Rams News: Practice Squad Wideout Inks Extension with Los Angeles

This intriguing young talent is sticking around, for the time being.

Aug 19, 2023; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Xavier Smith (19). / Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Rams practice squad wide receiver Xavier Smith has inked a contract extension to stay with the Horns, per Jarrett Hoffman of HBCU Sports.

The 5-foot-9 Florida A&M alum just finished his first pro season with Los Angeles, and clearly the team must see something it likes in this young talent.

He went undrafted in 2023 out of college. Smith promptly signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Rams, seeing action in two L.A. preseason contests, one of which including a 25-yard pass in a bout against the Las Vegas Raiders, as Hoffman observes.

Though Smith was passed over for consideration on the Rams' final roster following the preseason, he did latch on as a practice squad, break-glass-in-case-of-emergency player, which in and of itself is no small feat. It beats being cut outright, after all.

During an impressive tenure with Florida A&M, he was a three-time All-Conference honoree, and was also voted onto the American Football Coaches Association All-American and Hero Sports sophomore All-American teams.

The Rams are fairly loaded at wide receiver this season, but a player like Smith is hoping to carve out a bench role for now, which theoretically could be attainable.

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