Michael Sam needs to show versatility to make the St. Louis Rams
St. Louis Rams’ defensive end Michael Sam was excellent for the Missouri Tigers last season, winning the SEC’s Defensive Player of the Year Award. He made 48 tackles, including 11.5 sacks in 2013. The Tigers surprisingly won the SEC’s East Division and made the SEC Championship Game where they were defeated by the Auburn Tigers. They ended their season on a high note by beating the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the Cotton Bowl, making it one of the greatest years in school history.
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That was enough for the Rams, who took Sam with the 249th-overall selection in the seventh round of this year’s draft. It is always a struggle for seventh round picks to make the roster and in Sam’s case, it will be no different. According to Tom Pelissero of The USA Today, Sam needs to show his versatility over the last two weeks of the preseason to the team.
"But when the final cuts come Aug. 30, former Rams vice president of player personnel Tony Softli believes Sam will survive — if he shows some versatility over the next two games to contribute on special teams.“Michael Sam has shown enough rushing the passer — and that’s what he is, he’s a DPR, he’s a designated pass rusher — that he can get off and beat a tackle on the upfield shoulder. He can spin and come underneath,” Softli told USA TODAY Sports on Thursday.“He’s got to prove he can do it on special teams, and I think that’s going to be his (way) to make this team.”"
Usually, that is how seventh round picks carve out a role in the league so this shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.
Stay tuned to FanSided as we get you ready for the start of the 2014 football season over the next few weeks. College Football will kickoff on August 28, headlined by games between the South Carolina Gamecocks and Texas A&M Aggies and the Boise State Broncos and Ole Miss Rebels while the pros will start their regular season a week later when the world champion Seattle Seahawks host the Green Bay Packers.