While Rams seventh-round pick Nick Scott is listed on the roster as a safety, at this point there's little doubt that the Penn State product is more in line to make an early impact on Los Angeles' special teams units.
With general manager Les Snead touting Scott on draft night as one of special teams coordinator John "Bones" Fassel's favorite players in the 2019 rookie class, Scott has a chance to take a significant amount of snaps in the third phase.
On a conference call just after he'd been selected, Scott said that he'd been in contact with Fassel since around the Combine, when the special teams coordinator called to say the former Penn State captain should've been at the event in Indianapolis based on the study of his tape.
After arriving in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Scott elaborated on Fassel's recruiting method — which involved more than just platitudes.
"As you guys know with the draft process it's pretty hard to give promises, keep promises and stuff like that. It's pretty crazy what goes on in those meeting rooms during the draft process," Scott said. "I'd just been talking with him a lot, having discussions about how they run their special teams, what he likes about me and things like that, he actually gave me feedback too, some things I can work on. So there was just a constant communication, he was very adamant that he would love to have me here.
"So it just felt really good that I was selected by a team that I'd already had constant communication with the special teams coordinator, which is a huge part of my identity as a football player."
Scott could be considered a kind of special teams aficionado, as he was a two-time captain for the unit during his college days, playing on pretty much any unit you can think of. And he says in many ways, excelling in that area is more about attitude than anything else — which is a big part of his strength.
"One thing 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. "It's just speed and violence and want-to, really. It's one of the few parts of the game where it's just you and the man across from you, no extra assignments or any stuff like that — just be an athlete.
"So that's a lot of who I am as a person and as a player. Just that want to and that hunger."
And it's why Scott has a good chance to be a core member of Los Angeles' special teams unit this year and into the future.
Check out photos of the Los Angeles Rams continuing Phase II of the offseason program.