SunTzu_vs_Camus wrote:

I think Bradford would do very well in this offense next year.
I’d like an open competition between Bradford/Davis/rookie QB pick.

I think Bradford would continue the push down-field passing game by all 3 QBs this pre-season.
Bradford’s health is a concern…but not with Davis/Hill on the bench. Our offense doesn’t ask much from it’s QB other than make the throws and don’t throw INTs. Bradford is very safe with the ball, but was starting to push the ball downfield this PS
– AND WAS GOOD AT IT!!!! Bradford doesn’t have the mobility that Davis has but man, Bradford has better arm & accuracy for mid-deeper throws and I think is a better passer than Davis. We’ll see. Either way, I’m for building a DEEP QB group – like what they did for the DL and RBs. I sure hope and would feel more relaxed having Bradford signed to a “prove it” contract next year w/incentives. I also will be interested how Bradford handles the challenge. Will he sign for less and want to stay and prove he’s the guy in StLouis? Or will he bolt for the money? Remember, he has 50mil already….
I’m curious if pride and/or competitiveness will rise up in Bradford and he’ll take the challenge!

Austin Davis: There are some who would like to replace Davis with Hill right now. But I see no reason to believe that a young quarterback with a half season of experience cannot improve. Nor do I have any reason to think that Hill will give the Rams a better chance of winning at this point in the season. I think the coaches should keep Davis as the starter, work with him in the film room to help him get better and see how far he can go during the season and during this coming off-season.

Sam Bradford There has been nobody (except maybe Fisher) who has been a greater supporter of Fisher than I have been. If Bradford could have stayed healthy I really believe he would be at least a top 10 and maybe even a top five quarterback at this time. But he has not been able to stay on the field. If the Rams cut him as soon as this season is over his market value will be quite low. If the Rams keep him (probably at a much reduced salary) he would still be a risk. He would compete with Davis, maybe Hill, and maybe a high draft choice for the Rams starting position. And if he stays healthy through the preseason he will likely win the job. But the risk is that sometime during the season he would go down and the backup would once again be forced to play.

A high pick at quarterback. That would be many fans choice to be the Rams 2015 starter. But he would make rookie mistakes and may not be the immediate answer that many would want. He might also not make the start because he would be beaten out by Bradford, if he stays, or by Davis. And the latter would really get some fans upset. I am not saying not to draft a qb high. But I am saying not to push him until he is really ready.

I really feel sorry for the 49er fans, loosing that way. NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PA Ram wrote:

I actually think it’s pretty mild in the Game Time Forum.

Are people sometimes critical of players and coaches? Sure. Do they deserve the criticism? Sometimes.

But I never get the sense that it gets ugly.

Just my opinion.

Fans will vent. Unless there’s a robot forum somewhere, I think you’ll find that anywhere you go. If football had no emotion no one would watch the games.

But everyone approaches being a fan in their own way and should enjoy the games as they see fit.

The one thing that is certain is that we all want the Rams to do well–to win. That’s one thing we all have in common.

The last two games I was able to watch, the Cowboys and the Chiefs, I bailed out of the forum when a poster or two came in late and started to vent. That is not for me. But I agree that this forum is much better than most. And I will be on the forum when the Rams game starts. But I will bail again if some turd starts in about how bad the Rams are and doesn’t post anything related to today’s game.

Jake Long contract: 3/18/2013: Signed a four-year, $34 million contract. The deal contains $16 million guaranteed — a $5 million signing bonus, Long’s first-year base salary, and $4 million of his second-year salary. Another $1.5 million is available through incentives based on playing time and Pro Bowl berths. 2014: $8 million, 2015: $9.25 million, 2016: $8.75 million, 2017: Free Agent

Above is Jake Long’s contract summary. If he indeed has an ACL tear then he will receive his $8M for 2014 (almost half of which he already has.) The $9.25M and the $8.75M for 2015 and 2016 is not guaranteed. I do not think his injury this year will have any effect on the Rams options for 2015. If they wish to cut him they can or they could keep him at the same contract. But they have been known to require players to resign at a lower figure also.

I am sure that the members of this board (and others) will have a lot of wonderful advice for the Rams as to what they should do. None of which the Rams will pay any attention too.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 1 month ago by TackleDummy.

Herzog wrote:

Bailey and Quick…finally we have something

I don’t know how soon Bailey will be effective. He has not practiced for two weeks. Might take awhile for him to get back into game condition. If he is back at practice today or tomorrow then he should be able to go pretty good this week.

Adam Schefter ‏@AdamSchefter

Players to be reinstated: WR Wes Welker, WR Steadman Bailey, DB Orlando Scandrick, OL Eric Herman, DE Spencer Nealy via @mortreport and me.

wv wrote:

Does anyone besides Grits
have any faith at all
in Austin Davis?

Yes? No?

w
v

Actually, I think Austin Davis will do better than most people seem to think. I thought, all things considered, that he did a pretty good job last week. He has taken nearly all the reps this week with the idea in mind that he might start. Not like coming in off the bench, cold, and his first live action in a real NFL game.

TD

PA Ram wrote:

If Hill can’t go, I guess they go with Davis/ Gilbert this week? Or do they throw Keenum out there with something limited?

Maybe they use Hill as back-up?

Gonna be interesting.

And if this becomes a season long issue and another QB doesn’t step up–we’re looking at 2 or 3 wins.

If Hill can’t go the Rams will start Davis, Keenum will be the backup and Hill will be on the inactive list. Not good when your first and second quarterbacks are out.

TackleDummy wrote:

Before all is said and done the Rams will have to come up with some cap space. This will probably mean reworking of the contracts of C. Long or Laurinaitis. Bradford might be a possibility, but I am not even sure if they could rework his contract while he is on IR or if they would want to.

I guess I was right after all.

TSRF wrote:

Thanks. Makes sense.

Is it the “IR done for the year” or the “IR may come back soon”?

It is unlikely the come back soon IR since a team can use that only once. Best held for a starter.

In the other thread I said “Before all is said and done the Rams will have to come up with some cap space.”
They you responded to me saying “I’m not sure that’s the case.”

The next thing you posted was this thread. And you say “I didn’t have in mind our earlier discussion” Really?

But in any event you are making a big mountain out of a very small mole hill. I do not recall reading anyone suggesting that the Rams were in any kind of cap trouble. Rather they say what is probably accurate, that the Rams will have to make some adjustments to the cap before tomorrow at 4:00pm eastern. The reason this will be necessary is that the Rams are currently tight against the cap. It is possible I am wrong in this, but I don’t think so.

Your effort in this thread is one of semantics that has absolutely no substance. Your statement in the other thread that essentially said that I was wrong was itself misguided.

Before all is said and done the Rams will have to come up with some cap space. This will probably mean reworking of the contracts of C. Long or Laurinaitis. Bradford might be a possibility, but I am not even sure if they could rework his contract while he is on IR or if they would want to.

Also, I think little, if any, of the current information is from official Ram sources. They keep tight lipped about such things. It likely comes from the players themselves or their agents. So we will be among the last to know.

I have already posted. I think Hill and the first team need to play two or three or more series. Hill needs work with the 1’s.

rfl wrote:

They apparently took a major risk playing him before at least 18 months.

I am not at all sure about the 18 months. I think that recent rehab techniques have cut that down greatly. There have been a large number of examples beginning with Adrian Peterson who have come back and done well after an ACL injury very quickly. I do not fault the Rams organization for that.

And it is possible that Bradford could rehab his knee again (he will have two months longer to do it) and play for the next five season without missing a down. But will it be with the Rams? We shall see. One thing will be is that the Rams will have until at least January of February to decide what they want to do. His rehab should be well under way by then. They likely will not want to start OTAs with him unless they are confident in him.

zn wrote:

Really, this gets down to different ways we all view it. No one lacks the info. We just regard it in different ways. To me, if Bradford can come back from the 2nd ACL (which remains to be seen), I don’t regard him as a special risk for another, different injury the way I do Amendola.

In six years Bradford has had five major injuries (2 in 2009).
These injuries were to three different places (shoulder, ankle, and knee)
For two of these, shoulder and knee, he had reinjuries.

I don’t care if he is at special risk for a different injury. I am concerned that he is at much greater risk than normal for an injury. It doesn’t make any difference if it is a different injury or not. If he were to return in 2015 and start the season as starting qb I would not have a great deal of faith that he could complete the season.