Wagoner mailbag, 2/20…Parts 1 & 2

Figuring out Sean Mannion’s fit for Rams in 2016

Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/27003/figuring-out-sean-mannions-fit-for-rams-in-2016

EARTH CITY, Mo. — The offseason is here for the Los Angeles Rams and now that we know where they’ll be playing their home games for the long-term, things have settled down enough to spend our weekends answering a few of your Twitter questions.

As always, you can find me on Twitter @nwagoner and fire away with any Rams-related questions you might have. Please use hashtag #RamsMail so I can see them.

On to your questions.

Seger Mounce ‎@ciggyyy
Q: Is Mannion going to remain depth this year, or do you think he has any chance at starting or possibly being the backup?

@nwagoner: At this point, it feels like a long shot that he’d be a contender to win the starting job. Rams coach Jeff Fisher has been clear that Case Keenum is the preferred starter of the three quarterbacks on the roster right now. That doesn’t mean a whole lot for when the season rolls around but it speaks to how the team sees the in house options. Now, if the Rams go out and add another quarterback either through the draft or free agency, that could change. But for Sean Mannion, the more likely scenario is that he comes back as the No. 3 and perhaps gets a chance to push for the No. 2 job depending on who the Rams might add from the outside. For example, if they go the draft route and it’s not a first-round pick, they might feel more comfortable with Mannion as the No. 2 and whatever rookie they bring in stepping into the third spot. The Rams still like Mannion and think he has potential but they want to see him speed up his delivery and improve his decision making moving forward. If he can do that, it’s not out of the question that he could push for the backup job in training camp.

Warren ‎@Warrenwaddles
Q: think it’d be better to sign @RGIII & try him for a yr before drafting a qb so this yr? Draft a wr and d guys instead?

@nwagoner: I plan to delve further into a topic related to this after talking to some general managers and coaches next week but I think there’s a bigger issue facing the Rams here than just choosing whether to sign Robert Griffin III. The Rams are in a position where they need both a short and long term option at quarterback. In a perfect world, they can get both in one player. But the world isn’t perfect, especially when it comes to quarterbacks. This year’s draft doesn’t seem flush with top quarterback options and certainly doesn’t have enough that the Rams would get one with the No. 15 overall pick. Meanwhile, the free-agent market isn’t likely to provide guaranteed upgrades, either. So the Rams have to go about this in a way where they are probably only going to be able to add one option: the short-term one or the long-term one. For their purposes, it stands to reason that the short-term one is more important right now. This is a regime that needs to win and win now. So, to me, it makes more sense to try to find someone in free agency who can come in and get the job done in 2016 rather than drafting one at No. 15 or later and hoping he can be the answer down the road. I think the Rams will look at RG3 just like they’ll look at all of the options available. But I could certainly understand going with him versus going for a rookie who has never played and might not be able to start right away anyway. Especially if it meant adding some weapons at receiver and bolstering other areas of the team to put whoever they might add in the best position to succeed.