The Los Angeles Rams must trim their roster to 53 players by Sunday at 3:00 pacific time.
Two players making the team’s decision difficult ahead of Thursday night’s preseason finale are standout offensive linemen Bill Murray and Austin Blaske. Murray leads LA’s offense with a near-elite Pro Football Focus (PFF) grade of 89.0. Blaske ranks second with an overall mark of 75.8.
Neither player were on the radar at the start of training camp. But through two games the Rams have been able to run the ball
effectively and their quarterbacks rarely get touched. Murray and Blaske have made important contributions leading to these outcomes.
So who are they?
Bill Murray
Signed as an undrafted free agent by the New England Patriots in 2020, Murray doesn’t have much regular season playing experience under his belt. He was on the field for 42 snaps with the Chicago Bears in 42 and earned a PFF grade of 82.4 with an impressive pass blocking mark of 85.7. He’s posted near-elite marks consistently over the last two preseasons.
With the Rams, Murray has primarily played at left guard. He has demonstrated size flexibility after five seasons and had dabbled some at right tackle.
Has Murray finally showed enough in the preseason to stick with a team full-time, whether it’s the Rams or someone else?
Austin Blaske
The Rams signed Blaske as an undrafted free agent this spring. He comes to the NFL by way of the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Blaske’s preseason so far is somewhat of a tale of two games.
He split reps at left tackle and left guard in the opener against the Kansas City Chiefs and earned a PFF grade of 80.9. In the second exhibition contest, Blaske mostly manned the right tackle spot (66 snaps) and had 12 snaps at right guard. His performance in Week 2 was weaker with an overall grade of 67.0, although his run blocking grade of 76.4 was effectively the same as the opener.
The rookie UDFA has quality film at four of the five offensive line spots. That level of flexibility is valuable, especially since the Rams’ depth chart is uncertain because of injuries and Alaric Jackson’s potential suspension.
How convincing is Blaske’s case? He’ll make his final arguments in the preseason finale on Thursday night.
