wv wrote:

Well I wonder if Roger Saffold will be able to
lift and train in the offseason if he’s
going to have surgery.

I think it will be minor surgery. Kinda a scope job on his shoulder, nothing like an ACL type thing. He can have the surgery in a couple of weeks and be ready to go in a month or so. At least conditioning stuff. No worries.

Offensive Linemen on current roster

Starters
LT Greg Robinson — The second overall pick in this past draft. He is expected to be the Rams starter at LT for at least the next decade. He is very young and very raw but also a great talent. Expect him to become the solid LT in his second year that some fans mistakenly expected him to be this year.

LG Rodger Saffold — Rodger has had a history of injuries but has come back and played in all 16 games this season (missing only parts of two games) despite having shoulder problems. A very tough individual. He will have surgery this off season to correct his shoulder.

C Scott Wells — Wells redid his contract before this season. The contract calls for $1.75M roster bonus in early March. He will not see that money.

RG Davin Joseph — Joseph was signed to a one year contract by the Rams as a backup after last year’s draft. He was forced into the starter’s job after Jake Long went down. He probably will not be returning unless it would be as a backup. And probably not then.

RT Joe Barksdale — the Rams starter at RT for the last two years. He is fairly solid but will never be all-pro. He is also an UFA. Look for the Rams to try to resign him at their price.

Primary Backups (according to ourlads)
LT, LG, RG Mike Person
C Tim Barnes
RT, LT Brandon Washington
C, G Barrett Jones

There will be two (maybe three if Barksdale is not resigned) starting positions available. Look for at least one, and maybe two or even three, of these positions to be filled by the four players listed above. Fisher’s 20 year history is to draft OL low and develop them. Just as Barksdale got his shot as a starter, these four have been warming the bench waiting their turn. And they have been working in the training room, film room, the classroom, and on the practice field. For one or two of them their work may pay off and their turn may have just arrived.

Others
C Demetrius Rhaney (IR) 2014 Round 7.
OT Steven Baker (Practice Squad)
OG Travis Bond (Practice Squad)

It is likely that these three will be on the Rams 80 man roster at the beginning of training camp. They will be given a chance to make the 53 man roster but I would think it would be very unlikely that they could earn a starting role in 2015.

Free Agents and the draft
A year ago I would have said it would be very unlikely the Rams would draft an OL early in the draft. But they did and tried to draft another. So it could well be that they would draft a guard or tackle in the one of the first two rounds. If Barksdale is resigned it would be someone who could start at guard the first year. I could see the Rams entering free agency for a starting OL if they feel that they do not already have one of the positions filled. I know what the fans want, but I think Snead and Fisher will probably have other ideas. But I also think that OL will be one of their highest priorities.

If the Rams make no changes on their roster from 2014-2015 there will be 27 players next year with 4-7 years of experience on the team. There will also only be 6 players on the down side of the bell curve with over 7 years of experience.

I am not sure that is right. The draft class of 2012 will be completing their 3rd year this year. So next year they will have three years of experience. I don’t think there are 27 players on the Rams roster who came into the league in 2011 or before. I am guessing he means the players will be beginning their 4th through 7th years. This would include the 2012 players.

Also, there will be a number of players in the “experienced” catigory who will not be with the Rams next year, though I know the statement said if “no changes”.

• This reply was modified 10 years ago by TackleDummy.

zn wrote:

Cosell once said that as green as he is, you don’t find big men with those kinds of movement skills.

Greg or Howard?

c1ram wrote:

Hill is pretty decent at QB. Problem is he’s backed up Stafford and everyone forgot his effectiveness at SF (once playing under another defensive HC – Singletary).

http://www.nfl.com/player/shaunhill/2504833/profile
I am not sure how effective he was with SF. In four years he started a total of 16 games for them. The most in any one year was 2008 when he started 8 games. Hill’s best year was 2010 with Detroit when he started 10 games, threw for 2,686 yards and threw for 16 TDs. Hill is a career backup quarterback. Nothing more.

In an interesting side note, Pat Kirwan and Jim Miller on Sirus NFL radio this morning said that Hill was a bad practice quarterback. They said that a team cannot have a bad quarterback even though he plays well on game day because it makes it very difficult for the OC to game plan. I had not heard this before but Pat Kirwan is the football commentator that I respect the most.

rfl wrote:

I don’t have any reason to believe that A) was true. What I do know argues against it. It’s a judgment call, and I don’t buy it.

In the first four games of the season Donald played about 40 to 45 percent of the defensive snaps. That means that he played in all of the passing downs. His role was limited to what he did best.

To make the judgment that limit his role early in the season, the Williams, etc., had a lot of information at their disposial.

The coaches were able to watch film of every snap he took in training camp, in preseason games, and in regular season games once the season started.

The coaches worked with him in the classroom, in the film room, and on the practice field.

The coaches were able to know how much the rookie was absorbing. They were aware he was seeing something new every week. They knew just how much his head was swiming with the speed of the NFL.

The coaches could observe the extent to which Donald was thinking too much instead of playing on instinct.

It was the coaches collective judgment that beginning week 1 that Donald could be effective playing almost half the defensive snaps but that it would be best not to overload him until he was ready to handle the whole load.

It was also their judgment in week 5 he was ready to handle the whole load. So he begain to play about 3/4 of the defensive snaps.

Williams, etc, had a very large amount of information about Donald. They also have a very large amount of high level experience to process this information and to make very informed judgements with the information.

rfl, I really don’t know what you do know that argues against their judgment (you didn’t say) nor do I know what your level of expertise is. But I am quite sure that what the coaches know and their ability to make this kind of decision correctly is infinitely greater than mine, yours or any other poster on this board. What I do buy is that the coaches were right.

rfl wrote:

But the biggest problem I see is the OL. Wells and Joseph are seriously below standard and Saffold’s shoulder is a problem. And Person stinks. We have no depth anywhere.

IMO, the Rams OL is not as bad as some people seem to think. I look at Wells and Joseph as both being average. But I would not term them as “seriously below standard”. Saffold’s shoulder is certainly giving him problems. However he is playing through it pretty well. I think his off season surgery has a good chance of fixing it. And Person does not stink. In fact, I see him as moving into a starter’s role next year. Person is the kind of lineman that Fisher has had in the past. He was a seventh rounder who has spent three years developing. This is not unlike Barksdale, who was a castoff and developed with the Rams. Robinson, on the otherhand, is the first 1st round OL draft choice by a Fisher team. He is coming along well given that he is a raw talent with little pass protection experience. My guess is that by next season he will be stout in all phases of the game at LT.

Having said all of that, I also would like to see the Rams to draft an OL fairly early in the coming draft. As well as a QB and an LB. I doubt that all three positions will be addressed, however, since it is unlikely that a player of value will be there at those positions just when the Rams need them.

wv wrote:

Well there is something postmodernly-surreal about a team
called “the Redskins” making symbolic political gestures
about the issues in Ferguson.

Actually, it wasn’t the team. It was a few players on the team.

Not that high. Maybe a 6th or possibly a 5th with conditions. One, if he doesn’t work out he is cut immediately. So the price would have to be low enough that the Rams could afford to give up on Griffin.

I can’t see how both Gruden and Griffin can stay with the Redskins next season. If Gruden is fired then Griffin would have run two head coaches off in two years. If I were a top HC candidate there is no way I would take the Washington job. So Griffin would be in Washington with his third HC in three years. And the last one would not be a top tier HC. Geez.

Maybe start training camp with Bradford, Griffin, Davis, and Keenum might not be bad. It could work if Griffin becomes a team player and would be willing to play as the #2 QB if Bradford comes back without injury. Fisher might help him with his attitude.

Zooey wrote:

Are you sure? I looked through transactions and saw Gilbert signed to the PS, but didn’t see a transaction where he was dropped. Not that it matters much either way. Gilbert, I mean.

I went to the Rams website, looked at the roster, and Gilbert is not on the PS. When he was released I don’t know.

rfl wrote:

– 1. We simply cannot count on Sam to remain healthy. If we keep him, we HAVE to have a starter-worthy guy to back him up.
– 2. Davis is not starter-worthy. He can provide some value off the bench, but your offense will not win games with him as a starter. If we keep him, he can’t be better than #3 going into the season.
– 3. We are unlikely to be in a position to draft a guy capable of winning numbers of games as a rookie.

1. I agree fully. But where do we get a starter-worthy qb? Probably not for next year or he would already be a starter. So what we need to do is have as good of backups as possible with an eye on the future.

2. Don’t write Austin Davis off after he has played only 9 games (with an 85+ qbr.) I don’t know how far he can go, but he will be better next year than he was this year. My guess is that the Rams will not only keep Davis but that he will be the Rams #2 in 2015. He will learn, keep his mistakes in check, and do very well. Davis has a big potential upside. Clemons last year had no upside. Hill has no upside. In thirteen seasons Hill has started 26 games. There is a reason for that.

3. If the Rams were to pick 1st in this year’s draft they could not draft a rookie qb who would be capable of winning “numbers of games”. But they should draft a qb somewhere in the first three rounds if they don’t have to reach too far.

One more than most thought this morning.