well mcdonald has all the physical ability in the world. if he could really break out this season, that would be huge like i said before. he does seem to fit that hybrid safety linebacker role that williams covets. i guess the same inconsistency that plagued the defense last year affected mcdonald as well. and maybe after a year williams will really hone in on what mcdonald does well and kind of accentuate that.

here’s another article.

http://cover32.com/rams/2014/12/09/t-j-mcdonald-has-been-an-important-part-of-the-st-louis-rams-improved-defense/

McDonald’s Pro Football Focus rating through Week 8, the Kansas City game, was -11.3, which ranked him 82nd out of 83 safeties in the NFL. According to PFF, McDonald was giving up a nearly perfect 153.1 quarterback rating to opposing quarterbacks and was responsible for giving up four touchdowns, tied for worst in the league among safeties.

Since then, McDonald has been a completely different player, and you can’t help but wonder if his improved performance directly correlates with the Rams’ suffocating defense.

Since Week 9, when the Rams beat the 49ers 13-10, McDonald’s PFF rating is +15.0, by far the best among NFL safeties. He ranks at or near the top of nearly every category, including run defense, pass defense and quarterback rating given up, which is down to a stingy 70.1 over that six-game span. McDonald also has an interception and three passes defended over this six-game span, two categories in which he put up a goose egg in the first seven games.

Read more at http://cover32.com/rams/2014/12/09/t-j-mcdonald-has-been-an-important-part-of-the-st-louis-rams-improved-defense/#ZHtAxiRlLDPhHsBQ.99

what i get from this thread is that there seems to be a lot of young guys poised to break out at the same time.

on defense alone.

quinn – 5th year
donald – 2nd year
ogletree – 3rd year
mcdonald – 3rd year

plus you’ve got guys like gaines and joyner who could be solid contributors. guys who are only going to be sophomores.

can someone tell me more about mcdonald? any articles? how is he ranked among strong safeties in the nfl right now?

not exactly about homelesness. but john angelos of the baltimore orioles made a very bold statement about the systemic problems affecting impoverished americans across this nation.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-john-angelos-riots-20150508-story.html#page=2

John Angelos’ tweets patched together

…speaking only for myself i agree with your point that the principle of peaceful, non-violent protest and the observance of the rule of law is of utmost importance in any society. MLK, Gandhi, Mandela, and all great opposition leaders throughout history have always preached this precept. Further, it is critical that in any democracy investigation must be completed and due process must be honored before any government or police members are judged responsible. That said, my greater source of personal concern, outrage and sympathy beyond this particular case is focused neither upon one night’s property damage nor upon the acts group [sic] but is focused rather upon the past four-decade period during which an American political elite have shipped middle class and working class jobs away from Baltimore and cities and towns around the US to 3rd world dictatorships like China and others plunged tens of millions of good hard working Americans into economic devastation and then followed that action around the nation by diminishing every American’s civil rights protections in order to control an unfairly impoverished population living under an ever-declining standard of living and suffering at the butt end of an ever-more militarized and aggressive surveillance state. The innocent working families of all backgrounds whose lives and dreams have been cut short by excessive violence, surveillance, and other abuses of the bill of rights by government pay the true price, an ultimate price, and one that far exceeds the importance of any kids’ game played tonight, or ever, at Camden Yards. We need to keep in mind people are suffering and dying around the US and while we are thankful no one was injured at Camden Yards, there is a far bigger picture for poor Americans in Baltimore and everywhere who don’t have jobs and are losing economic civil and legal rights and this is makes inconvenience at a ball game irrelevant in light of the needless suffering government is inflicting upon ordinary Americans.

Copyright © 2015, The Baltimore Sun

my only hope is that foles plays well enough to play winning football this season. and that mannion is good enough that they don’t have to pay foles after this season.

seahawks sure got lucky with russell wilson.

yeah. there’s a big if. but he’s got some things going for him all things considered. he’s at about the right age. not too young but not too old either. the damage was minimal.

but yeah. i personally won’t feel completely comfortable with it until he’s able to play 5 healthy years. and it’s gotta be 5 productive years.

oh to be a fly on the wall in the rams trainer’s room.

not to worry. in about 100 years, robots will take over. humans will be wiped from existence. and none of this will matter anymore.

yeah. rams need to take care of the ball on offense. not just touchdowns given up but just turnovers that put the defense in bad field position. stop putting the defense in a hole.

and if they can sustain more drives. and if the young guys on defense can improve.

this defense should be a top 5 defense easily.

i’m looking at an approximation of what the rams could look like in 2015, so i look at the 2011 san francisco 49ers. that’s what i’m thinking the rams offense could look like.

they ranked 11th in scoring. 26th in total offense.

their qb was alex smith at the time.

overall passing totals were
451 attempts 277 completions 61.4% 2930 yards 7.1 ypa 18 tds 5 ints 91.4 passer rating

they ranked 31st in attempts. 29th in yards.

their top 2 running backs that year were frank gore and kendall hunter.

overall rushing totals were
498 attempts 2044 yards 4.1 ypa 14 tds

they ranked 3rd in attempts. 8th in yards.

i think that’s a good profile to go off of. how far this team goes depends on how good the defense is.

i expect a lot of power running but power running with its share of explosive plays. mason and gurley both have the explosion the running game has lacked since a young steven jackson. but i also expect to see some more of those jet sweeps with tavon, and i think they could be even more effective with defenses so focused on gurley. i’m expecting around 450 carries total to be divided up among everyone.

in the passing game i’m expecting foles to do a good job spreading the ball around to the tight ends and wide receivers. even the running backs should have their fair share of receptions. and if foles can run play action and the running game is as dominant as expected things should open up downfield.

i don’t know enough about coates except that he’s a physical specimen. his hands were his biggest question.

i guess they’re banking on 2 of quick, bailey, and austin to break out this season. i can only hope they know what they’re doing.

can’t say enough how excited i am about gurley. not just because he’s a running back but because he’s potentially a guy you can build an offense around like the article says. he’s the type who can make everyone around him better. the type defenses have to scheme for. it’s been awhile since the rams had anyone with that potential.

Zooey wrote:

wv wrote:

I’m not even sure I understand the principle
behind the “relocation fee.” Why, exactly
does one owner have to pay the other owners money
in order to move a team? Whats the logic there?
I mean if the League makes a bit ‘more’ money
with a team in LA — then shouldnt ‘they’
pay Kroenke to move to LA ?

w
v

From JT:

The relocation fee is designed to compensate club owners for allowing another team to move into a new, lucrative market and basically gets split up among the other teams

“Compensation.” So…extortion, basically.

I haven’t thought much about this before, but now that it has been brought up, I’m stumped. How do Spanos and Davis pay this?

goldman sachs somehow finances it. don’t ask me how. there’s a rumor floating around that spanos with the help of goldman sachs would be able to do the move himself. but then why include oakland in the first place? sounds fishy.

it does make a lot of sense.

just from an alignment point of view it creates a divisional rivalry between kansas city and st louis. and while the broncos raiders rivalry isn’t what it once was there is a bigger geographical tie between the 2 under that scenario.

i’m reading now that rumors of a forced davis sale are slightly exaggerated but might that also be a factor? maybe a group of investors offers to help davis out while still being able to have majority ownership.

but also a scenario in which the raiders and chargers move to carson my preference would be to see the rams move to the afc west. a st louis kansas city rivalry would be the bee’s knees.

i was wrong about tavon. i predicted he’d take a big step forward this year.

zac stacy. i thought he and mason would provide a great running back tandem.

sam bradford. i thought 2014 would finally be the year he would put it all together.

they’re going to make a documentary about this someday. all the rumors, conspiracy theories, backroom dealings, politics…

should be entertaining.