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znModerator) Is he too brittle, too fragile to be
counted on for 16 games, etc.I don’t think so. I think he had 2 freak hyper-extensions of the same knee. Hyperextensions come from planting your foot wrong and having the leg move the wrong way. There’s nothing “fragile” about them–and they don’t have to come from contact. It’s not about being hit. I’ve had 4 bad ones that I remember, and none of them came from any kind of “contact” (thankfully, in my case there was never an ACL tear.) Same thing happened to Palmer when he went down…no one “hit” him, he just planted his leg wrong.
The question is, can someone with 2 ACLs still play?
In terms of “yes Bradford is a 90 rating qb when he has a relatively healthy OL and a running threat”…actually I have seen people reject that. They claim the stats are just cherry-picked; or that good qbs elevate damaged lines, even ones as problematic as the Rams line was in early 2012 (I keep asking for examples of that.) (So far the only credible example was Seattle in 2013, but I claim if you look at the details, the Seattle injury line of 2013 was far better off than the Rams injury OL of 2012. Meanwhile, I point to examples like Flacco and Eli in 2013, who both suffered from extensive OL issues.)
znModeratorThis is just part of an article…namely, quotes from Weinke that did not appear in the Thomas or Wagoner pieces.
from Weinke Ready for New NFL Challenge
…
“I think he’s a natural passer of the football, which you can’t say that about everybody,” Weinke said. “I think his athleticism is better than most guys I saw coming out of college. I think his football IQ is really high. There’s a competitive greatness about the kid. So I think when you couple all those things together, that’s a pretty good product.”
“He wants to be great,” Weinke added. “He’s doing all the little things right. He’s got a plan, which I love, and I think, to me, again, we all understand the game of football, and it’s unfortunate that we have to have injuries, but we do. The more important piece to me is how are you dealing with it. And I think his mindset is great right now.”
As Fisher put it, Weinke has taken a leap of faith in leaving a good situation at IMG to come coach with the Rams. But the QBs coach did his due diligence, and said he’s very excited about the process going forward.
“I think what I found in terms of going through the process here, is that from top to bottom, it’s a solid organization,” Weinke said. “There were some opportunities to go to college and the NFL the last couple years, and I just didn’t feel like it was the right time. And I felt like, for me, it’s really about being in the right place in the right environment with the right people, and this was a perfect fit for me.”
znModeratorfrom off the net
—
Flipper336
[Before the 2012 draft I thought] Cox was the better one gap DT but I preferred Brockers. Why is that? Because I didn’t see that as the best way to develop him. The Rams are probably the only team that would’ve had him slim down and make him a penetrating DT. They only saw his length and their coach was quoted saying he would make Brockers a pass rusher. I’ll never forget it because I thought it was dumb the second I heard it.
Did I think he could eventually be a one gap guy? Sure, but I certainly never thought that was the best way to use him. As a pass rusher in any scheme I of course thought he could develop but I didn’t anticipate asking him to lose weight and be quicker, [what I liked about Brockers] was based on making him stronger and more powerful.
This staff has had no clue what they wanted from him and he has played fine, imagine if they let him do what he does best, like they did with Donald, from day one?
znModeratorAdding Chris Weinke important for Rams’ QB pursuits
By Nick Wagoner
EARTH CITY, Mo. — One way or another, the St. Louis Rams are going to add a young quarterback at some point this offseason. With that in mind, coach Jeff Fisher wanted to talk to former NFL quarterback Chris Weinke.
“There’s going to be a time whether its here in two months or three months or whenever that we’re going to have a young quarterback,” Fisher said at last week’s combine. “I don’t think there is anybody better qualified to coach a young quarterback than him.”
So it was that Weinke arrived in Indianapolis as the director of the football program at IMG Academy and left as the Rams quarterbacks coach. In some ways, it’s entirely possible that adding Weinke to the mix might be one of the best moves the Rams will make this offseason.
Although this is Weinke’s first foray into coaching at the NFL level, the type of experience he does have might be more beneficial than if he had been working in the league for the past five years. Working at IMG afforded Weinke the chance to come to St. Louis with perhaps the most diversified portfolio of any quarterbacks coach in the league.
“At the end of the day, I’ve been able to touch a lot of different guys with a lot of different skill sets coming from a lot of different backgrounds,” Weinke said. “You have to adapt and you’ve got to be able to understand the importance of every quarterback as an individual. You may be able to understand something visually or you may have to write it down. I need to know what my quarterbacks can handle. So I will coach every quarterback with certain fundamentals, let them have some flexibility within that but then understand how they learn because that’s the most important thing.”
Along the way, Weinke worked with Carolina’s Cam Newton, who came from a system that asked very little in terms of regurgitation and playing under center. For eight weeks in 2011, while the NFL was in a lockout, Weinke spent his mornings teaching Newton the finer points of taking snaps and basics like how to take a play call and spit it out in a huddle rather than look to the sideline for a number or a signal.
When those sessions were done, Weinke would turn his attention to working with another incoming rookie, Christian Ponder. He helped both essentially install their new offenses while their pro coaches weren’t allowed to even have contact with their rookie quarterbacks.
The list of quarterbacks to work with Weinke also includes Seattle’s Russell Wilson, Minnesota’s Teddy Bridgewater and Miami’s Ryan Tannehill, among others. The detailed Weinke draws on his many years as a quarterback — he’s kept every note and game plan he’s ever taken from Pop Warner to now — to adapt to whatever style of quarterback he’s working with.
The key, according to Weinke, isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel so much as tweak it to become more efficient.
“I think when you look at all the different styles I’ve seen, what i do is not try to create a robot,” Weinke said. “That’s not what I’m trying to do. I want these guys to be able to play with confidence. I’m not going to try to change somebody’s throwing motion. That’s not what I’m in the business of doing. I’m going to take it and maybe tweak it a little so we can maximize whatever the good Lord gave him. So at the end of the day, I always said when you were a kid and picked up a rock and threw it in the lake, that’s your natural throwing motion and you’ve been doing that your whole life. So who am I to think now at 20, 21, 22 years old that I’m going to change that? That’s not a very smart move.”
Instead, Weinke’s focus is on fundamentals, starting with footwork and building from there up.
“It’s hard for a one-legged man to be in a kickboxing fight, right?” Weinke said. “So understand you have got to have balance. How do we throw the football with maximum power from a good platform and be consistent and throw with accuracy? At the end of the day, we all understand that you must throw the football with anticipation in the National Football League.”
In St. Louis, most signs point to Weinke working with Sam Bradford. Bradford is the only quarterback under contract and though his agent Tom Condon is in a serious game of chicken with the Rams at the moment, it still seems likely he’ll be in St. Louis when all is said and done. Weinke and Bradford had dinner before Weinke was hired and Weinke has nothing but good things to say about Bradford.
“Love him,” Weinke said. “I look back and every guy that I’ve evaluated coming out of college, a few years ago when Andrew Luck came out, they said who would you compare him to? And the closest I would see is Sam Bradford.”
But even if Bradford is on board, the likelihood remains that the Rams will spend a relatively high pick on a new quarterback. Before Weinke, it was fair to wonder whether they had the coaching staff in place to take on a project from a spread system like UCLA’s Brett Hundley or Baylor’s Bryce Petty and develop him into a functional NFL quarterback.
With Weinke in place, you’d be hard-pressed to find a quarterback bringing something to the table he hasn’t already seen.
znModeratorReleasing Kendall Langford makes sense, but Rams need depth
By Nick Wagoner
EARTH CITY, Mo. — The St. Louis Rams’ decision Thursday afternoon to part ways with defensive tackle Kendall Langford came as no surprise.
The Rams needed salary-cap space, and releasing Langford afforded them an extra $6 million in that regard. And though Langford was a solid and probably underrated player in his time in St. Louis, he had lost his job to dynamic rookie Aaron Donald. There aren’t many teams willing to eat a $7 million cap charge for a backup at any position.
Even from Langford’s standpoint, it was probably for the best because it allows him a chance to go seek a starting job elsewhere. Having played well in both a 3-4 (in Miami) and 4-3 (in St. Louis) defense, Langford should have no problem finding work. At 28, he figures to have plenty of good football in front of him and the Rams did the right thing to let him go now so he can seek a job before the free-agent market opens on March 10.
So for both sides, it’s a move that was not only logical but handled as well as a breakup can be. But while the Rams understandably didn’t want to pay such a premium for depth at defensive tackle, Langford’s release does leave them shorthanded on the interior of the defensive line.
As it stands, only starters Michael Brockers and Donald are signed for 2015. The Rams also have William Hayes, Eugene Sims and Ethan Westbrooks, all of whom are ends by trade but have the ability to shift inside situationally. Absent Langford and considering they’re unlikely to re-sign Alex Carrington, who disappointed after signing a one-year deal last year, the Rams now again could find themselves in the market for help at defensive tackle.
That doesn’t even take into account that Brockers is scheduled to be a free agent after next season. The Rams under coach Jeff Fisher have valued the ability to have a rotation among defensive lineman, though that has been tempered a bit by Donald’s ability to play at a high level for most of the game.
The free-agent market at defensive tackle looks intriguing at the moment but the Rams will almost certainly be shopping in the bargain bin if they look to add a veteran. This year’s NFL draft also doesn’t look to be flush with talent at the position but again, the Rams probably won’t need to spend serious draft capital to find a capable body.
Some were surprised a year ago when the Rams drafted Donald because they already had Brockers, Langford and Carrington in place. With only Brockers and Donald in place this time around, another addition or two at the position shouldn’t take anybody by surprise.
znModeratorHow John Oliver Transformed the Net Neutrality Debate Once and for All
It started with a case of coyote urine.
Before June 1, 2014, just four episodes of Last Week Tonight With John Oliver had aired. The weekly, half-hour HBO show took on current affairs from comedic angle. Conceptually in debt to Oliver’s alma mater, The Daily Show, Last Week Tonight nonetheless aimed for deeper dives on abstruse subjects, hardly a tried-and-true recipe for TV success. But as the fifth show began at 11 pm that Sunday, the British comedian introduced his latest explainer, joking that the Internet had vastly increased access to everything from cat pictures to “a case of coyote urine.”
What followed was an acclaimed segment on net neutrality, that not only created significant buzz for his show but gave a bump to a political movement that will score its biggest victory to date on Thursday when the Federal Communications Commission is expected to buck cable companies, the GOP, and its own previous stance, to ensure protections for Oliver’s beloved open-access Internet for millions of Americans.
“Turn on caps lock, and fly, my pretties!”
John OliverDuring his 13-minute segment, Oliver name-checked Netflix, Google, Usain Bolt, Superman, the game Monopoly, and Mein Kampf, and compared the FCC hiring former cable company lobbyists to “needing a babysitter and hiring a dingo.”
“Our government looks set to end net neutrality,” Oliver warned, but there was a way to save it: The FCC was taking comments on rules. “Seize your moment, my lovely trolls,” Oliver implored at the segment’s climax as music swelled. “Turn on caps lock, and fly, my pretties!”
And it worked. “By Monday, the FCC’s commenting system had stopped working, thanks to more than 45,000 new comments on net neutrality likely sparked by Oliver,” the Washington Post’s Soraya Nadia McDonald reported on June 4. Oliver “may be just the firebrand activist we’re looking for.”
Net neutrality can be a mind-numbing concept. Oliver called it “even boring by C-SPAN standards.” At heart, it’s the policy that Internet providers (like a cable company) can’t charge content providers (like Netflix) to speed up delivery of their goods. Net neutrality advocates, like President Obama and now FCC Chair Tom Wheeler, say it’s what makes the Internet the relatively democratic place it is. Opponents like Senators Ted Cruz and John Thune say it will eliminate rewards for successful innovation.
Oliver wrangled a whole lot of advocates on June 1.
The Verge printed emails supposedly from actual FCC officials calling the segment “classic” and “Priceless!!!!!!” and saying, “We had a good laugh about it. The cable companies… not so much.”
In November, just days after Obama endorsed net neutrality, the late New York Times media critic David Carr quoted a Twitter policy spokesman as saying that “a meeting of lobbyists and policy types… thought Mr. Oliver’s piece trumped many other efforts.”
“We all agreed that John Oliver’s brilliant net neutrality segment explained a very complex policy issue in a simple, compelling way that had a wider reach than many expensive advocacy campaigns,” the spokesman, Nu Wexler, said.
Today, a video of the segment that was posted to the show’s YouTube account has received more than 8 million views.
Oliver gave us a great moment to rally around, and a hilarious video to share,” Tim Karr, senior director of strategy for Free Press, an advocacy group that has been fighting for net neutrality for more than a decade, wrote in an email to Bloomberg on Wednesday.
To be sure, the fight was far bigger than Oliver’s segment. Karr pointed to “dozens of advocacy organizations with email lists that numbered in the tens of millions.” Politico called the fight “a lobbying bonanza” on par with health care reform. Nor are the gains sure to hold, as Republicans have vowed to come up with an alternative to the rules.
John Oliver hasn’t said much about the segment’s impact, but the FCC’s Wheeler did.
“I think that it represents the high level of interest that exists in the topic in the country, and that’s good,” he said, choosing his words carefully at a hearing on June 13 when asked what he thought of the segment. “You know… I would like to state for the record that I’m not a dingo.”
znModerator
Rams release DT Kendall LangfordBy Jim Thomas
In the first of what figures to be several salary cap-related moves, the Rams have released defensive tackle Kendall Langford.
The move saves the Rams $6 million in cap space for 2015. Langford lost his starting job to rookie Aaron Donald this past season and saw his playing time greatly reduced. The Rams made the move now to give Langford a little extra time to find another job before the start of the free agency period March 10, by which time the market will be flooded with released players.
Langford, 29, signed a four-year, $22 million contract with the Rams in 2012, as part of the first free agency class for coach Jeff Fisher and general manger Les Snead. Langford had spent his first four NFL seasons with Miami, who drafted him in the third round of the 2008 draft out of Hampton.
He was due $6 million in base salary and was scheduled to count $7 million against the cap in 2015, the last year of his Rams contract. He now will count only $1 million against the cap, in the form of “dead” money from un-amortized signing bonus money.
Making the transition from 3-4 end to 4-3 tackle once he joined the Rams, Langford started all 16 games in both the 2012 and 2013 seasons. He recorded 69 tackles and five sacks in ’13, both career highs.
His numbers fell off to 51 tackles and one sack last season.
Donald, en route to NFL defensive rookie of the year honors, took over the starting job from Langford in Game 5 of the 2014 season _ the Rams’ Oct. 13 Monday night game against San Francisco.
The Rams return both Donald and Michael Brockers as starters, but Thursday’s release of Langford could leave the Rams searching for depth on the interior of the defensive line.
znModeratorThe future is Britt.
And the future will be here Quick.
znModeratorRamBill
Nick Wagoner @nwagoner
Will have more later but just spent some time with new Rams QB coach Chris Weinke. Extremely impressive, full of energy.
Weinke a big fan of Sam Bradford. Said other than Andrew Luck, Bradford is best QB he’s evaluated coming out of college.
Weinke said he’s always wanted to move up, had set a goal of 5 years at IMG before advancing. Five years would’ve been 2 months from now.[/quote]
znModeratorTo me every bit of that could be written with a positive spin and therefore with different conclusions.
I for one never thought of Brockers as a “penetrator.”
And I don’t see the problem with him being a 4/3 nose.
I also don’t do the “where he was picked” game. The Rams needed a DT, when Donald came aboard they needed a 4/3 nose, those are not easy to find, I am okay with the pick.
February 25, 2015 at 6:44 pm in reply to: NFL will 'sweeten the pot' to keep the Rams in St. Louis #19086znModeratorI was just griping to someone today
about California. It seems like yall
get to vote on things out there.
Referendums on this and that.
We dont get to have ref-erendums in WV.I’d like to start a referendum about
giving us the right to have referendums.w
vReally?
Be careful what you wish for.
We started ballot propositions in California in the late 70s, so that we could pass bills that them damn politicians won’t or can’t. Great idea.
Now we get Safe Drinking Water initiatives that are backed by astroturf “citizens groups” that get their money from Monsanto, and propositions to reform education financing, only there will suddenly be 3 propositions on the same ballot that all claim to do great things for education reform, all with poison pills that will have to be litigated, and backed by carefully concealed interests, and to be honest, I don’t think most California voters actually read the complete text of each proposition before making their voting decisions.
And if the stadium goes to a vote in Inglewood, it will all be about traffic congestion, and crime, and drunkenness, and business revenue, and taxes in versus taxes out, with all kinds of tv commercials claiming completely different things with no way of knowing if anybody is even trying to tell the truth, and even if they are, if what they are saying is actually accurate because who the hell can figure any of this out?
So the real vote will be on “Do you want the NFL, specifically the Rams, right here in Inglewood, or not?” because that’s all most of the voters will care about, and all the other issues are just going to be market tested to find out where it is worthwhile to invest advertising dollars to bang a drum long enough to chip off a percentage of undecided voters.
If you want that kind of democracy in West Virginia, you are welcome to take California’s version of it, as far as I’m concerned.
What we’ve ended up with here is a lot of voters thinking they know more than the legislators, and that they can budget better than the state government can (cuz gov’t misappropriates all the $), and a lot of good causes got voted intractable amounts of the general budget to the point that our state government can’t actually govern anything anymore, and the voters have gone and misspent the money worse than the government ever did, and there’s nothing that can be done about it.
It’s true that the referendum process in California has been a nightmare.
znModeratorNittany, have you read The Omnivore’s Dilemma?
znModeratorThe true path is unknown to you?
Are you not of the body?
February 25, 2015 at 1:59 pm in reply to: NFL will 'sweeten the pot' to keep the Rams in St. Louis #19058znModeratorperpetual motion machine. why does that sound familiar?
February 25, 2015 at 1:55 pm in reply to: Balzer, Wagoner, and others on Bradford & rumors & contract talks #19056znModeratorAbout those daily Sam Bradford rumors
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/16535/about-those-daily-sam-bradford-rumors
EARTH CITY, Mo. — In the latest churn of the Sam Bradford rumor mill, reports surfaced Tuesday that the Buffalo Bills are considering making a trade offer for the St. Louis Rams quarterback.
As is becoming increasingly common in this age of social media, those reports were summarily shot down with reports that no team has actually really pursued a trade for Bradford. The Buffalo rumors came on the heels of rumors that the Cleveland Browns had similar interest in Bradford. And those rumors followed speculation that Bradford had been given permission to seek a trade.
In addition to all of that, there have been other reports that Bradford does not want to take a pay cut and instead of being traded would prefer to be outright released.
For what it’s worth, Rams coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead have dismissed most of those rumors. Fisher went so far as to call the trade permission rumor as “inaccurate” at last week’s NFL scouting combine.
“When we’ve had him, he’s 5-2-1 in our division,” Fisher said. “And we weren’t very good when we got here, so we’re counting on him. I’m betting on him and if that doesn’t happen, then we’ll win games with somebody else.”
So what do we make of all this? It’s not unusual at this time of year and in these situations for these types of rumors to run rampant.
We do know the Rams would like to bring Bradford back at a cap number below his projected $16.58 million and a base salary less than his expected $12.985 million. We also know that there isn’t an agent in the league — especially one representing a high-priced quarterback — that would like to take a pay cut for a client.
That means it’s in the best interest of Tom Condon, Bradford’s agent, to do all he can to get the best deal possible out of the Rams. Rumors of other teams willing to trade or sign Bradford to big-money deals theoretically only drives the price up. It also doesn’t mean that any of those possibilities are real or that an agreement won’t eventually be reached.
If, indeed, some of those rumors materialized into legitimate offers then perhaps the Rams could consider it. While the Rams have repeatedly made it clear they are committed to having Bradford in 2015, it doesn’t mean that a big offer wouldn’t change their mind. Any player can be had for the right price, especially one coming off two consecutive torn ACLs.
But it’s also worth noting that if these teams were legitimately interested in Bradford, it stands to reason the Rams would have similar interest in keeping him. It’s not like the Rams have a better option waiting in the wings and the list of available quarterbacks in free agency or ones they could realistically get in the draft don’t offer a clear upgrade, either.
Simply put, Bradford is every bit as valuable to the Rams, probably more so, than he would be to other teams. It’s Condon’s job to figure out what that happy medium is. So even if at this very moment Condon would prefer not to take a pay cut for his client, it doesn’t mean he won’t after he gets a chance to gauge what Bradford might get if he were to come available.
And from a Rams’ perspective, there’s not necessarily a pressing need to get something done with Bradford. They need cap space but have other ways to obtain it by releasing players like tackle Jake Long, center Scott Wells and/or defensive tackle Kendall Langford or converting some of end Robert Quinn’s base salary to signing bonus.
People close to Bradford insist he wants to stay in St. Louis in 2015. The Rams insist they want to keep him. What shape that takes will reveal itself in time but in the meantime, don’t be surprised if the rumors persist.
February 25, 2015 at 1:41 pm in reply to: NFL will 'sweeten the pot' to keep the Rams in St. Louis #19055znModeratori was thinking the same thing. how can you just bypass all those regulations?
how long does it take to build a stadium anyway? i bet kroenke makes one in record time.
Plus it will run on a perpetual motion engine.
That’s a sly movie reference……..
znModeratorNFL sends survey to 185,000 fans in St. Louis area
Posted by Mike Florio on February 24, 2015, 7:27 PM EST
Survey
Getty Images
As the stadium dance continues in L.A., there’s some unfinished business in Missouri. St. Louis hopes to keep the Rams via the construction of a new venue, and the NFL seems to be interested in fully exploring the possibility.Via David Hunn of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the NFL has sent a survey to 185,000 St. Louis-area residents via email. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told Hunn that the survey has two goals. Initially, the survey is aimed at assessing the viability of a new stadium in St. Louis. Secondarily, the survey seeks information about the location, seating, and amenities St. Louis fans would prefer. (It sounds a lot like the survey sent earlier this year to fans in L.A.)
“Our role is to assess the viability of a stadium and inform how a stadium would be best built in a particular market,” McCarthy told Hunn.
A new stadium in St. Louis won’t necessarily house the Rams. There’s a chance that the Rams would move to L.A., and that another team (perhaps the Raiders) would relocate to St. Louis.
Have to post links with articles, b.
I am doing that for this one, here:
http://m.nbcsports.com/content/nfl-sends-survey-185000-fans-st-louis-area
February 24, 2015 at 9:07 pm in reply to: NFL teams are most reluctant to take advantage of analytics #19008znModeratorRams ‘skeptics’ when it comes to analytics
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/16512/rams-skeptics-when-it-comes-to-analytics
EARTH CITY, Mo. — In an extensive project appearing both on ESPN.com and ESPN the Magazine on Monday afternoon, 122 teams from all four of the major professional sports leagues were rated on “the strength of each franchise’s analytics staff, its buy-in from execs and coaches, its investment in biometric data and how much its approach is predicated on analytics.”
The project ranked a top 10 and a bottom 10 overall and put teams in five tiers in each sport. As you’d expect, not a single NFL team landed in the top 10. That’s understandable considering that the NFL is well behind the other sports in the overall use of analytics.
Likewise, football is harder to come up with metrics because it’s harder to evaluate the responsibility of all players from down to down. But even within the tiers of each sport, the St. Louis Rams were one of 12 teams rated as “skeptics” when it comes to analytics.
For context, no teams were rated as “all in,” nine received “believers” status, seven were considered “one foot in” and four teams were tabbed as “non believers.”
But skeptical doesn’t mean the Rams don’t use some sort of analytics. Kevin Demoff, the team’s chief operating officer, has said in the past he finds value in some of the numbers that are out there and has been a regular participant at the annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. Coach Jeff Fisher has also been known to be willing to think outside the box a little bit.
The part on the Rams cites that general manager Les Snead is probably the most skeptical of the Rams’ top decision makers:
“It’s like if someone asks you to pick someone as a graduation speaker,” Snead said in the piece. “Do you just go on his nice résumé or how well he can write and put words together on a sheet of paper? Well, those may be the metrics of the situation. But for me, before you pick that speaker, I want actually go hear him and feel him speak. You want to go to that room and get the feeling of how that room reacts when he talks. Does he move the crowd? If you’re in the room, you can feel it, and then you can say, ‘Yeah, now he’s that guy!'”
It should also be noted, however, that the Rams do some behind-the-scenes work on the analytics front but prefer not to advertise it as much. They employ a “Director of Football Systems” by the name of Brian Wright. They prefer to speak in vague generalities about what his job is but in a piece on their website, there’s at least some clues that he’s helping compile information and numbers that go into acquiring players.
znModeratorIMO…here are the non-relocation highlights of JT’s chat.
Is Brian Quick recovering well? Looks that way. Been told he’s at the facility a lot during rehab.
I have my doubts that J. Long will be around for 2015.
Don’t thing anyone regards Hundley as the next Vince Young. Petty I think is a good option. Maybe Garrett Grayson?
I think Hundley and Petty go in the second round. Mannion and Grayson at least a round later.
I guess it’s possible Hundley goes in late first. But I think second round is more likely. There are a lot of QB needed teams, so I can’t give you a specific team.
Hundley gives you more on the mobility scale although Petty is no statue. I think the both have leadership potential, although I give a slight edge to Petty based on what I’ve read and observed first-hand. I think Petty’s probably a little bit more accurate.
I see Petty as accurate, smart, highly competitive, and high on the intangibles. He doesn’t have a cannon, but I think he’s got more than enough arm strength to make the throws. There will be a learning curve, however, to the pro-style offense. Not sure how much help he could be to a team as a rookie.
The Rams are at the stage now, where they don’t really need a lot of bodies. They need quality players at need positions.
The Rams have invested heavily in the draft in WRs: Tavon Austin went high in the 1st round; Brian Quick was the first pick of the 2nd round; Stedman Bailey Round 3; and Chris Givens Round 4. This has all come in the first three drafts of Fisher-Snead. So it’s not like they’ve ignored the position. And with the possible exception of Givens, I don’t think the Rams are ready to give up on any of those guys. They don’t feel like they need a bona fide No. 1, and will point to the Patriots’ and Seahawks’ WR corps to prove their point. I’m not necessarily saying they’re right, or that I agree with them. But that’s their approach.
I know for a fact that Bradford’s agent doesn’t want to take a pay cut at this point. As much as the Rams want to keep Bradford, and are almost boxed in to do so, I do wonder what will happen down the road if this stalemate continues. I’m not sure at this point if the Rams keep him if they can’t negotiate a decrease.
Let’s just say the Rams get a third-rounder for Bradford. How does that help your QB situation?
I’m sure several teams will kick the tires on Bradford. Tom Condon is among the best in the business. Still time to work this out.
In terms of the workout and drills, Mizzou’s Mitch Morse had one of the best workouts of any O-lineman at the Combine. Among the 52 O-linemen invited to the combine, he was among the top 8 performers, or better in just about every category. He’s not a first round, but could go second or third round. And his predecessor at Mizzou, Justin Britt, had a very successful year starting at RT for Seattle. Iowa’s Brandon Scherff, generally considered the best O-linemen in the draft only lifted and ran the 40 before suffering a hamstring injury that ended his combine. The small college guy from Hobart, Ali Marpet, worked out well. As did Va. Tech’s Laurence Gibson. Those two aren’t really considered top guys. But from what I can tell, none of the top guys (T.J. Clemmings, La’el Collins, etc.) hurt themselves.
February 24, 2015 at 7:51 pm in reply to: Balzer, Wagoner, and others on Bradford & rumors & contract talks #19002znModeratorNo team has contacted Rams regarding Sam Bradford
By Chris Wesseling
Around the NFL WriterDespite recent reports of interest from the Buffalo Bills or Cleveland Browns, a Sam Bradford trade remains highly unlikely.
As of Tuesday, no team has contacted the St. Louis Rams about trading for their enigmatic quarterback, NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported, via sources informed of situation.
Because Bradford has missed the majority of the past two seasons and will have to compete to keep his starting job, the Rams have pressured him to accept a reduction in his $13 million salary that counts $16.6 million against the salary cap in the contract’s final year.
After balking at that request, Bradford’s agent was allowed to contact other teams to gauge the quarterback’s value. To this point, that has not sparked movement.
While a trade is theoretically possible, Bradford’s perceived value is diminished by an outsized salary no longer befitting an underperforming player coming off a twice-torn ACL.
Per Rapoport, it would take an extraordinarily desperate team to satisfy the Rams’ demand for compensation (second-round draft pick?) while also taking on Bradford’s bloated contract on a one-year rental.
While he’s certainly a more attractive option than EJ Manuel or Johnny Manziel, Bradford has never lived up to the regard in which he’s held by NFL scouts. He has too often been skittish in the pocket and scattershot with his accuracy, stifling the offense.
Bradford’s agent can’t be blamed for seeking a team willing to shell out the full salary, but the Rams believe the best-case scenario for both sides is a pay cut to finally rebuild his value as St. Louis’ franchise quarterback.
Are the Rams underestimating the level of Bills’ desperation in a bleak quarterback market? That’s what Bradford’s camp is selling.
znModeratorfrom off the net
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alyoshamucci
Combine O linemen
The main thing I wanted to cover was the Interior Linemen, as it is the deepest draft I have ever seen for starter and quality backup players inside. So much so that I believe they could have invited another 30 players. My guess is that the guys with the best agents fought it out for the final ten spots. I think there will be at LEAST one guy to make our team from UDFA it is such a strong class.
Im going to do a top 10 thing . . .
1) The best OT is an OG. Scherff was the smoothest athlete, and he’s an OG.
2) Jake Fisher from ORE and Morse from Mizzou are the best OTs beyond that. It was hilarious trying to listen to Mayock creating a class of players from this really dreadful field. Clemmings is no where near ready, Peat is soft.
3) The OG from Louisville followed up a strong EW performance with a ridiculous set of field drills. He may have moved in to the mid or top of round 2.
4) I still like Gallik the best at OC because of his heavy hands, low hips, and intelligence. He’s also really fiesty and moves at a really high speed. But I think Ali Marpet has the perfect body and movement skills for a Center, and in the 5th I’d grab either one. Dismukes was okay, and smooth and smart, but I like those other two guys better.
5) Grasu has been a no show, and I’m bummed. I can barely remember his tape. I remember I liked it. He’ll either be there in the 5th or push one of those two guys down.
6) Best ever shadow drill for the OGs. They are usually sloppy and blubbery. Not this year. This year it was the OTs.
7) Tre Jackson, Matias, Erving, Cann, Tomlinson, Kuandjio, Miller, Marpet, Shaq Mason, and Harrison. Thats 10 IMO plug n play OGs (besides Scherff and Collins, and disregarding Grasu). Feliciano and the Poole kid from SDst. are just on the outside of that list. I like the aggression of Miami OGs.
8) Not invited top 7
G Tech Shaq Mason 6-1 312 Sr.
PITT 74 ORT (OG n-l?) Rotheram 6-6 335
WISC 73 OLG Lewallen 6-6 322
USC 70 ORG/OT Walker 6-6 300
Ms St. 63 OC Day 6-3 310
WVA 67 OLT Spain 6-5 335
AUB 62 OLG Slade 6-5 325
NEB 68 OLG Cotton 6-6 310 =
Guess we’re waiting on Pro day results?9) I don’t know that I have a first round OT.
10) I definitely don’t have a #10 for this list, but have to finish it anyway.
znModeratorPlus he already got his “Rams lineman get injured” injury out of the way.
That’s a great point. Thank god Rams linemen only get injured once in their careers….
Hey I didn’t say it was his LAST injury. He could very well have several more this year alone. So no need to dismiss him that cynically. He will have plenty of more chances to get more injuries. Sky’s the limit, in fact.
znModeratori have a good feeling about robinson. last year was a big learning experience, but i bet this guy works his ass off and comes into 2015 a totally different player.
Plus he already got his “Rams lineman get injured” injury out of the way.
February 22, 2015 at 10:31 pm in reply to: Mock Draft Roundup: Third Edition Posted 14 hours ago Myles Simmons #18907znModeratorfrom off the net
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alyoshamucci
Best DE class I’ve seen. Six edge rushers that could be picked top ten.
RB all the way through the draft.
We don’t need those though. Oops.
At 10 Landon Collins would be, but we have many safeties.
No DT.
If we lose Barksdale the choice gets easy. La’el Collins.
If we keep Barksdale I don’t see value until round2 and think we should trade out of round 1 entirely if possible.
If we’re ar 10 and Cooper is there? Why wouldn’t Carolina give us a 2 this year and maybe a 4?
We may still get Scherff at 20. Or Collins. Or Erving.
February 22, 2015 at 10:29 pm in reply to: McD on the Super Bowl: "patience and never run horizontally." #18906znModeratorThat was a great read btw. King isn’t Zimmerman, but at least he gets the principle parties to talk.
znModeratorfrom off the net
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Deadpool
The DBs have yet to go, but since its Sunday night and I have some time I thought I would share my thoughts.
Disclaimer – For me personally, the combine doesn’t really change my mind on guys, its really just to confirm what I think, or to debunk it.
Offense first.
QB:
Outside of Mariota and Winston, I thought Petty and Hundley looked the best and I have to admit Petty is growing on me. Not 2nd round or anything, but growing nonetheless.
Carden- with all due respect to Alyo, I just do not see it with him. I liked him early in the season but I have slowly backed away from him. He, to me, is at best a 6th or 7th rounder. Nothing about him stands out.
Bridge needs work, but as I stated in a QB breakdown post a month ago, he has an absolute howitzer for an arm. I hope the team that drafts him, gives him the time and coaching he needs.
Mannion was fine, but again, nothing about him stands out.
RBs
This class is stupid. There are so many good backs, throw a dart at a board and take him and be happy.
David Johnson had a good weekend. No shocker. But he did run faster then I thought he would.
40 times across the board were disappointing.
Yeldon needs to slow down on the weightlifting.
Abdullah does nothing for me. Small, small hands, and a pedestrian 40 time. No thanks.
WRs
I mentioned earlier that I thought maybe a good combine could propel White or Parker over Cooper. Well it looks like White did.
My wife (who watches 5 minutes of football a year) said who is that freak with the long hair. And then she sat down and watched each of his drills. Wow.
Cooper is #2 followed by Parker and Strong (who had a very nice weekend)
I love Greene as much as anyone, but seeing him without pads just confirmed he is a slightly built dude. Narrow shoulders…nothing he can do about it.
I thought Coates looked really good. Esp. in the gauntlet drill.
DG-B is a freak. Just a monster at 6-5 237 and a 4.49 40… Gauntlet looked easy for him. Small hands…
TE:
IMO Waller and Funchess are both TEs and Funchess’ 40 time did nothing to convince me otherwise. Waller still has a ways to go. Raw, like a steak raw.
The other TEs were pedestrian. At best. No first rounders outside of Funchess (if you consider him a TE)
OL:
Cam Erving made himself some money. I think he moves into the 1st round. Good 40 time, 30 reps, I still think he is an OG or C. But his versatility and skillset is impressive.
Collins looked good. I still think he is a OG, but maybe a RT?
Fisher was impressive and should start to “climb” boards. Of course not Flippers, because he was already up there. I wonder if he gets tired of being right?
Scherff is an OG. He is a football player not a pajama warrior, and if the Rams grabbed him at 10 I would have no issues. Starter for 10 years inside with a mean streak. Perfect fit.
DJ Humphries is intriguing.
Defense:
DL:
Lots of good athletes
Anthony Chickillo is building steam. Great Senior bowl. Great combine.
Carl Davis was very good. Why wasn’t his production better? Well he admitted at the Senior bowl that he is a 50% of the snaps kind of a guy in the NFL and that he didn’t practice hard because he didn’t want a freshman OL hurting his knees…He is on my do not draft list BTW.
Shelton is still the best DT in the draft.
Leonard Williams is the best DT/DE in the draft.
Randy Gregory…235? really? So what is he now? a 3-4 OLBer?
Fowler had a very good weekend and he will be way over drafted.
Mario Edwards is impressive. 2nd round impressive.
Zack Hodges had a good weekend. I will continue to champion him.
Kyle Emanuel was impressive. Go Bison. Prolly a LBer
Owa Odighizuwa – made money. Prolly lots of money. What an underwear freak.
Stephone Anthony – was faster then I thought and looked good in drills. 3rd round?
Dawson – still like him, but 4.95? WTH slow in drills… Was he even working out?
Vic Beasley – Still an OLBer in my mind. Would not mind seeing him in horns. Just wow.
Kendricks – as expected
McKinney – as expected
Perryman – slower then expected but he is a football player. Seems destined for the second round.
Shaq Thompson – exact same size as Landon Collins. Not a great 40 time. He isn’t a safety, not a RB, but he needs to add weight for an NFL LBer. I still like him.
Jake Ryan ran faster then I thought he would and I like him. Looked good in drills.
Taiwan Jones – another football player. Slow 40 time keeps him a later round steal.
DBs tomorrow night.
February 22, 2015 at 9:43 pm in reply to: NFL will 'sweeten the pot' to keep the Rams in St. Louis #18902znModeratorHe only agreed after getting preseason game guarantee to play Dallas and getting his new stadium multiple Super Bowls.
Didn’t know that. Interesting.
February 22, 2015 at 9:16 pm in reply to: Grayson, Hundley, Petty, Carden etc. … the qbs this year #18900znModeratorfrom off the net
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JerzyRamsFanHundley 10.5″ hands
Actually, Hundley was impressive and has prototypical measurements.
znModeratorBradford Trade Talk Not an Uncommon Situation
By Luke Schnake
http://www.101sports.com/2015/02/22/bradford-trade-talk-not-uncommon-situation/
Confusion set in recently, sparked by a CBSSports.com tweet stating the Rams had given Sam Bradford permission to seek a trade. Rams GM Les Snead was quick to refute those claims in a press conference from the NFL Combine in Indianapolis where he compared the situation to another from the past and said the team should still be prepared should Bradford become injured.
“Guess what? Sam Bradford, if he were to leave the Rams, he might be worth another team taking a shot at,” Snead said at the combine. “Let’s don’t delete him, I don’t think that is the answer. I think the answer is providing insurance in case we do go through you know, more bad luck.”
Rams Executive Vice President Kevin Demoff has let players and their agents know in the past they are free to explore the trade market to find their worth among teams who are looking.
In a recent interview with ESPN’s Nick Wagoner, The Fast Lane asked if there was anything truly shocking about the situation.
“It’s not shocking. Anyone that’s really been paying attention understands what’s really going on there,” Wagoner said.
“This isn’t a situation where the Rams are trying to trade Sam Bradford, it’s not a situation where Sam Bradford has asked to be traded. It’s a situation of trying to figure out how to gauge what the market value of Sam Bradford would be.”
The Rams would ultimately like a reduction in cost for the final year of Bradford’s contract in St. Louis. In order to find out what price would be fair for both sides moving forward, the team is allowing Bradford and his agent, Tom Condon to explore his worth throughout the league. While the team is technically letting Bradford explore the trade market, one reading between the lines can see he’s not necessarily bound for a flight out of town.
NFL agent and 101ESPN league insider Marc Lillibridge said teams around the league often do allow players to explore their options, with the goal of finding the best possible solution for both sides.
“It’s all about finding that happy medium. The Rams have a guy who they want to build their team around on the surface in Sam Bradford, but he’s had the injury problems, and it’s not a big free agent quarterback class,” Lillibridge said. “So if a team like Cleveland or Buffalo decide they may want to deal a pick this year or a number one next year, then the Rams would want to look at it just like they did with the RG3 deal.”
Lillibridge would not speculate on if he thought a Bradford trade would take place, but said he wouldn’t take anything off the table.
“That’s way above my paygrade. I don’t know what’s being talked about behind closed doors with the Rams, but the fact they’re talking about it means anything is possible.”
February 22, 2015 at 8:32 pm in reply to: Grayson, Hundley, Petty, Carden etc. … the qbs this year #18898znModeratorfrom Joe Marino’s 2015 NFL Scouting Combine Notes: Receivers, Quarterbacks and Running Backs
When you couple his performance today with what he displayed at the Senior Bowl, it’s hard to imagine East Carolina QB Shane Carden getting drafted or sticking in the NFL. His passing skills need significant improvements.
A pleasant surprise from the QB’s was Nevada’s Cody Fajardo. His ball placement was on-point today.
It’s easy to see that South Alabama QB Brandon Bridge has a live arm and can drive the football down the field. That said, his feet are slow and sloppy. He has intriguing tools but he is extremely raw.
I came away very pleased with UCLA QB Brett Hundley’s day. He tested extremely well and threw the football great. He did a good job of leading his targets and setting his feet when throwing.
I remain unconvinced that Oregon State QB Sean Mannion is worth a draft pick. Everything he does is slow and his throwing mechanics are a train wreck.
Florida State QB Jameis Winston is a natural thrower of the football with terrific footwork. His accuracy was outstanding and he can be as good as he wants to be. I fully believe that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers cannot pass him up with the top pick in the draft.
Oregon QB Marcus Mariota continued to display the physical traits that are possessed by high-level NFL quarterbacks and had a strong showing today. Considering how well Mariota and Winston performed it’s crazy to think that their participation was ever in question.
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