The Los Angeles Rams announced that they claimed former Denver Broncos linebacker Justin Hollins off waivers to fill their final spot on the 53-man roster.
When the Rams announced their final roster cuts this weekend, they were down to 52 players, which gave them one extra spot to work with if they wanted to add a player from another organization.
After Travin Howard recently went down with a season-ending injury, it is no secret that the Rams lacked depth at the linebacker position so it comes as no surprise that they used the extra roster spot to claim Hollins.
Hollins was a fifth-round pick of the Broncos in 2019 out of Oregon. He played in 15 games his rookie season, recording 21 total tackles, one sack and two pass deflections. He was mainly used as an edge rusher, although it is possible the Rams plan to use him more on the inside to fill that void at linebacker.
New Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley was the outside linebackers coach for the Broncos last season, so he already is familiar with Hollins’ skill set.
The Rams are set to open the 2020 season in one week, hosting the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. That does not give Hollins a lot of time to get up to speed, even if he already is familiar with Staley’s scheme.
As it currently stands, Micah Kiser is the only lock to start at linebacker with Hollins, Kenny Young and Troy Reeder figuring to be in the mix for the other starting spot.
Sean McVay revealed that Hollins is expected to be active for Week 1, so he may get a chance to make an immediate impact, via Eric Williams of Sports Illustrated:
Sean McVay said plan is for new addition LB Justin Hollins to be active on Sunday. He will play OLB, but can also kick inside to ILB.
— Eric Williams (@eric_d_williams) September 7, 2020
The Rams lost some of their best linebackers to free agency this offseason in Cory Littleton and Dante Fowler Jr. While Hollins isn’t expected to replace that production by himself, he is among the young crop of talented players that will be tasked with that job.
