Hram wrote:

I think the chances are only slightly better than I will get to go up to space someday.

If he did come back, they have plenty of time to ease him in and keep him on a very limited snap count, while they see what kind of football shape he could get back in, for the majority of the regular season.

Calais Campbell is 39. Cam Heyward was the highest rated DT last year. He’s 37.

I dismissed it out of hand at first. Been thinking about it all morning, though. And I’m for it. It would be a spectacle.

And, as Cowherd points out, Donald…you know…he isn’t posting pictures of himself on an exotic beach with umbrella beverages. He’s posting his workouts. Remember the video Verse posted? Verse made it sound like Donald was dragging him by the end. Donald’s in condition. And if Donald decides to do it, he will DO it. He does not half-ass anything.

wv wrote:

Orlavsky on the Aaron Donald rumor : “…after hearing that with Pat, my gut tells me this is more than likely going to happen’

Kimes looked like she just swallowed soap when Orlovsky said that.

The Rams are already Must Watch TV, but whatever, bring it on, I guess.

But do me a favor and sign a legit #2 QB later today.

Here’s an article on Donald from CBS. I’m not up for doing all the formatting to bring it over here.

Waiting for WV to tell us how scared he is of Micah Parsons and Jordan Love

Well. Okay, then.

zn wrote:

Here;s the title of the PFF article that guy is quoting from: Ranking the most valuable non-first-round NFL Draft picks since 2016

Yes, well, that would contribute to the overall coherency, I think.

Zooey wrote:

wv wrote:

Top 5 Rams?
(Comments mentioned Faulk, Slater, Pace, Gabriel, Fears, Crazy Legs, Holt, Flipper, Cromwell…Fred Dryer )

I haven’t watched the video yet, and far be it from me to plow into a topic I haven’t given any thought to, but I will say Flipper is not worth a nod in this discussion. I liked Fred Dryer more than you did, but he doesn’t belong in the conversation, either.

Faulk would be a tough one for me because he spent his first 4? years with some other team. I can’t say anything about Fears or Hirsch because I never saw them play, and only know a bit, and the same is true for Gabriel, although I did watch him play, but I was like 6 – 10 years old, and what did I know about football while I was watching him, and obviously had no point of comparison at the time.

BTW, that list doesn’t include Dickerson, Deacon Jones, Olsen, Night Train, Warner, Youngblood, or Bruce.

At this point, I think I’m just going to say that I’m proud that the Rams have so many great players, cutting it down to five is practically impossible. It would be so much easier to do this if we were Seahawks fans like Nittany. They have Largent, Lynch, Kennedy, and Sherman. That’s about it. Can’t think of a 5th.

Oh. The video mentions Youngblood, Jones, Olsen, and Dickerson. So…okay. Shoulda maybe watched it before I opened my fat mouth. And I can’t believe I totally spaced Donald. JFC.

zn wrote:

Who would it be?

Merlin Olsen

• This reply was modified 2 months ago by Zooey.

Wow, thanks for that. I have seen the Ferragamo to Waddy 50x in my life, but that was the first time I noticed that the pass was tipped by a defender. And the F-W play is the only play that I remember. Watching that little summary was a fabulous trip. All those names. By golly, why do people prefer 38-35 to 16-12?

I always loved those games. I like the current games, too, but I loved the low-scoring, 1970s games at least as much.

Cullen Bryant, man. I loved that guy. I’m not sure he has any equivalent in the modern era.

zn wrote:

…

As it happens, CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco just dropped his three-years-later 2023 NFL Draft regrades last week. While Prisco gave the real-life Dallas Cowboys an “F” after first-rounder Mazi Smith didn’t work out, our re-draft aims to fix that, but along the offensive line. And Prisco was right to give an A+ to the Rams and Seahawks for their historic hauls

…

3. Houston Texans: Puka Nacua, WR, BYU
Drafted: No. 177 overall by Rams | My final big board: No. 154
Original pick: Will Anderson Jr., EDGE, Alabama

Will Anderson Jr. was such a good pick here, and the cost, it turns out, was not prohibitive either. But rules are rules, so instead, the Texans get Bryce Young a legit weapon in Puka Nacua.

You might argue that the Texans WR room is pretty deep, but we still don’t know when Tank Dell will be 100% — he was also in the 2023 class, so he’s technically a free agent in this exercise … as is sixth-rounder Xavier Hutchinson — and I love the idea of Nacua and Nico Collins on the field together.

18. Detroit Lions: Byron Young, EDGE, Tennessee
Drafted: No. 77 overall by Rams | My final big board: No. 65
Original pick: Jack Campbell, LB, Iowa

Young has 29 sacks in three seasons, including 12 in 2025 — which is tied for second among pass rushers from the 2023 class behind Tuli Tuipulotu. Young is an older player for the 2023 class (he’s 28, while Anderson is just 24), but that’s not necessarily a bad thing; sure, maybe his ceiling is lower — but it was already pretty high when he arrived in the league.

19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Kobie Turner, DL, Wake Forest
Drafted: No. 89 overall by Rams | My final big board: No. 224
Original pick: Calijah Kancey, DL, Pittsburgh

Kobie Turner was a combine snub, again showing that the combine isn’t a prerequisite to not only getting drafted (and Turner was a Day 2 pick) but also being one of the best players in your draft class. Also: this re-draft confirms just how good the Rams’ draft haul was — they have four players going in the first round here, none of whom were actual first-rounders in 2023.

25. Buffalo Bills: Steve Avila, OG, TCU
Drafted: No. 36 overall by Rams | My final big board: No. 60
Original pick: Dalton Kincaid, TE, Utah

O’Cyrus Torrence has been really good for the Bills, but Steve Avila has maybe been a little better in L.A. for the Rams, where he’s played solely at left guard. He’ll have to move to right guard in Buffalo, but I’d expect him to play close to the same level.

Any time you get 4 1st rounder players in a single draft, you consider that a good haul.

zn wrote:

I’m in a board war on twitter

That’s not a board war; it’s a massacre.

I don’t know.

The only time I watch any of those other QBs play is when they play against the Rams, or in the Super Bowl.

So while there are a couple of those guys that I like over Stafford in the Mobility category, I haven’t seen enough of them to know how well they find the open guy, throw the ball away instead of making a mistake, throw a dime, or make a no-look pass. I don’t know if any of those guys are better than Stafford at making pre-snap reads. I don’t even know how good Stafford is at that – although it appears to me that he is pretty damn good at that.

But I can’t see any way I would rate Maye, Prescott, Love, or Williams above Stafford. Give me an Effing break on that. And I’m skeptical of placing Burrow and/or Herbert over Stafford. And so far, Jackson and Allen have not demonstrated the Clutch element that Stafford has, afaik.

Matthew Stafford was the MVP of the NFL last year. I mean… how the hell do you put him at #10? No calculus delivers that result, imo.

wv wrote:

Well, fwiw, here it is. Middlekauf seems rather emphatic about it. About the 4 or 5 minute mark.

I dunno. That sounds to me like a guy who is just echoing what Shanahan said. And Shanahan did complain about it, and he cited the 49er fan attendance as a reason, but I can’t tell if that’s just smack talk or not. What would you expect them to say?

And how would Middlekauf know what Demoff is saying to the league office? You think Demoff just calls the switchboard and starts talking to the receptionist about why he’s calling?

I just… am skeptical. I work in public education, and I can tell you that NOTHING happens here administratively without the admins considering what could go wrong. Legally.

And the NFL, I am 100% certain, is simply not going to act in a way where their impartiality can be legitimately called into question.

As a teacher, I face this all the time. If a kid comes to me to ask for something, an extension on an assignment say, my first thought after considering whether it’s a reasonable request or not is to consider whether I can defend it. What will I do when another kid, or the whole class, says, “Hey, you gave her extra time. Give all of us extra time.”

I cannot imagine the league office saying, “Okay, sure, we can give you the 49ers” without knowing that every team in the league can then say, “We want to play the Lions on our frozen tundra in December” or whatever. Why are you conceding something to the Rams that you won’t concede to every other team in the league?

You just cannot do that kind of shit. Absolutely cannot. Especially when you serve at the pleasure of the people likely to be pissed off by your decision.

So I don’t buy it. I think Middlekauf is recycling what Shanahan said without thinking very deeply about it, and reinforcing it with his personal experience at SoFi several years ago. It seemed plausible to him.

FWIW, btw, I don’t think the 9er fan presence has been as strong recently, not since the Rams sent them out of the house early in the NFC Championship. But, you know, I don’t have data on that. Just an impression.

zn wrote:

Below is the Rams’ win probability for each game, as well as the projected score in parentheses.

Week 1 vs. 49ers: 76% (29.2-21.7)
Week 2 vs. Giants: 90% (31.0-17.7)
Week 3 at Broncos: 61% (24.5-21.3)
Week 4 at Eagles: 62% (25.2-21.8)
Week 5 vs. Bills: 79% (32.5-23.8)
Week 6 vs. Cardinals: 96% (33.2-14.3)
Week 7 at Raiders: 90% (29.6-16.5)
Week 8 vs. Chargers: 81% (29.5-20.3)
Week 9 at Commanders: 84% (31.1-20.5)
Week 10 at Cardinals: 93% (31.1-16.4)
Week 11: Bye
Week 12 vs. Packers: 83% (29.5-19.6)
Week 13 vs. Chiefs: 80% (28.8-19.8)
Week 14 at 49ers: 69% (28.2-22.8)
Week 15 vs. Cowboys: 78% (31.0-22.7)
Week 16 at Seahawks: 57% (24.5-22.5)
Week 17 at Buccaneers: 74% (27.4-20.4)
Week 18 vs. Seahawks: 71% (26.5-20.4)

So… 17 & Oh.

wv wrote:

Eight Teams That Got Screwed by the 2026 NFL Schedule

Conor Orr’s annual look at teams that have tough rest differentials, unwieldy stretches or other disadvantages.

Los Angeles Rams

This schedule is absurd. Seven prime-time games. A season opener in Melbourne, Australia. One of the worst net rest differentials in the NFL. Four 2025 playoff teams in the first five weeks. Thanksgiving Eve. Christmas in prime time against the Seahawks. Two Seahawks games in three weeks to end the season. This, for a team with a 38-year-old starting quarterback who couldn’t get through training camp last year without a space-age health trailer. This is how the NFL unwittingly vanquished the Chiefs last year and is seemingly attempting to do it again with the Rams. There’s a reason Sean McVay cautioned ESPN to hold their horses when talking about the Seattle games at the end of the season because it’s unlikely the Rams will get there totally unscathed. While it’s a reality of the business, it’s disappointing to see the league’s premier offense get absolutely picked apart by factors that are totally within the league’s control.

https://www.si.com/nfl/eight-teams-screwed-2026-nfl-schedule?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

Are prime time games worse somehow? The only argument there is that they are later in the day, but is that really a disadvantage? And if so, isn’t the disadvantage washed out by the fact that the other team is also playing at an unusual time? Arguably the Rams will be more accustomed to weird times than their opponents.

They have 10 days or something to get ready for Thanksgiving Eve, and the Packers do also. Christmas seems like the same deal to me.

I don’t think the calendar dates are the problem, as erratic as they are. I think it’s that almost all of their games are against viable playoff teams.

wv wrote:

Rams have lost four in a row to the Eagles.

Rams have lost five in a row to the Packers.

Apparently both teams know how to deal with McVay.

“Nuts!”