going back to the lb corps. besides health. i really do think this lb corps is the key. the rams lost ogletree and quinn. i liked both of them. but they were either flawed or had lost a physical edge.

i think one big key is to what degree littleton and ebukam can replace and perhaps even surpass those two. they’re both young. they both have potential. and a lot of times the difference is not in the obvious superstars but in finding the unknown gems. guys like fletcher. like a billy jenkins. with ogletree and quinn we knew what we were gonna get.

with littleton and ebukam. they’re unknowns. and that can be both good and bad. but at least there’s the potential that they can be as good. maybe even better? that might be stretching it. but if they can be as good. than the acquisitions of peters, talib, and suh should make them better on defense.

and as i said in other posts. the defense will be key this season. i do expect a regression on offense. not a huge one. but significant enough that if the defense isn’t improved. this team will struggle to get into the playoffs.

best case scenario. littleon does an adequate job replacing ogletree. maybe even just a more reliable version. or someone like kiser emerges out of nowhere. ebukam is better than a quinn who was only a shadow of himself. combine that with one of the best secondaries and defensive lines in the league to create a very good defense.

zn wrote:

With Aaron Donald now under contract, this one isn’t debatable. Donald, Ndamukong Suh and Michael Brockers form arguably the league’s best trio up front.

it isn’t debatable but it’s arguable? haha… anyway.

did anyone notice that he ranks the eagles first overall yet ranks the saints number one in the power rankings? i’m having a little trouble deciphering his ranking system.

i just gotta say. they get some of their facts wrong.

just one example. ryan talks about how donald helped quinn lead the league in sacks. well. actually quinn led the league in sacks the year before donald got to the pros.

also. skip talks about how many sacks mack has. for all the sacks he’s produced, he only has 1.5 more sacks than donald while donald has played 2 less games than mack. and those 2 were from the holdout and when they sat him the last game of the season.

anyway. i love donald. wouldn’t mind having mack either.

zn wrote:

Jim Trotter@JimTrotter_NFL
A scary thought: The Rams were among the teams in the mix for Khalil Mack. The prospect of paring him with Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh … #goosebumps

Eternal Ramnation wrote:

Rams last 3 1st round picks…… Goff, Gurley and Donald. I would not in a house, I would not with a mouse.

if i’m the rams, i would. i’m gonna gamble that those first round picks are very low first round picks.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by InvaderRam.

i just hope they manage gurley’s touches better than they did last year. if kelly could take 5 more touches per game away from gurley i’d be happy.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by InvaderRam.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/24543080/chicago-bears-reach-agreement-trade-khalil-mack-oakland-raiders

Bears reach agreement to trade for Khalil Mack

ESPN
The Raiders and Bears have an agreement in place to trade Khalil Mack to Chicago, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

The sides are still working on the trade, sources said, but after negotiating with several teams Friday night, the Raiders are now planning to send Mack to Chicago.

Mack, the No. 5 overall pick of the 2014 draft, had stayed away from the Raiders’ voluntary offseason training program and held out of the team’s mandatory three-day minicamp in June.

The Raiders exercised the fifth-year option on Mack last summer, worth $13.846 million. They could have had him play under it this season and, barring the impasse, could have used a franchise tag on him in 2019.

Returning Raiders coach Jon Gruden, hired in January, had yet to meet Mack.

Mack would join a Bears defense that includes No. 8 overall pick Roquan Smith, who had his own holdout this offseason before signing his rookie contract. Chicago ranked 10th in yards allowed and ninth in points allowed last season.

Mack made league history in 2015 by being named first-team All-Pro at both outside linebacker and defensive end. In 2016, Mack was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Last season, though, his 10.5 sacks were his fewest since his rookie year, and he was not named to the All-Pro team.

Still, he has 40.5 career sacks, and his 185.5 quarterback pressures since coming into the league in 2014 lead the NFL in that time frame, according to Pro Football Focus.

ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez contributed to this report.

i don’t buy it.

i don’t know about cooks, but i can’t believe that gurley or donald will be affected by the new money they’re getting.

and then you take guys like peters and goff who are hoping to getting extended themselves. i don’t want to say it’s extra motivation, but there’s a trust in the organization that you’ll be taken care of if you produce.

unless your joyner… in which case you might be miffed that you didn’t get that contract. so there’s at least some tension anyway.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by InvaderRam.

Zooey wrote:

Of bigger concern to me is the LB position, and Sullivan’s replacement.

micah kiser and brian allen.

this is where i’m curious to see what becomes of snead’s draft class this year. i can see in a year. kiser, allen, and noteboom all becoming serious contibutors to this team.

and not just them. but franklin-myers perhaps filling in for brockers sometime down the road.

and kelly could be a very good backup.

and i still hold out hope for ogbo.

so you could potentially have 2 guys in kiser and ogbo be contibutors to that linebacker corps. could i see ogbo kiser littleton and ebukam line up in 2019? there’s a long way to go. but i don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility. ogbo is the biggest question mark, but the other three have been very promising so far. and all are snead finds in the later rounds or in the case of littleton a udfa.

as long as mcvay and snead have a strong partnership and don’t let egos get in the way, the rams should be set up for success.

Zooey wrote:

I really am having a hard time believing that the Rams have so many young pro-bowl level players, all on the right side of age, under contract for years.

We have all lived long enough, and seen enough promising seasons end in heartbreaking losses, to know better than to assume anything…but…damn.

I cannot name a Rams team I thought was this loaded throughout the roster, and on the sidelines. McVay, Phillips, Fassel. Offense, defense, special teams.

This is a fucking assemblage of talent.

As great as the Rams were in the 70s, they did not have a top shelf QB. The 80s teams had quality players, but there was always the feeling that the defense relied a bit on smoke and mirrors to cover weaknesses. The GSOT caught lightning in a bottle, and those teams were good. But there were some dysfunctional sinews holding that together.

The Rams have never looked brighter than they do heading into this season, imo.

It may well be that in six weeks we are talking about having too many Special personalities, or the consequences of not playing starters in preseason, or a series of unfortunate events.

But I don’t recall looking around and being more satisfied with the team top to bottom as I am right now. And they are lined up for several years.

good post. and i agree.

although if they can’t replace whitworth, that’d be the only stumbling block i can see. apart from injuries. so i’ll be playing close attention to noteboom.

but damn. with snead’s scouting. they could be set up for some real success for years to come. and i think that’s key too. snead’s ability to find gems each year. and this year might be his best yet?

aaron deserved more, but i’m glad he’s on the team.

can’t wait to see this defense. regular season starts. this is awesome.

zn wrote:

You only get him for one year unless you want to pay him like Donald.

oh what a glorious year it would be though.

rams should do it. the rams don’t need no stinkin’ first rounders. they haven’t had one for the past 2 years.

snead scoffs at first rounders.

Herzog wrote:

I JUST CAN’T COMPREHEND what this defense will be like

i know right?

can you imagine donald and suh lining up next to each other?

if they can figure out the linebacker corps, they could have something special going on.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by InvaderRam.

zn wrote:

Noteboom would be a day one starter on some other teams

well damn. this was one of my biggest concerns before the draft. the rams’ ability to find a left tackle to replace big whit.

i mean could they really have found him in the third round? wow. i like what i’ve seen so far. i like his versatility. his measurables. and it sounds like he’s learning as much as he can from whit while he can. this would be huge.

zn wrote:

If the number are right with Aaron Donald. Clearly he chose more guaranteed money and sacrificed some APY money. #Rams are winning this deal if it’s $22M. Surprised the APY came down and the guaranteed money went up. This is what was taking the deal so long.

who knows what’s even true?

if it came down to that? yeah. personally i would take the guaranteed over the apy. but who even knows what the numbers even are?

i’m thinking donald wants the guaranteed AND the apy… and i wouldn’t blame him for trying.