OldSchool said:

Like I said here how bad was Bienemy in the interview that he didn't get this job over that? My main thought though is the NFL needs to change the rules. Either everybody can get a HC job during the playoffs or nobody can. I think that's one of the biggest things against Bienemy even over his off field past. We'll all talk about how the most important thing with a first time coach is the staff he can put together. Well not only can he not assemble a staff right now but all the other new coaches are taking the best of the best so why would an owner wait another week to hire EB when this guy can assemble his staff right now? It's a messed up system.

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Yeah it's garbage. And I wonder what would happen though if they made everyone wait until after the Super Bowl. Or if they even could do that. Guys would still stack their new staffs on handshakes.

So how about adding a week to the schedule upon completion of the season. Players rest. Coaches and teams sort their shit. And if you don't pull the trigger in that week you wait til after the Super Bowl.

pics or it didnt happen

Mackeyser said:

Meh. If I only liked actors who are Rams fans, I could only watch Modern Family... funny show, but I need more...

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And anything with Danny Trejo of course I can watch him in anything love that guy.

Mentioned in the Goff thread but does anyone think Mariota would be an option here? He is under contract with Raiders for another year, fairly cheaply, but I think he might be a solid fit here.

Who is the non-quarterback NFL MVP 2020? Top 10 candidates, including Aaron Donald, Davante Adams, more

Donald dominates his position in a way that no other player who is a candidate for this award does (sorry, Justin Tucker). He's not a defensive tackle. He's an Aaron Donald. Lumping him with other defensive tackles just makes every other player at the position look like some variation of mediocre. Seriously, take a look!

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Donald was double-teamed when pass rushing as a defensive tackle more often than anyone else, and yet he also recorded pass rush wins at a higher rate than anyone else. While better players are probably double-teamed more often than worse ones, all else being equal, more double-teams should drive pass rush win rate down. To finish No. 1 at the position in those two categories puts him on another planet compared to everyone else.

And though Donald's 13.5 sacks in 2020 trailed Pittsburgh's T.J. Watt by half a sack, he led the league in sacks created -- where we credit a sack to the player who first beats his blocker rather than the player who finishes the play -- with 19, 2.5 clear of any other player.

After our run stop win rate infamously gave Donald a mediocre rating in 2019, I feel obliged to note that the Rams star performed well in the metric in 2020, finishing 16th out of 71 defensive tackle qualifiers. But relative to the pass game, that's small potatoes. Donald's pass rushing so far exceeded other players at the position that it alone earned him the non-QB MVP.

I couldn't function at work Thursday. I mean I can do the job great. What I mean is I was high for 24 hours off a rice grain size amount. That's not safe driving 70mph and having total awareness. I'm amazed it lasted 24 hours, pain free. I woke up today and it's all back. Thankfully a few hours ago I did another rice grain size .1 ML dose. The pain is going away slowly. I just know I'm gonna be high until Saturday night at this time. Just providing direct experience and truth. We are all experiencing so many different physical, mental, just living one day to get by trials and tribulations.

OntarioRam said:

This is getting nuts. McVay is a good coach but there have been many better ones over the years, with more sustained success, that did not have their staff members poached like this.

I am starting to wonder if people just can't stand working with/under Sean McVay, and our guys leaving is just as much a function of them letting it be known in the industry that they are open to a change of employment, as it is a funcion of them actively being recruited...

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He doesn't seem to struggle to bring people in to coach with him.

I see it the way that I have seen Mcvay since he was hired.

Mcvay is the new way of coaching. I believe he has a masters in education. He is hyper focused on communication and teaching.

He'll get charged up and get after you but he understands this very simple notion that clear and consistent communication is vital.

He has also had numerous players, who other teams have deemed head aches, join the Rams and be nothing but excellent.

Smart teams are seeing these messages that are being brought with the Mcvay culture.

Gandalf said:

Goff straight up for Rodgers.

Goff hasn't reached prime yet and Rodgers is getting close to retirement.

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OK, let's do it!! No need for any arm twisting. Rams agree to the deal.

I really like these Centers. Rams better find a way to get one of them.

49ers pressing so hard for Stafford is another clue that the Rams won’t be outbid and they don’t want to lose at musical chairs: QB edition just to force up Watson’s price.

what’s funny is that all the talking heads have been making these Watson lists which make no sense.

Merlin said:

No idea. I'm sure someone's up to speed on that though.

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We don't get compensatory picks for assistants becoming coordinators. We got two compensatory picks for Holmes because he became a GM (same with the Whiners getting picks for Saleh), but we don't get picks for Staley becoming a head coach because of the new diversity rules.

Very sad to see him pass.

Tano said:

I have a feeling like Jrry has stated that McVay won't use a rookie at center.

So if that is the case, getting a FA guard and moving Corbett to Center might be the best option we have.

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I was tempted to use one of the 6th or 7th round picks on a center as well in case Corbett isn't a big upgrade from Blythe that way he's been on the roster for a year and can start his 2nd year but opted for other players.

Dodgersrf said:

Great read.

Thanks for posting this.

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It is a Great Read , but my greedy self wanted it to add more like, cost of picks.

Like Watson, imho my example of Watson draft picks, cost,from 1 of many writers, Watson cost trade should be the same as ED's.

CeeZar said:

Good timing. I've been listening to a few of the online radio stations at the link below. I was going to start a new thread, but it fits here nicely. Depending on your taste - The Roots, Handcrafted Radio, Planet Radio, and Route 66. Most of these are going to play deep cuts, not the usual limited playlist of classic rock.

St. Louis Classic Rock™

St. Louis Classic Rock™ - 8 stations | over 57,000 songs | no commercials

stlouisclassicrock.com

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I tend to stay glued to my Spotify playlists and channels, so... thanks for posting that one. Some good channels there on a very clean play page.

Bearrister said:

Al


Allen played at Wyoming.

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Yep, you're right. Don't know what I was thinking.

Dumbasses confused Williams for Hill. Yeah, I'm not going to pay much attention to this.

Hill was from Oregon, not UAB.

Darious Williams brings consistency after breakout third season | Free Agent Spotlight

Rams cornerback Darious Williams showed flashes of being someone future defensive coordinator Brandon Staley could count on opposite Jalen Ramsey when afforded playing time late in the 2019 season – moments Staley would directly point to five months later in the offseason when asked about his impressions of members of the secondary he would be inheriting.

Williams then put together a breakout 2020 season in which he finished with the most interceptions on the team in the regular season, plus another in the playoffs to help Los Angeles advance to the divisional round.

Now, Williams is scheduled to become a restricted free agent when the new league year begins on March 18.

So what are the options for Williams and the Rams this offseason?

Start first with what the restricted free agent designation means.

A restricted free agent is a player with three accrued seasons and an expired contract. While they are free to negotiate and sign with any NFL team, their original team has the ability to offer them one of many different qualifying offers, or tenders, that come with the right of first refusal and/or draft-pick compensation. (More details on those types of offers can be found here – note that associated values are specific to the 2020 offseason and subject to change in 2021.)

A restricted free agent becomes an unrestricted free agent if he does not receive an offer sheet, or if a team withdraws the tender. While the deadline to submit those tenders is not yet official, it was the start of the new league year last year. Based on NFL Network's Tom Pelisserro's report from Nov. 18, that would be 1 p.m. pacific time on March 18. Peliserro's reported tentative offseason schedule also has April 23 as the last day of the restricted free agent signing period, with April 28 the final day for teams to match offer sheets to restricted free agents.

In essence, the Rams have until the start of the new league year to submit a tender for Williams, who would still be free to negotiate with any NFL team while tendered. If Williams signs an offer sheet with another team, the Rams would have the option to match the offer sheet to keep him, or decline it and receive compensation based on the type of tender. If the Rams do not submit a tender on Williams prior to the March 18 deadline, he becomes an unrestricted free agent – though that would be a surprising decision.

While declining to match an offer sheet from an opposing team could save some money, and potentially allow the Rams to find a cheaper replacement depending on compensation – or even through the draft, with or without a pick received in return – there's no guarantee that new player develops similarly to Williams. Plus, when a team has to face Kyler Murray and Russell Wilson each twice a year, there's an understood premium on having experience at cornerback, especially two shutdown-caliber ones.

Considering Los Angeles' next defensive coordinator, Raheem Morris, cut his teeth as a defensive backs coach early in his NFL career and likely understands the value of the position, it's not a stretch to think bringing back Williams would be most advantageous for him and L.A.

Tano said:

Reeder showed me in the GB game that if Donald isn't 100% he is a horrible option at Inside Linebacker. He is okay when Donald is 100% but we really need an upgrade imho. I was hoping they would put in Kiser in the second half since Reeder was doing so horrible in the first half.

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Fair point on Reeder.

iamme33 said:

wow make a couple more trades and we will own the hole draft except 1st rnd. i know that snead is setting at home reading this and trying to figure a way to make it work. nice work there memento.

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Well, I'd definitely try to do that, haha! If Snead follows my advice, though, I'd rather it be with players than draft positions, and there's quite a few skill position players I really like.

I should be coming up with another draft soon-ish, maybe hop on the Watson bandwagon? I don't know.

Thank God I live in Montana where most of us have seen less affects of the rona.

Tired of the constant turmoil in our daily lives so I try not to listen to it. I wish the nfl would get off the political garbage. Just pick the best talent for the jobs and shut up about it.

Skiing is an option for us snow pack is good and we have a couple of months to enjoy it.

Spring is coming, new babies on the ranch, prepping for hay season and the garden will take over as we see more daylight.

Heading to Alaska this summer for a couple of weeks so more prep work there to do.

Good luck out there in whatever fills your days. Life is short, go get it.

NJRamsFan said:

My thing is no one player guarantees you a Super Bowl Watson included. It’s one thing to go in big on a trade for what you feel is a final piece but we’ve done that already a few times and we have deficiencies because of it. I’d much rather invest in the trenches on both sides of the ball. We’re still lacking pass rush outside of Donald we severely need interior upgrades in the Oline plus whit won’t be around forever. and our lb group leaves a lot to be desired. So a trade for Watson IMO is only a success if he delivers us a Super Bowl we’re already a second round playoff team.

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I agree dude but there are no guarantees in any aspect of life and sometimes we take a risk to try and stack the odds in our favour. And while Watson doesn't guarantee anything it certainly strengthens our position the odds increase but yes no guarantees. Assuming we can still draft well and with all the 3rd rounders we getting especially next season we may have 3-4 3rds that's great capital for us.

It's not just their fans, it's their arrogant asstam of a coach. And count Brady in that description.

Rams have big decisions to make on pending defensive free agents

An accomplished 2020 season saw the Rams defense not only finish No. 1 in the NFL in fewest yards and points allowed per game, but also saw several of its members post career or breakout campaigns.

Los Angeles would like to keep all of those standout performers, of course, but with salary cap limitations – including an anticipated reduction league-wide – it will be facing some big decisions with the likes of safety John Johnson III, cornerback Troy Hill, outside linebacker Leonard Floyd, and defensive lineman Morgan Fox scheduled to become unrestricted free agents, and cornerback Darious Williams a restricted free agent.

"The main thing is to try to get it right, because as you mentioned there's a lot of names there," Rams general manager Les Snead said during a video conference Tuesday. "And there's the salary cap and there's a cap that's going down. So it's always a puzzle, it's really a calculus formula. It's a tough algorithm to build, because the simple thing to say is, look, any player that's helped us – John Johnson made an interception that helped us go to the Super Bowl. A guy named Dante Fowler probably caused the interception, but we weren't able to bring him back last year, but Leonard Floyd comes in. So that's just part of the NFL."

Each of those five players played pivotal roles on the Rams' top-ranked defense.

Johnson was the on-field defensive signal-caller for former defensive coordinator Brandon Staley. He led the Rams in total tackles with 105 and added eight pass breakups and an interception to his regular season stat line. In addition to that role and the corresponding production, Johnson's versatility and playmaking ability made him a valuable member of the Rams defense.

"I mean, he had the green dot, where he was the communicator, that's something that I value so much in terms of the different intricacies of what we were doing defensively from a schematic-perspective," Rams head coach Sean McVay said during a Jan. 17 video conference. "He's a guy that was incredibly instrumental in a lot of the success we had defensively. He became a big-time team leader for us. I think you really saw him grow a lot this year and we put a lot on him and he showed why he was more than capable."

Elsewhere in the secondary, Hill proved he was capable of playing the slot or outside opposite Ramsey and also had a nose for the football, coming up with three of the team's four defensive touchdowns in the regular season.

"Troy Hill, what can you say about the ball production, scoring the touchdowns that he did, the versatility," McVay said. "I think a lot of the versatility that we were able to activate with Jalen was a reflection of also Troy Hill's versatility."

Ramsey, a First Team All-Pro and Pro Bowl selection this year who has said this year was the best body of work he's put out in the NFL, credited Hill for being a part of that.

"Without him and his versatility and him being able to play inside and outside, I wouldn't be able to be who I was this year," Ramsey said during a Jan. 17 video conference.

Up front, Floyd was a key piece to the Rams' pass rush with a career-high 10.5 sacks, all while playing on a one-year, proverbial "prove-it" deal. Fox posted a career-high six sacks and was also someone the Rams counted on as the next man up in Week 17 when Michael Brockers was on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

"We know that Fox is going to step up and continue to play at a high level, like you've been doing all year," defensive lineman Aaron Donald said in Week 17. Fox followed those comments with four total tackles (two for loss), one sack, and one QB hit in an 18-7 playoff-clinching win over the Cardinals.

Williams, meanwhile, emerged as a shutdown corner opposite Ramsey with a team-leading and career-high four interceptions.

"He's got all the skills and characteristics you're looking for," McVay said during a Nov. 20 video conference. "I love his mental makeup. And you just see the athleticism and you talked about it in the team meeting today. I mean, all four of his picks have been huge parts of three wins that we've had this year."

Snead said he and McVay have already had preliminary conversations about pending defensive free agents they want to prioritize bringing back, and will resume those discussions in mid-February.

"You would love to build a dream team, per-se, but you can't," Snead said. "So our goal this year is to sit down in February, and probably right over about a four-week span, really calculate that formula."

jrry32 said:

Call me crazy but I don't think McVay is going to be willing to start a rookie Center. Maybe I'm wrong on that, but that's the feeling I have.

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Just having fun

den-the-coach said:

Hard not to like Deshaun Watson coming to Los Angeles and interesting that you have Austin Corbett at center considering that experiment went awry in Cleveland. Sad to lose woods, but DeSean Jackson is a player McVay raved about in Washington, hopefully, the Rams would be able to keep him healthy.

Alex Leatherwood is an instant upgrade & Pete Werner is always in the right place...Again Watson in Los Angeles will have all of us jumping for joy, however, that would mean they would not draft a first round pick until 2025, making it 9 years without a selection in the first round and they ran George Allen out of town for thinking such a thing.

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Well, the Browns didn't see fit to start Corbett anywhere. But it's hard to blame them at Center. Tretter is a top 5 Center in the NFL. Corbett had a strong Senior Bowl week and played some Center there. He has the skillset to play it well. You're right about the first round picks, but if we don't have one until 2025, the good news is that we won a Super Bowl.

TexasRam said:

Really solid at all levels.

Addresses all the needs and gives Watson WR’s that match what he does well.

The blocking TE early, I am a big fan of and truly believe it is a critical area getting overlooked.

Mot sure why move Edwards to right side and also I would pencil Graham in as a starter.

But yea that is an offseason I think all of us would be chomping at the bit for assuming it fits within the cap.

why is everyone mocking Fox as leaving? Do we really think his market is that good?

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I moved Edwards for two reasons. First, I think he and Hav worked well together in the past and have good chemistry. Second, I would want the rookie (Leatherwood) starting next to Whitworth. Whit's play and presence would help him. Plus, we want him taking over for Whitworth, so while it wouldn't be a massive difference going from RG to LT instead of LG, I think it wouldn't hurt to have him on that side of the OL.

On Graham and Fox, I think Graham plays more as a rotational player at his age, but that wouldn't stop him from getting a lot of snaps, and I think Fox is going to get a decent deal in FA. I'd love for us to keep him, but he posted 6 sacks this year as a part-time player. Teams pay for pass rush.