Yeah, ROD-BOT has threatened to quit over the effort right now. Said something the other day; “my batteries were not designed for this”. Or some crap like that.

We just unplugged his ass. Plugged him back in. He was fine.



In all seriousness, I gotta lock this thread because it feels like one that goes in the direction of talking about that stuff or at least around it. Which goes against the point of it.

But the good news...

We are here to talk football and can start our own topics!

So, SCREW IT... Let’s talk football! Or pineapple pizza....

LET’er rip!

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still holding out for noteboom. he looked good at LT when thrown in there his rookie season.

kiser will get his shot this season. i hope he's everything the rams have been missing at ilb.

jfm is a mystery. i wonder what happened to him after his rookie season. does anyone know? did he go off the rails?

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Every team needs a good QB. If they are picking within reach of the first pick, it's likely they don't have one.

QBs are the most valuable position on the field. This will never change.

Neil039 said:

Plus, has any new D Coordinator had the opportunity to start with a HOFer in his prime like Donald? Staley should be thanking the almighty for this opportunity!

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Ramsey too. Two players that are arguably the best at their positions. Talk about being incredibly fortunate.

2020 Offseason Opponent Breakdown: New York Jets

Now that the Rams' 2020 schedule is officially out, it's time to resume our offseason opponent breakdowns on theRams.com. The series concludes with the Rams' Week 15 home opponent, the New York Jets.

2019

The Jets brought in a star running back, signing former Steeler Le'Veon Bell to a four-year contract, and a new head coach, Adam Gase. These additions brought some improvement – they raised their win total from 2018 by three games – but their 7-9 overall record left them with a third-place finish in the AFC East division and the No. 11 overall pick in the draft.

Changes

That high draft pick was used to select Louisville offensive tackle Mekhi Becton, who ran an official 5.10-second 40-yard dash at the combine at 6-foot-7 and 364 pounds. This was part of an offensive line overhaul which also included signing former Seahawks offensive tackle George Fant and former Broncos center Connor McGovern each to three-year deals.

Elsewhere on offense, veteran quarterback Joe Flacco was signed to back up Sam Darnold.
The Jets also released cornerback Trumaine Johnson and allowed second-leading receiver Robby Anderson to walk as an unrestricted free agent. Anderson later signed a two-year contract with the Carolina Panthers.

Head coach

Gase enters his second season as head coach of the Jets. Prior to joining the franchise, he held the same position with the Miami Dolphins from 2016-18.

What to watch for

Rams defense vs. Jets re-tooled offensive line

Having allowed the fourth-most sacks last season (52), it made sense that the Jets invested in better protection for starting quarterback Sam Darnold.

It's dependent on those new additions staying healthy, of course, but it will be interesting to see their impact and whether the Rams will be preparing for an improved Jets offensive line or a Jets offensive line that still looks the same as last year's by Week 15.

Rams43 said:

By midseason we just might see Lewis seizing that starting position and becoming a beast.

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I would love to see that but I don't expect it by any means. Lewis is a freak and all, but he was available when we drafted him for a reason: he not only was hurt for much of his college career but also his film is underwhelming, where he doesn't show that talent level consistently snap to snap. So expecting him to come in and be a quick study might be a bit of a reach. I mean anything's possible. But is it likely?

I'm expecting solid edge play overall. I think we'll play the run quite well and be mediocre on the rush, but AD will help there as always. If it's more than that, though, I'm good with that too.

Dodgersrf said:

Rams chiefs are easily #1.

My #2 would be Denver KC in the early 90s.
Elway and Montana dueling back and forth. Great game.

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Chiefs / Rams for me

The Montana / Elway duel in Denver was epic

CGI_Ram said:

I actually don’t usually smoke them. I am the type... when invited to your deck and you supply a favorite. That’s usually my cigar experience... riding the coattails of someone that knows a good one and enjoying with them over a cocktail.

On vacation I buy some, if going to a resort... but again, got to get advice for them.

Will look those recommendations up! TY

Any others?

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It all comes down to preference, but here are a few others I enjoy:
Light cigars: Rocky Patel Connecticut, Montecristo white, and Macanudo

Medium bodied: Cohiba red dot, Tatuaje tattoo, and black pearl morado.

Bear in mind you can get your hands on Cubans as Canada does not have a trade embargo. I also do not recommend full bodied cigars to casual and new users. Heck I don't care for them much myself.

LARAMSinFeb. said:

I miss Roger Saffold too much to watch that....

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We all miss him, even more watching Derrick Henry in the playoffs last year.

Chris Shula carries some weight as it was Shula that had worked with Brandon Staley and highly recommended him to McVay. Shula then received a promotion in being bumped to outside linebacker coach as opposed to "Assistant Linebacker Coach."

den-the-coach said:

God what I would give to have a Dennis Harrah & Jackie Slater on the offensive line now, when I wore a younger man's clothes, I just always thought the Los Angeles Rams would always have a great Offensive Line, they were truly special.

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Definitely seemed like an inviolable Ram thing back then....

The Saints did in fact build a team around his skill set. If you remember, Drew was all but set to go to Miami, but Payton lured him away by promising to tailor an offense around his skill set. Drew had a very rocky start with the Chargers which is why they drafted Rivers. At one point Drew was benched in favor of backup Doug Flutie. After his first 3 seasons Brees was being looked at as a bust. It was only in his 4th season that ended with him getting hurt after Schottenheimer played him when ordered by the GM and ownership not to play him in the final meaningless game that Drew looked like the player they drafted him to be. That was the year Drew followed Doug's advice and played his own style. The biggest issue with Drew in San Diego was with the coaching. Marty Schottenheimer installed his son Brian as the QB coach. The kid almost ruined Brees. Brian tried to change everything about how Brees played the game. Things like how to make his reads to even his throwing mechanics. Doug Flutie told Brees to blow Brian Schottenheimer off and return to his natural way to play and throw. He referred him to a training center in Carlsbad....the same one many QB's train at now. In an interview after both Flutie and Brees were gone Flutie said Brees was being "over coached". Instead of polishing his natural talents, Brian Schottenheimer wanted to change everything about how he played. That was a huge reason Brees himself wanted out of San Diego. I was in San Diego at the time and watch this whole soap opera unfold.

When Brees got hurt there was a legitimate question about his ability to return 100%. The majority of the doctors said they anticipated about a 10-20% reduction in his already at then marginal arm strength. The Chargers offered him a contract with a relatively low base but with escalators built-in, if Brees showed he was able to return 100%. That contract would have paid Brees more than what he made on his first contract with the Saints. The Fins offered a similarly structured contract that was less than what the Chargers offered and Brees was about to sign there just to get away from the Chargers. That's when the Saints stepped in. They offered a contract midway between what San Diego and Miami offered but with no escalators. Payton promised to build an offensive scheme around Drew's talents. Payton kept his promise and Brees recovered 100% from his injury and the rest is history.

Brian Schottenheimer along with the Spanos family's reputation for being cheapskates were the big reasons Eli's dad didn't want Eli to go to the Chargers. After the Brian fiasco with Brees, Marty was told to reign his son in or be fired. A few years later Marty tried to bring in his brother as OC and he used the Charger's refusal as a reason to manufacture his own firing by intentionally feuding with the GM AJ Smith. Why? That way he got his full contract.

In San Diego, Brees struggled at times because Marty Schottenheimer made minimal changes to his offensive scheme to accommodate Brees. That is why he wanted his son Brian to "remold" Drew. Rivers and Manning were already better scheme fits for Marty's offense. Marty was a stickler that his QB would only take a 3 step drop on most passes. With a shorter QB like Brees, a 5-7 step drop was more comfortable. Both Eli and Philip are 6'5" and Brees is about 6' in height. The dumb thing is that Philip quickly showed he liked the shotgun more than being under center as his being 5-7 yds back allowed him extra time to read the defenses or passing out of play-action which allowed him to take the same level of dropback. Marty learned from Drew he needed to adapt his scheme to fit his QB and to his credit he did.

In both cases, scheme fit was crucial to both Drew's and Philip's eventual career success.

Corbin said:

Still amuses me when I go to get beer and not case, 12 pack or 6 pack of corona is touched. Fucking people, I think Corona is shit and won't drink unless someone gives me one.

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it is shit unless you put a lemon or lime in there.

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2020 Offseason Opponent Breakdown: New England Patriots

Continuing this year's offseason opponent breakdowns on theRams.com, up next is Los Angeles' Week 14 Thursday Night Football opponent, the New England Patriots.

2019

A 12-4 regular season record captured the Patriots' 17th AFC East division title in the last 19 seasons and the No. 3 seed in the AFC playoff picture. However, a 20-13 loss to the sixth-seeded Tennessee Titans in the Wild Card round gave New England its earliest postseason exit since the 2009 season, when it lost in the same round to the sixth-seeded Baltimore Ravens.

That result also represented just the third time in the Bill Belichick era (2000-present) that the Patriots lost their postseason opener. They have qualified for the playoffs in 17 of Belichick's 20 seasons so far.

Changes

The Patriots' all-time leading passer Tom Brady said goodbye to the organization and announced "his football journey will take place elsewhere" via Instagram in March. Although he signed a two-year extension prior to the 2019 season, Brady was eligible to become a free agent because the final two years of his contract actually voided, and the deal prohibited New England from placing the franchise tag or transition tag on him. He later signed a two-year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an unrestricted free agent.

Another key member of their offense from the previous decade, tight end Rob Gronkowski, was traded along with a seventh-round pick to Tampa Bay for a fourth-round pick. Gronkowski retired in March 2019 but reportedly told the Patriots he wanted to resume his career with Brady and the Buccaneers. A trade was the only way for him to do so since he had one year left on his contract at the time he retired.

On special teams, New England released kicker Stephen Gostkowski, who originally joined the club as a fourth-round draft pick in 2006. Gostkowski departed as the Patriots' all-time leading scorer and most accurate field goal kicker in franchise history.

Head coach

Belichick enters his 21st season as head coach of the Patriots. Including playoff appearances, he has compiled a 267-94 overall record through 20 years with the franchise.

What to watch for

Rams defense vs. whoever starts at quarterback for the Patriots

Similar to its matchup with another AFC East team this season, Los Angeles' defense will be preparing for a new starting quarterback.

Will it be former Auburn standout and 2019 fourth-round pick Jarret Stidham under center, or will 12-year veteran Brian Hoyer be running the show? Stidham appeared in three games as a rookie, completing 2 of 4 pass attempts for 14 yards with one interception, while Hoyer is back with the organization for a third time.

By extension, it will also be interesting to see how different, if at all, the Patriots' offense looks with a different quarterback under center. Although there is continuity – offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels enters his 12th season in that position on New England's coaching staff – both Belichick and McDaniels will likely make some adjustments to better tailor the scheme to that player's strengths.

BC Ramfan said:

Not in love with that one either.
Noteboom at LG?
I'd put Ebukam at Strongside OLB.
Reeder behind Kiser at SILB, Howard at WILB.
Polite inside?
BC

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It's the best one out there because it has Blythe at Center, far better then most. Yes, we know that Noteboom is the backup LT to Whit, but they are going off of last year. Reeder was the starter last year, so that makes send to me, but I more interested in having Blythe at Center, which is where he will start in 2020.

Ourlads has all the players and it's a good site, however, it also is not accurate.

So HB toss option pass to TE??? LOL

Early 2020 position outlook: Running back

After examining the Rams' offense, defense and special teams following the 2020 NFL Draft, theRams.com will take a deeper look at each position group as we get closer to the upcoming season. The running backs are up next.

Who's back

Malcolm Brown: Had 69 rushing attempts for 255 yards and five touchdowns as Todd Gurley's main backup.

Darrell Henderson: Played in 13 games as a rookie in 2019, finishing with 39 carries for 147 yards and four receptions for 37 yards.

John Kelly: Spent the majority of the 2019 season on the Rams' practice squad. He tallied three carries for nine yards in the four games he appeared in.

Who's gone

Gurley: The Rams' 2015 first-round pick out of Georgia started 72 games for the franchise, rushing for 5,404 yards and 58 touchdowns. His 70 total touchdowns rank fourth in team history, while his total rushing yards are fifth-most in team history.

He tallied 223 carries for 857 yards and 12 touchdowns, plus 31 receptions for 207 yards and a pair of receiving touchdowns in his final season with the club. After Los Angeles released him, he signed a one-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons as an unrestricted free agent.

Who's new

Cam Akers: A second-team All-ACC selection, Akers rushed for 1,144 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns on 231 carries in 2019. In the passing game, he added 30 receptions for 225 yards and four scores while starting 11 games.

James Gilbert: Undrafted free agent signee who led Kansas State with 737 yards and finished second on the team with six rushing touchdowns as a graduate transfer in 2019.

Xavier Jones: Undrafted free agent signee who set single-season SMU records for total touchdowns (25), rushing touchdowns (23), and points (150) during his senior season and was one of 10 semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award, given annually to the nation's top running back.

Key questions

Will we see a committee approach, or will one running back emerge as the primary contributor? General manager Les Snead previously said in early April that he envisions the Rams' offense utilizing "more than one workhorse running the ball" and "different genres of skillsets," but one running back could start getting more carries than the others if their performance warrants it. It will be fascinating to see how those roles play out.

What can Henderson show in year two? The former Memphis standout had a handful of opportunities to display his talents in 2019, but like the other returning running backs, Gurley's departure and the consequent number of snaps becoming available should give him more chances this year.

RamsOfCastamere said:

Is Swift splitting carries with someone?

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Not really, they'll say Kerryon Johnson is in the mix but he's a bust at this point

LARAMSinFeb. said:

One kind of mini-trend I've noticed: McVay does not like losing to any team twice in a row.

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Agree but you can probably say that about all the coaches lol.

I do think McVay gets in players' asses a bit, not in a bad way but guys are going to hear about it when their film has mistakes and halfass effort. This is where I suspect Gurley and him had issues in fact.

He's kind of like a nicer Belichick IMO. He probably calls guys out in a more constructive way (going off the rumor here that Belichick lights dudes up on film review day), so I think the Rams' goal is to avoid the moody types who might get touchy when called out. And again this is all unfounded perception on my part as we really don't know shit about how either coach is when film review goes down.

McVay really needed an upgrade at OC. Hoping that in 2020 we see a lot less film of secondaries sitting on route combinations.

If this guy is good it's going to be a nice boost for the offense.

shovelpass said:

I saw this too, and is why I'd be hesitant to play him at 5T. Gaines has a short frame and more importantly short arms, he struggled to disengage from OGs/Cs and with Tackles usually having longer arms disengaging would become more of a challenge. If he comes into this season quicker and stronger I think he could take over Smart's role as Donald's sub. Fox is also a good candidate for that role too.

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Good point on where he should focus his time #1 working to be the back up NT position. Then working hard to used his shorter frame @ the 3 tech post as a reserve too. I do not see him be effective in the 5 tech post.
With NT SJ-D most likely being shifted from his starting 2019 NT post to a reserve NT role would have a leg up on Gaines due to his higher degree of playing experience over him. However, I do not see SJ-D being as versatile as Gaines either. It's going to be interesting reading about the battle ongoing @ the reserve NT position. When the Rams have NFL experienced DL'ers like Brockers & Robinson both capable of play the NT as needed by the DC would make the need to have a 3rd NT make the master roster highly UN-likely.

Man im pumped to see what Staley does with the defense. Probably the one thing im looking forward to the most this upcoming season. It's time to do AD some justice by not making him carry the defense on his back. He deserves to be part of an elite defense while still in his prime.

Winners Again!!!

2020 Offseason Opponent Breakdown: Arizona Cardinals

Continuing this year's offseason opponent breakdowns on theRams.com, up next is Los Angeles' Week 13 and Week 17 divisional opponent, the Arizona Cardinals.

2019

The Cardinals embarked on the 2019 season with a new head coach and a new quarterback. Former Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury was hired after the team parted ways with Steve Wilks after one season. Arizona then chose former Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft and dealt 2018 No. 10 overall pick Josh Rosen to the Dolphins the next night for the 62nd overall pick and a 2020 fifth-round pick.

Compared to 2018, the Cardinals scored 136 more points under Kingsbury's Air Raid offense and went from last to 16th in the league in scoring offense (14.1 to 22.6 points per game). However, they regressed defensively, finishing last in total defense after being 20th in 2018. Opponents scored at least 30 points in 7 of their 16 games.

Changes

In that context, it made sense that Arizona elected to use its highest draft pick in 2020 on Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons, who was widely regarded as the most versatile defensive prospect in this year's class. While Simmons will primarily play linebacker, Cardinals second-year defensive coordinator Vance Joseph envisions an all-encompassing role for the rookie this upcoming season.

Other defensive reinforcements included signing former Bills defensive lineman Jordan Phillips and Giants outside linebacker Devon Kennard to three-year deals, and former Falcons inside linebacker De'Vondre Campbell to a one-year deal.

The biggest move, though, was on offense, acquiring four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and a 2020 fourth-round pick from the Houston Texans in exchange for running back David Johnson, a 2020 second-round pick and the Cardinals' 2021 fourth-round pick. Hopkins' 104 receptions for 1,165 yards and seven touchdowns last year earned him his third consecutive AP First Team All-Pro selection, and he's had at least 1,100 receiving yards in five of his seven NFL seasons.

Head coach

Kingsbury enters his second season as head coach of the Cardinals, compiling a 5-10-1 record in his first season.

What to watch for

Hopkins vs. Jalen Ramsey

The two faced off often in the AFC South when they were with the Texans and Jaguars respectively, and now they're back in the same division again as members of NFC West teams.

Ramsey in a video conference with reporters last month said Hopkins is one of the toughest receiver matchups he's had since entering the league.

"We've had some very, very good battles," Ramsey said. "I think he's the only receiver maybe that's gone over 100 yards on me in my career, and I've also had some success against him, holding him to his lowest totals he's ever had each year. So I'm excited. I'm excited for that challenge."

The respect is mutual, as Hopkins last year said that Ramsey is his favorite cornerback to play against. It should make for a pair of exciting matchups this upcoming season.

That will be a big problem for a solid number of teams if it happens.