Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
znModerator`
Well assuming the Whale actually thought about it and protected the diver,
how do we account for that?w
vMaybe people evoke “they;re like our babies” responses in whales the way dogs do with humans.
from: https://www.livescience.com/61380-humpback-whale-saves-diver-video.html
Aquatic altruists
This is not the first time a humpback whale has been observed intervening in a would-be marine ambush — in fact, the humpback’s so-called “altruism” is well-documented.
In 2009, for example, marine biologist Robert Pitman a whale shield a seal from a group of hungry killer whales.
Pitman went on to analyze 115 interactions between humpbacks and killer whales between 1951 and 2012, and determined the act of seal-saving derring-do he witnessed was hardly a freak occurrence. Humpbacks, Pitman wrote, frequently band together and sometimes travel great distances to interrupt killer whale attacks, regardless of what type of animal the orca is attacking.
The humpback’s shielding impulse likely comes from an instinct to protect its own calves from predators, Pitman said. Because massive humpbacks have little to fear from orcas, the risk of intervening in or even initiating a may be well worth the risk.
“A simple behavioral rule like ‘interfere with attacking killer whales’ may prevent a related calf from being killed,” Pitman previously told Live Science, “and it may also help out other species at times. I think we need to consider the possibility that altruism can be unintentional and arise out of self-interest.”
Researchers again caught a glimpse of a humpback’s seeming altruism in May 2017, when a group of orcas were stalking some baby gray whales off Monterey Bay in California.
Hauser thinks it’s likely that the whale that head-butted her was similarly trying to protect her from the predator in their midst (she later learned that, while one humpback was focused on her, another was swatting the water near the tiger shark, seemingly keeping it at bay). However, this marks the first known instance of a humpback intervening to shield a human from a shark, Hauser said.
znModeratorThe big mistake lots of NFL teams make in the draft, according to economists
Joseph Stromberg
[Old article:] Apr 30, 2015
https://www.vox.com/2015/4/30/8516007/nfl-draft-economics
In last year’s NFL draft, the Buffalo Bills traded up from the eighth pick to the fourth to take receiver Sammy Watkins. To do so, they gave up their first pick this year, 19th overall.
Watkins has had a solid start to his career. But the receiver the Bills could’ve taken if they’d stayed put — Odell Beckham Jr. — was named Offensive Rookie of the Year and already looks to be a generational talent.
TEAMS SHOULD NEVER TRADE UP — AND SHOULD TRADE DOWN WHENEVER THEY GET AN OFFER
It’s always easy to pick apart draft decisions in retrospect. But this mistake was utterly predictable — and it remains a mistake whether Watkins ends up a better player than Beckham or not.
A series of papers by economists Cade Massey and Richard Thaler has shown that at any given position, historically, the odds of the top player picked (Watkins) being better than the third player picked (Beckham) is just 55 percent or so.
“It’s basically a coin flip,” Massey, who serves as a draft consultant with several NFL teams, told me last year, “but teams are paying a great deal for the right to call which side of the coin.”
Because teams just aren’t that good at evaluating a player’s chance of success, Massey and Thaler’s analysis says in the current trade market, teams are better off trading down whenever they get an offer — that is, trading one high pick for multiple lower ones, in order to diversify risk. But many teams, like the Bills, become overconfident in their evaluation of one particular player and do the opposite: they package several slightly lower picks for the right to take one player very early.
Watch: The history of the NFL draft, explained in 2 minutes
It’s just not worth it to trade up
In their first paper, Massey and Thaler studied 1,078 draft pick trades made between 1990 and 2008. This let them determine the value teams got in return when they traded away each pick in the first five rounds of the draft:
The most important thing about this graph: the curve is very, very sharp in the first round. That means teams think the very top picks are extremely valuable: the value of the 10th pick is only about half that of the first pick.
Now, it’s worth pointing out that for years, most teams followed something called “the Chart,” which assigned values to each pick in the draft for trade purposes. Since 2008, many teams have smartly stopped treating the Chart as gospel, and the curve has become slightly less steep.
But Massey says it still hasn’t flattened out to anything near where it should be, in terms of the actual value derived from the players picked. He and Thaler calculated this value based on the odds that the first player picked at any given position will perform better — in terms of the number of games he starts in his first five seasons — than the second player drafted at that position.
TEAMS JUST AREN’T VERY GOOD AT FIGURING OUT WHO’S THE BEST PLAYER AT ANY POSITION
Lots of teams, like the Bills, will trade up when they identify a player they prefer at a needed position: they need a wide receiver, and a few highly rated ones are available, but they trade up because they’re certain Sammy Watkins is the best. But the data says that teams just aren’t very good at figuring out when this is true.
On average, the chance that first player will start more games than the second one picked at his position: 52 percent. Compared with the third player, it’s still only 55 percent, and compared with the fourth, it’s just 56 percent.
These numbers suggest that moving up eight picks (the average distance between the first and second players at the same position) should cost a small amount, since you’re only increasing the odds of a getting a more productive player by 4 percent or so. But as the steep curve shows, teams pay a ton to move up, especially at the top of the draft.
It really pays off to trade down
Given that some teams, like the Bills, are irrationally willing to pay a lot to trade up, smart teams can reap huge benefits by trading down. Even staying put and drafting from your original spot, the researchers’ analysis shows, isn’t the best strategy.
For each pick in the first round, Massey and Thaler calculated all of the different two-pick packages a team could’ve gotten by trading down, based on the historical data (a team with the first pick, for instance, could get the second and 181st picks, or the 14th and 15th picks, or any combination of picks in between that provide the same sum value).
STAYING PUT AND DRAFTING AT YOUR ORIGINAL POSITION IS NOT THE BEST STRATEGY EITHER
Then they calculated what teams have gotten out of these picks, on average, in terms of the number of starts a player picked at that spot has historically provided in his first five years, and the number of Pro Bowls he’s voted to. (They included Pro Bowls to counter the criticism that their analysis ignores the unique impact of superstar players only available in the first few picks.)
Again, the data was unequivocal. On average, trading down and getting two players gave a team five more starts per season and slightly more total Pro Bowls.
You could chalk this up to the simple fact that more players start more games, but it’s more than that. Even if you imagined that the team trading down could only keep the better one of the two players it drafted, it’d still get slightly more total starts and the same number of Pro Bowls. The truth is that teams are imperfect talent evaluators, so having two later picks is better than a single early one. It’s just risk diversification at work.
Teams that trade down more often win more games
The most straightforward piece of proof for all this is the fact that trading down correlates with more wins on the field.Massey and Thaler came to this conclusion by looking at the number of wins a team had in any given season between 1997 and 2008, and the total value of all picks they’d made in the previous four years (the amount of time, on average, for which a rookie is under contract).
They found that one standard deviation in pick value translated to 1.5 more wins per season on the field. Sure, it’s a small sample size, and there’s a lot of chance and other factors built into the system, such as a coach’s strategy. But trading down correlates with a significant amount of victories, given that there are only 16 games in a season.
So why don’t more NFL teams follow this advice?
If all teams took note of these findings and corrected their behavior, the principles would no longer apply. Teams would be much less interested in trading up, so the lucrative market for trading down would evaporate.
Why hasn’t this happened? One answer is a widely known psychological bias called the overconfidence effect. As people are given more information, the accuracy of their analysis often hits a ceiling, but their confidence in it continues to increase.
This tendency has been demonstrated in all sorts of areas, from bettors picking horses to psychologists making diagnoses. It’s not hard to imagine that NFL general managers — who are given scouting reports on players that cover everything from their body fat percentage to their home life — fall victim to the same sort of overconfidence.
“[TEAMS] FALL IN LOVE WITH PLAYERS, GET MORE AND MORE CONFIDENT IN THEIR ANALYSIS”
“In my experience, teams always say they’re on board with [trading down] in January,” Massey said. “Then when April rolls around, and they’ve been preparing for the draft for a long time, they fall in love with players, get more and more confident in their analysis, and fall back into the same patterns.”
There’s also the fact that the sports world as a whole tends to glamorize superstars — leading many to disproportionately attribute a 53-player roster’s success to one or two highly drafted players. For a struggling GM, it might seem easier to trade up and land a guaranteed superstar than to patiently fill a roster with competent players.
The problem, though, is that there are no guaranteed superstars — and Thaler and Massey have found that, given a long enough time frame, no teams are any better at accurately evaluating prospects than others. Sure, a GM might hit a hot streak over the course of a few drafts, but long term they estimate that 95 to 100 percent of the difference in teams’ odds of striking gold with any one pick is driven by chance.
So the key isn’t drafting better — it’s just drafting more.
As Massey noted, there are a few teams out there following his philosophy. In a recent interview, Eric DeCosta — assistant GM of the perennially successful Baltimore Ravens — dropped a hint about the identity of one of them:
We look at the draft as, in some respects, a luck-driven process. The more picks you have, the more chances you have to get a good player. When we look at teams that draft well, it’s not necessarily that they’re drafting better than anybody else. It seems to be that they have more picks. There’s definitely a correlation between the amount of picks and drafting good players.
znModeratorCalif-Tom.
Cal Tom demonstrated one of the great characteristics of the true flamer: be absolutely stone-deaf impervious not just to reason, or logic, or knowledge, or the ability to interact socially, but also, to any and all responses of any kind.
cal tom: it is snowing in SF
responses: the weather does not report snow there, and here are links to weather sites and current photos, plus some of us live there and there is no snow
cal tom: snow’s getting pretty deepznModeratorAn alternate headline could be…
‘Diabolical whale denies starving shark of life-sustaining snorkeler meat.’
But that would have made for a very different video.
And of course it completely stands to reason that the whale would know that.
znModeratorJesus was his agent?
Not sure I followed that one Z.
==========
Gurley said “thanku LORD”.
I’m guessing thats what Z was referring to.
I’d give zooey a two out of ten on the rate the flamer
chart for that one. It was hard to figure out. Lacked nuance as well.w
vNow it’s clear.
I wuzz being thikk. Sometimes, brane not work good.
znModeratorJesus was his agent?
Not sure I followed that one Z.
znModeratorTom Benson’s last will makes clear who was in, out of his inner circle late in his life
Here;s some more on that for whoever is interested. It;s an old thread on the board: http://theramshuddle.com/topic/more-hot-trending-owner-gossip-news-tom-benson-disowns-daughter/
znModeratorBtw sorry for my poor spelling / grammar post… but this site is not iPhone friendly…
No apologies necessary JM. Sorry about the lack of iPhone friendliness.
znModeratorLos Angeles Rams’ 2018 free agency: Center John Sullivan keeps O-line intact
Alden Gonzalez
John Sullivan, C
The Rams no longer have to worry about center. They brought back veteran John Sullivan with a two-year contract that is worth up to $15 million. Here’s a closer look at the signing:
Grade: B. Sullivan made only $999,999 last year, so he earned a big raise. But not that big. Sullivan’s contract will basically only reach $15 million if he plays in every game and the Rams do well in the playoffs, according to a source. It’s more like a two-year, $10 million contract with incentives and some protection against injury.
What it means: It means the Rams’ highly successful offensive line returns intact, with Andrew Whitworth and Rob Havenstein serving as the tackles and Rodger Saffold and Jamon Brown returning as guards. Sullivan was graded 10th among 36 centers by Pro Football Focus last season because of his blocking. But he was also a major asset for young quarterback Jared Goff because of his familiarity with Sean McVay’s offense and his ability to identify coverages before the snap.
What’s the risk: Sullivan will be 33 on Aug. 8, and he missed the entire 2015 season because of back issues. Yes, there are risks involved with this. But the Rams prepared for it in the framework of this deal. The second year of Sullivan’s contract comes with a low guarantee, with most of the money coming in per-game roster bonuses. Sullivan didn’t miss any starts because of injury last season, but the Rams know they can’t necessarily count on that again. They hope Austin Blythe continues to develop into a solid backup.
znModeratorThank you Lord🙌🏾 https://t.co/RQByupSwXc
— Todd Gurley II (@TG3II) March 17, 2018
znModerator— Jared Goff (@JaredGoff16) March 17, 2018
znModeratorAlden Gonzalez@Alden_Gonzalez
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport has John Sullivan’s 2-year deal being worth $15M. That’s an average of $7.5M each season. He made $1M last year.Ryan Kartje@Ryan_Kartje
Ryan Kartje Retweeted Alden Gonzalez
That average payday would give Sullivan the 11th-highest average cap hit among NFL centersThat is quite a raise. But I am glad they signed him.
New info.
2 years, 15 M isn’t quite accurate.
==
Alden Gonzalez@Alden_Gonzalez
John Sullivan’s contract will only reach $15M if he basically doesn’t miss time, the Rams win in the playoffs, etc, I’m told. It’s actually a 2-year, $10M deal with incentives. It also has protection against injury in the second year.znModeratorBucky Brooks mock – LT Kolton Miller to the Rams
Los Angeles Rams Mobile: Bucky Brooks Mock Draft: 2.0
http://www.therams.com/videos/videos/Bucky-Brooks-Mock-Draft-20/89239acf-6d54-48f9-815b-999500bec692
znModeratorAlden Gonzalez@Alden_Gonzalez
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport has John Sullivan’s 2-year deal being worth $15M. That’s an average of $7.5M each season. He made $1M last year.Ryan Kartje@Ryan_Kartje
Ryan Kartje Retweeted Alden Gonzalez
That average payday would give Sullivan the 11th-highest average cap hit among NFL centersznModeratorRams, John Sullivan Agree to Terms on Two-Year Deal
Myles Simmons
The Rams will have their starting center back in 2018, as the club has agreed to terms on a two-year contract with John Sullivan.
At the NFL Combine, head coach Sean McVay termed Sullivan a player the team was not looking to replace. And just on Wednesday, general manager Les Snead said the Rams were in communication with Sullivan’s representation.
And now, despite reports that other teams in the NFC had interest in him, Sullivan will remain a Ram.
Los Angeles signed Sullivan to a one-year contract as an unrestricted free agent in April of last year, and he made a clear impact to help stabilize the Rams’ offensive line. The center had familiarity with head coach Sean McVay’s offensive scheme, as the two spent the 2016 season together in Washington.
Sullivan started the first 15 games of the regular season and Los Angeles’ playoff game against Atlanta. Throughout the year, quarterback Jared Goff praised Sullivan for his ability to read defenses and make calls at the line of scrimmage.
Bringing Sullivan back means Los Angeles will have enter the offseason program with continuity at all five spots on the offensive line. Left tackle Andrew Whitworth, left guard Rodger Saffold, Sullivan, right guard Jamon Brown, and right tackle Rob Havenstein are all under contract for 2018.
znModeratorguinnessram wrote:
On NFL Live they were going over the remaining free agents. They were reminded to add Pouncey to the list of centers and when someone pointed out that John Sullivan was still out there Shefter said that all indications are that he’s returning to the Rams.
March 16, 2018 at 5:36 pm in reply to: How will the Rams Replace Ogletree and Quinn? Or Watkins #84159znModeratorHow will the Rams replace Sammy Watkins? It’s complicated
Alden Gonzalez
LOS ANGELES — It’s 797 snaps. That’s the number Sammy Watkins was projected to play in 2017 before he, like most starters, sat out the regular-season finale. The Los Angeles Rams now have to replace those snaps. But it isn’t really about the raw number; it’s about the type of receiver those snaps came from — a respected, explosive, playmaking vertical threat who can take the top off coverages and open the middle of the field for others.
Watkins provided that for a Rams team that became the first in the Super Bowl era to go from last to first in scoring from one season to the next. He made only 39 catches for 593 yards, but he caught eight touchdown passes, seven of them on plays inside the red zone, and he consistently created separation that helped free fellow receivers such as Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp.
The Rams valued the skill set so much that they were strongly considering utilizing the franchise tag on Watkins before giving it to safety Lamarcus Joyner. Now Watkins is gone, joining the Kansas City Chiefs with a three-year, $48 million contract that was representative of his robust market — and the Rams are scrambling for ways to replace what he provided.
“It’s going to be hard,” head coach Sean McVay said, “and that’s something that we’re trying to figure out now. I don’t necessarily think you do that with one player; I think it’ll be kind of by committee.”
Below is a look at what that committee might look like.
Josh Reynolds (or Mike Thomas): The Rams have two promising — albeit raw and unproven — vertical threats on their roster. There’s the 6-foot-3, 191-pound Reynolds, a fourth-round pick out of Texas A&M in last year’s draft. And there’s the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Thomas, taken in the sixth round in 2016. Thomas opened some eyes during last year’s offseason workouts, but then he missed time in training camp, was handed a four-game suspension and faded into the background. Reynolds is the favorite here. He impressed throughout the summer, then replaced Woods while he spent three weeks rehabbing a shoulder injury and performed well. But the jury is still out on whether Reynolds can consistently win one-on-one matchups and dictate coverages. “He’s demonstrated flashes,” McVay said. “In terms of being in a vertical role, I think that remains to be seen.”
The tight ends: No team ran more three-receiver sets than the Rams last season. They went to them almost exclusively because they liked the trio of Watkins, Woods and Kupp, but also because their young tight ends hadn’t developed enough to be on the field together. McVay is hoping that changes this season. Tyler Higbee, heading into his third NFL season, and Gerald Everett, heading into his second, are both athletic tight ends who can stretch the deep middle of the field. McVay might be able to use them together more often to potentially keep safeties honest, with hopes that one of them can take on a role similar to the one Jordan Reed filled on the Washington Redskins when McVay was offensive coordinator there. But that is a tough ask. Higbee, on the field most often last year, hauled in 36 of 74 targets for 380 yards in his first two seasons. Everett caught 16 of 32 targets for 244 yards as a rookie.
Tavon Austin (or Pharoh Cooper): The Rams’ dire straits without Watkins were illustrated perfectly by Thursday’s surprising decision to keep Austin with a restructured contract. They’re trying, once again, that they can find an actual role for the 5-foot-8 speedster who has had a hard time fitting into the offense since being the No. 8 overall pick in 2013. The Rams went into last offseason hoping Austin could develop into that vertical threat, but that became unnecessary when Watkins was acquired. Now they’re simply going to give him a chance to compete for snaps at receiver. Cooper brings a similar skill set, mainly as someone who is best utilized coming in motion and getting the ball behind the line of scrimmage. But his main role is to return punts and kickoffs, which made him a Pro Bowl selection last year.
Someone else: The best receiver remaining might be Terrelle Pryor, and the Rams have reportedly shown interest in him. Pryor had a poor season in Washington last year, which was cut short by ankle surgery, but he still has the ability to be a big-play, 1,000-yard receiver. There’s also Michael Crabtree, the 30-year-old who was recently released by the Oakland Raiders. Mike Wallace is another, cheaper option. If the Rams seek tight-end upgrades, a couple of potential options remain in Eric Ebron and Martellus Bennett. Restructuring Austin’s contract — which created $3 million in non-guaranteed, reachable incentives that must count toward the salary cap on the front end — has them at just under $30 million once you factor in signing their draft picks. But the Rams still need run-stuffers and edge rushers, and they have a hole at center. Oh, and there’s also the Aaron Donald situation.
znModeratorMike Clay@MikeClayNFL
The NFC is so good. Eagles, Vikings, Rams, Saints are all better than last year right now + Falcons still in terrific shape + healthy Aaron Rodgers. That’s a possible playoff 6. Then you have Jimmy G’s 49ers, Cam’s Panthers, and Dallas is in decent shape too.Alden Gonzalez@Alden_Gonzalez
Can say with full confidence that I totally, without question, had the Rams trading Alec Ogletree and keeping Tavon Austin when the offseason began. Yup. Uh-huh.March 16, 2018 at 1:28 pm in reply to: Official 2018 NFL Draft order updated for Los Angeles Rams #84149znModeratorI think I got it.
Figured that would be the case.
I nevertheless had my diving gear and tool kit ready, as duty ordained I should.
March 16, 2018 at 1:24 pm in reply to: sources say the Rams are now intent on keeping Tavon Austin #84148znModeratorWell i agree with the McV aspect of that, and I expect to see a better marriage of McV’s skills and Tavons this year — i still doubt Tavon will improve his ball-security skills. And that drives me nutz.
So far I am not liking the Rams offense. No more Watkins. No deal at Center. An aging LT who kinda wore down last year. No free agent signing at WR.
w
vOn the offense. Last year about this time we didn’t expect all of the things you say they’re losing through age and/or free agency attrition (and they gained a lot more than just that last year). So I think this eager group has a surprise or 2 in store. They do need OL though. For the future.
In terms of Tavon as a fumbler—He fumbled as a returner. Not as a rusher/receiver (ie. “OW” for “offensive weapon.”)
Tavon has 17 fumbles on 158 punt returns. 10.8%. Not good.
As a combined rusher/receiver, he has 5 fumbles on 378 rushes/receptions. 1.3%. That’s 5 in 5 years.
So, he’s just not the kind of dangerous, every play fumbler Bruce and Faulk were.
——————–
There’s dropped passes too. I dont like his hands.
I think good, ball-hawking defenses WANT him on the field at this point.
But we shall see what happens. At least he didnt go and get himself all bulgerized or shot in the head.
w
vWell if you expect the hands of a receiver sure. If you expect the hands of a small fast back who has a select bunch of plays he can make in the passing game AND that the payoff is an explosive play, then, those drops aren’t all that worrisome to me.
And he had 1 drop in 2017. Kupp had 5.
TA caught 59% of his targets in 2017. That’s flirting with “not that bad really.”
There is nothing to fear with Austin except the fear of Austin itself.
March 16, 2018 at 9:52 am in reply to: Official 2018 NFL Draft order updated for Los Angeles Rams #84128znModeratorWhen I put in a link to the article, the post disappears?????
That means our new anti-spam device is reading the link as spam.
Do you know how to use the dashboard? You can go in there and liberate a post that has been marked as spam.
I will be back later today and fix this if you can’t.
Have a lot to do today but I can get back to this later on.
March 16, 2018 at 9:48 am in reply to: Official 2018 NFL Draft order updated for Los Angeles Rams #84124znModeratorWhen I put in a link to the article, the post disappears?????
That means our new anti-spam device is reading the link as spam.
Do you know how to use the dashboard? You can go in there and liberate a post that has been marked as spam.
March 16, 2018 at 9:22 am in reply to: sources say the Rams are now intent on keeping Tavon Austin #84113znModeratorWell i agree with the McV aspect of that, and I expect to see a better marriage of McV’s skills and Tavons this year — i still doubt Tavon will improve his ball-security skills. And that drives me nutz.
So far I am not liking the Rams offense. No more Watkins. No deal at Center. An aging LT who kinda wore down last year. No free agent signing at WR.
w
vOn the offense. Last year about this time we didn’t expect all of the things you say they’re losing through age and/or free agency attrition (and they gained a lot more than just that last year). So I think this eager group has a surprise or 2 in store. They do need OL though. For the future.
In terms of Tavon as a fumbler—He fumbled as a returner. Not as a rusher/receiver (ie. “OW” for “offensive weapon.”)
Tavon has 17 fumbles on 158 punt returns. 10.8%. Not good.
As a combined rusher/receiver, he has 5 fumbles on 378 rushes/receptions. 1.3%. That’s 5 in 5 years.
So, he’s just not the kind of dangerous, every play fumbler Bruce and Faulk were.
znModeratorThank you to the @RamsNFL organization, fans, coaches, and fellow teammates! Thankful for giving me a shot to live my dream and molding me into the person and player I am today. #STL #LA pic.twitter.com/Urh2okU1sS
— Cody Davis (@CodyDavis) March 15, 2018
March 16, 2018 at 12:27 am in reply to: sources say the Rams are now intent on keeping Tavon Austin #84105znModeratorYou know when I thought Tavon was leaving, I talked about how McVay just didn’t seem interested in using him in all the ways he can be used. I am doing a 180 on that. I think Tavon staying means that McVay is now willing to use him in all the ways he can be used (and not just some of the ways, like last year).
It’s a little tricky because there’s only so much you can expect from Tavon as a pure receiver. I don’t know how much he can refine his game, or run crisp routes, etc. (Though to be fair we have seen him break free on some outside deep plays before).
So it really is (IMO) a matter of McVay using Tavon the way Tavon can be used. (Though along with that Tavon getting better at the things he can do, too.)
He’s not a receiver. He’s not a running back. Not only does he have some limitations as a receiver, also no receiver has 184 rushes accounting for 48.7% of their touches. And you can tell he’s not a pure back either just by watching him run. He’s an offensive playmaker you can use on many kinds of runs and on some passing plays plus some gadgets.
Since Tavon doesn’t have some of the skills you associate with pure receivers you have to accommodate him and use him in the passing game the ways you CAN use him. You do that because you’re trying to set up explosive plays (and the threat of them). The trick there is adjusting the offense to incorporate the things he CAN do.
So now I am saying, Tavon staying probably means that McVay is now willing to incorporate a lot of the things Tavon can do into his offense. Stuff he left out last year but which we saw in 2015, Tavon’s best year.
March 16, 2018 at 12:02 am in reply to: sources say the Rams are now intent on keeping Tavon Austin #84103znModeratorRamBill
Austin Articles
Tavon Austin reworks Rams deal, can be free agent at end of season/ESPN
Rams surprisingly retain veteran receiver Tavon Austin with new deal/OC Register
Tavon Austin agrees to restructure contract; Ram can be free agent after season/LA Times
http://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/la-sp-rams-tavon-austin-20180315-story.html
Tavon Austin restructures deal to stay with Rams
March 15, 2018 at 11:51 pm in reply to: sources say the Rams are now intent on keeping Tavon Austin #84102znModeratorEric Dickerson@EricDickerson
Happy to see @Tayaustin01 return to the @RamsNFL! He didn’t get a fair chance last season given his injury. Excited to see Tavon at 100% in McVay’s offenseMarch 15, 2018 at 11:43 pm in reply to: sources say the Rams are now intent on keeping Tavon Austin #84100znModeratorRams House@RamsHouse
So what is the cap savings on Austin restructure?Vincent Bonsignore@DailyNewsVinny
Nominal. But that wasn’t really the motivation.Alden Gonzalez@Alden_Gonzalez
Rams’ cap space is projected at just a shade under $30M now if you account for what they must allocate for the draft (the incentives have to be factored in on the front end). Tavon Austin will compete with Josh Reynolds, Mike Thomas and Pharoh Cooper for snaps at WR.Pharoh Cooper will continue to return punts (and kickoffs).
Austin restructuring clearly a response to Watkins pricing himself out of LA & other options drying out on FA market. There’s hope, albeit measured, that Austin can benefit from an entire healthy offseason with McVay (wrist surgery and hamstring issues held him back last year).
The rest of Tavon Austin’s contract will be eliminated. So now, basically, he’s on a 1-year, $5M contract worth up to $8M in incentives. He will compete for a role as a wide receiver, with no promises.
Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond
I do think losing Sammy Watkins influenced the Rams, re: Tavon — they were prepared to move on — but I absolutely don’t think they see him as a Sammy replacement. We’ll see if McVay can work magic and find a role for him.Rams’ perspective would be…they’re paying the $5m no matter what, so it’s worth a shot to bring Tavon back at [unknown smaller cap hit] rather than the $8m they were staring down. Low risk at that point. No different than signing a low-cost free agent.
Trying to figure out what the Rams might do with Tavon Austin is like deciphering the plotline from “Lost.”
Ryan Kartje@Ryan_Kartje
Maybe they’ll try to reignite the “Tavon can be a deep threat!” conversation. Maybe he’ll be a $5m decoy. Still seems like an odd move.March 15, 2018 at 5:31 pm in reply to: podcasts & vids for 3/14-3/15, including Polian & Snead #84085znModeratorLes Snead, Rams GM joins Mornings and talks about all the Rams moves, the evaluation process and acquisition of Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib, other secondary positions, the return of Robert Woods, the decision on passing on Sammy Watkins and their plans for the 23rd pick in the draft.
znModeratorTimeline set for an Aaron Donald extension with Rams
Alden Gonzalez
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — The Los Angeles Rams had what general manager Les Snead described as “productive talks” with Aaron Donald’s CAA-based representatives at the scouting combine in Indianapolis, specifically because they were able to agree on a timeline for a potential extension.
“Obviously, they represent other players, and coming into this weekend, they’re juggling a lot of things too,” Snead said from Rams headquarters on Wednesday, the first day of the new league year, shortly after introducing Aqib Talib and Marcus Peters as the team’s new starting cornerbacks. “We came up with a nice timeline that we’re going to work with, and we’ll get to work and try to hammer this thing out. The theme will always be that we want Aaron to be a Ram a long time.”
Donald, who held out so long last summer that he missed the regular-season opener, is heading into the fifth and final year of his rookie contract, set to pay him $6.89 million. The reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year instead seeks an extension that would make him the game’s highest-paid defensive player and potentially put him among the top earners at any position, including quarterbacks.
But the Rams have other business to take care of first. They previously made four significant trades — adding Talib and Peters, parting with Alec Ogletree and Robert Quinn — but didn’t add anybody on the first day of free agency. The Rams are still in desperate need of players who can rush the quarterback and stop the run, and Snead said he is “definitely” confident that he can find fits on the free-agent market, even though most of the best available assets are off the board.
2018 NFL free agency
Kirk Cousins. Jimmy Graham. Andrew Norwell. This class is already wild. Here’s everything to know.
• Latest notable signings, trades »
• Barnwell’s free agency & trade grades »
• Adam Schefter’s news and notes »
• Signings, analysis for all 32 teams »
•Insider Ranking top 100 NFL free agents »
• Are Vikings NFC fav with Cousins? »
• Fantasy impact of key deals, moves »
The Rams are expected to cut ties with receiver Tavon Austin by end of day on Thursday, either via trade or release. That would give the Rams roughly $30 million in cap space, though a significant portion of that would have to be set aside in anticipation for Donald’s extension.Snead said he is in talks with the agents for center John Sullivan, 32, and outside linebacker Connor Barwin, 31, both of whom the Rams are interested in retaining. Barwin could rotate with Samson Ebukam at one of the outside linebacker spots, but the Rams still have to replace Quinn on the other side and Ogletree inside. They’re weighing what’s still available in free agency with what could be available in the draft, while cognizant that waiting on the draft can be a risky proposition.
“I think the best way to do it is to not have a need screaming at you in the draft,” Snead said, “because unless you’re very disciplined, that can cause you to to reach and maybe pick a player [who isn’t good enough] or pass on a really good player.”
The Rams lost a really good player early on Tuesday, when wide receiver Sammy Watkins signed a three-year, $48 million contract with the Kansas City Chiefs that guaranteed him $30 million. Rams head coach and offensive playcaller Sean McVay admitted that it’s “going to be hard” to replicate what Watkins’ explosiveness and athleticism brought to his offense, even though his 593 receiving yards didn’t jump off the page.
“That’s something that we’re trying to figure out now,” McVay said. “I don’t necessarily think you do that with one player; I think it’ll be kind of by committee.”
Barring an outside move, the Rams are expected to rely heavily on Josh Reynolds, a fourth-round pick last spring out of Texas A&M, to replicate the vertical presence Watkins brought last season. The same can be said about filling the Ogletree void with Cory Littleton, an undrafted free agent who shined on special teams in 2017.
The Rams eventually want to lock up safety Lamarcus Joyner, who said Wednesday that he is “at a good place” with the franchise tag and is hoping to sign a long-term deal. They also might look to extend an offensive lineman or two, with right tackle Rob Havenstein, right guard Jamon Brown and left guard Rodger Saffold scheduled to be unrestricted free agents next offseason.
But Donald’s presence once again looms over all of them.
Soon, the Rams will begin their offseason program, and Donald might not show up if his contract is still up in the air. The hope is that his absence doesn’t extend into another training camp.
“Until the issue is fully resolved, you never know exactly how it’s going to play out,” McVay said. “What I do feel better about is the personal relationship that Aaron and I have now established, having been together over a year. I think one of the things that was unique to that is when he holds out [last year], when he’s not taking part in the offseason programs or in training camp, there’s no personal rapport that prior to that even existed. So, it was a lot easier for him to ignore my texts. Now, I think it’ll be a little bit more difficult. I can be more persistent.”
-
AuthorPosts
