i think i’m most excited to see this defense. they just re-signed ramsey. new scheme. against what i think is a good offense. ranked 2 last season by football outsiders.

to have a great unit. you need great players and a great scheme.

staley has no excuses now. he’s got good to elite to historically elite players top to bottom. now he’s gotta put them in situations where they can shine.

i have no doubt the players will hold their end of the bargain. now we gotta see if a rookie defensive coordinator is in over his head.

Agamemnon wrote:

It sounds like Hollins will begin at outside linebacker, but McVay said he can play inside, as well.

i like the idea behind it. i don’t know if hollins has the ability to pull it off. but i like the idea of having players who can play multiple positions and confuse the offense.

i think they definitely have that in the backfield. not so sure about the front seven. i do know that floyd has experience playing inside while in college.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 9 months ago by InvaderRam.

Agamemnon wrote:

The way I understand it. Staley spent all year training him to play MLB, although he was an edge player in college, it was Staley idea to get him to play MLB. Somebody got hurt, so they moved him back to edge and he never really learned either position in the pros. I have no idea what Denver’s team is like, except they did want to keep him. They moved him to the PS hoping he would go through.

regardless it’s worth a shot. even if it meant they lost johnston.

and he pretty much knows the system already. i wonder if staley still has plans on cross training him inside. i’m actually in favor of the idea.

all i know is the rams have a bunch of long rangy linebackers. i like it.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 9 months ago by InvaderRam.

don’t know why he got cut. that’s my only concern. were the broncos that deep at linebacker and edge?

if staley and barry and shula can help hollins realize his potential then i think they got a steal. at best he seems to be a versatile guy who can play inside and outside. which would be exactly what this defense is missing.

they seem to have everything else.

but i have to wonder why the broncos cut him. is it that he’s still too raw? that won’t help the rams defense this year. his impact will have to be on special teams. and hopefully, he continues to learn throughout the year.

is staley really that much smarter than fangio and co? i hope so.

hmmm. wonder what they have planned for this hollins fella…

well i hope these guys can make it to the practice squad.

Agamemnon wrote:

I had those guys being cut. I think they would keep Williams and Rozeboom. I think this year, it would be easy for a lot of the cuts to get to the Practice Squad.

yeah. and it sounds like the plan is to put them on the ps.

i think rozeboom could be a big surprise this year.

i desperately want to see christian rozeboom, jonah williams, and michael hoecht on the final 53.

three undrafted rookies with some serious physical attributes.

looks like they still have 10 cuts to get down to 53?

Zooey wrote:

Right, yeah. And we would take that in a heartbeat, and maybe we will get it. Kupp had OTAs and so on, of course. But Jefferson seems to be ahead of the curve in technique, if not the speed of the game and complex NFL schemes, etc. So…I look forward to pummeling Dallas, and may Jefferson shine.

hopefully the rams don’t need jefferson to be that. higbee and everett should have a bigger role as well.

but yeah. sounds like he could have a kupp like rookie season. he’s also older than your typical rookie so you’d guess he’s got a maturity that most rookies lack.

link https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2020/08/14/rams-burgess-fuller-rookie-secondary-camp/

Burgess comes in as a third-round pick out of Utah, providing excellent position versatility and instincts in the defensive backfield. He only has one year of starting experience under his belt, but he played all over the field last season for the Utes, lining up everywhere from outside corner to linebacker.

this probably has been posted before. but shoot. this has me curious.

can’t wait to see this defense – especially the secondary. with all the talk about ramsey and him playing multiple roles. burgess and his versatility. i’m guessing burgess starts at the beginning of the season with rapp still out.

zn wrote:

from https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2020/08/31/rams-power-rankings-dvoa-analytics/

Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire … slotted teams from No. 1 to 32 based on Football Outsiders’ widely used DVOA metric, which measures a team’s performance on every single play compared to league-average based on specific situations.

In Farrar’s DVOA-based power rankings, the Rams came in at No. 13 with a projected 3.2% DVOA and average wins of 8.4.

Who knows what the Rams are these days? They could be the 13-3 squad that made it to Super Bowl LIII at the end of the 2018 season, or they could be the 2019 team that finished 9-7, out of the playoffs. FO thinks the 2020 Rams will be more like the 2019 Rams, and I find it difficult to disagree. Teams that drop from an offensive DVOA of over 20% to under 5% in a one-season stretch don’t tend to revert to their best form, and Jared Goff’s obvious limitations could put a pin in that. FO has the Rams projected with a total DVOA of 3.2%, and an Average Wins total of 8.4.

well. if the oline and the running game can get going. and if van jefferson is the real deal. the offense should be back on track.

zn wrote:

The Rams have big plans for Jalen Ramsey. They want him to be “a weapon on defense” and play a role that’s never been seen before

i can only imagine what they mean by this statement.

i mean. is he going to be playing some kind of cb/s/lb hybrid? use him as a blitzer. a run stopper. coverage. lockdown corner.

a role that’s never been seen before? i’m intrigued.