Rams Make a Pair of Roster Moves Ahead of Seahawks Matchup

Jeremy Hanna | Oct 31, 2024

Oct 20, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams place kicker Joshua Karty (16) and Los Angeles Rams kick holder Ethan Evans (42) during pregame warmups before an NFL game against the Las Vegas Raiders at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images / Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

After an upset victory over the Minnesota Vikings, the Los Angeles Rams are looking more dangerous than ever.

With the return of star wide receivers Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp, the Rams were able to defeat Minnesota 30-20.

Now sitting at a 3-4 record, Los Angeles is looking to continue this momentum against the Seattle Seahawks, a challenging NFC West matchup that could determine the playoff future for both teams.

Ahead of this highly-anticipated matchup, the Rams have made two interesting roster moves, although they may not be the moves most fans would expect.

Los Angeles took to social media to announce that they have signed punter Ryan Sanborn to the practice squad. In order to make room for the Punter, the club has terminated wide receiver Sam Wiglusz.

LA Rams Roster Moves:
• Signed to Practice Squad P Ryan Sanborn
• Terminated (by Club) from Practice Squad WR Sam Wiglusz pic.twitter.com/Mh8yTAT8UR

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) October 31, 2024

This move has raised a ton of questions, mainly because there has been no report of current punter Ethan Evans being injured or sick. Additionally, he has performed decently this season, executing 23 punts across seven games for a total of 1,068 yards. His longest punt was for 67 yards.

Last season, Evans recorded 63 punts for 3,101 yards, averaging 49.2 yards per punt. His longest punt was for 72 yards.

Meanwhile, Sanborn has yet to see an NFL game since he was picked up by the Atlanta Falcons. He spent five years in the NCAA playing for Stanford and the University of Texas.

In his best season at Stanford, Sanborn recorded 60 punts for 2,600 yards, averaging 43.3 yards per punt. In his senior year with the Longhorns, he executed 40 punts for 1,828 yards, averaging 45.7 yards per punt.

This is also strange because Evans has drastically improved this season, He currently leads the NFL in percentage of punts landing inside the 10-yard line (30.4%). He is also tied for third in number of punts landing in the five-yard line (five) and fifth in number of punts landing inside the 10-yard line (seven).

In fact, McVay awarded Evans a game ball after defeating the Vikings.

“I think Ethan Evans has been a real bright spot,” McVay said, per Cameron DaSilva of RamsWire. “We don’t like to punt. We like the punt as little as possible but when we’ve had to, especially in some of those short fields, he’s done an outstanding job of pinning opponents deep.”

Time will tell why Los Angeles brought on another punter when Evans is doing so well.

More Rams: Los Angeles Experiencing Massive Surge in Power Rankings