For the Los Angeles Rams, one of the good stories to come out of the final day to cut down the team roster to 53 players, second-year quarterback Bryce Perkins made the team. Perkins, a product of the University of Virginia, gives the Rams three quarterbacks for the regular season.
Perkins is No. 3 on the team’s depth chart behind starter Matthew Stafford and backup John Wolford. When it came to making the call to cut or keep Perkins, like other positions on the ballclub, Rams head coach Sean McVay said there was a myriad of factors that played into his decision.
“I think there was a competitive roster all around,” McVay said. “It’s hard to single out, and like you guys talked about the other day, if you told me a few weeks ago, ‘Did you envision keeping three quarterbacks?’ I would have told you no. And I think that’s a real credit to (QB) Bryce Perkins earning a spot on the roster, but I think every situation and every position was really competitive. I think if you said, ‘All right, where do we have a lot of really good depth?’ I think the interior D-line is a spot that really stands out to me.”
So how did Perkins stand out so much that McVay had to consider placing three quarterbacks on his roster? You might say that his body of work in the Rams three preseason games was probably the driving force in McVay keeping Perkins around.
Against the Chargers, Perkins didn’t do anything extraordinary, completing 7 of 10 passes for 42 yards and a score in a 13-6 defeat. Well, come to think of it, Perkins stiff-arming one Charger player and then leaping over another on a quarterback scramble turned out to be the play of the game.
That play that Perkins made was probably a prelude to what was to come in the final two preseason games. This is where Perkins earned his keep. Against the Raiders, Perkins completed 66 percent of his passes (26 of 39) for 208 yards and two touchdown tosses in the Rams’ 17-16 loss at SoFi Stadium.
Perkins also showed off his dual-threat capabilities with 41 yards rushing. In the Rams’ final preseason contest against the Denver Broncos, Perkins played solidly, completing 23 of 42 passes for 201 yards and rushing 50 yards on nine carries. McVay was impressed with the way Perkins played.
“(I’m) really proud of what Bryce did,” McVay remarked. “I think he can be proud of his body of work, the improvement. And that was what was reflected in that decision.”
McVay was not the only person Perkins has wowed. Stafford, who was traded to the Rams by the Detroit Lions early in the year, likes the way that Perkins has put in work and performed.
“I think the same thing you guys have seen,” Stafford told reporters. “I mean, he has been out there in those preseason games playing great. The strides he’s made since I even got here and saw him for the first time really ever this spring and to where he is now – just really proud of him and it’s a testament to him and the work that he has put into it. This is really important to him. You can tell the way he goes about his business. And then obviously he feels so prepared that he goes out there and plays the way he plays in the preseason games, which is awesome and really fun to watch.”
Dennis is the editor and publisher of News4usonline. He covers the NFL, NBA, MLB, racial and social justice, civil rights, and HBCUs. Dennis earned a journalism degree from “The Mecca” aka Howard University. “I write on what I am passionate about.”