articles & vids on the Rams defensive rebuild

Bonsignore: Aggressive Rams acting like team that knows it’s on cusp of Super Bowl

VINCENT BONSIGNORE

link: https://www.ocregister.com/2018/03/09/bonsignore-aggressive-rams-acting-like-team-that-knows-its-on-cusp-of-super-bowl/

The best track and field coaches will tell you races begin long before the actual gun goes off. Training. Mental preparation. Strategic planning. All of those lead-up factors play a major role in the eventual outcome. And while no race is ever won before it actually starts, many have certainly been lost.

Clearly, the Rams are trying to avoid the latter.

And they are doing it by acting every bit like a franchise situated in the second-biggest market in the country, one that genuinely believes it’s on the cusp of Super Bowl contention and is confident in the leadership and culture in place to add difference-making players with the kind of bold, combustible personalities that sometimes accompany them.

The new league year doesn’t technically begin for another five days, but when the gun sounds to set off free agency and the opportunity for teams to reshape their rosters and fill needs and better position themselves for the 2018 season, the work general manager Les Snead and head coach Sean McVay and Vice President of Football Operations Kevin Demoff have put in prior to the actual frenzy has already them a major leg up on the process of building off last year’s surprising 11-5 season.

The Rams are thinking big.

Like Super Bowl big.

And they are doing so with a level of intelligence and calculation often lacking when teams take big, mighty swings for the fences only to be undone by their own aggressiveness.

The Rams are being bold and smart. That’s a fine line that often gets crossed.

By agreeing to trade for Chiefs and Broncos Pro Bowl cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib and trading away linebackers Robert Quinn and Alec Ogletree and using their franchise tag to guarantee the return of safety Lamarcus Joyner, the Rams have already addressed a major area of need while preserving the financial flexibility to do even more.

Peters and Talib provide Wade Phillips with two critical components for his 3-4 defense: A pair of elite cornerbacks whose coverage skills will create more opportunities for the front seven to pressure the quarterback. And they make as much money combined (about $12 million) as it likely would have cost to retain free agent to be Trumaine Johnson by himself.

Thank You!!! pic.twitter.com/QySNPhr1on

— AqibTalib21 (@AqibTalib21) March 9, 2018

Meanwhile, both are under contract for the next two seasons on their base salaries. To put that in perspective, just imagine what it would cost in salary and signing bonuses to reel in players of Peters’ or Talib’s caliber on the open market. Let alone two.

Yes, both come with big personalities and emotional levels that sometimes need checking, but the Rams believe they have the necessary leadership in place to manage them accordingly.

Joyner’s return keeps intact a young, effective safety pairing — along with John Johnson — equally adept in pass coverage and run support. Throw in former Packers Pro Bowl cornerback Sam Shields, who is returning to football after sitting out all last year recovering from multiple concussions, and the Rams have the foundation of a dominant secondary.

Maybe even the best in football.

And while trading away Quinn and Ogletree is certainly a net loss in the locker room and, to some extent, defensive production, neither were ideal fits in the 3-4 scheme, and their departures preserve salary cap flexibility while increasing the Rams draft arsenal.

When all the dust settles once the trades are officially recorded — and the likely release of veteran wide receiver Tavon Austin is added — the Rams will have a shade under $40 million in cap space, and ten picks in the upcoming draft.

Think about that for a second: The Rams have already dramatically improved their secondary — an area that required the most attention this offseason — and increased their draft picks by one, while remaining net neutral on cap space. They have just as much money to spend under the cap as they anticipated, only with far less needs to address.

No longer in need of another cornerback to play opposite Johnson — or two if he left as a free agent — the Rams can focus on finding replacements for Quinn and Ogletree and beefing up the interior of their defensive line either in free agency or through the draft.

And keep in mind there are young players on the current roster they believe are ready to step in as starters. Samson Ebukam and Cory Littleton will be in the mix at outside linebacker and inside linebacker after both flashed last season in their first and second years.

Most importantly, they have the flexibility to match any prudent contract offer free agent wide receiver Sammy Watkins might get on the open market (provided it isn’t an irresponsible overpay) and, peeking ahead down the line this year and beyond, they are well positioned to retain core players Aaron Donald, Todd Gurley, Jared Goff and Peters on eventual long-term deals.

The Rams are acting big — and shrewd — all right.

And the race hasn’t even started.

RAMS’ SECONDARY ADDITIONS: This unit is now the NFL’s best

Bucky Brooks

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000920308/article/the-wisdom-of-drafting-saquon-barkley-no-1-value-free-agents

When the Los Angeles Rams acquired two-time Pro Bowler CB Marcus Peters in a trade a few weeks ago, I thought their secondary joined the ranks of the elite. Now, after the ensuing additions of Aqib Talib and Sam Shields, this unit looks like it’s the best in the business.

No disrespect to the talented quintet in Jacksonville, but the secondary for #MobSquad is downright scary, with Peters, Talib and Shields joining safeties Lamarcus Joyner and John Johnson to form a five-man crew that can completely shut down the passing game on the perimeter. While some will dismiss that talk as me gushing over a pair of acquisitions that seemingly came out of the blue, a quick look at the numbers suggests that the Rams’ secondary is legitimately the best unit in the league, particularly with Peters and Talib on the island.

In the wake of the Talib trade, NFL Research dug up the top five cornerbacks in passer rating allowed since 2015 (min. 230 targets) — Peters ranked first at 60.7, while Talib placed fifth at 68.0. In addition, Peters leads the NFL in interceptions (19) and passes defensed (55) during that span, which covers his three years in the league. While the skeptics and naysayers chalk up the 25-year-old’s takeaway prowess to wild gambles and guesses, Peters is a calculated risk-taker with an outstanding feel for route recognition.

“Peters is a lot smarter than people think,” a Chiefs assistant coach told me. “He puts a lot of time into his preparation. He might act nonchalant about it, but he studies the tape and he makes a lot of plays because he knows what to expect.

“His success as a young player isn’t by accident.”

Not to be outdone, Talib leads all active players with 10 career pick-sixes, and his 34 interceptions are the second-most in the league since 2008 (his rookie season). Although the five-time Pro Bowler’s game has slipped a tad in recent years, he is still a turnover machine with a knack for jumping routes in his area. Talib is one of the best “clue” corners (a defender who plays with vision on the QB and WRs to recognize and anticipate routes) in the game and his instincts have been refined through years of experience on the island. With Wade Phillips keenly aware of Talib’s game and his potential deficiencies — remember, they spent the 2015 and ’16 seasons together in Denver — the veteran corner can comfortably slide into a CB2 role, with Peters penciled in as the top dog at corner.

Shields gives the team another playmaker to put on the field as a nickel or dime corner. Despite missing almost two seasons of action due to a string of concussions, Shields was quite a player over the first six seasons of his career, having won a Super Bowl as a rookie and made the Pro Bowl in 2014. If the 30-year-old can return to anywhere near that level as a player, the Rams will have three ball magnets on the field in their sub-package. In a division where the quarterback play is rapidly improving, the presence of a playmaking threesome at corner could be the deciding factor in the NFC West race.

From a schematic standpoint, the Rams will continue to feature man-coverage tactics under Phillips, but we could see the corners spend more time using off technique. As clue corners, Peters and Talib are at their best when they are able to sit back at 8 or 9 yards and read the quarterback. They will key the quarterback’s drop to get an early jump on quick passes before turning their attention to multiple receivers in their area to diagnose the route combination. With a fierce, Aaron Donald-led pass rush generating pressure on the passer, the combination of gambling and guessing could lead to a bushel basket of turnover treats for the Rams.

That’s why I’m pushing my chips to the middle of the table when suggesting the #MobSquad has the No. 1 secondary in football, with Peters and Aqib suddenly joining forces in Los Angeles. The duo is so good at taking the ball way and blanketing receivers that quarterbacks will be forced to throw more passes between the hashes, where Joyner and Co. can swipe balls off tips and overthrows in congested areas. Given how the Rams’ offense is already capable of lighting up scoreboards across the league, the extra possessions generated from the league’s top secondary could pave the way for the team to make a trip to Super Bowl LIII

from: https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/03/12/richard-sherman-san-francisco-49ers-john-lynch-mmqb-peter-king

Peter King

SO WHAT ARE THE RAMS DOING?

For the record, in the past two weeks, the Rams have made four trades, all involving veteran players, and this is the collective result:

Rams Traded/ Rams Received
DE Robert Quinn/ CB Marcus Peters
LB Alec Ogletree/ CB Aqib Talib
2018 fourth-round pick/ 2018 fourth-round pick
2018 sixth-round pick/ 2018 fourth-round pick
2019 second-round pick/ 2018 sixth-round pick
2019 seventh-round pick/ 2018 sixth-round pick

(Note: I eliminated the sixth-round pick obtained from the Chiefs in the Peters trade, because the Rams traded it away in the Quinn deal.)

The Rams now own in this draft 10 choices—one pick in the first, third, and fifth rounds, two in the fourth round, none in the second and seventh rounds … and five in the sixth round (overall picks 176, 183, 194, 195, 198).

The Rams’ plan, coordinated by GM Les Snead with the full agreement of coach Sean McVay, was to fix the cornerback position for the next two years (that’s how long they can contractually hold onto Peters, and the best guess for how long Talib will play) without affecting the base of the young talent in L.A.—namely Jared Goff, Aaron Donald and Todd Gurley.

With defensive coordinator Wade Phillips craving shutdown corners, and quite possibly no assistant coach in the league better equipped to handle the firestorms the mercurial Peters and Talib could bring, the risk of those two players is mitigated. Plus, the Rams may get a handle on Peters and may be able to sign one of the best young corners in the game long-term.

…

I think what the Rams did is risky, but I like it, even if the Marcus Peters/Aqib Talib marriage lasts just two years. I trust defensive coordinator Wade Phillips to get the best out of them with his scheme and his coaching personality.