Did Rams close the gap on Seattle, Ariz, SF ?

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000489142/article/2015-nfl-draft-day-1-quicksnap-grades-for-nfc-teams

NFC West

Arizona Cardinals

Draft pick: OL D.J. Humphries (No. 24 overall), DE Markus Golden (No. 58 overall), RB David Johnson (No. 86 overall)
Day 1 grade: A+
Day 2 grade: A-
Overall grade: A
The skinny: NFL Media analyst Daniel Jeremiah is one of many who believe Humphries is the best offensive tackle in the draft. At pick No. 24, he’s an absolute steal for the Cardinals, especially considering they didn’t have to trade up to get him. Humphries will fill an area of need and help the recovering Carson Palmer breathe a bit easier by keeping pass rushers at bay. Golden has great upside and might wind up having a better career than his former teammates at Missouri, such Broncos’ first-round pick Shane Ray. Johnson is a perfect fit for Bruce Arians and can fill the big-back role while also being a top-notch threat as a pass catcher.
St. Louis Rams

Draft pick: RB Todd Gurley (No. 10 overall), OL Rob Havenstein (No. 57 overall), OL Jamon Brown (No. 72 overall), QB Sean Mannion (No. 89 overall)
Day 1 grade: A
Day 2 grade: B+
Overall grade: A
The skinny: As Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk said during NFL Network’s broadcast of the draft, Gurley is the whole package at running back and should give the Rams’ ground game a huge boost when he gets on the field. Yes, the medical issue will be in the back of everybody’s mind, but the Rams landed one of the best tailback prospects to come into the league since Adrian Peterson. Havenstein should set up shop at right tackle, and Brown gives the Rams a solid run blocker. A lot of folks around the league liked Mannion’s potential, and he found a good spot in St. Louis.

San Francisco 49ers

Draft pick: DL Arik Armstead (No. 17 overall), S Jaquiski Tartt (No. 46 overall), DE/LB Eli Harold (No. 79 overall)
Day 1 grade: A
Day 2 grade: B+
Overall grade: B+
The skinny: GM Trent Balkke likes to move around in the draft, and Thursday he managed to move back just a few spots and land a number of quality selections on Day 3. On top of that, the 49ers landed one of the most versatile defensive linemen available in Armstead, who can develop into a dominant player. Tartt has plenty of upside at safety and will help support the run in a division where run defense is essential. Harold had first-round talent, but the 49ers were able to get him in the third.
Seattle Seahawks

Draft pick: DE Frank Clark (No. 63 overall), WR Tyler Lockett (No. 69 overall)
Day 1 grade: N/A
Day 2 grade: B-
Overall grade: B-
The skinny: The Seahawks don’t get a Day 1 grade because they didn’t have a first-round pick, but their grade would be an A+, considering they turned the second-to-last pick in the first round into a Pro Bowl tight end/receiver in Jimmy Graham. Yes, the price was high, but Graham is a proven commodity who can help get this team another ring. Frank Clark had a ton of character concerns entering the draft, and getting him in the second round was a massive reach. The team managed an average Day 2 grade, however, because the selection of Lockett was a home run.

They closed the gap if Gurley is healthy. imo

Losers => NFC West run defenses:

After grabbing the draft’s best bruising runner in Todd Gurley, they picked up a road-grading right tackle Rob Havenstein in the second round and athletic guard Jamon Brown in the third. It doesn’t hurt that last year’s first round pick, left tackle Greg Robinson, flat-out blows defenders off the ball in the running game. The Rams are set up to challenge Marshawn Lynch and the Seahawks as the division’s dominant ground attack.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000490234/article/winners-and-losers-from-day-2-of-nfl-draft

Arizona Cards: A

The cards filled areas of need while acquiring more picks in a trade down. The problem is they didn’t address their biggest area of need and that was their defensive line. I know Darnell Dockett was injured last season and it showed. So, not replacing him isn’t about having confidence in who replaced him. That crew didn’t get it done when it counted. And as the NFC West reloads, that DL will be woefully undermanned for the pounding that’s coming.

St. Louis Rams: A+

Drafting the kind of talent that they are doing is getting to be a Rams tradition. Quinn, Donald…Gurley. These guys are transformative and it won’t be long before it hits a tipping point. We’ve already beaten Conference champs with backup QBs and that’s before adding Gurley. Remember, the Vikes had a 1000yd runner in Taylor when they drafted AP and were lampooned for it. No, Gurley is transformative and it will show. Soon. The OL the Rams drafted do a number of things. They maul. They do NOT hold. They do NOT make stupid penalties. All of these things hurt the Rams before. Couple that with an accurate QB who works best in a run oriented offense and the Rams have the makings of dynamite.

San Francisco 49ers: B+

Arik Armstead is very raw. So, while he played all over on Oregon’s DL, he only flashed big plays. Is he a potentially big talent at the 5 technique like guys like Richard Seymour and JJ Watt? Yes. Is he that guy in the next 2 years? No. The 49ers will need to be patient as he develops (they will be) and their fans will need to be patient (maybe not so much). With all the defensive turnover, it will be a culture shock when teams run on this D. And it’s coming. Tartt is a box safety with range. They’ve drafted those before with mixed results, so I dunno. Eli Harold is going to a good system for him and if Aldon Smith finally has his head on straight (not something to take for granted as the young man has had issues), then he could help them reform that formidable LB core. That might help their pass rush, but that interior still needs work.

Seattle Seahawks: D-

What the hell? A team that runs the ball 52% of the time ships out their Pro Bowl Center for a TE/WR who doesn’t block all that well? And who the Rams have a history of totally shutting down? So, Jimmy Graham with their 1st pick, and Frank Clark with their 2nd? Frank Clark? Are they looking to make a defense or a line up? Frank Clark isn’t just a reach here, he’s a head scratcher. He’d be a reach if he were squeaky clean, so with all the character stuff, spending all that draft capital on this guy makes no sense. There’s NO WAY any other team had him higher than a fourth. Just no way. So this was just Clark and his agent getting really lucky. And the rest of the NFC because the Seahawks aren’t restocking well. At all. Tyler Lockett isn’t a bad pick. He’ll be a really nice punt/kick returner and gadget guy, but they really needed a Georgia Tech type WR, meaning a WR who loves to block. Frankly, they miss Golden Tate more than they realize and they’ve never replaced him and Lockett isn’t an attempt to. Seattle actually had needs and they did nothing to restock. That’s the sort of hubris that has a team that’s been to 2 straight Super Bowls fall way back to the pack in a hurry.

So, did the Rams Close the Gap on the NFC West? I absolutely think they did.

1) They have a healthy starting QB who fits what they want to do and can do it.
2) They drafted the best RB to come out since AP and still have Tre Mason and Bennie Cunningham and Trey Watts to fill the role until Gurley is ready to step in.
3) They drafted the RIGHT type of OL for what they want to do now that Cigs is running the offense Fisher really wants to run. I think Cigs and Fisher are SO MUCH MORE on the same page than Schotty and Fish ever were. While I think Schotty and Fish agreed in principle, I think based on smaller clues here and there from things players and what Fish has said that Fisher and Cigs are sympatico. And that’s huge going forward. It’s already made a huge difference in the draft.
4) They got a developmental QB that if developed properly has all the tools to be someone special. Aaron Rodgers sat for awhile and I know comparing new guys to the best is dangerous, but I have a gut feeling that Mannion is “special” in that really good way. And Fisher is committed to developing him.
5) They hired Chris Weinke. They are committed to not only developing Mannion, whom they drafted, but also improving Foles and Keenum which is important. I think they saw that it is important to continue to develop the starting QB to be successful and that requires getting a guy to do just that.

Now, closing the gap and PASSING teams are very different things. We can close the gap by a ton and still end up with a very similar record.

I mean we’ve got the 6th toughest schedule in the NFL based on last year’s winning percentage. We could improve everywhere and still be 7-9 or even improve to 8-8 which would be nice, but not what we’re all looking for.

Things still have to break in our favor a bit for us to actually get to 10-6 and beyond.

1) OL has to be healthy.
2) Entire team has to start fast. We can’t start that first 5 game stretch 1-4. It’s a tough stretch, but we really need to go 3-2
3) D needs to start out on fire. And I mean on fire…

If just those 3 things happen and we are 3-2 or better, then this season looks really good to me going forward. And, frankly, I think we have a shot at that.

Doesn’t the blue mean sarcastic? lol

Mackeyser wrote:

Doesn’t the blue mean sarcastic? lol

lol