The Los Angeles Rams have won both of their preseason games so far, coming back to beat both the Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Chargers on game-winning fourth quarter touchdowns.
Against the Chargers, it was undrafted rookie wide receiver JJ Laap that played hero as he caught a 47-yard touchdown from Stetson Bennett in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.
After the game, Laap discussed how much it meant to him to make that catch considering playing in the NFL was never a guarantee, via Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
“I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like that, honestly, my entire life, and I was just thinking, ‘go make a play,’ and I came down with it,” Laap said. “Man, that was awesome.”
Laap added that he knew the ball was coming to him on that play so made sure he was ready to make a big catch:
“So to be able to go out there and do it on the big stage like that, man, that was awesome,” Laap said. “So I knew before the play, (before) it was snapped, I knew it was go time. I knew I might have an opportunity when that ball was in the air.”
The 23-year-old played Division III ball at State University of New York at Cortland where he had 70 catches for 1,291 yards and 14 touchdowns in his final season, winning a national championship.
There aren’t too many DIII guys that can make the jump to the NFL but Laap has seemingly been able to make that transition. He also gave credit to his quarterback Bennett for helping him produce in his first preseason:
“I knew coming from a DIII school that I always had the athletic ability and the talent to play at this level, and it’s translating,” Laap said. “So like just to have that opportunity and be able to seize it, man, it’s special. Stetson Bennett, you know, he’s a national championship, FBS national champion, (I’m) a DIII national champion. We got the national champion connection, you know? With different divisions.”
Laap finished with two catches for 50 yards and a touchdown against the Chargers, so it will be interesting to see how he can build off that in the preseason finale against the Houston Texans.
While Laap is a long shot to make the Rams’ 53-man roster given their depth at the receiver position, he will likely end up on the practice squad and could see a promotion down the road if he continues to develop the way he has this training camp.
Rams’ Matthew Stafford wants to play 3-4 more years
If JJ Laap ever does find his way onto the Rams’ active roster then he would likely be catching passes from Matthew Stafford. Despite being in the tail end of his career, Stafford is still performing at a very high level, so much so that he recently said he wants to continue playing for 3-4 more years.
