https://www.turfshowtimes.com/2017/7/14/15937178/la-rams-roster-2017-preview-mike-thomas

2017 Rams Roster Preview: WR Mike Thomas Looks To Year Two Jump

Can Thomas make a significant improvement and carve out a consistent role on offense in year two?
by misone Jul 14, 2017, 12:30pm CDT

Los Angeles Rams WR Mike Thomas is a player that I thought was a great find in the 2016 NFL Draft. He was a bit underrated and probably got drafted about two or three rounds later than he should have as a sixth-round pick. Since January, he’s been one of three or four names I have constantly mentioned as someone to look out for this season. He has the potential to be a big threat to every receiver on the roster.
Roster Battle

As it stands now, WRs Tavon Austin, Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp are all virtually locked in as the top three receivers. After that however, it’s wide open.

It wouldn’t be a surprise if a receiver shines enough to steal number three targets from Kupp only because of the vertical concept that is sure to be mixed into Head Coach Sean McVay’s offense. In those situations, Kupp — one of the least vertical threats on the team — may very well lose targets.

Thomas is battling Pharoh Cooper, Josh Reynolds, Paul McRoberts and Nelson Spruce for those stolen third-receiver targets as well as one of the final two or three receiver spots.
Expectations

I fully expect Thomas to take a massive leap forward.

One thing that can be taken away from his rookie season is his ability to beat the press, stack the defender, and get downfield. He did this weekly as a gunner on punt against both starting and backup corners, and routinely was the first man down to prevent a return. This same skill is used to get deep on routes in the vertical game. Word from spring practices suggest he’s implementing this skill into his offensive game.

He should shine on intermediate to deep routes.
Chances of making the final roster (8/10)

I have a hard time seeing Thomas not making the final 53-man roster. In fact, I see him securing the fourth receiver slot, and splitting reps with Kupp as the third receiver. Thomas has the potential — and is a serious contender — to be one of the Rams’ breakout performers this year.

A season of 450 yards and 4 touchdowns could definitely happen. If an injury occurs above him on the depth chart, 700+ is not out of the realm of possibility.

The main thing seems to be that he doesn’t take on blocks. But, Wade doesn’t have his middle LBers take on blockers. Ogletree and Barron have Brockers and Donald playing in front of them.
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Ogletree seems make more plays in coverage than as a run defender.

OTC Advanced:Looking at a Potential Extension for Aaron Donald

July 12, 2017 by Neema Hodjat

Finally a sensible post on Donald’s contract. I would go 120 million for 6yrs instead of 100 million for 5yrs. Remember too, with the increasing Salary Cap, it is not big thing if does surpass Suh. imo I think you can also go with rating Donald as the best player on the defense instead of the best DT.

InvaderRam wrote:

hmmm… i’d want to know who else was on that list and how they ranked and what their situations were.

Tweets by PFF

It comes from this master tweet by PFF…………………………………………………….

Philip Rivers was forced to throw away 11 (46 vs 35) more passes than any quarterback in the NFL last year pic.twitter.com/2iuvOo6LDK

— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) July 8, 2017

Jared Goff suffered from one of the highest drop rates in the NFL last year as his receivers dropped 16 on 128 catchable passes pic.twitter.com/09GPYfXKzl

— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) July 8, 2017

Russell Wilson was 7th in adjusted completion percentage last season pic.twitter.com/zYgdbMWS6Y

— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) July 8, 2017

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

Do they have a stat for how many times a pass bounced off a receiver’s hands, into the air, to then get intercepted?

http://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/la-sp-rams-aaron-donald-20170529-story.html

Analysis Plenty of time for the Los Angeles Rams and Aaron Donald to reach an agreement

Gary KleinGary KleinContact Reporter

An oversized yellow dump truck served as a backdrop for photographers, dwarfing Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald.

It was November, and the Rams were celebrating the groundbreaking for their planned $2.6-billion stadium in Inglewood. Donald was there to stick a ceremonial shovel in the ground for a complex that was not scheduled to open until 2019.

A reporter asked Donald, on his way to earning Pro Bowl recognition for the third time in three NFL seasons, if he would be playing for the Rams under a new contract when the stadium opened.

“We going to see,” Donald said. “Right now, we’re worried about 2016 and 2017, and we’ve got some games to win now in the Coliseum.”

At that point, the Rams had won one game at the Coliseum. They did not win another.

But in a 4-12 season with few bright spots, Donald remained a beacon, one of the most disruptive defensive players in the NFL.

Now, with quarterback Jared Goff coming off a shaky rookie season and running back Todd Gurley trying to rebound from a sophomore slump, Donald is the team’s lone verifiable star.

And Donald, his representatives and the Rams know it.

General manager Les Snead went on record in March, saying that Donald was “sitting pretty right now,” that he deserved a raise and that an extension was coming.

“Whether he gets a raise or not,” Snead said, “he’s going to show up, do the things he does.”

Maybe he will this summer — if the Rams make Donald one of the NFL’s highest-paid defensive players.

Donald attended voluntary offseason workouts and an April minicamp but was absent from the first week of voluntary organized team activities last week. Snead acknowledged that it was because of the contract situation. The second week of workouts begins Tuesday.

Donald, the 13th pick in the 2014 draft, is due to earn a paltry-by-standards-of-performance $1.8 million in salary and $1.4 million in bonuses this season. The Rams in April exercised their fifth-year option, putting Donald, 26, in line to earn about $6.9 million in 2018. But that move was regarded as a formality to give the two sides time to negotiate an extension.
Rams mailbag: Aaron Donald’s contract situation, Tavon Austin’s status, Jared Goff’s weight gain and more

The Rams are not required to do so. They could put the franchise tag on Donald after the 2018, 2019 and, conceivably, 2020 seasons. But that is an expensive and probably impractical way for a franchise to treat its star player.

So, at this point there is no reason for Rams fans to fret about Donald’s absence. Training camp is about nine weeks away.

And while some veterans might feign an injury to avoid OTA workouts, this is no vacation scheme for Donald. He is a player who loathes missing workouts and loves preparing with teammates.

New defensive coordinator Wade Phillips is installing a 3-4 defensive scheme, but he was not expected to tinker much with a tackle that has produced 28 sacks, eight last season. Phillips has worked with several hall of fame players. He will let Donald do what Donald does best, whenever he returns.

Linebacker Von Miller of the Denver Broncos and linemen Ndamukong Suh of the Miami Dolphins and Fletcher Cox of the Philadelphia Eagles established new salary standards for defensive players in the last two years.

But Donald’s contract impasse, in terms of service time, most closely resembles that of Houston Texans defensive lineman J.J. Watt.

In 2014, on the eve of his fourth NFL season, Watt signed a six-year, $100-million extension, $51.8 million guaranteed.

The next year, after Suh’s fifth NFL season with the Detroit Lions, the Dolphins gave the free agent a six-year, $114.3-million deal with $60 million guaranteed.

Last June, before his fifth season, the Eagles gave Cox a six-year, $102.6-million extension, $63.3 million of it guaranteed.

A month later, Miller raised the bar. Coming off a Super Bowl MVP performance in his fifth pro season, he earned a six-year, $114.5-million contract with $70 million guaranteed.

Donald and Cox both are represented by agent Todd France of CAA. So Donald’s scenario might mirror that of Cox, who sat out OTAs last year but reported for a mandatory minicamp — avoiding a fine of more than $70,000 — before reaching his deal about 10 days later.

The Rams are scheduled to hold a mandatory minicamp June 13-15 before taking a six-week break.

Will Donald be there?

The Rams are becoming accustomed to changing timelines. The completion date for their new stadium has been pushed back to 2020.

That also could coincide with an organizational rebranding, including new uniforms.

Expect a much wealthier Donald to be wearing one.

I adjusted the numbers for Cox’s contract. He is getting the franchise number for a DT, ~9.0% of the Cap. Cox was in his 5th year. Donald is in his 4th. I expect Donald to get ~10.0% of the cap, the franchise number for DEs or the best player on defense, structured more like watts deal because they both were extended in the 4 year of their rookie contract.

I think it is ok to give Suh money to Donald. Look at the Salary Cap over Suh’s contract compared to the Salary Cap that will be there for Donald’s contract.

I read the none of the coaches moved their families to LA. Maybe that indicates something? Well, maybe Fassel did? 😉

I am looking forward to a comp pick in 2018. 😉

https://overthecap.com/texture/

Here is a Salary Cap Model from ‘Over the Cap’. They break the roster into 3 parts. This is close to what I do. They have 9 players using 58.5% of the Cap.
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I use players making above 3%, players making between 3% – 1%, and all the rest below 1%.
Population of my groups for the Rams are 10, 11, 32.

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

link: http://gbnreport.com/strengths-2018-draft/

Offensive Strengths of 2018 draft
By Colin Lindsay | May 14, 2017
0 Comment

by Larry Parker, GBN College Football Investigative Reporter

May 15, 2017

The 2018 draft is still over 11.5 months away and much can happen between now and April of next year, but a preliminary perusal of next year’s draft class suggests that the offensive positions of strengths for next year’s draft will be Quarterback, Wide Receiver, and Offensive Tackle.

could make the QB position one of the strongest overall positions for 2018, depending on how many of the aforementioned underclassmen declare early entry.

Just on the senior class depth alone, regardless of how many underclassmen declare early entry, the WR position, in my opinion, has the best top to bottom strength out of all the different positions for the 2018 draft.

All in all, the 2018 OT crop is a pretty deep and solid group, that should have many NFL teams excited to get them on their rosters.

Figured on Salary Cap of $178 million for 2018.

The rule is: 10-14 players can use 60 – 65 % of the Salary Cap. Or 8 players for 50%. Either works. Or something inbetween. The idea is to keep as many of your best players as you can. Sometimes you have to make value judgements. Is this player at X-amount a better value than this player at Y-amount. I use the franchise numbers as a percentage of the Salary Cap and put players in tiers to get a rough estimate.

Salaries under 3.0% are part of the remaining approx. 40% of the Salary Cap. We did a thread on Salary Cap Models. look here => http://theramshuddle.com/topic/one-kind-of-roster-model/

You have to decide which combination of best players at their best values gives you the most bang for the buck and still have enough left to fill out a reasonable roster.

I would probably drop Trumaine sign the rest that need to be extended and draft CBs and DLine.

I think the Rams could have done better on contracts and the Salary Cap the last couple years, but that is history. Today is Day Zero.

2018 is the big year, then it is just the Gurley Class, the Goff class, then this year’s class. The last 3 years won’t have the large number of free agents to deal with and they have a lower number of premium drafts picks on the roster to try to retain.