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ZooeyModeratorVikings dumped some OL today, I saw.
ZooeyModeratorI hope for the best but I feel people are getting too far ahead with optimism considering he’s recovering from an ACL. If Mason ends up keeping the job what an expensive and waste of another first round pick.
Yes, it is said it takes 2 years to recover 100%. Since he was hurt in November, he would have to be well ahead of schedule to be 100% at the beginning of the 2016 season.
He doesn’t, however, have to be 100% to play or be effective. But you are right to remind us of caution. I don’t see how he can start the season, really.
ZooeyModeratorThe reports are saying Collins wants to play OT for a contender.
Wow. Collins want to play for a good team.
Bystanders are stunned.
Most people thought he would go for the team with the prettiest colors, or the most loyal fan base.
Collins wants to play for a contender?
Wow.
ZooeyModeratorWord around the campfire is that the Jets already had Gurley pegged @ #6. But when the Skins passed on L. Williams, they did a 180 and drafted the most talented player in the draft. Bowles just couldn’t help himself.
Well, if the Jets wanted him, that can’t be good.
ZooeyModeratorAnd it appears that every OL the Rams drafted this year has that “mauler” mentality. They all just keep going, and keep hitting people.
I tell you, that kind of mindset makes up for talent deficiencies. Obviously, you would like both in a player, but I think I’d rather sacrifice some size or length or technique for attitude, then get another Barron.
And Greg Robinson was described the same way. In the 4th quarter, if you have an OL that just keeps on hitting, they are just going to wear guys down.
May 5, 2015 at 8:19 pm in reply to: now that the dust has settled a bit, how do you feel about this draft? #24153ZooeyModeratorI think the “identity” aspect of this is overblown a little bit. While it is easy to draw a “run it down their throats” theme to this draft, I don’t think that was really the intent. It looks that way. But if this had been a typical draft with an LB here, and an OL there, it wouldn’t have been so easily categorized even though it would have been building a Fisher team in equally the same way. Just not one aspect of it all at once.
It fell out that way.
The Rams entered the off season with two primary needs: OL and a QB of the future. There are other things they could have used, but that’s what they NEEDED.
Then Gurley was there. And it looks like a “run it down their throats” draft.
ZooeyModeratorEveryone they drafted is a system fit. I don’t have any problem with anything they did. It’s clear what the strategy was behind this draft, and it’s clear they nailed that strategy. Whether the players turn out or not, of course, we shall see. But they got what several people are calling one of the 2-3 best players in the draft (and one of those other players is Williams, a DE), and they got a free QB out of it all. If those OL turn out to be players, this looks to me like a more talented version of the Titans (except at QB). The OL, though. That’s what we are waiting for now. If they play out, I expect a wild card berth, or an excruciatingly close miss of the wild card.
ZooeyModeratorRIP, Thordaddy.
May 5, 2015 at 3:13 pm in reply to: now that the dust has settled a bit, how do you feel about this draft? #24126ZooeyModeratorGreat post, Isiah58. That’s well said. Not only is that an accurate description of their philosophy, I endorse it fully. I agree that you always go BPA in the first. I did not understand the hand-wringing Thursday night/Friday morning about how they failed to address the line. I wanted a playmaker at #10, and while I didn’t have Gurley on my radar, it took me all of about a minute to get on board with it.
And for those who didn’t like the Gurley pick, I ask…who? Peat? Nobody ever offered a preferred alternative. With the draft thick in OL, the strategy made perfect sense to me.
We shall see. I like Dak’s assessment of the assessment. Gurley and Havenstein + one other starter = A draft. That’s the hope.
ZooeyModeratorWhat the hell is a “perpetual rebuilding process?” Doesn’t every team participate in the draft every year? What do they want, Trung Canidate type picks?
The Rams have to play rookies because they totally sucked when Fisher took over. They haven’t reached the point of the luxury of drafting for depth. They are drafting for starters still. And they are getting closer.
May 4, 2015 at 7:36 pm in reply to: now that the dust has settled a bit, how do you feel about this draft? #24052ZooeyModeratori want to say that while i like the ol prospects, i really only expect one starter from that group in year 1. havenstein at right tackle. center will come from one of their three prospects – jones, rhaney, or barnes. the right guard spot will be barksdale or some other free agent they sign or possibly jones.
the other rookies are developmental. no way they start them immediately unless they just absolutely knock he socks off the coaches, but that’s highly unlikely.
and again. i think the gurley pick was brilliant. they needed that type of talent on offense. absolutely needed it. now he just needs to fulfill his potential… no pressure…
I think they want Saffold at RG.
ZooeyModeratorWhat do you mean “based on the CBA”. What kind of limitations are we talking about here?
The league sets a limit on how much teams can spend on undrafted FAs every year. I actually think it might be less that $100,000. That means that, in year one anyway, he will have to settle for next to nothing. Of course after this year he could end up getting a big-time FA contract.
If that’s true, he may sit the year.
He may have to anyway. He may be cleared this week, and he may be cleared after everybody has been in camp a while. And maybe he will be Aaron Hernandez’s roommate this time next year.
But why work for a plumber’s salary this year, and risk an ACL?
Presumably he would be eligible for FA next year in February when all the other FA hit the market.
I just don’t think he plays this year.
ZooeyModeratorWell, you know, even if his production drops by 10% in the pros, and he averages just 7 yards a carry, I will be alright with that.
May 4, 2015 at 5:58 pm in reply to: various podcasts, vids, & vid links… a lot of Snead, Gurley #24024ZooeyModeratorWith so many teams set up to defend the pass, teams often struggle to deal with a beefy run game.
Look at how teams struggle to defend Seattle’s O.
Well, if we essentially look to do it better by having a better OL, a back with the potential to be better than Lynch and a better passing QB than Wilson with better weapons than Seattle has, then we have the potential to be ridiculously scary as a team. Just flat out horrific to other teams because we’re going to be a 4th quarter nightmare to defend.
It’s not just Gurley, but also Foles.
If Foles is Faulk, then Gurley is Holt.
I just got a feeling that some alchemy is brewing this year… and having Mason with his ability to make people miss… man, we’re going to give teams fits.
You must be feeling a lot better because I see your meds are really kicking in, Mack.
I’m not sure the Rams’ OL is even adequate yet, Gurley may not play half the year, and expecting him to be better than Lynch when he does is optimistic, and Foles is a better QB than Wilson only in a few of the more remote alternate universes, and in none of them is he the impact player Faulk is.
I must admit, though, that I am looking forward to the season a lot more now than I was two weeks ago.
ZooeyModeratorThey took the initial profile down, but not the one you posted…
har har har…
I somehow thought it wouldn’t last.
ZooeyModeratorWell, I don’t know. I think the NFL has a problem now, though. They should have let him pull out and apply for the Supplemental the way he wanted to.
Maybe it’s not that big of a deal. I mean, maybe most guys who slide would not be served by sitting out a year, even if they calculate that they would go higher the following year. Collins is looking at a certain first round contract drop to the 4th round or lower. Very few players will ever be looking at such a clear cut situation. But I still think it’s not a good precedent for the NFL.
ZooeyModeratorYou let Collins sign as an UDFA and you’ve just killed the draft. What’s to stop any other player from doing the same thing?
I may not understand what you are saying. Collins had to go through the draft without being selected. High quality players would have to do the same, wouldn’t they? The precedent is already in place, isn’t it?
Yeahhhhhhhhhhhh. I guess he did technically pass through the draft. But it’s hard to imagine he wouldn’t have been taken in the 6th or 7th if he hadn’t threatened not to sign. I guess if I’m the NFL, I don’t want players threatening not to sign if drafted lower than they value themselves, only to be signed as a FA. You don’t want to turn the NFL draft into a game of chicken.
ZooeyModeratorThis isn’t going to happen.
You let Collins sign as an UDFA and you’ve just killed the draft. What’s to stop any other player from doing the same thing?
No way the NFL is going to allow Collins to sign as a street free agent. Bad, bad precedent.
So forget that fantasy right now.
ZooeyModeratorWell who knows how the future will unfold,
but they picked a bunch of seemingly-solid,
big, fat, mauling, road-grading
Hog-Mollies.About as unsexy a draft as you will ever
see. An injured RB and big fat Hogs.But i like it. They had a good plan
it seems to me.This was a “Madden” draft.
Madden players. Old-schoolers.
The Fisher identity finally emerges
on offense.My only head=tilt is with Mannion.
I might have picked one more
Hog, myself.
w
vNo qb taken outside the first round is ever going to excite fans. Some of them develop, obviously. I think the Rams need to draft another one next year, too. Even if Foles does well and is resigned. The Rams need to be developing Foles successor now.
May 3, 2015 at 11:39 am in reply to: brilliant interview with David Simon (of The Wire) about Baltimore #23847ZooeyModeratorJust read that O’Malley may run announce he is running for president by the end of the month.
ZooeyModeratorI think my favorite pick has to be the drafting of Mannion because he cost so little. The pick was close to free, so there is little to lose.
Had the Rams not traded with Carolina, taking Mannion would presumably have cost them Brown.
So they missed out on Mike Morse and Jake Fisher because they moved down to 57 (Haverstein), but got the extra pick. They weren’t going to take Funchess (Carolina’s pick with the Rams’ original #41) anyway, so he is irrelevant.
To put it another way, the Rams traded Morse or Fisher for Haverstein and Mannion.
They got a developmental QB in a draft where they HAD to take one, but the pickings were slim, and it didn’t cost them a starter somewhere else. I like it.
ZooeyModeratorIt took me all of about a minute to turn around and like the pick, but I do have to agree with the concern in Jack’s post. ACLs are a year, right? And this injury was in November, right?
Best case may be that Gurley works in some of the slow motion, non-contact drills in camp. I don’t see how he gets onto the field the first half of the season. And we have little continuity on the OL, to say the least.
I like the picks. It’s a good-looking draft on paper, a very good-looking draft.
It just looks like it’s a 2016 harvest.
May 2, 2015 at 10:49 pm in reply to: what other rookie RB did the Rams get who had a knee injury but panned out? #23798ZooeyModeratori really do think gurley is the risk.
i had posted about it a couple months ago. hoping that it would happen but telling myself that the smart play was drafting an olineman. but when scherff went off the board. and with what la’el collins is going through. it suddenly looked like a real possibility.
i think he’s got the potential to be better than steven jackson was. i really do. and i loved steven. he’s got to learn pass pro from what i’ve read. but he’s got everything else. he can run for power. he can get the tough yards. but then he can bust the big plays. he can catch the ball. he’s potentially a guy that defenses have to scheme against. and the rams did not have that before this draft. i think tre mason can be a very good back. but i don’t see him as a guy who can make his teammates look better. i know that phrase is tossed around a lot. but i believe it to be true about gurley. he’ll make that offensive line look better. he’ll make his qb and wrs look better. imagine this guy as a safety valve. with his speed and his power?
and most importantly with a dominant running game. that defense is gonna be fresh and rested. the dline is gonna get after those qbs. williams will be coming up with schemes to get turnovers.
well. that’s the idea anyway.
Yep . That’s the idea, and that’s the kool-aid I’m drinking, too.
I like this draft. My optimism for the season went up.
ZooeyModeratorWell. Who knows. London Fletcher was undrafted, and Aaron Curry was the 4th pick in the first round. Anybody would take Fletcher in retrospect.
Funny old game, innit?
May 2, 2015 at 4:00 pm in reply to: brilliant interview with David Simon (of The Wire) about Baltimore #23738ZooeyModeratorThat was interesting. Thanks.
ZooeyModeratorThis is where we are:
A man who weighs 313 pounds can be called “leaner-than-ideal.”
ZooeyModeratorFun Fact:
Carolina GM said they traded up because they identified 6 teams in front of them who needed a receiver.
Not one was drafted between 41 and 57.
ZooeyModeratorI had no desire for Gurley. He wasn’t on my radar. The Rams are fine at RB.
But I tell you…while the game’s rules have shifted to favor the passing game, the Rams don’t have a dominant passing game. Their receivers can be pretty good. Foles may be pretty good (or not). But the talent they have in the passing game isn’t dominant. I woulda preferred Cooper or White. But they weren’t there.
Now there is a RB available who is compared to Peterson and Lynch – IE in the conversation for the best RB in the NFL – that’s what is there. I will take that. Especially for an offense that lacks a blue chipper anywhere. The Rams need a blue chipper or two on offense.
The GSOT had Faulk, Warner, Bruce, Holt, Pace…that’s five. Five blue chips on offense. This team has none.
You take one if you can get one. Seattle won with Lynch and some good WRs.
Furthermore, we all know the NFL moves in cycles. Passing is important, so the good defenses in the league are loaded up with secondary guys and LBs who can cover, and DL that can rush. They aren’t as well equipped to stop the run.
Going Old School could well be a recipe for success.
Regardless.
For me, the truth is that there was nobody else to take in that spot, except maybe Waynes. They took the BPA. And he could be a game-changer. Mason was not going to take a big load off Foles. Gurley might.
I’m okay with it. I didn’t want Gurley. I wanted a WR or stud OL, but those guys all got taken. Gurley was the best they could do while staying at 10.
ZooeyModeratorIt makes sense to me. Fisher has said he wants to build a power running team so this move fits that plan very well. He also does not draft offensive linemen this high because he believes they can be drafted later and developed. Outside of picking Robinson to be the LOT, he has been consistent in doing that going back to his years in Tennessee. I would not be surprise to see the Rams draft two or three offensive linemen in this draft. I would almost bet on them taking an OL in the third round, maybe fourth as well.
They need some people who can start this year. They do not have 5 starters on the roster right now. They have two, one of whom spends a lot of time in rehab. Maybe they have a starter in Jones or Rainey. Maybe even both, one at center, one at guard. That prospect doesn’t fill me with confidence, but they know more about it than I do. And maybe Barksdale comes back.
There’s no depth.
Now, I am not worried about it YET because I have thought all along that it looked like a good opportunity to take a playmaker in the first, and harvest from the OL depth later in the draft. But if they don’t draft OL until the third day of the draft, I worry. The third day of the draft is for development. Guys that may emerge as role players down the road, but aren’t going to start this year.I will sleep easier tonight if I have a big, ugly OL to snuggle up to.
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