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znModeratorChris Mortensen @mortreport ·
#STLPick Todd Gurley. Had him as #2 player on board behind Mariota. Feel he’s best RB to come into NFL since AP. Will NOT rush him.
znModeratorWho is blocking for Gurley? Is Tre Mason on the trade block? Once Scherff was gone, I thought trade down made sense, and then draft an Olineman.
The Rams have had good lines (when healthy) that didn’t have anyone on them even remotely like Scherf.
znModeratorWell I learned tonight that ACL injuries do not register on rose colored glasses.
If they’ve healed they don’t.
znModeratorStill looking for OL, WR, QB. No help in places we needed it.
My view? Of those they only needed OL. With a strong running game they can make do at WR. I doubt there was a qb they could have gotten this year who is an improvement over Keenum. As for OL, it’s an OL deep draft.
It makes them better because (ideally) with a rotation of Gurley and Mason, they can run on anyone.
I expect any OL the Rams put on the field in week 1 will be better than any OL Seattle has had in the last 2 years, frankly, and Seattle could run on anyone. And I say that about the Rams even though I don’t know yet who all 5 on the starting OL will be.
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znModeratorWell I didn’t “call it.” I didn’t say they would draft Gurley.
But, I can endorse it.
I assume Gurley will be healthy and that they will have a 1A and 1B two rotating RBs set up with Gurley and Mason.
And that could be really really good.
.
znModeratorfrom off the net
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JYB
Shefter said Rams’ top players were Mariota and Gurley
znModeratorfrom off the net
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alyoshamucci
LOVE the pick…I screamed and ran around the house. Best player on the board, freak athlete.
Best RB I’ve ever scouted. I wanted him in horns 3 years. I was only sad we drafted mason last year because I thought it meant we couldn’t take Gurley this year.
znModerator— Albert Breer @AlbertBreer
Georgia RB Todd Gurley is the No. 1 overall player on the Rams’ board. So … Easy pick for them.baldinger on Gurley
Todd Gurley most talented player in 2015 NFL Draft
By Bryan Fischer
The 2015 NFL Draft might finally be the one that ends the talk of running backs being devalued. At least two players at the position could be taken in the first round this year, and several others will probably be off the board before the end of Day 2 in Chicago.
One of this year’s most debated running backs is Georgia’s Todd Gurley, who, had he not torn his ACL last season, would seemingly have been a lock as a top-10 pick. Instead, where Gurley goes in the draft is a mystery that will last until draft day.
Count NFL Media analyst Brian Baldinger among those who believe Gurley’s talent makes him too good to pass up — assuming your team doctors have cleared his knee. In fact, Gurley is Baldinger’s choice as the most talented player in the draft, and he even compared Gurley to another superstar at the position in the NFL.
“The talent and the ability that he has is unquestioned,” Baldinger said. “This guy knows how to go North-South, he’s got all of the agility. We’ve got to see about the knee, I know. But I just have this feeling this guy is going to be special. A lot in the way I thought about Adrian Peterson coming out of Oklahoma in 2007 and how he was going to be special, I feel the same way about this kid.”
NFL Media analyst Daniel Jeremiah, who has long touted Leonard Williams as his most talented player in the draft and ranks him No. 1 in his Top 50 prospects, ranks Gurley as his No. 12 prospect.
Peterson burst onto the scene in the league after the Vikings selected him with the seventh overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, and he’s been one of the most consistent and productive players in the league when he’s been on the field.
Still, that’s a high bar for Gurley to clear, even if he’s recovering from the same injury Peterson suffered in the 2011 season, at a much later stage in his career.
NFL.com mock drafts have Gurley going as high as No. 6 overall to the New York Jets and as low as No. 26 to the Baltimore Ravens, quite a wide spread for one of the top players at his position.
No matter where Gurley winds up though, he’ll certainly be entering the league with high expectations.
znModeratorIan Rapoport@RapSheet
Hard to gauge consensus on draft prospects. Know one team has #UGA’s Todd Gurley No. 1 overall on the board. Safe to say, not everyone does
10:02 AM – 29 Apr 2015— Albert Breer @AlbertBreer
Georgia RB Todd Gurley is the No. 1 overall player on the Rams’ board. So … Easy pick for them.znModeratorso… there’s a rumor that the rams are trying to trade up to number 2…
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Rams receiving a few calls from teams interested in trading up to No. 10.
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Rams call Titans about No. 2 spot (Mariota)
By Jim Thomas
Marcus Mariota and the Rams? Well, the team talked to Tennessee about the No. 2 overall spot according to a couple of sources. But one of those sources said the conversation resulted in “nothing meaningful.”
So it may have been exploratory at best on the part of the Rams, who may take a quarterback sometime over the three-day draft, which starts Thursday night.
According to the Tennessean in Nashville, the Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Jets, and the Rams have all shown interest in moving up to the No. 2 spot for Mariota, the quarterback from Oregon.
If the Rams stay at No. 10 overall, the most likely selection is an offensive lineman _ either Iowa’s Brandon Scherff, Stanford’s Andrus Peat, or possibly Ereck Flowers of Miami (Fla.)
It was finally confirmed Thursday afternoon that Scherff did not make a pre-draft visit to Rams Park. But the Rams remain interested in him and he’s thought to be highly-rated on their draft board.
All nine previous first_ or second-round draft picks by coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead over their prior three Rams drafts have been players who made pre-draft visits to Rams Park.
But this may simply be a case where the Rams knew enough about Scherff _ feeling he was clean medically and in terms of character _ so they didn’t think a visit was necessary. That was the case last year with Notre Dame’s Zack Martin, whom the team liked a lot but ended up going to Dallas where he became a Pro Bowl guard as a rookie.
It seems all but a certainty that the Rams won’t have LSU tackle/guard La’el Collins in their plans. Collins is generally considered among the top four offensive line prospects in this year’s draft, along with Scherff, Peat, and Flowers.
Baton Rouge, La., police want to question Collins after his ex-girlfriend was murdered, although Collins is not considered a suspect. According to reports, he hasn’t seen her since September. But Collins may be asked to take a paternity test because the ex-girlfriend, Brittany Mills, was pregnant at the time she was murdered and the baby survived.
With NFL teams apparently backing off Collins just hours before the draft, Collins’ agent is petitioning to take Collins out of the draft, let him clear his name, and then enter the supplemental draft this summer.
April 30, 2015 at 6:11 pm in reply to: your relation to this season is…? same as usual? losing interest? etc? #23449znModeratorThis thread is interesting. Diverse and completely non-judgemental. I am bumping it again in hopes of keeping it going.
znModeratorHope that’s okay.
It is not. A warrant has been issued for your arrest.
znModeratorbnw, I moved your vid to the “stadium wars” thread. Hope that’s okay.
znModeratorBernie: Goodell says only one stadium for LA
By Bernie Miklasz
In an interview with Charlie Rose of “CBS This Morning,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league will have to decide between two stadium proposals in the Los Angeles area.
“We have two proposed, but we have to pick one or the other,” Goodell told Rose. “It’s not likely we’ll pick both stadiums.”
That’s an understatement.
Not that this news should surprise anyone that’s paid attention to the Los Angeles saga. The NFL wasn’t going to allow three teams to move from their current markets to set up in two stadiums in Los Angeles.
So it will come down to a choice between Stan Kroenke’s plan in Inglewood and the Carson proposal that would house the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders, who are partnering on the project.
Kroenke, the Rams owner, aggressively tried to jump the line and stake a claim on the LA market by announcing his stadium plan in early January.
The Chargers and Raiders countered on Feb. 19 by announcing their joint intention to construct the Carson stadium.
Kroenke’s proposed venue ($1.86 billion) is more extravagant and exciting.
The Carson proposal ($1.7 billion) offers better freeway access and can give the NFL a two-team presence in Los Angeles.
Of course, given the wheeling, dealing and conniving that takes place in the NFL it’s possible for Kroenke to entice the Raiders or Chargers to join him in Inglewood.
It’s strongly believed that Kroenke would like to have the only team in the LA market. But having a tenant and a second NFL team in his I-wood complex presumably would be preferable to getting shut out of Los Angeles altogether.
And if Kroenke can lure the Chargers or Raiders to Inglewood, the team that doesn’t end up with a new stadium in SoCal could look to St. Louis for a new start.
Needless to say, Kroenke may not receive league approval to move. And then he’d have to make a big decision between staying in St. Louis for 2016 — or bolting to LA to likely set off a pitched battle that would pit NFL lawyers vs. the Kroenke lawyers.
Just a reminder:
• The NFL will do what it wants to do. Words are meaningless. And relocation rules are meaningless until the NFL proves otherwise.
• This game is far from over; there are many variables in play.
• The strategy will take more turns.
• The NFL will do what it wants to do.
• And finally … the NFL will do what it wants to do.
As for now …
“In San Diego, Oakland or St. Louis we would like to know can a stadium get built there and can a team be successful long-term,” Goodell told Rose.
(The “can a team be successful long-term” gives the NFL the wiggle room to justify any decision.)
St. Louis has clearly made more progress on the stadium front. San Diego and Oakland are trying to catch up.
There isn’t much hope for a new stadium in Oakland, and San Diego’s efforts have failed (at least so far) to satisfy the Chargers.
As for the ongoing effort in St. Louis, Goodell offered encouraging words Friday in comments made at an annual gathering of the Associated Press Sports Editors.
In remarks that were oddly underplayed or ignored nationally and in St. Louis, Goodell said:
“We think it’s exciting. We think they’ve made a lot of progress. To the point where they’ve identified the site, identified various funding sources, identified design plans, that we think is responsive to having a franchise be successful in St. Louis. I would tell you that I think they’re continuing down a path that is a very positive path.”
“I think we’ve been very clear with every community, including the L.A. communities, that we want to see real progress,” Goodell said. “It has to be substantial. … This is not a new issue to any of these communities, including San Diego. I think this is 13 or 14 years they’ve been working on a stadium.”
Contrast that to comments made by Goodell when assessing the situation in Oakland and San Diego.
“I think we’ve been very clear with every community, including the L.A. communities, that we want to see real progress,” Goodell told the editors. “It has to be substantial. This is not a new issue to any of these communities, including San Diego. I think this is 13 or 14 years they’ve been working on a stadium.”
Goodell, of course, is excited by both stadium plans in LA, saying that they have the potential “to be successful for generations going forward.”
But now, according to Goodell, the NFL will choose only one.
znModeratorI think Kroenke has been very wise to see why the Rams have lost
I wouldn’t put it that way but I agree with the general idea.
.
znModerator— Tony Pauline (@TonyPauline) April 30, 2015
Told Cowboys, Texans, Cardinals have been calling St Louis Rams trying to strike a deal for Michael Brockers. Dolphins also interested.znModeratorRams drafting a quarterback is no sure thing
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/17993/rams-drafting-a-quarterback-is-no-sure-thing
EARTH CITY, Mo. — Their nationwide quarterback barnstorming tour now complete, St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead are all set to take a signal-caller in this week’s NFL draft. Right?
“Well, there’s a possibility to take a quarterback or not take a quarterback,” Fisher said. “It really depends on how things unfold. Aside from the top two, which I think everyone assumes will be gone, there are some players in this draft that can come in and help you. We’re very excited about what we’ve seen here the last week and a half with Nick [Foles] and what he’s done in the offseason program. I think we’re better at the position. We’re healthy right now and there’s some good things ahead as far as that’s concerned. It doesn’t mean to say there’s not a guy at a certain point that we like that we can pass up.”
At March’s owners meetings, Fisher indicated that it was possible the Rams would take a quarterback this year but he still left plenty of wiggle room. But the speculation that the Rams were strong in the quarterback market went up a notch when Fisher, Snead and some of their staff set out to see the draft’s top quarterbacks in person.
It was a tour of the country that included stops at Oregon to see Marcus Mariota, Oregon State for Sean Mannion, UCLA for Brett Hundley, Baylor for Bryce Petty, Florida State for Jameis Winston and Colorado State for Garrett Grayson.
At this point, there’s little to no chance that Winston or Mariota will be available when the Rams pick at No. 10, though it’s believed that Mariota is one of the top — if not the top — players on the Rams’ board. A trade up for Mariota can’t be entirely ruled out though it’s unlikely the Rams would pay the freight to move up to No. 2 to secure him.
If Mariota managed to slip a few spots beyond that, the Rams could be in play. But the more likely scenario is that both quarterbacks will be long gone before the Rams make their pick.
“Number one, it’s due diligence,” Snead said. “There’s over 8,000 pages of noise out there. But, when you run some mock draft scenarios and the quarterbacks are falling to you, you don’t want that to occur and you didn’t prepare for it. Obviously, if you did the percentages, it’s probably not occurring. But if you want to count it as doing your due diligence, that’s what it is.”
If the Rams do decide to address quarterback, it’s a better bet that it happens on Day
2. Petty, Grayson and Mannion, perhaps in that order, could be possible options.
Petty brings perhaps the best arm and production of the trio but also comes with the biggest learning curve after never even spitting out a play in a huddle until January’s Senior Bowl. Mannion looks the part but doesn’t have the consistent production, and Grayson could be considered a happy medium coming from a more NFL-style offense but more average physical tools.
Having seen all three up close, Fisher said the Rams had the chance to get to know them a little deeper.
“The perception is, you fly into town, you work the player out and you leave, and that’s not necessarily the case,” Fisher said. “We spend quality time with the player in the classroom. We get him on the board. It’s an extensive interview. We actually spend at least the same amount of time in the classroom as we do on the field. It’s extremely valuable.”
As valuable as it might be, it also means the Rams had a chance to see the warts of each potential pick. Winston and Mariota are widely regarded as the only two franchise quarterbacks in the draft. That doesn’t mean that one taken after them won’t succeed, just that the process of finding that one is more difficult.
For the Rams, the need for a possible long-term quarterback remains but they believe that Nick Foles could emerge as that guy and with needs at other positions, it doesn’t make sense to shoehorn a quarterback into this year’s draft simply for the sake of doing it.
For example, would a long-term project like Petty make more sense than a possible Day 1 starter like Duke guard Laken Tomlinson? Those are the kinds of questions the Rams will have to answer over the next three days and those answers might ultimately lead to the conclusion that the team once again puts drafting a quarterback on the back burner.
April 30, 2015 at 8:26 am in reply to: OL in the draft: Rams like Flowers? … Smith, Fisher, etc. #23404znModerator——————–
Daniel Jeremiah @MoveTheSticks
1 nugget before bed…told STL loves Flowers & MIA loves Parker. Seems like an easy trade to make…STL can drop & still get their guy
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Post Miami pro day: Ereck Flowers
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nfl/carolina-panthers/article17230265.html
In an NFL draft full of intriguing prospects, there may be no one more enigmatic than Miami Hurricanes offensive tackle Ereck Flowers.
After Wednesday’s pro day that kept him as a probable first-rounder in this month’s draft, Flowers continues to puzzle. He has the strength and athleticism to succeed at left tackle in the NFL, but his technique lags behind other first-round prospects.
Flowers was one of the most impactful players for a Hurricanes squad full of future NFL players this year, but he let his actions do the talking and granted no media access last season.
And despite the complexities of the pre-draft process, Flowers and his father decided against hiring an agent. But Flowers’ talent and toughness are undeniable, and with no long-term answer at offensive tackle on the Panthers’ roster, he could be the pick at No. 25 for Carolina.
“He’s got great feet, really good balance,” Jason Taylor, a former All-Pro defensive end for the Miami Dolphins, said Wednesday at the Hurricanes’ pro day. “He played the right side and the left side, and he’s interesting. He has the disposition of a right tackle with a mean, nasty streak – kind of a road grader. But (he has) the athleticism and patience to play the left side. He has the consistent hand placement and punch to play on the left side.”
The Panthers liked him enough to send offensive line coach John Matsko to the Miami area on March 20 to have dinner with Flowers and work him out. And one team source indicated “it’d be close” when asked if Flowers, 21, could fall to the Panthers at No. 25.
But Flowers, like all NFL prospects, has question marks.
Former NFL defensive tackle Stephen White praised him in a recent film breakdown for SBNation.com. But what concerns White the most about Flowers is his weight (329 pounds, though he looked slimmer at pro day), and Flowers consistently having a high stance at the snap.
“Most of what I didn’t like about Flowers is readily correctable,” White wrote. “While Flowers is no doubt a big, strong man – who was about to play pretty good football in spite of poor pad level against other college players – he is about to enter a world where (almost) everybody is big and strong and powerful. There will be definitely be more than one opponent in five games who tests him under his chin on bull rushes no matter how big and strong he becomes because of his poor pad level.”
What Flowers lacks in technique he makes up in brute strength. He led all combine participants with 37 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press in February.
“I’ll never stop getting stronger,” Flowers said at the combine. “The day I stop getting stronger is the day I stop lifting weights so always look for improvement.”
Flowers did not speak with the media after his pro day, where he showed good, choppy steps in his pass-blocking sets and a violent punch on the bags. While his 40-yard dash wasn’t impressive at 5.31 seconds, Taylor didn’t care about that.
“As an offensive lineman, you aren’t running anywhere,” Taylor said. “It’s the phonebooth quicks, and I think he has that.”
Flowers is one of several first-round prospects at tackle. Iowa’s Brandon Scherff, Stanford’s Andrus Peat, LSU’s La’el Collins, Texas A&M’s Cedric Ogbuehi and Florida’s D.J. Humphries could all be selected on the first night of the draft.
Because of his technique issues, Flowers would likely begin his NFL career at right tackle as a team teaches him how to play left.
And occasionally, Taylor said, Flowers gets beaten on an inside move. Is that how the four-time All Pro would get past Flowers now?
“I’m not going to tell you how I’d beat him,” said Taylor, now 40 and an analyst for NBC Sports. “I can’t give that up. Those are state secrets. But I’m pretty confident that right now, today, he’d block the heck out of me.”
April 30, 2015 at 8:19 am in reply to: Cosell: on QBs, RBs, WRs/TEs, OL, DL, LBs, DBs – podcasts & vids #23402znModeratorCosell would put Perriman with Cooper and White
Mike Florio
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/category/rumor-mill/
The first round of the draft unfolds in five days. And it has been assumed for months that two receivers stand alone at the top of the class.
NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell thinks another player deserves to be mentioned with Alabama’s Amari Cooper and West Virginia’sKevin White: Breshad Perriman of Central Florida.
“I think Cooper is the top receiver prospect this year,” Cosell writes in an item for Yahoo! Sports. “But if you asked me who is No. 2 among White and Perriman, that’s a tougher question. I really like Perriman. I heard an interesting comparison on Perriman from a scout the other day: Denver Broncos receiver Demaryius Thomas. I can see that. Perriman is a big powerful, explosive, fast guy. Although he and White are about the same size, on film Perriman looks like the bigger guy. I could see ranking Perriman even with or ahead of White, although I’m in the minority on that.”
So Cosell actually puts Perriman ahead of White. When it comes to the draft, all it takes is one team planning to take a receiver to agree with Cosell.
We’ll find out Thursday night whether Perriman goes before White. Or whether White before Cooper. The only safe bet based on Cosell’s evaluation is that Perriman won’t go before Cooper.
znModeratorErving?
Apparently not.
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Daniel Jeremiah @MoveTheSticks
1 nugget before bed…told STL loves Flowers & MIA loves Parker. Seems like an easy trade to make…STL can drop & still get their guy
znModeratorFisher added: “We’ve got some good young players on our roster, that you’ve not seen play or haven’t played very much. But we’re developing players currently on our roster. So we feel good about it.”
Bernie: Feel-good Fisher needs O-line help
By Bernie Miklasz
The National Football League convenes its three-day draft Thursday night in Chicago, and presumably the Rams will show up and make their selections, though we can’t be entirely certain of that given the team’s eerily quiet offseason.
I mean, the Rams aren’t obligated to make any picks, are they? Can’t the franchise just shut down and continue to do as little as possible to generate local interest while waiting to see if owner Stan Kroenke receives league permission to order the moving vans?
Given the club’s scant activity in upgrading the roster or promoting ticket sales, suspicious minds would accuse the Rams of trying to sabotage the market.
Admittedly, the Rams’ swap of quarterbacks was a big deal. Sending Sam Bradford’s formidable 2015 salary and his fragile left knee to Philadelphia in exchange for Nick Foles was a trade that had the NFL pundit class buzzing.
And it’s a switch that could actually benefit the Rams if the dynamic 2013 version of Foles shows up instead of the battered and mediocre Foles of 2014.
I also liked the Rams’ free-agent signings of the trimmer and presumably more motivated defensive tackle Nick Fairley and outside linebacker Akeem Ayers.
All of that is fine, but this team still doesn’t have a true playmaker on offense. And then there’s the big problem with the offensive line: The Rams don’t have one. The Rams did sign tackle-guard Garrett Reynolds for depth, but as of now they’re still in need of multiple starters up front.
Where have you gone, Tootie Robbins?
The Rams figure to use this draft to strengthen a barren O-line, but considering coach Jeff Fisher’s passion for defense you can never be certain.
The Rams’ lack of urgency in suturing a broken offensive line is startling. When quizzed about the weakest part of the roster Tuesday, Fisher replied, “I feel good about it.”
Are we supposed to draw comfort from that?
From what we can tell, Fisher feels good about everything, including his three-season 20-27-1 record as Rams coach that includes last season’s step-back 6-10 mark in what was supposed to be a breakthrough year.
Understand that Fisher is that rare pro coach/manager who has little to worry about, especially job security.
NFL.com recently placed Fisher on a five-name list of “the untouchables,” among NFL head coaches.
Really?
I work in a sports town where future Hall of Fame hockey coach Ken Hitchcock faces a possible dismissal after leading the Blues to the NHL’s best regular-season record since being hired Nov. 7, 2011. His Blues flopped in the postseason — but at least they got there.
And an outraged percentage of fans seriously wondered if manager Mike Matheny was in danger of losing his job after the Cardinals lost the 2014 National League championship series to San Francisco — that, after he’d guided the team to the NLCS in each of his three seasons in the job.
And Fisher is untouchable?
Evidently. Different standards for different franchises. And for some reason Fisher carries the largest free pass of any coach or manager in North American pro team sports.
In his last 150 games as an NFL head coach, Fisher has a .430 winning percentage. He has posted only two winning records over his last 10 seasons. In 19 full seasons as an NFL head coach, Fisher has cranked out six winning seasons.
Fisher has coached 310 games in the NFL, which ranks 11th in league history for longevity. (With 16 games, he’ll crack the Top 10 this season.) The 10 NFL coaches who have coached more games than Fisher have combined for 31 league championships and 25 conference championships, and seven of the 10 own career winning percentages above .600.
Fisher’s career winning percentage is .524. His grandest accomplishment was a lone conference title, claimed by the 1999 Tennessee Titans squad that lost the Super Bowl to the “Greatest Show” Rams.
That was so long ago, the Edward Jones Dome was still being touted as an extravagant profit center and the noisiest, most imposing home-field venue in the NFL. Sweet memories.
Kroenke is paying Fisher $7 million a season. As they say: Nice work if you can get it.
And you wonder why Fisher feels pretty good? The man is the NFL head-coaching equivalent of a U.S. Supreme Court justice.
If, however, Fisher and GM Les Snead have designs to improve the team in a significant manner, I hope they’ll get the offense up to speed.
Fisher-Snead have done an effective job of constructing a playoff-caliber defense, but the Rams won’t end a 10-year postseason absence unless Fisher-Snead can get their team into the end zone more frequently.
In the first three seasons of Fisher ball, the Rams ranked 27th among 32 teams in touchdowns from scrimmage and were 29th in yards. In points by the offense — which excludes touchdowns that came on returns by the STL defense and special teams — the Rams have ranked 28th, 22nd and 23rd in scoring (respectively) in his three years.
Big plays? No. Over the past three seasons only four teams had fewer pass plays of 25 yards or longer, and the Rams’ average yards per passing attempt ranked 21st.
What about a bullying rushing attack? Well, no. Under Fisher the Rams are 19th in rushing yards per game and 28th in rushing touchdowns.
Nasty football was supposed to be Fisher’s speciality. Fisher put together a physical, imposing ground game during his years in Tennessee, but there hasn’t been much Rambo in his Rams. At least not on the offensive side of these skirmishes.
Hey, at least the Fisher-coached Rams committed the most penalties in the NFL between 2012 and ’14, getting flagged for 376 infractions for 3,126 yards. So there’s that.
Perhaps the 2015 draft will bring in the talent to push the Rams through to the winning side. If so, at least Fisher would have a legitimate reason to feel good about his work here.
znModeratorAdam Schefter @AdamSchefter · 13h 13 hours ago [as of 1:20 AM ET 4/30]
LSU’s La’el Collins voluntarily pulling himself out of CHIC to return to La. to meet with police in effort to clear his name, per sources.
Collins is projected to be a first-round pick in the draft, which begins Thursday. Sources told ESPN a handful of teams have become aware of the incident and would like to know if police determine that Collins is the father of the infant who was delivered after Mills’ death. The baby still is receiving medical treatment.
Police told the Baton Rouge Advocate newspaper that investigators believe, from a preliminary investigation, that Mills opened her door to someone who wanted to use her car and was shot multiple times after she refused.
Neighbors said they heard two gunshots about 10:30 p.m. Friday. They said the door to Mills’ apartment was ajar when police arrived.
znModeratorbeing at 14 scares me because we could miss on the OT we need.
Erving?
znModeratorDorial Green-Beckham is riskiest player in NFL draft
After the 2011 football season, every major scouting service had Dorial Green-Beckham, the 6-4 receiver from Hillcrest High School in Missouri, as the top overall player in the country. He finished his high school career with over 6,000 receiving yards and 75 receiving touchdowns, both national prep records.
The future couldn’t be brighter for Green-Beckham. His story off the field was more impressive: A former foster child, he was eventually adopted by his high school coach, who turned him into a phenomenal athlete. Green-Beckham opted to stay in his home state to play for the University of Missouri, turning down every other major college in the country.
But now, just four short years later, he’ll have to overcome drug, domestic violence and maturity issues — the trifecta of NFL career calamities — in the hope that teams don’t turn him down on draft day.
Drug Concerns
It wasn’t long before Green-Beckham gained a reputation off the field while at Missouri. He, along with two other freshmen, were arrested just outside of the football stadium by university police on charges of having 35 grams or less of marijuana in their possession. All three were suspended just one game and were to be given “other disciplinary action” by the team, privately.
Green-Beckham was able to escape the incident with a missed game and a guilty plea to a reduced charge of trespassing, paying just a fine.
The next on-record drug charge was just after his sophomore season, this time arrested in Springfield, Mo. He was booked on a charge of marijuana possession with the intent to distribute (found with a pound of marijuana), but was later released without charges being filed.
It’s clear that the two reported marijuana charges Green-Beckham has faced in college haven’t set a precedent for ramifications for his actions. In less than a three-year period, he was arrested for multiple marijuana charges, including once with a full pound, yet faced a combined one game suspension.
By comparison, Browns receiver Josh Gordon, coming out of Baylor, was never arrested for marijuana possession and his biggest red flag was a failed drug test. Gordon may now be the poster boy for marijuana-using players in today’s NFL, but Green-Beckham’s background seems far more extreme and disconcerting than Gordon’s was out of college. His ability to evade adequate punishment likely hasn’t reinforced aversion to marijuana use in the future.
Domestic Violence
Even after Green-Beckham’s drug charges, Missouri was prepared to keep him on the roster. However, an incident this past spring forced head coach Gary Pinkel’s hand when it came to the star receiver.
Green-Beckham broke into his girlfriend’s home in anger, kicking down the door. He proceeded to throw another victim down several stairs and go after his girlfriend at the time, according to the police report. Charges were never filed after the victim failed to cooperate. Instead, Green-Beckham again escaped criminal punishment, but was finally given the boot by Missouri. He transferred to Oklahoma but was not ineligible.
By comparison, Ray Rice had an instance of inexcusable violence and disrespect for his eventual wife, but no prior concerns stemming from his character. Green-Beckman unlawfully entered a residence and in a fit of rage caused injuries toward a woman, and was able to escape all punishment. Rice had to pay for his domestic violence potentially with his career. Green-Beckham’s incident is arguably worse, and the dangerous pattern shows that he doesn’t see the true issues with his actions.
Maturity
Instability in a person’s childhood can lead them down many paths, including remarkable focus and drive, a downward view of life stemming from trust issues, or anything in between.
Based on Green-Beckham’s immediate and persistent off-field issues in his college career, it’s abundantly clear that he hasn’t proven he’s an individual that NFL teams can trust.
He’s the recipient of a protective, coddled college lifestyle with no ramifications. The “anything goes” treatment will remind NFL teams of Johnny Manziel and Tyrann Mathieu.
Green-Beckham’s maturity will be the biggest question mark on his scouting report. Talent-wise, outside of getting in the weight room more and learning more of the general nuances of the position, he checks all the boxes.
But in today’s NFL, off-field issues have grown into more than concerns for public relations departments: They’ve begun to be truly intolerable for roster building, forming long-term expectations and creating locker room chemistry. Green-Beckham is a remarkable talent. But every indication of his history paints a career path potentially more disheartening than Gordon’s thus far.
A player drafted in the first round should be expected to become a cornerstone of a franchise. Second-round picks should be viewed as expected long-term starters.
While Green-Beckham’s talent level indicates he could grow into one of the league’s best receivers, it’s a stretch for any team to fully expect him to approach stability in the league without a few incidents along the way. He’ll have a host of questions to answer and hoops to jump through for teams to feel comfortable with him. And, as of now, it’ll take a team with leadership, stability, and a whole lot of guts to draft Green-Beckham in the first two rounds of the 2015 NFL Draft.
znModeratorToo much has been going on, but I should be able to be on now.
Between health issues, having to move my 73 yo dad in with me on very short notice and the huddle hating my phone which is all I’ve been on (typing this message on my phone now), I just had to take a break.
But I been really missing everyone and will try to dust off my comp and jump into the chat if anyone else is on during the Draft.
Hope everyone has been well and I very much look forward to reconnecting with everyone later today!
Did you bring cake like I asked? Hmmm?
Nevermind. Here’s some for YOU:
Always good to have you around Mack. Hope you’re healthy and well.
.
znModeratorPolice say they haven’t heard from La’el Collins
Mike Floriohttp://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/04/29/police-say-they-havent-heard-from-lael-collins/
Teams that want clarity regarding tackle La’El Collins before the draft starts most likely won’t be getting it.
According to Ross Dellenger and Ben Wallace of the New Orleans Advocate, neither Collins nor his lawyer had contacted detectives in Baton Rouge as of Wednesday evening to schedule an interview regarding the death of 29-year-old Brittney Mills. Police have said that Collins is not a suspect.
As one league source said on Wednesday, if Collins had no connection to the crime of any kind, he should be doing everything he can to meet with police ASAP, so that police can be persuaded to give Collins full clearance before the draft begins. Absent a declaration from the authorities ruling Collins out, how can any team draft him — in any round?
So why is Collins delaying the process? One reasonable conclusion would be that Collins has opted to protect his liberty over his draft stock, which means that Collins has reason to believe that, based on what he tells police, he could still become a suspect.
Notwithstanding the recent quip from Cardinals G.M. Steve Keim regarding the notion that teams would excuse Hannibal Lecter’s behavior as an eating disorder if he could run the 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds, the NFL has changed since the Ray Rice video emerged in September. Despite the value associated with a first-round talent who slides to round three or lower, embracing someone who hasn’t been cleared of responsibility for the murder of a pregnant woman could set the stage for a P.R. nightmare.
Apart from public relations concerns, what employer would want to hire a person who possibly will be implicated at some point in such a heinous crime? That’s why Collins needs to be cleared before any team can justify hiring him.
znModeratorplease let this happen.
Problem is, I think, Miami doesn’t have a 3rd round pick.
I guess they have moved on from the Brandon Gibson experiment.
znModeratorBy
Peter Kinghttp://mmqb.si.com/2015/04/29/lael-collins-nfl-draft-rumors-buzz-mailbag/
I think La’el Collins, the LSU tackle projected to be a first-round draft choice, has a problem. A pregnant woman Collins apparently knew was murdered last week in Louisiana, and police want to speak with Collins. Police say he is not a suspect. But one team I talked to that is interested in drafting a tackle in the first round is now re-thinking whether Collins will even be on its board on Thursday night. This team’s thinking goes: How can you draft a guy who’s being sought in connection with the death of a woman, even if police are saying now he isn’t a suspect? He needs to be exonerated by Thursday. Fair or unfair, Collins needs to address this today, and with finality.
znModeratorThe Truth About Marcus Mariota
He was nearly perfect in a Heisman-winning campaign last season. Nonetheless, no prospect is under more scrutiny right now than the Oregon quarterback
By Peter King
http://mmqb.si.com/2015/03/04/2015-draft-marcus-mariota-oregon-scott-frost/
With all due respect to pockmarked Jameis Winston, off-field landmine Dorial Green-Beckham and small-school (Hobart!) marvel Ali Marpet, Marcus Mariota has more coaches and scouts staying up nights watching video than any other player in the 2015 draft. Coaches and scouts of teams selecting high in the first round, in particular.
“I want to love him,” said one coach of a quarterback-needy team at the combine. “There’s so much about the player and the person to love. And I think I might end up loving him. But right now I like him a lot. I’m not positive what kind of NFL player he’s going to be.’’
I think NFL teams might be overthinking Mariota because he took just five snaps under center in 2014 (he was in shotgun 99.4 percent of the time), because he has not huddled since high school, because he has not stared into the eyes of his linemen and made a pre-snap play call since high school, because he is such a nice and polite guy that many NFL people wonder if he has the nasty streak to bark at a teammate who messes up, and because the Oregon offense is so fast-paced (the Ducks ran 12 plays per game more in 2014 than Green Bay, the highest-scoring NFL offense) that it’s tough to get a handle on how he’ll transition to the NFL game.
Overthinking Mariota is easy to do with a franchise’s future on the line, especially with 17 scouting weeks between the end of the regular season and the first night of the draft. That’s what I think: Teams are thinking too much. But I’m not drafting a quarterback on April 30, am I?
* * *
Last season, Mariota accounted for 57 touchdowns in 15 games: 42 passing, 15 rushing. With six turnovers all season. Four touchdowns a game. Who does that?
Tom Brady’s yards-per-pass-attempt last year: 7.1. Mariota’s: 10.0.
Oregon scored more than 40 points in a game 12 times in 2014. But points in an Oregon game are like money in a Monopoly game. There’s something a little phony about it. This is a big decision. We will hold a general manager’s feet to the fire over the choice of a first-round quarterback. That’s why we have to talk flaws.
1. Niceness. He’s too nice. Everybody in the NFL thinks that. Take this exchange I had with him at the combine. At Oregon, a combination of hand signals and those silly rectangular boards with weird photos and symbols on them relayed plays from the sidelines to the quarterback. We all saw it. I asked Mariota to talk about the transition from the way plays were called in college to the way they will be called in the NFL. “I mean this with great respect, but I’m going to keep that within the Oregon program,” he said. “Our coaches have done a great job handling how we get our plays and stuff like that. But that is still something they want to keep within. O.K.?”
The reality: He probably is too nice too often, but … “I have seen Marcus get mad and punt a football at practice, which got everyone’s attention,” said Oregon quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator Scott Frost. “And last year, the week of the Wyoming game, we had a few really competitive practices, and at one point we had to stop practice and break up a huge fight, and guess who was in the middle of it? Marcus. I yelled at him for putting our whole season in jeopardy. But deep down, I got it. The leader of the team should be in the middle of a moment like that. People think he’s too nice—I would just say this: There is not one player on our team who wouldn’t walk through traffic for him.”
2. Unless the Eagles and former Ducks coach Chip Kelly draft him, he’ll be playing in an offense that’s completely different from the one he ran in college. In the three Oregon games I watched, one notable thing is how fast the ball came out. The quarterback is John Stockton, dishing out gifts. And it’s true: Very often, Mariota gets the shotgun snap and fires it to the first open receiver he sees, often the first man in the progression, regardless where he is on the field. He will have to adjust to making multiple reads and adjustments at the line of scrimmage, to be sure.
The reality: It will be different, but not all new. At Oregon, he had the freedom to change plays at the line—and did so three or four times a game, on average, according to Frost. He changed the protections on the Oregon front maybe one out of every seven plays. So it’s clear he has a huge adjustment to make. “I haven’t huddled since high school,’’ he said. But think of it: Is that something significant enough to hold you back from being a good NFL player, the fact that you haven’t lorded over a huddle in four years? Did Joe Montana play a West Coast offense at Notre Dame—and did the fact that he didn’t play it make so tough for him to do it in the NFL? Not really.
3. He runs all the time. You can’t run all the time in the NFL. You’ve got to be a pocket quarterback to succeed, and to last. There is certainly something to this. The mobile guys come and go. Among recent Hall of Famers, only Steve Young has gone on to immortality after running around a lot as a quarterback.
The reality: Russell Wilson ran the ball 7.4 times per game last year. Mariota ran 9.1 times per game last season at Oregon. In the biggest win of his Oregon career, the national championship semifinal trouncing of Florida State, Mariota stayed in the pocket on 23 of his 36 passes. When he left the pocket, at least five times that day he had his head up looking for receivers and intending to throw. If you want to fault Mariota for not making many anticipation throws—throwing to a spot and trusting his receiver will be where he’s supposed to be at a precise moment—or looking to his third or fourth option on a play enough, that’s fine. But if he’s supposed to play fast and throw to the first open man in his progression, and he does that most of the time, and he completes 68 percent of his throws, what exactly is the problem?
4. If you’ve never called plays in a huddle, or been a commanding presence at the line, that’s certainly going to hamper you in the NFL. It’s true. You combine the Nice Factor with the fact that he’s never had to stare into the eyes of a 10-year-veteran tackle and convince him the play he’s calling is the right one, and you’ve got some issues.
The reality: It’s a problem, to be sure. Mariota worked with Kevin O’Connell, who since has been hired by the Browns as their quarterbacks coach, for five weeks this winter in San Diego. O’Connell, you may recall, is a former Patriots third-round pick who also had cups of coffee with five other NFL teams. O’Connell taught Mariota about voice inflection, about staring linemen in the eye, about urgency, about convincing his teammates that what he was calling was the best option. More than that, each night O’Connell gave Mariota a play sheet with eight to 10 NFL play calls on it, and he told Mariota to go to his room and practice each play call multiple times—so that when they reconvened the next day at 7 a.m., Mariota would be able to rattle off the 15- to 18-word plays with conviction, with the formation, any motion involved, any shifts involved. Mariota practiced as though he was looking at Jason Peters or Maurkice Pouncey in the huddle, and he barked out the calls with conviction. No one knows if that will be enough.
Frost has watched all the conjecture about his pupil from Eugene for the last couple of months. He is seething. He understands there will be questions about an athletic quarterback from a fast-paced offense, but what he doesn’t understand is how NFL scouts and coaches—and the omnipresent media and draftniks—can’t see what he sees. Namely, that Mariota has the arm and instincts and pocket presence and to be a very good NFL quarterback.
“To say Marcus can’t play in a pro style offense is like saying Dwyane Wade can’t play in the triangle offense,” Frost said. “To say he can’t do the things an NFL quarterback can do—I laugh when I hear people say that, and I am keeping track of all the experts who’ve said it. He changes protections, he slides protections, he shifts protections, he makes reads, he changes calls at the line. Watch our games. We have every protection at Oregon that they have in the NFL. He changed protections at the line seven or eight times a game. He completely changed the play two or three times a game.”
Frost was on a roll. “Scouts ask me what offense he’d be best at running in the NFL. I tell them, ‘Whatever offense you want him to run.’ ”
If only it were that simple.
I watched two of Mariota’s games in their entirety last season. NFL Films tape-meister Greg Cosell has watched four, so far. The difference between Cosell as an analyst and other non-NFL team employees is that if you’re not an NFL employee, you don’t have access to the coaches’ video—the sideline and end zone views of each play. I have seen the TV copy. Cosell has seen the real thing.
“What Mariota is used to,” said Cosell, “is making precise throws on time to schemed receivers. Defined reads, to open receivers. I love the Oregon offense. There’s an open receiver so often. And he executes the concepts of that offense exceedingly well. But what you don’t see is a lot of throws from a muddied pocket; what I mean is throwing in the middle of a lot of traffic. You don’t see a lot of anticipation throws. You don’t see a lot of tight window throws, simply because he doesn’t have to make them. Having said all that, there is an awful lot about him to like. I just have some questions about his game.”
In the national semifinal win over Florida State, playing mostly from the pocket, Cosell was right: There was a lot to like. Mariota made two awful throws—a dropped interception over the middle, and a throw way off the mark to an open wideout over the middle. But the rest was a combination of smart choices and good execution of a mostly safe game plan. The best combination call came in the second half, with Oregon trying to break the game open. On consecutive snaps, the Ducks ran identical plays. The tight end, Evan Baylis, floated right on a short out route, and wideout Darren Carrington ran up the right seam. Mariota threw to the tight end for a seven-yard gain on the first play. When Oregon quick-snapped on the next play and ran the same routes, an extra defender ran to blanket Baylis. Carrington had space up the right seam. Mariota looked at Baylis but quickly shifted to Carrington and hit him in stride. The receiver made one move and was gone for a 56-yard touchdown.
As a passer, the angular Mariota doesn’t have an exaggerated motion. It is compact and fast. He has an above-average fastball; not Cutler or Stafford, but every bit the velocity of Rivers or Romo. Frost has been on him about gaining weight because he doesn’t want him to be subject to early-career injuries. He will run, often, but as with Russell Wilson, he most often leaves the pocket to give receivers time to shake free. Frost said Mariota is a sub-4.5 runner, and that a slight hamstring strain at the scouting combine led to him running a 4.53. As for the traffic around him the pocket, there wasn’t a lot of that. But I watched Oregon’s loss to Arizona, when Mariota battled gamely against a heavy rush. He handled the pressure well overall, but did have some negative plays against it. And in the NFL, he’s likely to be drafted by a team with holes on both sides of the ball—including the offensive line. He’ll have to be improvisational, to both succeed and survive.
Mariota credited one of his occasional tutors this winter, Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers (an acquaintance of O’Connell’s) for helping him improve the biggest weakness in his passing game. Throwing to his left has always been a flaw, and Rivers taught him proper foot placement on those throws. Now he’s throwing more quickly and farther downfield when moving to his left.
But for Mariota, it’s the little things that he wants to perfect before he steps into his first minicamp huddle. Just before he left the combine 10 days ago, he said he was focused mostly on the things he hadn’t done in college. O’Connell, before leaving for the Browns job, told him that perception would become reality with him if he didn’t work to change that perception. Namely, that he wasn’t a commanding presence, and he needed to work on it each night in his room. So there was Mariota each night, with a play sheet from O’Connell, rattling off play calls.
“It’s been four, five years not having to stand in a huddle and look guys in the eyes and say, ‘Hey, here’s what we’ve got,’ ” Mariota said. “It’s really important to me because I don’t want to be the rookie that stands in the huddle and stutters while he’s over there trying to make the play. You’re going to step into the huddle with veterans who expect you to know what you’re doing. Again, it’s little things that people overlook, but that’s going to help with a lot of things in terms of leadership and in terms of gaining confidence and respect of your teammates and being able to make that impact that you want to as a rookie.”
Mariota is painfully humble, as you’ve heard. Sit with him for 20 minutes, and there won’t be any Quotes of the Week. If he can’t answer a question truthfully, he’ll apologize and just not answer. But though he won’t say he’s confident, and though he’ll say the safe things a soon-to-be-drafted quarterback must say, Mariota is brutally confident. He reminds me of a quieter Russell Wilson—sure of himself, but not motivated to tell anyone. Sort of like the way Derek Jeter used to lead by example. Jeter once told Cowboys coach Jason Garrett that he never tried to get his message across by being loud. Being good, and working hard, was good enough. That’s the kind of manner Wilson adopted. I can see it in Mariota.
“For me,” Mariota said, “and I’m not speaking for Russell, but sometimes guys just—there’s no reason to say anything. So I don’t sometimes. As long as you and people around the organization understand how much the game means to you and how much you want to be successful, that’s all that really matters. I just want to do my job.”
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