Rams tweets etc. … 3/18 – 3/23

from  https://www.the33rdteam.com/2024-nfl-free-agency-this-years-most-underrated-signings/

The Los Angeles Rams have been a defense built around disguise throughout the different defensive coordinators during the Sean McVay era. Last season, they had the third-lowest rate of static looks in the league.

InvaderRam wrote:

i don’t think he’ll be another ramsey. but he brings similar traits.

This is out there in discussion of him but when I get from the Curl signing is that Shula wants to reinforce the Rams tendency to run disguised coverages. Because Curl can line up in so many ways and do so many things, you can set up it up so that no matter what defensive look they give you pre-snap, they can do almost anything post-snap. That, and I don’t know how many know this, but D.Wms, their signed-again veteran corner, is really familiar with match zone. So it looks to me like they are going with a young front 7 but behind it, they will be scheming up all kinds of things, and the 2 veteran signed will allow them to do that at a high level.

I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see their first 4 picks used this way: a running back (round 3?) and then 3 defenders, at least 2 of which will be in the front 7. Or they could trade down and have 5 picks in the first 3 rounds, in which case it could be a back and then 4 defenders. So they will be aggressive in the front 7 then tricky in the secondary. All while complementing an offense built to pound the ball relentlessly keeping Stafford upright and keeping a young D off the field.

from https://www.turfshowtimes.com/2024/3/21/24106675/rams-free-agency-grades-les-snead-jonah-jackson

Offensive signings lean into Rams new identity. What does that mean?

Last season, the Rams added a physicality element to their offense. While they still ran zone in the run game, they also implemented a lot more gap scheme runs. Instead of running horizontally and looking for a cutback lane, the Rams ran at defenses. Rather than avoiding contact, the Rams began to embrace it, running a lot of duo inside the trenches. As Nate Tice from Yahoo Sport wrote,

“The Rams are embracing their identity shift of the past year and fully leaning into the newer, beefier them…This wall of humanity, oh the humanity, will provide the Rams size and talent to handle the game-wrecking defensive tackles and lines that NFL offensive lines have to face on a weekly basis…There is also a meta element to having this mass in the middle, as defenses use lighter bodies and also shift their players more and more after the snap. So simply plowing forward with all-answer runs is an effective way to blast through moving-picture looks.”

The Rams signed Jonah Jackson so that they could move Steve Avila to center. The interior of the offensive line will be one of the heaviest in the NFL. Add in Colby Parkinson who is a great blocking tight end and we could see more 12 personnel, especially in the run game.

NFL Stats@NFL_Stats
Highest-paid QBs by annual average:

Joe Burrow – $55M
Justin Herbert – $52.5M
Lamar Jackson – $52M
Jalen Hurts – $50M
Kyler Murray – $46.1M
Deshaun Watson – $46M
Patrick Mahomes – $45M
Kirk Cousins – $45M
Josh Allen – $43M
Daniel Jones – $40M
Dak Prescott – $40M