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At linebacker LeSean McCoy Jersey , however, the Rams are trending in the opposite direction.

The youth movement becomes even more evident during offseason practices.

Third-year linebacker Cory Littleton is calling plays for the first time after moving inside. Second-year outside linebacker Samson Ebukam was paired with rookie defensive end Justin Lawler to form the main pass rush tandem during a team period Tuesday, with rookies Trevon Young, John Franklin-Myers and Brian Womac seeing significant action behind them.

It is a trade-off that seems to be working for head coach Sean McVay.

"We've really put them in some tough situations with how we've practiced, so it requires a lot of thinking on the move, some of the adjustments and things, especially just based on what the offense is presenting And I think they have handled it well, and I think we'll have a better feel towards the end of the offseason program and them going into training camp," McVay said.

The Rams traded inside linebacker Alec Ogletree and edge rusher Robert Quinn during the offseason, and outside linebacker Connor Barwin remains a free agent. Ogletree led the team in tackles last season, and Quinn and Barwin combined for 13.5 of the Rams' 48 sacks.

In the hopes of filling some of those gaps, the Rams used four of their 11 picks on linebackers to add depth inside and outside. Special teams contributors Littleton and Bryce Hager will take on larger roles in the middle, and players from McVay's first draft class in 2017 such as Ebukam and Ejuan Price are being asked to further ramp up their development in pressuring opposing quarterbacks.

That inexperience could be what limits the potential for a defense that added defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh and cornerbacks Aqib Talib and Marcus Peters Derek Carr Jersey , but Littleton expects the linebackers to respond to the challenge.

"We're all still developing, but by the time the season comes I feel we'll all be ready and we can all show that we have more to offer than people might think," said Littleton, who is getting the first chance to replace Ogletree in the middle.

Suh is emphasizing the little details to his youthful teammates, but understand that they take time to be refined.

"As a young guy, I remember you're like a chicken with your head cut off," Suh said. "Just try and take the basic things, and then elaborate on them each and every day."

Fellow veteran lineman Michael Brockers is stressing relentless effort on every play. Suh puts a priority on communication.

For Littleton, the challenge to communicate is literal. He has never had to relay defensive signals before, and Littleton acknowledged that requirement of his new position is at odds with his reserved nature.

"I'm not the most vocal person, but I do my best," Littleton said. "Speak a little louder, hope everyone can hear me."

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If it was intentional Robert Griffin III Jersey , it was brilliant. If it was inadvertent, it was the equivalent of discovering plutonium by accident.

Regardless, the NFL’s multi-step P.R. play regarding free-agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick supplied those who don’t like him and/or his anthem protests with an endless stream of talking points that continue to provide a useful basis for quickly shifting the goalposts whenever anyone begins to make progress while arguing the objective unfairness of Kaepernick’s lingering unemployment.

By now, everyone knows the truth: Kaepernick isn’t employed not because of his skills, but because of his politics. More specifically, because he decided to bring attention to police brutality directed at African-Americans and people of color by not standing during the national anthem, the NFL regards him as “bad for business,” regardless of whether the NFL’s current business outlook currently is bad. (Earlier this month, Falcons owner Arthur Blank justified the Matt Ryan contract in part by explaining that “[l]eague revenues are up, club revenues are up.”

But the process didn’t start with the truth. The process began with unnamed sources pushing false narratives to the media aimed at justifying his unemployment for football reasons. And the anti-Kaepernick crowd still continues to indiscriminately rattle off one of more of these long-debunked reasons even now, months after the NFL finally conceded that the all-about-football decision was only about non-football considerations.

It started with the attack against Kaepernick for “opting out” of his contract, a red herring that was quickly debunked by 49ers G.M. John Lynch, who said on PFT Live that Kaepernick would have been cut if he hadn’t chosen to rip up his deal and become a free agent in March 2017. It continued with someone pushing to Dan Graziano of ESPN.com the notion that Kaepernick wanted a salary in the range of $9 million to $10 million per year and a chance to compete for a starting job. But no one actually knew what Kaepernick wanted at the time Kareem Martin Jersey , because the conversation hadn’t progressed to the point where anyone had asked Kaepernick or his agents what he wanted at the time.

And there they were, the first two football-related knocks on Kaepernick — he “opted out” of a sure thing with the 49ers, and he wants too much from everyone else.

Then came concerns about his diet. “He’s not eating meat!” the pearl-clutching personnel execs privately said, while also admiring Tom Brady‘s avocado ice cream habit.

Next, it was the notion that some within the 49ers organization believe Kaepernick is more committed to social justice work than playing football. That was quickly refuted, but that didn’t matter. The anti-Kaepernick crowd had another talking point that would endure.

Eventually, as more and more quarterbacks were getting jobs — and as more and more fans and media members were saying, “Yo, what the f–k?” — media members started pushing overt baloney regarding the actual football evaluations of Kaepernick’s abilities.

鈥淭he No. 1 reason Colin Kaepernick is unsigned: He鈥檚 not considered a starting-caliber player by any NFL evaluator anymore. Work from there,” Albert Breer of SI.com tweeted on May 9, 2017.

It was a specious claim from the get go. How does anyone know what every NFL evaluator thinks?

But truth doesn’t matter. What matters is loading up those who oppose Kaepernick with ammunition for countering arguments rooted in facts. Facts like Monday morning’s PFT item regarding the evidence being harvested in Kaepernick’s collusion grievance. Evidence which shows that multiple teams viewed Kaepernick as a starter in 2017 and still regard him that way today.

By late July, when the Ravens needed a quarterback and considered (for a moment) the possibility of signing Kaepernick, the truth finally surfaced. It’s not all about football. In fact Karl Joseph Jersey , it’s about anything but football.

That’s what the story should have been from the start. The decision to shell-game the truth, however, has resonated for more than 14 months, allowing fans and media who simply don’t like Kaepernick for what he did and/or what he believes to continue to cite the various football reasons that have uniformly and consistently been exposed as false.

None of this means that the NFL colluded when keeping Kaepernick unemployed. But what better way to throw dirt on the collusion trail than to try to twist and distort the real reasons for the universal (and potentially coordinated) decision to distance the league from a player whom multiple evaluators did indeed regard as a starting-caliber player?

Regardless of whether collusion is proven, and despite the reality that Kaepernick would be employed right now but for his protests, alternative facts have become a very real and viable basis for shouting down anyone who looks at the situation, considers the facts, and says, “Yeah, he’s getting screwed.” However that strategy came to be, the NFL should bottle it and sell it to Washington, D.C.