WPB Dawg Fan Posted September 6, 2009 Report Share Posted September 6, 2009 Add him to the 53 man roster: Home > Blog Zone > Rams Report > Around The Horns > OT Trautwein claimed by Cleveland 09.06.2009 1:02 pm OT Trautwein claimed by Cleveland By Jim Thomas St. Louis Post-Dispatch After releasing offensive tackle Phil Trautwein over the weekend, all indications were that the St. Louis Rams planned to sign him to their practice squad. Instead, the Cleveland Browns claimed Trautwein over the weekend, adding him to their 53-man roster. A rookie free agent from Florida, Trautwein started slowly in camp for the Rams, but appeared to improve steadily over the course of the preseason. Meanwhile, the Rams had either signed or were in the process of signing LB Dominic Douglas and running back Chris Ogbonnaya to their practice squad Sunday. Ogbonnaya was a seventh-round draft pick out of Texas by the Rams; Douglas is rookie free agent from Mississippi State. The Rams were also thought to be interested in signing linebacker K.C. Asiodu, defensive end Ian Cambpell, cornerback Cord Parks, and wide receiver Sean Walker to their practice squad. I guess that answers one question...OT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OconRecon Posted September 6, 2009 Report Share Posted September 6, 2009 I'll bet this is the end of the wheeling and dealing and we have our opening roster set. Time to concentrate on week 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Qwimbley Posted September 6, 2009 Report Share Posted September 6, 2009 Alo, whatchya got on him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WPB Dawg Fan Posted September 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2009 This is what I could dig up: Phil Trautwein, 6'6" 310 RT, Florida Rankings: Pro Football Weekly: #53 offensive tackle. Rated as a free agent with a chance to be in an NFL training camp. NFLDraftScout.com: #31 offensive tackle, #360 player overall; free agent grade. Biography/Honors: 2008: first-team All-SEC. Team captain. Started all 12 games. Named to NFF Hampshire Honor Society. 2006: Named to SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll and second-team All-SEC. Started all 14 games. Major: Graduated in December 2008 with a master’s in educational leadership. Injuries: Missed entire 2007 season due to stress fracture in right foot. Pro Day Stats: (not invited to NFL Combine) * 23 bench presses (Jason Smith did 33 at the Combine) * 5.36 40 with 1.84 and 3.00-second splits (JS: 5.09) * 27-inch vertical leap (JS: 24) * 8’2” broad jump (JS: 8’0”) * did not run 3-cone drill or 20-yard shuttle Positives: Converted tight end. Good athlete, with surprising lateral agility for his size, and solid pass protector. Good quickness off the snap. Quickly gets hands into defenders. Blocks with a wide base, keeps his feet moving and works hard to finish. Stays square and turns opponents out of the play. Long arms and quick feet. Plays nasty. Alert to pick up stunts and blitzes. Solid interior run-blocker. Was considered a rising prospect going into the 2008 season but a foot injury set him back. Has experience as a blocking tight end and special teams FG/PAT protection. Starter for two national championship teams with an incredible work ethic. The Rams considered drafting him. Productive tackle, not affected by the 2007 injury, who makes up for a lack of top athleticism with outstanding technique, especially footwork and positioning. Negatives: Struggles with leverage and strength. Struggles to move his man off the line. Can get top-heavy in pass protection. Can get too upright and get caught by the bull rush. Gets exploited by speed rushers/linebackers. Gets overextended, leans, reaches, grabs too much. Doesn’t adjust well. Doesn’t use hands or sustain blocks well. Has to learn to keep his feet moving after he makes contact. Lacks burst to get to second level as run blocker. Fun Fact: Phil was so infatuated with the idea of playing football for the Florida Gators as a high-schooler that he wore Gators gear on recruiting visits to other schools. RamView: There sure are conflicting scouting reports out there about Phil Trautwein. He’s got excellent agility. He’s not very agile. He can’t handle bull rushers. He’s impervious to bull rushers. Good hands. Bad hands. Not athletic enough. Good athlete. The negatives have to amount to something or he wouldn’t have been passed up 256 different times on draft weekend. But Phil Trautwein’s also a guy who richly deserves a shot at making a pro team. He has the size and athleticism for his position (highly likely RT). Shoot, look at his pro day and you could say he’s more explosive in the lower body than Jason Smith! Plus Trautwein is another Steve Spagnuolo “four pillars” guy. If he doesn’t make the Rams, it won’t be because he didn’t work hard, or didn’t have the smarts, or didn’t know how to win, or was a bad influence in the locker room. It sounds like he’s fared well in minicamp so far. I think he’s got a real shot here. Thumbs up. Sources: 2009 Pro Football Weekly Draft Preview, NFL.com, CBSSports.com, scout.com, SportsIllustrated.com, Philadelphia Inquirer, Wikipedia, War Room and, yes, the Independent Florida Alligator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sez.EJ Posted September 6, 2009 Report Share Posted September 6, 2009 That's friggin scary.. we are siging a guy cut from the team with possibly the worst OL in the league.. Does not boost my confidence much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownspwnj00 Posted September 6, 2009 Report Share Posted September 6, 2009 That's friggin scary.. we are siging a guy cut from the team with possibly the worst OL in the league.. Does not boost my confidence much. Yea, this is what I've realized too. We got an undrafted rookie that couldn't impress enough to play on one of the worst OLs in the league. Oh, but he has GREAT work ethic according to his bio! No wonder Mangini took him! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WPB Dawg Fan Posted September 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2009 Keep in mind this is a team that KEPT 5 tackles...and were still hoping to get this guy to the practice squad. He is also only a year off of an injury and the Rams just drafted Jason Smith to add to a young group (only 1 with more than 5 yrs experience). This is more a case of too many young guys than not enough talent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aloysius Posted September 6, 2009 Report Share Posted September 6, 2009 Alo, whatchya got on him? Wasn't on my radar. ballpeen might know something about him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YtownBrownsBacker Posted September 7, 2009 Report Share Posted September 7, 2009 I'll bet this is the end of the wheeling and dealing and we have our opening roster set. Time to concentrate on week 1. 4 signed, 3 released and I don't think they are done yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballpeen Posted September 7, 2009 Report Share Posted September 7, 2009 Wasn't on my radar. ballpeen might know something about him. I didn't see this thread when i got involved with the Peerman thread that also went into Trautwein. The kid is pretty agile for a big guy. The only real negative I recall is he had trouble with the speed guys, but his feet are good enough to stay in position to get it done if his qb helps him by moving up in the pocket a step or two. His first step back is a big one, so guys usually don't just blow past him for a B-line to the qb. In run blocking...more a technique guy than a roadgrader, but again, that isn't to say he can't push people around. What I liked the most about the kid was his attitude and the way he played. It was as if someone had slapped him in the back of the head and he was intent on finding out who did it...he always seemed a bit pissed off....but not ticked off to the point he lost control...he didn't get many penalties called on him, yet his opponents were the ones who seemed to lose control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadWombat Posted September 7, 2009 Report Share Posted September 7, 2009 we are siging a guy cut from the team with possibly the worst OL in the league My thoughts exactly. Biography/Honors: 2008: first-team All-SEC. Team captain. Started all 12 games. Named to NFF Hampshire Honor Society. 2006: Named to SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll and second-team All-SEC. Started all 14 games. Well, know I know why mangini brought him in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffer X Posted September 7, 2009 Report Share Posted September 7, 2009 Seriously, just because a guy gets cut from a team that wasn't very good doesn't mean that they weren't deep at a particular position. It happens ALL THE TIME in the NFL, guys get cut that can play because there was a position jam in front and they became the victim of numbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballpeen Posted September 7, 2009 Report Share Posted September 7, 2009 Now maybe some of the homer will come out a bit, but Trautwein is a pretty darn good player. He made a position change from TE as he continued to grow and the staff saw his ability to block was soild. That means the guy is still growing in the position having only played it 3-4 years...maybe 5...not totally sure there...he was undrafted having a big question mark having missed all of 07 with a broken foot, so the numbers above need to be reduced by 1...he made it to the last cuts which says something...the Cards would have stashed him in a minute...I think we got a player who in a year or two is going to start as he goes through a NFL weight program and adds the last 15-20 lbs to his already large frame. He is at 310 now..I can see that going up to the 325 lb range without negative impact on his footspeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Qwimbley Posted September 7, 2009 Report Share Posted September 7, 2009 You've got to think, the Rams OL is so bad, they need people to compete now. Trautwein is obviously a project, so maybe they didn't have room for a project with all the Block Now guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballpeen Posted September 7, 2009 Report Share Posted September 7, 2009 You've got to think, the Rams OL is so bad, they need people to compete now. Trautwein is obviously a project, so maybe they didn't have room for a project with all the Block Now guys Exactly...he was bound for their practice squad. As riff said earlier...we don't know the numbers game playing out in AZ right now..this guy may have been cut because they had a DB they HAD to keep for one reason or another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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