Suh to visit Rams?

Donald ,Brockers and Suh would be insane!With the Rams secondary. Well it would be long boring games full of false starts sweeps and stretch runs and punts, lots of punting. Westbrook did great at nose and Brockers really came alive when they slid him to end. I trust Wade to come up with a winner.

Ndamukong Suh arrives at Rams HQ later today. He will meet with coaches there, and then dine with McVay and execs tonight. The ace in the hole for LA? Strength and conditioning coach Ted Rath, who was with Suh in both Miami and Detroit. Great relationship. @nflnetwork @gmfb

— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) March 20, 2018

Things for Suh to like about Rams:
1. Contender
2. Can be an integral piece of the D, but not only piece.
3. Business interests outside of football that exist in LA that do not exist elsewhere.
4. Play alongside A. Donald
5. Geographically close to Portland @nflnetwork @gmfb

— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) March 20, 2018

The unknown and the elephant in the board room in the Suh-to-LA equation:

How much he is willing to play for.

Rams can’t pay him $20-23 million a year.

Can they pay him $8-12 million? Potentially.

Dontari Poe just signed for $9-10 million a year. @nflnetwork @gmfb

— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) March 20, 2018

nittany ram wrote:

Well, like most people here, I don’t think the Rams should sign Suh. However, that seems to be a minority opinion out in the Rams ‘twitterverse’ and on other social media sites.

i’m in the minority here. i would like to see him signed.

but i also realize that it all depends on the money. and except for a few tweets there’s no reason to believe he would take a discount. he might be willing to take a discount but there’s no reason for him to admit that at this point. and it’s a long shot anyway.

but i think it could work. we’ll see.

yeah. so basically all three would rotate in at nose tackle…

i trust wade on this. i don’t think any of this happens without his blessing.

and basically the meeting will talk about fit. what suh expects and what the rams expect. just like i thought. i think mcvay works his magic on this one. and suh has ties to the strength and conditioning coach.

the only question is money. cuz they will not sacrifice donald to sign suh short-term. can suh’s ego handle that???

who knows?

• This reply was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by InvaderRam.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/la-sp-rams-defensive-line-20180320-story.html

Rams try to convince Ndamukong Suh to come to L.A.
Gary Klein
By Gary Klein
Mar 20, 2018 | 4:55 PM

Recruiting overtures from the Rams began last week, just after the Miami Dolphins released five-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh.

Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson made the initial pitch.

.@NdamukongSuh come to the @RamsNFL. Los Angeles, @NFL Super Bowl contender, legendary DC @sonofbum, defensive POY @AaronDonald97, All Pro secondary, great offense. This dream can become a reality. Let's win a Super Bowl for LA!#Suh2LA #Rambassador

— Eric Dickerson (@EricDickerson) March 13, 2018

Then newly acquired Rams cornerback Aqib Talib, winner of a Super Bowl title with the Denver Broncos, weighed in.

@NdamukongSuh let’s get it!!! Last time I went to a organization and they brought in 3 big time players on defense we won the chip!!!🤔 https://t.co/rcDrN2W1YN

— AqibTalib21 (@AqibTalib21) March 14, 2018

On Monday, the day before Suh’s visit with the Rams in Thousand Oaks, Pro Bowl punter Johnny Hekker offered his thoughts.

Hey @NdamukongSuh,
Please come and play for our team.
Love,
The Punter

— Johnny Hekker (@JHekker) March 19, 2018

The tweets might have warmed the heart of the 6-foot-4, 307-pound Suh, but the real sales job commenced Tuesday. Suh was scheduled to meet with Rams coaches and have dinner with head coach Sean McVay and other front-office personnel.

The Rams are the latest stop on Suh’s free-agent tour. It has included visits with the Tennessee Titans and the New Orleans Saints. Suh, who grew up in Portland, Ore., also has reportedly expressed interest in the Seattle Seahawks and is scheduled to visit the Oakland Raiders on Wednesday, according to ESPN.com.

But it is the Rams, and the potential pairing of Suh with reigning NFL defensive player of the year Aaron Donald on the same line, that has NFL observers buzzing.

Donald, 6-1 and 280 pounds, is regarded as perhaps the league’s most disruptive defensive player. He has amassed 39 sacks in four NFL seasons. Suh has 51½ career sacks in eight seasons, though only 15½ during his three with the Dolphins. Last season he had 4½ sacks, the lowest total for a season in which he played all 16 games.

Suh also has cultivated a reputation for sometimes overly aggressive play. During his five seasons with the Detroit Lions, he was fined nine times for nearly $300,000 for penalties and incidents during games. In 2013 he was fined $100,000 for an illegal low block on then-Minnesota Vikings center John Sullivan, who’s now with the Rams.

Suh was sidelined for two games in 2011 while serving a suspension for stomping the arm of a Green Bay Packers lineman, the only starts he has missed in 128 regular-season games.

Donald, 26, and Suh, 31, could line up next to Michael Brockers in defensive coordinator Wade Phillips’ 3-4 scheme and wreak havoc in opposing backfields.

Donald already is familiar with Suh — particularly Suh’s last contract: a six-year, $114-million deal the Dolphins gave him in 2015, that included $60 million in guarantees.

Donald earned $1.8 million last season. He did not participate in organized team activities, minicamps or training camp because he wanted a new deal, and he sat out the opener. He still finished with a team-high 11 sacks in 14 games.

Donald, scheduled to earn about $6.9 million this season, is seeking a contract that would make him the highest-paid defensive player and among the richest in the NFL.

Rams general manager Les Snead said last week that a “timeline” for continued discussions with Donald’s representatives was in place, but he declined to be more specific.

The Rams have about $30 million in salary-cap space. They are not expected to be the top bidder for Suh. But the opportunity to play for McVay and Phillips and alongside Donald, for a playoff team that appears to be ascending, might entice him to join the Rams’ remade defense on a short-term deal.

Signing Suh would be the latest in a series of moves to strengthen a defense that last season ranked 28th against the run, 13th against the pass, 19th overall and 12th in fewest points allowed.

Snead rebuilt the secondary by trading for Talib and cornerback Marcus Peters, signing veteran cornerback Sam Shields, and re-signing slot cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman. But the Rams need depth for their pass rush and at linebacker.

After trading veteran linebackers Robert Quinn and Alec Ogletree, the Rams are counting on second-year pro Samson Ebukam to fill Quinn’s edge-rushing role and provide better run defense. Third-year pro Cory Littleton could step in for Ogletree.

Suh was expected to encounter at least one familiar face during his visit with the Rams.

Ted Rath, the team’s strength and conditioning coach, was an assistant strength coach for the Lions from 2009 to 2015 and held the same position with the Dolphins in 2016 before he was hired by the Rams last season.

http://www.espn.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/233132/two-years-later-dolphins-havent-built-defense-around-ndamukong-suh

As we recently passed Suh’s two-year anniversary of signing with Miami, this is an ideal time to reflect what has gone wrong. Should the blame fall on Suh? Or are the Dolphins to blame for not building a better defense around the Pro Bowl defensive tackle?

According to statistical analysis and opinions of personnel executives around the NFL, it is the Dolphins who haven’t held up their end.

Suh, 30, remains a dominant force among defensive tackles. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Suh leads all defensive tackles in total snaps (1,838) and batted passes (11) and is second in tackles (133) and tackles for loss (38) in the past two years. Suh also is durable and has never missed a game in his career due to injury. He missed two games in 2011 via suspension while with the Detroit Lions.

These numbers suggest Suh is still performing at an elite level, especially considering he’s constantly fighting through double-teams and not getting nearly enough help from Miami’s defensive teammates, especially at the linebacker and secondary levels.

Dolphins coach Adam Gase and others within the organization have consistently pointed out that Suh is holding up his end of the bargain and is the least of the team’s worries defensively.

“Suh, I don’t need to talk about him,” Gase said recently at the NFL combine. “Because he’s probably the best in the business.”

This week, ESPN.com reached out to two NFL personnel executives on opposing teams to get a non-biased take on Suh. Both were adamant that poor overall defense – not Suh — was to blame for Miami’s troubles.

One personnel source pointed out that it is relatively easy to scheme around three-technique players, which is how Suh is primarily used in Miami’s defense. Opponents can attack the edges in the running game instead of running up the middle or can double-team Suh with the guard and center in the passing game, especially if other areas of the defense are weak.

That often was a strategy used by Miami’s opponents, which relied on other players around Suh to step up and win one-on-one matchups. Pro Bowl defensive end Cameron Wake, for example, took advantage and got 11½ sacks in a bounce-back year coming off a season-ending Achilles injury. But many other players on Miami’s defense did not.

…

It is also worth noting that Suh will have his third defensive coordinator in three seasons with the Dolphins. In 2015, former defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle deemed Suh “The Chief” because Suh was his best player. But Coyle’s system failed early, and he was fired along with head coach Joe Philbin, in the middle of the season.

Last year, Vance Joseph came on board as defensive coordinator and changed how Miami played defense. He put Suh in the “Wide-9” scheme, which is similar to what Suh had played with the Detroit Lions. Suh also moved around to become less predictable. He played both defensive tackle spots and lined up some at defensive end during the course of a game.

The results led to Suh having an even better second season and he earned his fifth Pro Bowl selection after recording 72 tackles and five sacks. His best game was against the eventual Super Bowl champion New England Patriots in Week 2, when he recorded a career-high 12 tackles. Suh also had the game-saving tackle against San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in Week 12 during Miami’s run to the playoffs and 10-win season.

ok just two more articles.

Cutting Ndamukong Suh hurts, but Dolphins never should’ve signed him

It’s hard to say that’s Suh’s fault when every indication was that he’s been playing some of the best football of his career.

He had 4.5 sacks, 48 tackles, two forced fumbles and Pro Football Focus ranked him No. 4 at his position. He did everything he could for Miami, playing all 48 games and staying on the field for 88.2 percent of the defensive snaps over three years. He totaled 15.5 sacks and 181 tackles.

It just didn’t matter.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/03/12/ndamukong-suh-cut-dolphins-free-agency-defensive-tackle

As run defenders, Suh and Lotulelei are similar. Both hail from one-gap 4-3 schemes, where they were destructive run penetrators, and both are strong enough to anchor against, and shed, double-team run-blocks.

…

In Miami, Suh played roughly 85 percent of the snaps—most among all NFL defensive linemen.

…

More importantly, Suh is versatile on passing downs. On top of 3-technique, he has significant experience aligning at defensive end, standup joker and nose-shade. Suh plays from a narrow stance, which gives him initial burst but can leave him vulnerable to angle blocks. Despite this, he is supremely adept on stunts and twists, which 4-3 defenses rely on in lieu of blitzing. Few players are as selfless and effective at setting up sack opportunities for others on designer pass rush tactics. Suh can make your other pass rushers better.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by InvaderRam.

Getting excited