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znModeratorSo, what changed for the Rams after the bye? Is it as simple as getting KW back? Is there more to it? w v
Well obviously KW was a big part of it, but so was consolidation of the OL and other things they tightened up over the bye. I think they really used the bye–lots of new coaches re-assessing and tightening up what a lot of young players were doing, different approaches to things.
7 of Turner’s sacks are after the bye. 3.5 of Jones’s sacks are after the bye. Robinson has 25 catches after the bye, 1 before. They figured out how to use Nacua and Kupp together more effectively after the bye. The OL tightened up and gave up fewer pressures after the bye (so new coach with new OL reviews film and goes let;s do more of this and less of that, and we have to do this thing better).
That’s new coaches sitting down to figure out what they had, and getting young players to step up by putting them in the position to step up.
And Wms was absolutely a big part of it but there seemed to be a lot of tweaks and re-thinks and re-assessments after the bye.
Plus Stafford came back ready to play as well as he ever has.
Or at least, all that is what Demoff told me when I asked. He sent a long email. I’ll look for it. It’s in my folders somewhere. I think under “rare golden definitive inside scoop.” I’ll look.
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znModeratorbrenden@SmittySavedMe
Kobie turner has played 660 snaps in his rookie year. Jalen Carter has played 528. 100+ more snaps. As a resultKobie has more pressures than Carter.
Kobie has more sacks than Carter.
Kobie has more total tackles than Carter.
Kobie has more defensive stops than CarterBtw Jared Goff has more yards and more touchdowns than Lamar Jackson, but that doesn’t mean he’s gonna win MVP over him lol
Scoot@_SC00T
Jalen Carter v. Kobie Turner last 7 games only:Carter defensive 277 snaps
Kobie defensive 278 snapsCarter 15 pressures
Kobie 32 pressuresCarter 2 sacks
Kobie 7 sacksCarter 14 tackles
Kobie 23 tacklesCarter 69.9 PFF grade
Kobie 80.4 PFF gradeznModeratorwhoa. is that kyren williams in the picture with steven jackson? very cool.
Yes. For those who don’t know, Wms grew up in St. Louis as a Rams fan and his favorite player was Jackson.
znModeratorPFF LA Rams@PFF_RamsKevin Dotson’s 90.9 overall grade over the past two weeks ranks first among all NFL guardsznModeratorLos Angeles Rams PR@TheLARamsPRRB Kyren Williams became the first Rams player with 100+ scrimmage yards in 7 straight games since Steven Jackson in 2009.…znModeratorThe Rams will also rest receiver Cooper Kupp, running back Kyren Williams, defensive tackle Aaron Donald and inside linebacker Ernest Jones, McVay said. Tight end Tyler Higbee (shoulder) and offensive lineman Joe Noteboom (foot) will miss Sunday’s game due to their injuries.
So they’re resting
Stafford
Noteboom
Higbee
Kupp
Wms
Donald
Jones
znModeratorMore on Rams plan to rest some starters, start Carson Wentz on Sunday https://t.co/8WnuKsaM0E
— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) January 3, 2024
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[see link above]
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Carson Wentz will start for the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, head coach Sean McVay said on Wednesday, giving Matthew Stafford an extra week of rest before the wild-card round.
“Excited about Carson’s opportunity,” said McVay, “but when you look at the totality of balancing what you think is best, there’s not a perfect solution especially when you’re talking about 53 guys, 48 active, able to flex two up (but) we do have a couple injuries … This was just what we felt like was the best thing.”
The Rams will also rest receiver Cooper Kupp, running back Kyren Williams, defensive tackle Aaron Donald and inside linebacker Ernest Jones, McVay said. Tight end Tyler Higbee (shoulder) and offensive lineman Joe Noteboom (foot) will miss Sunday’s game due to their injuries.“When you look at it, what we just felt like was this approach was the best one for our team,” said McVay, also indicating that the Rams did not consider variables such as playoff seeding in the decision.
Going into Sunday’s matchup, The 49ers will also start a backup QB in Sam Darnold as they rest Brock Purdy.
Receiver Puka Nacua, who is just 29 yards away from the all-time rookie receiving record, appears to be getting at least a shot at breaking it.
“I think you’d like to see him get an opportunity to do something special,” said McVay. “And then be smart with him.”
Wentz was signed as a free agent by the Rams during their Week 10 bye. Sunday will mark the first significant minutes he has played this season, minus a few handoffs in garbage time wins.
But Wentz has gotten plenty of work in practice while running the scout team, minus a third quarterback on the roster. He’s also very active on the sidelines during games, something McVay lightheartedly noticed after the Rams beat the Washington Commanders in Week 15.
“He was buzzing back and forth in front of me like running wind sprints. I actually noticed that yesterday,” McVay said. “I don’t know what the hell was going on. He was staying loose though. I do know that much. … He wanted to get some extra cardio in during the game. He was double dipping … I actually did notice that a couple times as this big creature was buzzing back and forth in front of me on the sidelines.”
Now, Wentz will get his opportunity to play actual football in 2024.
The Rams are Wentz’s fourth team in as many seasons, since he was the Philadelphia Eagles’ No. 2 draft pick in 2016 (Eagles from 2016 to 2020, Indianapolis Colts in 2021 and Commanders in 2022).
Wentz started seven games for the Commanders last season, throwing for 1,755 yards with 11 touchdowns, nine interceptions and an 80.2 passer rating.
Dresser Winn, who was with the team in training camp, was signed to the practice squad this week and will be the backup to Wentz.
znModeratorJ.B. Long@JB_Long
Incredible bit of NFL Research: @RamsNFL RB @Kyrenwilliams23 is on pace to be the only player in history to miss 4+ games & still finish in the top 2 in rushing yards.The only player to miss more games & finish top 3 was Bull Karcis (5) with the 1937 Pittsburgh… PIRATES.
znModeratorznModeratorKobie Turner should be the NFL DROY based on performance.
But for voters looking for personality and narrative arc, the @RamsNFL DT is unrivaled on that front, too.
He crashed his buddy's recruiting visit just to get an FCS walk-on opportunity.https://t.co/X5Ioo3oNA8
— J.B. Long (@JB_Long) January 3, 2024
znModeratorAround The NFL@AroundTheNFLRams designate CB Duke Shelley (hamstring) to return from injured reserveznModerator“Signed a four-year, $3.97 million contract with the Rams in June of 2022.” And this is what he’s making with the Rams. If yer Kyren, do you hold out for a better contract next year? w v Draft class 2022
Logan Bruss |round 3 Cobie Durant | 4 Kyren Williams – 5 | Quentin Lake |6 Derion Kendrick |6 Daniel Hardy |7 Russ Yeast |7 AJ Arcuri – 7With only Wms and Lake coming through so far, 2022 looks like a subpar draft class. Duran and Kendrick haven’t stepped up in 2023, and Bruss has a couple of years worth of injuries holding hom back (plus at 6’5 309 he doesn’t fit the new model of OG the Rams have under OL coach Ryan Wendell–Avila is 6’3 332 and Dotson is 6’4 321).
I wonder if along with re-assessing and adjusting the offense in 2023, they did the same with personnel policies/tendencies and scouting. So they got better at it in 2023.
Of course Wms is a big score.
In terms of contract? I’m just pulling this off the top of my head, but my impression is that generally, when I have seen backs ask for an extension while still playing on their rookie contract , it’s not in year 3, it’s in year 4. That is, they’re saying, give me an extension now before the season instead of after the rookie contract expires at the end of this season. That’s what Jonathan Taylor was doing before the season this year. He got his extension btw. 3 years, 42 M, which is 14 M a year. The Rams can afford that in 2025 easily.
Though I think they need a true 1B back they can count on if/when KW misses games. Having both KW and the “new back to be named later” healthy at the same time would be a big plus. They’re in danger of over-using KW.
znModerator@RamsNFL rookie IDL Kobie Turner has more sacks, QB hurries, QB hits, and total pressures than Jalen Carter. No rookie IDL has more sacks (11); Carter ranks second with 7. Highly disruptive player with active, nasty hands. Bit of a Geno Atkins hit here. Unblockable vs. Giants. pic.twitter.com/2QbuVQChBp
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) January 2, 2024
znModeratorDemarcus Robinson in the month of December: 😳
342 yards (for comparison cooper kupp has 341 yards in december)
4 TD’s
21 catches
(4-1 since his emergence) 👀 pic.twitter.com/igOQxtMOMV— x – Rams Tapes 🥶 (@RamsTapes) January 3, 2024
znModeratorI fixed your last one. The url you used was wrong. I don’t know what caused that.
When I see a tweet in twitter I want to post, the first thing I do to get a good url is to hit the time marker on the tweet, whcih can be either an clock time or a date. In the case of that last tweet it’s a date. When you click which ever it has, clock time or date, it gives you a good url.
January 3, 2024 at 1:27 am in reply to: Canada Ram! & others: a board quirk on posting tweets #148262znModeratorI fixed your second one. The url was wrong.
znModeratorFROM THE NFL REPORT: Want to see @AllHands81 get excited? Bring up @RamsNFL WRs Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua. Listen to how the future Hall of Famer breaks down this tandem. Great stuff. For the entire episode on YouTube: https://t.co/EDSoephbpq pic.twitter.com/6NBxfQTAmu
— Steve Wyche (@wyche89) January 3, 2024
znModeratorznModeratorCameron DaSilva@camdasilvaErnest Jones has the most tackles in a single season in franchise history. He has 145 tackles this year, and that’s with missing one game. James Laurinaitis previously held the record of 142, which he reached twiceznModeratorJourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigueThe Rams released LS Alex Matheson from the practice squad, so Carson Tinker wins the spot. They signed QB Dresser Winn (who was with them in training camp) to the practice squad. DB Shaun Jolly went to injured reserve. No Maher transaction yet, but McVay said that’s coming..(I do wonder if this ie. Winn is a hint at the QB plan for Sunday, because any QB who plays will need a backup option)znModeratorSorry, zn. I now see that you posted that Breer article in the Rams Reset thread.
No big. Thanks for posting it. It can be in more than 1 thread.
znModeratorAlbert Breer, from NFL Week 17 Takeaways: https://www.si.com/nfl/2024/01/01/nfl-week-17-takeaways-49ers-clinch-nfc-still-great
• I tried to tell people before the season there was no way a Sean McVay team would tank. And now, impressively, the Rams are in the playoffs. Remember, this is a team carrying some $75 million in dead money and has, at points this year, had 19 rookies on its 53-man roster. It’s also a group that was working with a madeover offensive staff, and linchpins such as Jalen Ramsey and Leonard Floyd gone from the defense. It hasn’t always been pretty, and wasn’t in Sunday’s 26–25 win over the Giants (Matthew Stafford was picked twice, Tyrod Taylor threw for 319 yards). But the team got better over time, and now, again, looks like it has an awfully bright future, not to mention a chance to be pretty aggressive again this offseason. And as for now? Well, I tried to tell you they wouldn’t take their foot off the pedal. I’m not sure I’d want to face them in the wild-card round if I were the Lions, Cowboys or Eagles.
***
Sean McVay’s Changes to His Offensive Staff Pay Off for the Rams
The Super Bowl-champion coach wasn’t afraid to inject new ideas into his scheme, and the moves have his team in the playoffs.Albert Breer
• The Los Angeles Rams are back in the playoffs, and we mentioned in the Ten Takeaways how remarkable it is that this was accomplished with the team carrying $75 million in dead money and, at points this year, 19 rookies on its 53-man roster.
Here’s the other thing: Sean McVay made some pretty significant changes to his offensive staff with the idea of injecting new ideas into the Rams’ scheme, and it’s worked.
McVay looked outside his comfort zone in the offseason to retool his offensive coaching staff.
He brought in Mike LaFleur, who spent seven years under Kyle Shanahan with the Cleveland Browns, Atlanta Falcons and San Francisco 49ers—after McVay and Shanahan parted ways. He hired Ryan Wendell, who played with the New England Patriots and coached for Brian Daboll with the Buffalo Bills, as the team’s line coach. Along those lines, the respect McVay has always had for Josh McDaniels’s scheme was reflected in the hire of McDaniels’s right-hand man, Nick Caley, as tight ends coach. And all of it showed a certain humility in McVay’s approach.
Despite all of the success he and the Rams have had with the Shanahan scheme, McVay sought out new ideas from outside his coaching tree.
“We really wanted to do our due diligence in finding the best coaches that were out there,” McVay told me over the summer. “And I have tremendous respect for the background of all of those guys knowing that, Hey man, I was so fortunate to be around really good people that taught me, and I had tremendous respect for. Whether it was Ryan Wendell’s background as a player under Dante Scarnecchia and Bill [Belichick] and learning from Josh [McDaniels], then being under Aaron Kromer in Buffalo, there is some familiarity with our background. And then Nick Caley, I mean, a lot of it, I trust his experience is there.
“I heard great stuff from Brian Daboll about them. And then Mike I’ve known forever, but I know how close he and Kyle were, how instrumental he was in a lot of the things that they were doing.”
The result? A run game that’s more diverse with more downhill, gap-scheme concepts, and a passing game that further leans into, and empowers, the expertise and experience of Matthew Stafford. A top-10 rushing attack behind Kyren Williams. And a renaissance season from Stafford, with a record-breaking rookie receiver (Puka Nacua) riding shotgun.
All because McVay was willing to go outside his comfort zone.
znModeratorOkay, but teams coming off a bye win more often than not.
I’m for resting the equipment managers.
I think teams can play one meaningless game after they’ve clinched their playoff spots where they don’t wear any uniforms, helmets, or padding. Or for that matter, use footballs.
znModeratorBlaine Grisak @bgrisakTSTIn 2017, the Rams were 4-1 down the stretch and rested starters against the 49ers in Week 17. In the playoff game against the Falcons, Rams fell down 13-0 and didn’t score their first points until 2:30 left in the 2nd quarter. First four drives ended in four plays or less.znModeratorShould the Rams rest some starters in Week 18? https://t.co/UZBCGW3hfk pic.twitter.com/uXiSBBiBEp
— Rams Wire (@TheRamsWire) January 2, 2024
znModeratorWhat I would like to see them get. Either draft picks or bargain veteran FAs that can be coached up like Witherspoon or Robinson. I red-bold the top priorities.
A couple of CBs. That’s along with signing Witherspoon.
LB/edge.
Another ILB to complement Jones.
NT depth
DE, ie. a 3/4 style
OT depth
OC depth
Another 1A RB so it’s not all Wms.
Kicker
10 is a lot. The ones I prioritized? It is do-able if they come through both in the draft and in picking up a couple of bargain-but-coachable FAs.
znModeratorKyren Williams’ best plays from 3-TD game
znModeratorThe Rams released kicker Lucas Havrisik on Monday morning after he missed two extra point attempts in Sunday’s narrow win over the New York Giants.
They are signing Brett Maher, according to head coach Sean McVay. Maher is one of five kickers the Rams have had on their roster since the spring. He was released before they signed Havrisik in October.
“Getting into the playoffs definitely changes a little bit of the dialogue,” said McVay on Monday afternoon. The Rams clinched a postseason spot with their win at New York, and Pittsburgh’s win at Seattle on Sunday afternoon.
“Wanted to get somebody in here that had some experience. … There’s options out there, and then there are guys that have familiarity with it. There’s not a perfect scenario. But I think when you look at the landscape, some of the options, this is what we felt like was going to be the best opportunity to move forward the way that we want to.”
Maher played seven games for the Rams earlier this season and went 17-of-23 on field goal attempts, and 12-of-13 on extra point attempts.
Long snapper Alex Ward is dealing with a neck issue and went on injured reserve in December, altering the Rams’ snap-and-hold operation. Carson Tinker is currently the team’s long snapper.
Where the rest of the roster has dramatically improved over the course of the 2023 season, special teams remains last in the NFL in DVOA and has left 37 points on the board due to 11 missed field goals and four missed extra points. The punting unit has allowed two returns for touchdowns in the last four weeks, with one costing them the game in overtime at Baltimore.
According to DVOA creator Aaron Schatz, the Rams currently have the sixth-lowest special teams DVOA in league history.
“I do think there’s plays that we’re not making that we are capable of,” McVay said. “There have been a lot of moving parts as it relates to our field goal operation … I also think that some of the coverage things, we’ve got to tackle better. We do need to play better, (and) we’re capable of doing that.”
znModeratorfrom Rodrigue: https://theathletic.com/live-blogs/nfl-week-18-news-schedule-standings/nsPRUujINWwk/l9As1V0Rv7J0/
…injury updates from McVay: Starting nose tackle Bobby Brown III, who left Sunday’s game with a knee injury and did not return, suffered a hyperextension but “should be OK.” Tackle/guard Joe Noteboom injured his heel and isn’t likely to practice this week.
Tight end Tyler Higbee suffered a posterior subluxation of his left shoulder and his status will be monitored through the week.
Safety Jordan Fuller is day to day with an ankle sprain.
Defensive lineman Desjuan Johnson has turf toe and will also be day to day.
Starting left tackle Alaric Jackson missed Sunday’s game due to a personal reason, which McVay clarified Monday was a family situation but said he’d allow Jackson to share more detail if he chose to do so. Jackson will be back with the Rams this week.
znModeratorMore from Rams HC Sean McVay on the decision to waive kicker Lucas Havrisik and bring back Brett Maher:https://t.co/VPBUA4JuvZ
— Stu Jackson (@StuJRams) January 1, 2024
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