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Brian Baldinger loved watching Willie Lampkin dominate the Cowboys: 'He destroyed them'

Brian Baldinger loved watching Willie Lampkin dominate the Cowboys: 'He destroyed them'

USA Today6 hours ago
Baldinger had so much fun watching Lampkin serve up pancakes and 'destroy' the Cowboys
Willie Lampkin put himself on the map as a promising young player last week in his preseason debut, standing out in the Los Angeles Rams' win over the Dallas Cowboys. He was the Rams' highest-graded player at PFF, dominating at center from the second he stepped on the field.
NFL Network's Brian Baldinger highlighted Lampkin's performance on social media in one of his 'Baldy's Breakdowns' segments, raving about the way the rookie played in his debut.
'He just put the Cowboys in an octagon and he destroyed them all game long,' Baldinger said. 'He just takes the Cowboys and he just disses them the entire time. It didn't matter who was there. Like, pancakes are being served.'
Part of the reason Lampkin generated so much buzz last week is that he's only 5-foot-10, 270 pounds – or at least that's what he weighed in at during the Senior Bowl. He's tiny by NFL standards, but he plays much bigger than that.
He naturally has great leverage as a shorter player, similar to the way Aaron Donald did at defensive tackle. And with a wrestling background, he knows how to take guys to the ground and erase them from the play.
'It's one play after another,' Baldinger said. 'Give me Dana White right here because he's going to flat-back this rookie right here, he's got him on his back, then he's got the knee to the head. Is that legal in MMA? I'm not sure. Ask Dana.'
Baldinger had a blast watching all the pancake blocks Lampkin had, planting defenders on their backs.
'It just kept going on and on and it was fun to watch. Down he goes. It's just a pancake and a finish. Throw some butter on it, whip it with syrup, serve it for breakfast, serve it for lunch, serve it for dinner. I'm not supposed to do this rookie lineman, but it was so much fun to watch, like, the Cowboys never want to see this guy again. He literally threw them all out of the octagon.'
Lampkin is competing to make the Rams' 53-man roster as an undrafted rookie out of North Carolina. He still has work to do but he's off to a great start and looks like he could have the makings of a gem for Los Angeles.
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