Recent Forum Topics › Forums › The Rams Huddle › How will the Rams Replace Ogletree and Quinn? Or Watkins
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March 16, 2018 at 5:32 pm #84158
znModeratorHow will Rams Replace Ogletree and Quinn?
Myles Simmons
When the Rams made the decision to trade linebacker Alec Ogletree and outside linebacker Robert Quinn, they knew they were shipping out two players who have meant a lot to the organization.
Both were first-round picks. Both have helped set the team’s high standard of performance on defense. And both were important pieces in Los Angeles winning the NFC West in 2017.
And that’s why general manager Les Snead began Wednesday’s press conference to introduce new cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib by thanking players from last season who will be elsewhere in 2018 — including Quinn and Ogletree.
“I wanted to open by saying that everyone who was a part of our 2017 success made integral contributions,” Snead said before mentioning Quinn and Ogletree — among others — by name. “[In] ’17, going 11-5, winning the NFC West was definitely fulfilling, but we’re definitely not content. We’re going to keep working to improve upon that.”
Snead and head coach Sean McVay made it clear that the decisions to trade Ogletree and Quinn were not easy. But in effect, the moves were made in order to put L.A. in an even better position to repeat as NFC West Champions in 2018. In this particular case, that meant shaving off some salary in order to have room under the cap to acquire a player like Talib and still have flexibility to add more players.
“When you’re going to be able to acquire an Aqib Talib and things like that, sometimes that means some tough decision have to be made with regards to what do you do with some of the other things in terms of how you allocate the money and stuff like that. And there were a lot of layers to it,” McVay said.
What makes the situation a bit more complex for Ogletree in particular is that the Rams had just signed him to a contract extension in the middle of the 2017 season. Snead said the Rams didn’t feel that as the season went on that Ogletree was not a fit for coordinator Wade Phillips’ defensive scheme. The general manager added that the contract extension had been in the works for a while and Ogletree remained one of Los Angeles’ better players on defense.
“And you didn’t know you were going to be able to get a Peters or an Aqib. So, all things equal, if you couldn’t get those two players, heck, we’re jacked to have Alec around,” Snead said. “But that’s one of the hard decisions as a GM, as a franchise, as an organization — that, OK, maybe you have to move a very good player on your team, a leader, and all of that — to add pieces that … fit the scheme better.”
“In Wade’s scheme … the cornerback positions weigh more than the inside linebacker positions,” Snead added. “So we had discussed that in the Chiefs situation, they were talking to the other teams about players, and we had discussed that situation with Marcus, right? And as you go through that, you’re talking with your defensive staff and Wade [and you say] take the human being out of it — from a position standpoint, hey, we’re going to weigh corner more than ILB. Especially when all things are equal in terms of, let’s call it, the level of player. So that’s the reason you go, OK, wait a minute, it could be a possibility to get two corners. But you might have to sacrifice, obviously, Alec.”
But even if you take the human aspect out of it when going through the trade process, it comes right back once the trade gets executed. Snead said once the Rams had reached an agreement with the Giants, he and McVay wanted to call Ogletree to deliver the news themselves. That’s when they found out Ogletree was actually at the Rams’ facility, running on the field.
“That’s a tough day. And it’s one thing when you’re the GM and you’re doing all this on paper,” Snead said, adding that it’s certainly a difficult conversation because as the general manager, “you were part of drafting Alec — you know his mom, you know his dad, you know his wife. You saw him have his first kid. So there’s the moment where you feel that even though this is a business, you feel that whole family side of, ‘This is a hard conversation.’ Because his life just changed and you’ve got to deliver the news. I don’t know if you — I can only explain it in that story. But it’s not easy.”
“What’s amazing is you realize how quickly some of these things take place,” McVay said. “And I think the most important thing is, we talk about clear, open, and honest communication — you can’t be afraid to have some of those uncomfortable conversations.
“But, I think when you look at it with he and Robert both — I called Robert and communicated that to him. So with both of those guys, they got that information from me,” McVay continued. “And it’s not always fun, but I think that they respect the business element to it. And sometimes these are tough decisions that have to be made. And they couldn’t have been more professional in terms of how they handled it.”
Another human aspect of those two trades is that it creates a potential leadership void. Even though L.A. made these trades to get better, the club knows that leadership is an important piece for the locker room.
“We definitely talked about that and what that would do, because I’d say that 2017, we were 11-5 and NFC West Champs,” Snead said. “2018 is different. All we’re doing now is on paper. And you’ve just got to be intentional about keeping the foot on the gas and making sure we do the things — everybody in this building — to be able to repeat. And when you remove a leader, you’ve got to replace a leader. And that’s still to be determined.”
Of course, the Rams also have to replace the on-field production from Ogletree and Quinn. Ogletree was Los Angeles’ signal-caller on defense for the last two seasons, which is a vital role for the unit. He also led the team with 128 total tackles, recorded 2.0 sacks, an interception, 10 pass breakups, and 11 quarterback hits.
“We’ve got Cory Littleton who we think — not saying he steps into the exact same role as Alec, but he can do some things. And then maybe you add another piece that can do some things Alec did,” Snead said.
In Quinn’s case, the outside linebacker recorded 8.5 sacks — most he’s had in a season since 2014 — 12 quarterback hits, and eight tackles for loss. Snead said defensive tackle Aaron Donald’s presence as an interior rusher — he tied a career high with 11.0 sacks last year — in some ways diminishes the need for an overwhelmingly dominant edge rusher.
“But you still want that,” Snead added. “But with [Donald], you’re looking for certain types of players and we’ve got to go figure that out.”
March 16, 2018 at 5:36 pm #84159znModeratorHow will the Rams replace Sammy Watkins? It’s complicated
Alden Gonzalez
LOS ANGELES — It’s 797 snaps. That’s the number Sammy Watkins was projected to play in 2017 before he, like most starters, sat out the regular-season finale. The Los Angeles Rams now have to replace those snaps. But it isn’t really about the raw number; it’s about the type of receiver those snaps came from — a respected, explosive, playmaking vertical threat who can take the top off coverages and open the middle of the field for others.
Watkins provided that for a Rams team that became the first in the Super Bowl era to go from last to first in scoring from one season to the next. He made only 39 catches for 593 yards, but he caught eight touchdown passes, seven of them on plays inside the red zone, and he consistently created separation that helped free fellow receivers such as Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp.
The Rams valued the skill set so much that they were strongly considering utilizing the franchise tag on Watkins before giving it to safety Lamarcus Joyner. Now Watkins is gone, joining the Kansas City Chiefs with a three-year, $48 million contract that was representative of his robust market — and the Rams are scrambling for ways to replace what he provided.
“It’s going to be hard,” head coach Sean McVay said, “and that’s something that we’re trying to figure out now. I don’t necessarily think you do that with one player; I think it’ll be kind of by committee.”
Below is a look at what that committee might look like.
Josh Reynolds (or Mike Thomas): The Rams have two promising — albeit raw and unproven — vertical threats on their roster. There’s the 6-foot-3, 191-pound Reynolds, a fourth-round pick out of Texas A&M in last year’s draft. And there’s the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Thomas, taken in the sixth round in 2016. Thomas opened some eyes during last year’s offseason workouts, but then he missed time in training camp, was handed a four-game suspension and faded into the background. Reynolds is the favorite here. He impressed throughout the summer, then replaced Woods while he spent three weeks rehabbing a shoulder injury and performed well. But the jury is still out on whether Reynolds can consistently win one-on-one matchups and dictate coverages. “He’s demonstrated flashes,” McVay said. “In terms of being in a vertical role, I think that remains to be seen.”
The tight ends: No team ran more three-receiver sets than the Rams last season. They went to them almost exclusively because they liked the trio of Watkins, Woods and Kupp, but also because their young tight ends hadn’t developed enough to be on the field together. McVay is hoping that changes this season. Tyler Higbee, heading into his third NFL season, and Gerald Everett, heading into his second, are both athletic tight ends who can stretch the deep middle of the field. McVay might be able to use them together more often to potentially keep safeties honest, with hopes that one of them can take on a role similar to the one Jordan Reed filled on the Washington Redskins when McVay was offensive coordinator there. But that is a tough ask. Higbee, on the field most often last year, hauled in 36 of 74 targets for 380 yards in his first two seasons. Everett caught 16 of 32 targets for 244 yards as a rookie.
Tavon Austin (or Pharoh Cooper): The Rams’ dire straits without Watkins were illustrated perfectly by Thursday’s surprising decision to keep Austin with a restructured contract. They’re trying, once again, that they can find an actual role for the 5-foot-8 speedster who has had a hard time fitting into the offense since being the No. 8 overall pick in 2013. The Rams went into last offseason hoping Austin could develop into that vertical threat, but that became unnecessary when Watkins was acquired. Now they’re simply going to give him a chance to compete for snaps at receiver. Cooper brings a similar skill set, mainly as someone who is best utilized coming in motion and getting the ball behind the line of scrimmage. But his main role is to return punts and kickoffs, which made him a Pro Bowl selection last year.
Someone else: The best receiver remaining might be Terrelle Pryor, and the Rams have reportedly shown interest in him. Pryor had a poor season in Washington last year, which was cut short by ankle surgery, but he still has the ability to be a big-play, 1,000-yard receiver. There’s also Michael Crabtree, the 30-year-old who was recently released by the Oakland Raiders. Mike Wallace is another, cheaper option. If the Rams seek tight-end upgrades, a couple of potential options remain in Eric Ebron and Martellus Bennett. Restructuring Austin’s contract — which created $3 million in non-guaranteed, reachable incentives that must count toward the salary cap on the front end — has them at just under $30 million once you factor in signing their draft picks. But the Rams still need run-stuffers and edge rushers, and they have a hole at center. Oh, and there’s also the Aaron Donald situation.
March 17, 2018 at 2:07 am #84179
HerzogParticipantWhat Snead didn’t say “we need linebackers that can stop the run”
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