Five Questions the Rams Must Answer After Cowboys Joint Practice

Here are the five questions the Rams will have to answer after practice.

Can Jimmy Garoppolo lead the Rams to the promised land?

While the Rams remain confident that Matthew Stafford will be available for Week 1, the continued cloudiness surrounding his back soreness has kept him off the practice field for all of camp, which will impact the team's ability to compete this season.

If Garoppolo is called upon to be pressed into service, can he deliver? I watched Garoppolo in an offense tailored to his strengths. He was excellent. I have also watched him in an offense tailored for Matthew Stafford. Not as successful.

So two questions must be asked. Can Garoppolo play well agains the Cowboys defense and if he can, what does that offense look like? If not, well, let's not open that door until we have to.

Is D.J. Humphries good enough to start in place of Alaric Jackson?

D.J. Humphries has played decently as the left tackle with him seemingly being the replacement for Jackson, should Jackson's blood clot issues continue to plague him into the regular season. Humphries has gone against two excellent edge players in Byron Young and Jared Verse, holding his water enough for the Rams offense to move the ball.

But now he's taking on a new enemy for which he has no recent experience against. If he wants to play on Sundays, he needs to make a statement on Tuesday, as Warren McClendon is quickly closing the gap on Humphries for that swing tackle role.

Is the Stetson Bennett hype real?

Stetson Bennett has been a revolution at training camp, playing confidently, making throws, running for first downs, commanding the offense like he's back at Georgia. Now, can Bennett make that big step to display it against the Cowboys? Perhaps a Cowboys defense with starters? Bennett has had success against the Rams' number ones on defense, so will he continue against a team he threw interception after interception to last season?

What does Tutu Atwell look like?

I won't lie. I have been quite harsh on Atwell. To be frank, I have not seen anything from Atwell is justify giving him the WR3 job. Unless Sean McVay is holding plays for the regular season, Atwell has just been blocking and doing cardio.

I'm not putting the complete blame on Atwell but he needs to secure more passes than he's currently doing. However, it's his usage. Like we have seen time and time again, he runs past seven yards and then becomes a decoy. He's hard to hit downfield, doesn't create enough separation to be targeted unless he takes the top off, and he doesn't fit in the offense.

Stafford and Garoppolo like big targets. How do you fix that? Keep Atwell closer to the line of scrimmage where he can be targeted with ease, allowing his speed to make up the yards on the ground a bigger player would have gained in the air.

All hope is not lost. If the Rams use Atwell in the way they've been using Xavier Smith, watch out because Smith has been a star in camp and Atwell should be to. This can not happen again. Both the Rams and Atwell are too good to let it happen.

Is the hype behind Jared Verse real?

We all remember Jared Verse's last statement on the football field. Blasting Eagles offensive linemen onto the ground, looking almost superhuman in a valiant playoff effort. Well, that player has dedicated himself to becoming the best player in the NFL, not just for himself but for his team as they go after the Lombardi they feel robbed of.

So, did Verse make that jump? Will he dominate? Tune in.