For late-round picks in the draft, playing special teams is crucial to making the 53-man roster. Fortunately for Rams seventh-round pick Nick Scott, special teams is his specialty. At Penn State, he was a special teams captain in addition to being a one-year starter at safety, and it certainly caught the eye of John Fassel in Los Angeles.
Les Snead said Scott is one of Fassel’s favorite special teams players he’s ever studied, which is high praise from the Rams coordinator. He returned kicks as a freshman and was a force on coverage teams throughout his career, which should make for a seamless transition at the NFL level.
For Scott, special teams is simple. It’s all about speed and violence.
“One thing that I say just because I have a lot of experience on things like kickoff, punt – all that stuff. Especially special teams coverage units, it really comes down to who wants it the most,” Scott said Tuesday. “It’s just speed and violence and ‘want to.’ It’s one of the few parts of the game where it’s just you on the man across from you. No extra assignments or anything like that, just being an athlete. That’s a lot of who I am as a person and as a player. Just that ‘want to’ and that hunger.”
Scott is blocked by some talented players at safety with Eric Weddle, John Johnson and Taylor Rapp all ahead of him. However, he has a chance to be one of the best special teams players right out of the gate, potentially contributing in the return game.
That’s something Blake Countess did last season, but he was released and thus opened a spot up on kick returns. Regardless of where he lines up, Scott is going to make his presence felt and give it 100 percent on every snap.
