and watching the NBA and MLB with fans there and the Cubs at Wrigley Field when they swept the Cardinals. It's fun to see fans bring that energy again. And it was so weird watching games with no one in the stands for, I mean, for the Rams at least. All their home games were in an empty stadium, a brand-new SoFi stadium, no one in it.

And obviously they pump in artificial noise, but it doesn't replicate, um, exactly what the stadium feels like. And guys talked about there just being a lack of energy and a weirdness surrounding the game with, with no one cheering in the stands. And there was times where the, the artificial noise was just very awkward and not timed well, where fans are cheering for like a third down stop 30, 10 seconds after it happened and things like that. But I'm excited to see what everything is going to be like with fans back

and with guys who are fully vaccinated. I think it's testing like once every 14 days. So hopefully there's just less confusion and fluidity and more normalcy to the season where you're not worrying about two quarterbacks testing positive and being out for the game and socially distancing and being in quarantine and having to be away from the team. So I'm excited to see everything get back to normal and really get back to what we've been used to for so many years. Yeah, I had the same thoughts as you looking at that beautiful new stadium with no one in it, just felt wrong for LA. And the Chargers will be inhabiting that as well. And I'm curious, just from an LA football fan perspective, are the Chargers going to have support? I know it's a beautiful facility, but the Rams seem to kind of have captured, you know, a little bit of the fan base there in L.A.

And obviously they were very good a few years ago and still are. And the Chargers, you know, were playing in a soccer stadium that was getting overrun by opposing fans. Is that going to be a weird dynamic? I mean, I think the Chargers being there for what, a couple of years now, two, three years now that they've been in LA, I honestly lost count. But I would think they established some kind of more of a fan base than they've had. Rams fans, the Rams had an open practice last week, I think, or last week or the week before, where it was an open practice for fans and they had up to 30,000 and they sold it out. So the place was packed and

McVay was talking about how impressive it was to see 30,000 fans being that loud. And he can't wait to see what 70, 75,000 is going to be like. I would imagine that the Chargers having this new stadium and it being basically closed for the first year, they is going to be like. I would imagine that the Chargers having this new stadium and it being basically closed for the first year, they're going to be excited to get into that stadium and they're going to support the team. But it always seems like these Chargers games, even in a small stadium, it's 50% Chargers fans, 50% away teams, or an even worse ratio for the Chargers. Hey everyone, I want to tell you about our friends it's scout logistics and i really do mean it when i say friends they are fans of purple insider over at

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or call 855-217-2688 extension 232 to connect with them directly to find out how Scout Logistics can minimize risk and over-perform and go the extra mile for your company. It was worse, much worse, when I went out there to cover Chargers-Vikings. I would say it was like 95% Vikings. You had to struggle to find anyone in like a Phillip Rivers jersey. And everything that happened, I mean, if the Vikings got a first down,

it was a huge celebration coming to that stadium. It was also the coldest I've ever been in my life because it was, it's, it was outdoor press box and it's in LA. So you think like, Oh, well going to LA, I don't need a jacket or whatever.

And it was like 54 degrees or 58 and windy. And so outside press box, no jacket. I, I nearly froze to death. So anyway, before we wrap up Cameroneron and i want both of you to play here this is i have a game and it's called ram ram or ram okay and here's how it's

played i have 10 names and these players were either drafted by the old la rams the st louis rams or the new rams and and i went with some some names here. So I'm going to test you guys a little bit. So I'm going to throw out a name and you guys have to tell me, was this a old Rams draft pick, old LA Rams draft pick, a new LA Rams draft pick or a St. Louis Rams draft pick?

Okay. So I'm going to start out with Lawrence Phillips. Was Lawrence Phillips, St. Louis, old LA or new LA draft pick i would say old la what's your pick sam old la he is actually a st louis rams draft pick one of the more disastrous draft picks in st louis la other la history uh all right next one is troy drayton the big tight end troy drayton i would say sam st louis he is old la so you are up one here camera good job all right next pick is 10 tanzel smart is that an old la a st louis or a new la draft pick smart he's going st louis um i'm sure i should probably go first on some of these to make the

game more fair i'm gonna go i'm sorry sam deeply sorry yeah we try to make are you moderating this game or what ram ram or ram has to be fair cameron is the guest i thought he would go first but we'll switch it up just for you do you get to make your pick i'll go i'll go new rams he is a new rams pick come on cameron 2017 uh yes he he was one of the early ones but he was on the fringe he was on the fringe that's right um okay so uh let's go with isaac bruce was isaac bruce an old ram a st louis ram or obviously he was not a new ram i'll eliminate that one sam please go ahead first okay well i mean everything Well, I mean, everything in me wants to say St. Louis, so I'm going to zig and go old Rams. I'll go St. Louis. It was old Rams.

So another one for Sam. Sam is beating the Rams reporter. All right. Tony Banks. Was Tony Banks old LA, St. Louis, or new LA? Obviously, it wasn't new LA. So it kind of comes down to the two. Go ahead, Cameron.

I'll say he was St. Louis. Yeah, this is interesting because the 98 Vikings had a game against the St. Louis Rams in week two, and they played Tony Banks. And I think he was fairly old at the St. Louis Rams in week two, and they played Tony Banks. And I think he was fairly old at the time. So I'm going to go old Rams. Tony Banks was a St. Louis Rams draft pick. So Cameron, you're back in the game.

What are we at? Two to two, maybe? Two to two. Two to two. Okay. Tamarik Hemingway. Is that a new Ram, an old Ram or a St. Louis Ram? Tight end Tamaric Hemingway who had one career catch. Who's going first, me or Sam?

I'll go first. I'll go new Rams. I'm going to say new Rams too. I remember him. I remember him being a tight end who played, he had a decent preseason, but I don't remember if he was there before I started. I'm going to go new Rams though. You never forget the guys who have decent preseason. Never. And you're, you are both right. He is a new Ram Dexter McLeon. Was he an old Ram and a St. Louis Ram or a new Ram Dexter McLeon? Cameron, you are up. I'll go old Ram.

I'm going to go St. Louis. Sam is correct. Dexter McLeon was a St. Louis Ram draft pick. All right. So I got two more. Sean Mannion.

Was he drafted by St.is or the new rams who's up cameron you up i think i think i'm first oh yeah okay all right um okay i can figure this out so manion was a viking oh i'm sorry you don't get this much time just pick one he was uh st louis yeah same st louis you're both wrong he was a new ram yep what yeah sean man he was a new ram third round draft pick in what year 17 20 hold on let me get it let me get it or 2016 he was picked in. Had to be 2016. Hold on. Did they release him early? Hold on.

I'm finding this. I call this is a challenge. I'm challenging. Wait, wait, wait, wait. You might be right. You might be right. He is. Oh, 2015.

I'm sorry. You guys are both right. St. Louis Ram. Yeah, I had him in the wrong category. Good job, fellas. So it is three to three. So I have two more for you. One is the tiebreaker.

Jerome Bettis. Was he Old Ram or St. Louis Ram? Old Ram. Old Ram. He seemed confident there. Yep, you guys are right. He is Old old ram you're playing the players all right the tiebreaker is ale atkins uh st louis for the sake of the game and determining a winner, I'll go old Ram. Al Atkins was a Cleveland Ram from 1944.

So you're both sort of wrong, but Cameron, you were closer. So you win the game. Al Atkins, Cleveland Ram, shout out to him. So, all right. Well, it was a little messy, but I enjoyed Ram, Ram or Ram. That was a great game. I enjoyed it. Good game. Appreciate game. Appreciate that. Appreciate that guys. Cameron De Silva.

Make sure you follow him on Twitter. Great file at cam D a S I L V a always where I get everything Rams related. And I will be heckling throughout the season. If it goes wrong, I will be just tweeting. I told you so Cameron actually, no,

you are sometimes it's always a mix. Like sometimes we have very reporterish reporter guy which is you so when I offer a criticism you're like yeah it could be uh and sometimes it's kind of like defensive fan reporter who's like uh what and so both are both are equal so I appreciate your reasonableness and we'll do it again Cameron there is a Vikings and Rams game that we will need someone to help us preview and that's going to be you so thanks for coming on buddy absolutely thank you guys for having me looking forward to the season and that Rams Vikings game yeah thanks Cameron