BGrisakDTR@bgrisakDTR
The Rams went from 80% 11 personnel to 58% nearly overnight last season. Will that trend continue in 2020?

Rams Brothers@RamsBrothers
Staley is onto something. Said yesterday that he really likes what Darious Williams showed in final few games last season, and says Troy Hill provides versatility. The numbers support that.

Troy Hill fans… prepare for the inevitable.

Doug Van Breemen@DVB66
@sackmaster91 played 8 years with the Rams. Way more than any other team. And only 3 with Pitt. He’s an all-time great Ram!

𝒥𝒾𝓂 𝐸𝓋𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓉𝓉@Jim_Everett
#HornsUp 💪🏽The 90s Rams Brass did NOT appreciate or reward Kevin…but that doesn’t mean our #Ramily has to live out their error. Always a Ram!

DOWNTOWN RAMS [DTR]@DowntownRams
Imagine not thinking someone who finished third all-time in sacks isn’t elite at his position? Couldn’t be us.

“He’s got command of all the positions in the defensive backfield” Staley said. “What’s awesome about him is he can play anywhere. He can play outside or inside or safety. So we can move him around if we need to.”

J.B. Long, from Rams DC Brandon Staley has big plans for Jalen Ramsey
https://www.therams.com/news/rams-dc-brandon-staley-has-big-plans-for-jalen-ramsey

…

Safety?

Why would a coach take an elite talent at one of the most important positions in sports and move him around to other positions?

Could be just to mess with opposing quarterbacks. Could be to maximize the speed in the back end, get more corners on the field, potentially if the Cardinals go four-wide.

My guess? George Kittle.

Ramsey has a history of matching with tight ends, and the top tight end in the game is going to be a twice-a-year problem for Staley and the Rams. Even with the investments San Francisco has made at wide receiver, Kittle remains their most troublesome target. Perhaps that’s where floating the idea of Ramsey as a “safety” comes in. After all, he’s the size of John Johnson, not Troy Hill.

…

“I think there’s a lot more in him than he’s shown in the NFL. I mean, he’s shown himself to be one of the premier guys. But I know there’s a lot more in him for him to showcase,” Staley said. “Certainly, looking for him to provide a lot of leadership and production in that defensive backfield.”

from https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2020/05/22/nfl-rams-jalen-ramsey-safety-brandon-staley/

What makes Ramsey unique is his versatility. He can play man or zone coverage, but he can also play outside cornerback or in the slot. Staley wants to utilize his position flexibility even more than that, though.

He says Ramsey can play anywhere in the secondary, including safety. Ramsey played safety for two years at Florida State before moving to cornerback, and not surprisingly, he succeeded at both spots.

“He’s got command of all the positions in the defensive backfield” Staley said. “What’s awesome about him is he can play anywhere. He can play outside or inside or safety. So we can move him around if we need to.”

from linebacker will be ‘an open competition’: https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2020/05/22/nfl-rams-brandon-staley-micah-kiser-linebacker-competition/

when the Rams do hit the field, it’s going to be “an open competition,” according to defensive coordinator Brandon Staley.

“I think it’s competitive. You’ve got to let things play out. Inside linebacker, in particular, there aren’t very many guys that have played a lot of football there, so that’s going to be an open competition,” Staley said on a conference call with reporters Thursday. “You’ve gotten glimpses of those guys. Troy Reeder, T-Howard and Kenny Young, you’ve gotten glimpses of them as pro players. I know we have high regard for Micah Kiser within our building. He had that unfortunate injury in the preseason. We’ve just got to let the position sort itself out when things go live.”

…

As for the outside linebacker spot, Staley didn’t share as many details. He did say that players such as Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, Samson Ebukam, Jachai Polite, Natrez Patrick and Justin Lawler will be fighting for spots on defense. Staley also said he was excited to reunite with Leonard Floyd and add Terrell Lewis in the draft, both of whom fit the mold of his prototypical edge rusher.

“On the edge, excited to add Leonard and Terrell Lewis. And then you’ve got Obo and Samson, Jachai Polite, Natrez Patrick, Justin Lawler – those guys will be fighting for positions,” he said.

from Rams newcomer Kevin O’Connell, ex-Aztecs QB, plans to help Jared Goff rebound: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/chargers-rams/story/2020-05-21/nfl-los-angeles-rams-super-bowls-sdsu-kevin-oconnell

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O’Connell, replying to a reporter’s question during a video chat Thursday, said that not just the Niners but the other two NFC West rivals — the Seahawks and Cardinals — will present the Rams with “some real problems.” All three teams, he added, seem to have improved this offseason.

On the other hand, he said Rams talent man Les Snead has done good work, too. Targeting the offense, Snead used his first draft pick last month on running back Cam Akers and his second pick on wide receiver Van Jefferson.

O’Connell praised Akers for his “grit” and ability to gain yards against Florida State opponents that overloaded against the run. He lauded the route running of Florida alum Jefferson, whose father, Shawn, was a starting receiver for the only San Diego team to reach a Super Bowl.

What O’Connell brings to the Rams are, among other traits, much-praised ability to see the game and a rare football background.

The quarterbacks O’Connell has taught include brainy veterans such as Alex Smith, Josh McCown and Kirk Cousins. In other words, if he didn’t know his stuff, he would’ve been found out.

“The why gets asked a lot,” he said. “They want to know why you’re doing things, and you have to have the answers for that.”

…

O’Connell said he’ll work with the 25-year-old [Goff] on small details, seeking incremental gains.

“If we could just get one or two percent better across the board at all of those different things,” he said, “I think he’s got a chance to have a great season, and I’m really excited for him.”

Steve Wyche@wyche89
Rams DT Aaron Donald on having fans at games this season: “I feel like, you need fans to play, You make a big play and the fans will pick you up. Fans give you that extra juice when you’re tired and fatigued. I don’t think it would be fun to play a football game without fans.”

Bobby Evans Jr.@BobbyEvans44
Finished my last semester of college with a 4.0!! 🙌🏾🤓

Stu Jackson@StuJRams
Aaron Donald said finishing @PittTweet degree in communications and graduating was the fulfillment of a promise he made to his parents after he got drafted by the Rams.

“They were proud of me, they’re happy. It was a process, but it was worth it at the end of the day.”

To complete his degree, Donald said he took online classes over the last two years.

#LARams have 2 of the top 4 Yards per Route leaders from the slot last season 👀👀👀 https://t.co/iaxFFlCWGw

— PFF LA Rams (@PFF_Rams) May 21, 2020

Vincent Bonsignore@VinnyBonsignore
FYI, as I think it’s been misconstrued: The @Rams are not borrowing $500m from the @NFL.

there have been cost overruns. And the @Rams asked for, and were granted, an increase to the NFL’s debt limit which allows them to borrow/finance those cost overruns. In no way is the NFL actually lending the Rams the money, though. That’s absurd.

Think of it like a simple house refinance in which you borrow (from a lender, not the NFL) more and pay the same given the lower interest rates. The only difference is, teams (the Rams) have to ask permission from the NFL to do that.

If you listen to some of the reporting, you’d think the Rams went to the NFL to ask them for $500 million, which is silly/ And wrong.

“In the New York metro area alone, 21,800 people had died by May 3. Fewer than 4,300 would have died by then if control measures had been put in place and adopted nationwide just a week earlier, on March 8” https://t.co/9qkpbWEEeT

— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) May 21, 2020

Isaac Bruce was so good at making over the shoulder catches. Here he snags a zinger for 6 from Jamie Martin. Can’t forget the fencing TD celebration that I believe he did a few times haha!

2002 against Dallas pic.twitter.com/nByJUA8Hem

— RAMS ON FILM (@RamsOnFilm) May 20, 2020

from Rams receiving corps ranked surprisingly low by PFF https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2020/05/20/nfl-rams-receiving-corps-pff-woods-kupp/

There are very few teams with better pass-catchers than the Rams’, but in the eyes of Pro Football Focus’ Ben Linsey, there are actually 14.

Linsey ranked every receiving corps (which includes running backs, receivers and tight ends) in the NFL and the Rams checked in shockingly low at No. 15. There are a lot of talented receiving corps in the NFL right now, but it’s hard to see how 14 teams are ahead of the Rams.

Here’s Linsey’s breakdown of the Rams.

The Rams will have to replace Brandin Cooks with either Van Jefferson or Josh Reynolds next season, which is a hit to the offense. Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp is still a pretty nice combination at the top of the wide receiver depth chart, though, and both Gerald Everett and Tyler Higbee can pose a threat as receivers from the tight end position. Higbee really picked things up towards the end of last season — his 522 receiving yards over the last five weeks of the season were more than any other player in the NFL, and his 91.2 receiving grade over that span also sat near the top of the league. The big question for the Rams on offense is how well their offensive line can hold up for Jared Goff to get the ball out to those weapons.

from PFF: Ranking all 32 NFL quarterbacks by deep passing performance – https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-ranking-all-32-nfl-quarterbacks-deep-passing

21. JARED GOFF, LOS ANGELES RAMS
30.4% completion percentage, 9.7 yards per attempt, 44.0 Passer Rating
Only Drew Brees and Jimmy Garoppolo (and Bridgewater if we move the sample size low enough) threw deep at a lower rate than Goff. Despite 662 dropbacks, Goff took a shot deep just 56 times (8.9%) and scored only one touchdown on those plays, despite having plenty to work with in terms of receiving talent. In his defense, it wasn’t all Goff, as the Rams had one of the worst offensive lines in football, and Goff often just didn’t have the time to let deep plays develop.