The St. Louis Rams wrapped up its rookie “orientation” over the weekend.  The two-day minicamp gave the team its first formal opportunity to get draftees and free-agent hopefuls on the field for a look-over.

All impressions and expectations must be tempered by the fact that the players were not in full pads, just shorts and helmets.  Nevertheless, for the new players, the sessions represented the first taste of NFL practices and the preparation required for the season.

Without further ado, here are five quick impressions on what the rookies showed at ContinuityX Training Center:

  1. Michael Brockers is Usain Bolt off the snap. Again, this is just training camp, but when scanning the field for the Rams’ 1st-round pick (lineman drills were approx 140 yards away), I couldn’t help but notice the big guy who seemed to know every snap count in advance. Brockers was noticeably quicker than everybody else off the snap. If he’s able to get off the ball that quickly in pads, he’ll have a nice head start headed into the backfield.
  2. Brian Quick and Chris Givens seem to compliment each other well. Quick looked big, strong and fluid on the field. Givens was fast and agile. Both receivers caught the ball well during drills.
  3. Darryl Richardson, a 7th round pick from Abilene Christian has jets. With the departure of Cadillac Williams and Jerious Norwood, Richardson will have an opportunity to make the team to back up Steven Jackson and 2nd-round selection Isaiah Pead. Richardson flew around the field and caught the ball well out of the backfield. If he proves he can master the playbook and compete on special teams, he can find a spot on the 53-man roster.  Pead also looked fast and fluid.
  4. Fluid corners. Both corners moved well, especially Janoris Jenkins, who broke up several passes during drills. At 6’2,” Trumaine Johnson was noticeably tall as a corner, but still proved to be pretty agile.
  5. No 50 yard kicks. 6th-round pick Greg Zuerlein did not practice field goals outdoors Friday or Saturday. Coach Fisher said right now they are working on mechanics and the live kicking drills will happen later. Zuerlein hit 21 consecutive field goals during his senior season, with nine of them being beyond 50 yards.

For more information on the St. Louis Rams offseason workouts, transactions and information, stay tuned to stlamerican.com.  You can also find videos on www.youtube.com/stlamericanvideo.

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