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znModeratorthe one question i gotta ask myself. can he be as good as eli manning?
i’d say he definitely could be as good as eli manning. and i’d also say that gurley would rival any running back the giants had.
Interesting way to look at it.
Foles can be good for long series of games.
Conversely, when the Giants OL fell apart in 2013, so did Eli. Just like our Nick does.
So the parallel is useful I think.
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October 20, 2015 at 9:23 am in reply to: Minnesota Vikings: Should the team move on from Cordarrelle Patterson? #32639znModeratorMadden was great coach.
Have you ever seen the NFL Network’s “a football life” episode on Madden? I thought it was interesting.
He had a knack for making (actually) being smarter than the next guy sound folksy.
znModeratorGrowing pains continue for young offensive line
Jim Thomas
IMO of course but that one (just previous) is the best article I have read on the Rams OL this year.
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znModeratorDo i wanna know who or what “ruxin” is?
TV reference
Though I had to look this up, cause I don’t watch tv much
In fact the sound of a laughtrack can cause me to throw bricks at the tv monitor
http://rafibomb.tumblr.com/post/69541849072/the-league
Have you ever seen “The League?” it’s the show that has been airing right after Always Sunny for the past several years. It’s nominally about a group of friends and their Fantasy Football league that they have together….
…there’s an episode where Ruxin and Sofia want to have another child and Ruxin discovers that he has a low sperm count
znModeratorI suspect those passing numbers will begin to drop over the next several weeks as the Rams face more pedestrian QBs.
Interesting details, thanks fer posting.
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znModeratorGrowing pains continue for young offensive line
Jim Thomas
There are times when Jamon Brown and Rob Havenstein still feel like rookies. But as Havenstein points out, they’re well beyond the stage where they can use that as an excuse.
“Once you cross those white lines, you’ve gotta play like a guy who’s been there,”said Havenstein, a second-round pick from Wisconsin last spring. “I’m out here for a reason. They expect me to perform. I expect me to perform. My guys around me expect me to perform.”
Almost since the day they were drafted, the expectation was that Havenstein would be the team’s opening-day starter at right tackle and Brown would be an opening-day starter at guard on what would be the league’s most inexperienced offensive line.
For most of training camp and the preseason, Brown and Havenstein lined up side-by-side with Brown at right guard. Brown was subsequently switched to left guard where he has started the first five games of 2015.
“Obviously, I feel like I’ve grown a lot,” said Brown, a third-round pick out of Louisville. “But just looking back at the game we played against the Packers, watching that film let me know there’s still a lot more out there for me to learn. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I think it’s a good thing.”
The same can be said basically for the entire starting line. With the exception of Rodger Saffold, who’s now out for the season with a shoulder injury, the unit had little or no NFL experience entering the season.
It was anticipated, almost expected really, that the group would struggle early and have its share of ups and downs. That’s exactly what transpired over the first one-third of the season.
“They’re way ahead of where I thought they’d be in the run game,” coach Jeff Fisher said before the team’s long bye weekend. “I think we have some work to do in the pass game, just in subtle techniques.
“It’s not a matter of having mental errors and things like that. They know what to do. The group has to work together.”
After the Rams employed the same starting five throughout the first five games, Garrett Reynolds steps into the right guard spot in place of Saffold for Game 6 this Sunday against the visiting Cleveland Browns.
Largely because of injury, continuity has been a rare commodity for this unit under Fisher. From left to right, the Greg Robinson, Brown, Tim Barnes, Reynolds and Havenstein unit expected to start against Cleveland will be the 17th starting combination in the 53 games since Fisher began as Rams coach in 2012.
That averages out to roughly one new starting combination every three games, and that’s far from ideal.
The struggles of the O-line this season have been difficult to categorize, because it has been different players at different times, and different problem areas in different games. The Rams had a lot of difficulty run-blocking during the first three games, but things started to click in a big way the past two contests against Arizona and Green Bay.
Part of the reason for that obviously was the arrival of running back Todd Gurley in the lineup. But it goes beyond that because the unit does seem to be blocking better in the run game.
The Rams averaged 71.3 yards per game and 3.8 yards per carry in their opening three contests. In the past two games, it’s 177.5 yards per contest and 5.7 yards per carry. Gurley accounted for 305 of the 355 yards rushing against Arizona and Green Bay.
“I think we’re still pushing to kinda solidify our identity,” Brown said. “We’ve had some success in the run game. We have an incredible backfield in Todd Gurley, Tre Mason, and Benny (Cunningham).
“But for us, the goal is to continue to grow. So that’s a thing where we’re not getting content, or we’re not (satisfied) with what we’ve done. We’ve gotta keep pushing.”
Conversely, the unit did a decent job of pass-blocking in the first four games. Perhaps even better than decent, with Nick Foles sacked a modest six times for the season entering Green Bay. He was sacked three times at Lambeau Field, and hit — usually very hard — on nine other occasions.
All told, eight of Foles’ 19 incomplete passes in that game were throws that came nowhere near the intended receiver. Those eight were all cases where the pass trajectory was either disrupted or the ball was purposely thrown away because Foles was hit or scrambling on the play. In addition, Foles was hit on two of his career-high four interceptions, which affected the flight of the ball.
There was no one culprit when it came to allowing hits. A review of game film by the Post-Dispatch showed Robinson was the primary blocker on three of the hits, Saffold on 2½, Havenstein on 1½, and Brown and Reynolds on one apiece.
When it came to the three sacks allowed, they were even more split up, with Barnes, Reynolds, Mason, tight end Lance Kendricks, and fullback/tight end Cory Harkey all bearing some responsibility depending on the play.
Twisting and stunting by Green Bay defensive linemen and linebackers caused problems for the Rams’ young blockers, and it’s something they should expect to see from every opponent until they show they can block it better.
“Going into the preseason, when me and Rob were on the same side, we saw a lot of that early,” Brown said. “Obviously, splitting us up, putting us on two different sides, made it a little harder to kinda pinpoint us and pick us out.
“But we’ve still had our share of twists and games, different things that were thrown at us. And I think teams are gonna continue to do it because it’s the hardest thing to pick up. … So we’re preparing for that obviously.”
Picking up those stunts and blitzes is a matter of technique, communication, and vision.
“The guys are doing great, they’re learning,” Reynolds said. “You know it takes a while to get used to who you’re playing next to, and that’s when you start seeing something special happening. You see little glimpses of it right now.”
More than glimpses are needed as the season progresses, in order for the offense to progress.
znModeratorFive Takeaways: Bye Week
By Myles Simmons
Though the Rams did not have a game on Sunday, they did hold a week of practices to self-scout and make corrections during their bye. Here are five takeaways from the sessions.
1) Replacing Saffold
Undoubtedly, the biggest news to come out of last week was the club placing Rodger Saffold on injured reserve as the offensive linemen underwent season-ending shoulder surgery. Saffold, who had surgery to repair his left shoulder in the offseason, went down with a right shoulder injury in the preseason and then again in Week 5 against Green Bay.
Head coach Jeff Fisher said last week that much like 2014, Saffold was willing to try and play through the season with the injured shoulder. But Fisher added the team and medical staff eventually agreed that would not be the best idea.
“Inevitably it’s going to come out again, when we talk about the condition of his shoulder,” Fisher said. “So, we just felt like for career-wise and future-wise, it’s best to get it fixed.”
With Saffold out, veteran offensive lineman Garrett Reynolds will step in at right guard. If there was any silver lining about the unfortunate injury, it’s the timing. It occurred just prior to the bye week, giving the offensive line a chance to practice with its newest member.
“You’ve got to go back in there and get used to how you communicate and things like that,” center Tim Barnes said. “You’ve just got to get used to playing next to that other person. It helps that we’ve been able to get those extra practices in there and get used to it.”
Reynolds will have some significant shoes to fill as he steps in the role, but Fisher has said that he was pleased with the way the veteran played when pressed into action against the Packers.
“Garrett plugged right in,” Fisher said. “I was fine with the way he played. He was a settling factor and was cutting people downfield and finishing plays. Yeah, so I thought he was fine.”
2) The self-scouting process
With no opponent on the docket, the Rams spent their time correcting mistakes they had noticed in film study of the season’s first five weeks. It was a time for both the offense and defense to get in some good work just against themselves.
“Just being in the weight room, being in the film room, being out there, just getting some work in this week is huge for us to go back and self-scout on what we did,” quarterback Nick Folessaid. “The good things and the things we need to improve on. It’s a good opportunity for us this week to get some work in.”
“Our coaches did a great job of self-scouting this past week,” wide receiver Stedman Bailey. “Just looking at things we could do better — third down, first-and-second down. We got some pretty good work done this week, and we’re just looking forward to building from here.”
Linebacker James Laurinaitis echoed the sentiment from the defense’s perspective.
“You really self scout and you try to say, ‘What am I tipping off to the offense,’” Laurinaitis said. “Just like we look at their tendencies and what they tip to us, what are we tipping to them? [The bye week] allows you to do it.
“Five weeks isn’t a huge sample size,” Laurinaitis continued, “but it’s good enough to where can make some changes and continue to kind of look forward to what we’re going to change and how we can confuse some offenses.”
3) Developing consistency
Aside from the self-scouting, one of the offense’s common themes for the week was developing consistency — from the quarterback on down.
“There’s some good and there’s some stuff we need to improve on,” Foles said. “Whether it be my play or just us moving the ball. Too many mental errors, too many just errors. It’s the ultimate team game in the sense, on offense everybody’s got to work together.”
One way players put in the effort of trying to improve was staying on the field after the conclusion of practice to work. That went for essentially every position group on the offense. While, for example, the line may not have been working directly with Foles for the extra sessions, the quarterback noted how much everyone was putting in.
“It’s what do you have to do to do a little more than you did before? How can I get a little bit better this week? How can I get a little bit better today?” Foles said. “You can see guys are doing that and that’s what we have to keep doing.”
4) A defensive identity
With the unit playing well over the last few games, Laurianitis said the defense has started to find an identity — and that’s a boost as the team goes forward.
“I think what we’ve done really the last two weeks is we’ve played the run pretty well and we’re starting to realize what coverages — without saying what they are — what coverages that we do well, what blitzes,” Laurinaitis said. “If we keep confusing people, making them go to their second or third read, our D-line is going to get there more often than not.”
“I really like kind of the total understanding of the concepts we’re trying to do from, really, the whole back seven,” Laurinaitis added. “And those D-linemen can’t really disguise for us. So the whole back seven has really matured a lot.”
But even with the strong play, Laurinaitis said the defense still has one critical goal it has not yet fulfilled this season: Scoring on defense.
“We talk about it every single game, and we don’t just say it to be positive. We say it because it’s really a goal of ours,” Laurinaitis said. “When you score defensively, it really changes the whole game. It’s hard to overcome it. And we have the ability to do it. And so we’ll keep harping on it, and keep practicing it, and make sure that when guys do get interceptions or fumble recoveries in practice, that we actually do take it to the end zone and score.”
5) Season records can be deceiving
The Rams now have three of their next four games in St. Louis — and those three home matchups are against teams with a record under .500. But as Laurinaitis said, those records can sometimes be a bit deceiving.
“I’m not a big fan of the whole ‘on paper’ thing,” Laurinaitis said. “I’ve done the on-paper, light part of the schedule too many times in my career early here. I know any given Sunday, you can get a team’s best.”
St. Louis’ next opponent, Cleveland, may come to town on Oct. 25 with a 2-4 record, but it’s a team that just picked off the Broncos’ Peyton Manning three times, narrowly losing the contest in overtime. And in Week 5, the Browns upset the Ravens on the road in OT.
“They just fought in a division game on the road. I know how hard that is, to win a division game on the road,” Laurinaitis said. “And I know the AFC North is no joke. So for them to go on the road and beat Baltimore there is really impressive.”
That attitude is a positive sign in terms of how the Rams should be prepared to take on whoever is coming next, irrespective of the club’s record.
znModeratorWell. It’s a very handy, featureless, substanceless way of politely saying, “they ain’t playin’ well.” To me, that characterization says nothing at all.
Not to me. It means something, and I see it in front of me. The last time I said it, in fact, was both the 2014 Vikes game and the early part of 2011 before injuries became the overwhelming issue. The first few games in 2011, they were not in sync. That means not everyone was playing with play-don’t-think energy, the various parts of the offense were not together, the timing and rhythm were not crisp, and players were pressing. I even remember reading statements from both Saffold and Bradford that year about what it meant to play when they were “not comfortable” which is how they put it. Mistakes increase, like drops and really ill-timed penalties, and players try to push themselves to make up for it and therefore increase the level of mistakes.
Not being in sync is a real thing that just comes from lack of the very real synergy that is a result of playing together.
Remember from my point of view, since I know I see it when it happens, to me, when you say you don’t see it, I just think, yeah he doesn’t see it.
To you of course on the other side of the fence, when I do see it you think it’s not really there.
But…on my side of the fence, if I see it I see it.
znModeratorfrom off the net
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TackleDummy
According to the CBA any veteran player who is on the roster the first week of the regular season is guaranteed his entire annual salary. That means Cook is due his entire salary even if the Rams cut him. They need to find someone to take him and pay his remaining salary. That is probably not going to happen. I believe it is possible for the Rams to pay a portion of his salary and the new team the rest. But that portion would be added to the Ram’s dead money for Cook.
Do note that the Rams have already paid him about $2.88M of his $7M salary after this weekend. He will be due about $4.12M for the rest of the season. Each weekly paycheck is 1/17th of his base salary.
Could Rams trade tight end Jared Cook?
Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/22604/could-rams-trade-tight-end-jared-cook
EARTH CITY, Mo. — Depending on who you ask, St. Louis Rams tight end Jared Cook could be available for trade before the early November deadline.
On Sunday, two outlets reported that Cook could be available, though, under different circumstances.
At CBSSports.com, Jason La Canfora wrote that other teams have inquired about Cook’s availability (and the same for San Francisco tight end Vernon Davis).
But ProFootballTalk.com says it’s the other way around and the Rams are more vetting potential interest in Cook.
My read here is that the latter is probably something closer to the truth though nothing appears imminent on this front because Cook has a contract that could make him difficult to move even if the Rams would like to.
Cook currently counts $8.3 million against this year’s salary cap with $5 million of his base salary guaranteed. There are also two years of prorated signing bonus worth more than $2 million left on Cook’s contract beyond this year, meaning that if the Rams dealt Cook, they’d have to take on the accelerated portion of that signing bonus as one lump hit of dead money for next year.
That, of course, assumes there’s a team not only willing to take on Cook’s contract but also that the Rams would get the right compensation to do a deal.
From a pure logic standpoint, a Cook trade wouldn’t come as a huge surprise. Originally signed to play in a more wide-open offense, Cook hasn’t been used that way and hasn’t been able to have the type of breakout season many hoped he would upon signing. Additionally, the Rams gave tight end Lance Kendricks a fairly large four-year deal this past offseason and they would like to re-sign fellow tight end Cory Harkey before he reaches unrestricted free agency this offseason.
Which begs the question of whether Cook has a place with the Rams in the long-term and if he does, would the Rams be willing to have so much tied up into a position where run blocking takes precedence?
The benefit of trading Cook now is that the Rams could theoretically get compensation for him, but they also could part ways with him after the year with a cap savings of nearly $5.7 million. That, of course, doesn’t take into account that the Rams are currently banged up at tight end with Kendricks recovering from finger surgery and Justice Cunningham recently called up from the practice squad.
The Rams haven’t been shy about making trades in recent years, acquiring safety Mark Barron before the 2014 deadline. This year’s deadline is set for Nov. 3.
znModeratorfrom off the net
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TackleDummy
According to the CBA any veteran player who is on the roster the first week of the regular season is guaranteed his entire annual salary. That means Cook is due his entire salary even if the Rams cut him. They need to find someone to take him and pay his remaining salary. That is probably not going to happen. I believe it is possible for the Rams to pay a portion of his salary and the new team the rest. But that portion would be added to the Ram’s dead money for Cook.
Do note that the Rams have already paid him about $2.88M of his $7M salary after this weekend. He will be due about $4.12M for the rest of the season. Each weekly paycheck is 1/17th of his base salary.
znModeratorOh, man.
Before this game, Wilson was:
19th in passing attempts, which is a bit high for him.
And, 35th in sack percentage, with a horrific, as in “I like horror films but that was grotesquely over the top” horrific, 12.8%.
12.8%.
znModeratorRams shopping Jared Cook
Mike Florio
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/10/18/rams-shopping-jared-cook/
Per a league source, the Rams are making calls to gauge interest in a trade for Cook, a big-money acquisition in free agency who has been good but not great in three-plus seasons with the team.
Jason La Canfora of CBS reports that teams have been calling the Rams about Cook; we’re hearing that the calls are being made by the Rams. It’s a subtle but significant distinction, since what the Rams get will be driven by the respective motivations of the buyer and the seller.
Cook has a base salary of $7 million this year, in 2016, and in 2017. Trading him would driver a $2 million cap hit in 2016.
The window for making trades closes on Tuesday, November 3
znModeratorNow dammit, good teams are supposed
to win games like this.You know, before 2014, they mostly did.
By my reckoning, in 2012-13, they had 8 games like that. Meaning, home games against teams they ought to beat. They won 5 of them.
2013:
Jacksonville W
Tennessee L
Chicago W
Tampa Bay W2012:
Washington W
Arizona (ie that year) W
NY Jets L
Minnesotta LznModeratorg back there were people
who thought he had regressed and was not the same
Jake Long who’d been in the pro-bowls.Of course he wasn’t his old pro bowl self. I just said so myself, twice.
But he was still effective.
Example: in 2013 PFF ranked the Rams OL 13th and Long 7th among left tackles.
He wasnt the hot left pass blocking LOT type, but he was a good play action LOT.
To me saying anything less than that is exaggeration.
He WAS much less of a player after the 1st knee, when he played in 2014.
But I understand that, as a Raiders fan, you naturally think less of any Rams player. I get that. It’s understandable. Just don’t try to trash Jack Youngblood.
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znModeratorClev gets ball at their 40 with a minute left. Tie game.
…on Denver’s 30
…..w
vINT.
McCown will do that under pressure.
Cleveland has a good OL, but then Denver has the top pass-rushing defense.
znModerator. I mean, Jake had a history
of injuries. Some posters thot he was put together with duck-tape
before the Rams signed him.He had 2 separate arm surgeries. So what he had was a history of 2 separate arm surgeries. The “put together with duct tape” thing to me was just not credible. The issue was whether he could still play with the arms. And, he could. Not like his old self, but he could.
To me there is no other side to the story. He had 2 arm surgeries and could still play. None of that predicts, foreshadows, or pre-determines 2 injuries to the same knee. That’s just plain bad luck.
People say sometimes, if a guy has had a couple of injuries, he’s set up for more. But see the thing is, they say that as if it were true, and never prove it. They just act like the assumption is real. Well, I say, prove it. What percentage of players who are still within the 4-7 year “prime years” window have one surgery and are therefore doomed to others? Percentages would mean something to me. Cracker barrel armchair wisdom? Not so much.
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znModeratorthe tricky part is the part you called “unlucky”.
There’s people that would call those players
“bad signings”.Yeah I have had long, long disputes over the years with guys who just do not understand the effect of injuries.
When Wells and Long were playing okay in 2013, the Rams OL was ranked 13th by PFF.
It’s similar to people blaming all of 2007 on Bulger when that year the OL lost 10 guys to injury, including 4 for the season. There were people who could never get their heads around the fact that the OL injuries made a difference.
The issue with Long in 2013 was whether he had recovered enough from 2 arm injuries to play effectively. Well, he played fine that year…not like his old pro-bowl self, but effectively in a play action offense. The 2 arms did not foreshadow 2 knees. Anyone who thinks so, IMO, is just being superstitious.
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znModeratorCleveland hanging in there with the undefeated Broncos:
Denver 16
Cleve 14
with nine mins left.w
vCleveland is better than people are giving them credit for.
Still beatable though.
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znModeratorWell how do you guys view Snisher’s free-agent signings
so far?Cortland Finnegan, J. Cook, Jake Long, K Britt,
William Hayes…who else?w
vTrades AND FAs:
Good: Hayes, Barron
Okay to Good-ish: Langford, Fairley, Ayers, Chris Williams, Barksdale, Richardson, Turner, Britt, Clemens, Dunbar, Reynolds
Unlucky: Long, Wells, Finnegan
Bad: Cook, joseph.
I would say it was okay to good-ish if it weren’t for the bad luck with guys getting injured.
Cook was a bad signing though, no 2 ways about it.
Mostly, however, what they did was sign inexpensive role players and rotation types. Look at the “okay to good-ish” list.
The UDFA list is far better though.
…
znModeratorI ended up with Washington/Jets. Jets have the #1 ranked defense. Washington #9. Jets are Ryan Fitzpatrick’s team du jour. Not compelling reasons to watch, but, the remote just drifted that way so I went with it.
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znModeratorfrom off the net
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fearsomefour
I see Foles create pressure sometimes by rolling to his right, always to his right, when he feels pressure that may not be there. In the Washington game there was a play where Robinson blocked his man down inside….there was no one to to Foles left, feeling pressure that wasn’t really there he rolled to his right….running past Saffold who had his back to Foles, Saffolds guy just peeled off and gave chase. He created pressure on that play.
It is a mix of things. The O line has certainly done their part to create pressure….not picking up simples twists or stunts (again), whiffing on blocks and not having a consistent running game. Foles does his part as well. Until the running game works well enough where play action has meaning some struggle with both will continue I think.
This is the knock of Foles. Slow through progressions and finding secondary guys. Leads to plenty of check downs too. In Philly throwing to RBs is a decent chunk of the offense. Here it is a lack of early down production. The running and play action is what Foles needs more than anything. If that doesn’t develop I think Foles will continue to be up and down. His last 13 games (after his “dream” season) he has 19 TDs and 15 INTs. Thats who he is without extra help from the O in my opinion.
Some follow-up.
==fearsomefour
For offenses to work, really work, there are so many components.
Everyone gets frustrated at a 5 yard pass on a 3 and 9. There are plenty of times where that is the only choice the QB because of blitzs/coverage. Because the team is in the third and long the D is more easily able to dictate where the pass is going. There are plenty of times the QB is forced to the check down. A guy like Rivers in San Diego is endlessly taking check downs this year, it has replaced their running game. Four to five yards a play is plenty of first downs, consistently executing run or pass is the key, obviously.
The big reduction in penalties I have taken as a sign of major progress for the O line and the team as a whole. I believe it is progressing. No team can be totally one sided in the NFL, the defenses are just too good. Teams lucky enough to have one of the few top tier QBs can get away with a lot more on O, we are not one of those teams.
The run game should do a lot to fix the pass blocking. I think we are in for a better second half (not that we are at the half way point yet).
The play action is the key for the passing game in this offense. The running game and time that that and play action buys. Running 35 short pass plays with a few long attempts mixed in is not what the O is going to be.
znModeratorOr…if that doesn’t get your heart racing…Bills/Bengals.
That could be good, though odds say the Bengals thrash em.
znModeratorfrom Teams target Vernon Davis, Jared Cook as tight end market heats up
JASON LA CANFORA
Several teams are exploring upgrading at tight end ahead of next month’s NFL trade deadline, with the 49ers and Rams fielding recent calls exploring the availability of Vernon Davis and Jared Cook, respectively, according to multiple league sources. Both clubs appear open to that possibility, and while no deals are imminent at this time, they could well come to pass prior to the Nov. 3 deadline.
…
Cook’s contract makes a move for him trickier, but that has not stopped teams from at least making exploratory phone calls. He has two years, worth $7 million a season, left on his deal beyond 2015, but all of his guaranteed money is paid, so a team could part with him in the offseason without cap or cash ramifications. His production has been spotty, but he does have the capacity to make explosive plays. It may prove difficult for the Rams to get the kind of return they would hope given the expense involved in picking up the contract, but with tight end Lance Kendricks under contract in St. Louis through 2018, teams will continue to gauge Cook’s value ahead of the deadline.
Several NFL executives believe this could be a more fertile trade deadline than normal, with clubs now adjusted to the later deadline and with there being a growing delineation between the haves and the have nots, with half a dozen teams undefeated and a legion of clubs with one win or less.
October 18, 2015 at 10:26 am in reply to: Minnesota Vikings: Should the team move on from Cordarrelle Patterson? #32537znModeratorIt would double the “blame the OC”
threads, I betI see you post at the herd now and then. One fair warning: don’t talk like that there. They are strong there with the “blame the OC” force. Deviations are met with baffled questionings of your sanity and common sense (I exaggerate for fun).
znModeratorIf some damm team or other hadn’t taken out Roethlisberger, then the Cards/Steelers game would be “must see tv.” For me.
And I don’t want to see Patz v. Colts. I get enough of the Patz as it is.
October 18, 2015 at 9:32 am in reply to: A closer look at what could be next for Rams and Saffold #32532znModeratorSay, if Saffold was still on IR, his salary would be guaranteed, I think. That is maybe one reason why they decided to do his surgery now. So, he would be healed by March 3.
Looking at all that, it seems like it would be more disruptive to let him go. If they have abundant cap space (granted before signing anyone) then rather than bring in a free agent, why not stay with Saffold.
My only problem with that is, no one really knows why he wasn’t playing well. Maybe he really never got over his injury from the summer.
One thing about shoulder surgeries. It is possible that shoulder surgeries, or at least some kinds, make the shoulder stronger. That’s unlike other injuries, which make that part of the body (whatever it is) less effective (like a knee).
I have no preference in this…just thinking out loud.
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znModeratorEagles ‘ Sam Bradford faces the coach who drafted him
Steve Spagnuolo’s first year as head coach of the St. Louis Rams back in 2009 ended 1-15, which gave the Rams the first pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.
They used the pick to select quarterback Sam Bradford out of Oklahoma.
Six years later, Bradford, after two torn ACLs, is now the quarterback of the Eagles; and Spagnuolo, after a 2-14 season in 2011, has returned to the place that earned him the head coaching position, as the Giants’ defensive coordinator.
Monday night the two will go head to head for the first time in what is also a crucial game in the NFC East standings.
“I’m very grateful to Coach Spags, I really am, Bradford said, as he prepared for the Giants’ defense. “He gave me my chance in St. Louis. When we were together there in St. Louis we were very close. I learned a lot from him, especially about defense, my first two years in the league.”
EAGLES: Murray or Mathews?
Bradford had a good rookie season for the Rams and “Spags”, good enough to earn the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award as the Rams went 7-9 and just missed the playoffs. He completed 60 percent of his passes for 3,512 yards with 18 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.
Injuries began for Bradford in ’11 when he missed all of parts of seven games, the Rams tumbled and Spagnuole was fired.
After tearing his ACL the first time in 2013, and then a second time in the 2014 preseason, current Rams head coach Jeff Fisher decided to part ways with the former No. 1 overall pick and sent him to Chip Kelly and the Eagles for Nick Foles and a 2016 second-round pick.
Now as Bradford continues his comeback he faces a new foe and old friend in his biggest game as an Eagles thus far.
Is there an advantage for him, knowing what kind of defense Spagnuolo likes to play?
“As far as my knowledge of his defense it’s been a long time,” Bradford said. “But there is some familiarity. When I was going against his defense back then we were in a lot (two back), now teams use a lot more (one back, three wide receiver sets). So a lot has changed.
“I don’t know if there’s an advantage. It’s been a long time since we worked together. It’s really hard to say.”
znModeratorshould be an exciting next 11 games.
Red games = tougher
Blue games = less toughOctober 25 Cleveland Browns
November 1 San Francisco 49ers
November 8 @ Minnesota Vikings
November 15 Chicago Bears
November 22 @ Baltimore Ravens
November 29 @ Cincinnati Bengals
December 6 Arizona Cardinals
December 13 Detroit Lions
Thu December 17 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
December 27 @ Seattle Seahawks
January 3 @ San Francisco 49ersThey need to win 3 of the 5 red games, and 5 of the 6 blue games, or any combination (eg. 4 red games + 4 blue games).
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October 18, 2015 at 12:50 am in reply to: A closer look at what could be next for Rams and Saffold #32523znModeratorThat is fine. I fixed it. cause I mostly did it to focus on Saffold. Making a separate thread is ok.
My bad. Next time I will ask first. Every now and then I get an itchy trigger finger. Fair enough?
October 18, 2015 at 12:19 am in reply to: A closer look at what could be next for Rams and Saffold #32516znModeratorYou know I move some of these things because I think they would make cool threads. I hope you don’t mind.
For example I think this is a very interesting point:
I can’t remember a time when the Rams have had this much talent, draft capitol, and cap space all in combination.
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