So I've been in my new house (got about a 5 acres) for some months now and I told the wife I wanted to "plant a ton of shit" this spring. So the genius I am I went online and went apeshit buying fruit trees, hedge type willows, blossoming cherry trees, and good fucking grief I am now exhausted. My soft city boy hands are fucking killing me.

But it gets worse. For no good fucking reason I bought 2 trees from the Missouri Dept of Conservation, and I was stoned and didn't realize they were 10 trees each. So now I have 20 fucking trees incoming FML.

And two weeks from now I have a cement truck coming for a slab pour so I can build the little woman a greenhouse to go play in and leave me alone, but of course I suspect I overdid the size of it (going to build a 12x20 footer).

Anyway. Since I don't want to do prison time for murder had to get all that shit off my chest. Does anyone else have this kind of mental problem (hatching ridiculous landscaping plots they struggle to finish) or am I alone here. alm:

Top 100 picks of McVay era: S John Johnson III

As part of theRams.com's coverage leading into this year's NFL Draft, we will be examining each of the Top 100 picks of the Sean McVay era in Los Angeles. The series continues with a look at safety John Johnson III.

Before joining the Rams

According to NFL Media analyst Lance Zierlein, Johnson first captured scouts' attention with a strong junior season at Boston College in 2015 when he tallied 63 tackles, 1.5 for loss, plus three interceptions and three pass breakups.

He followed that up with an even better senior season in 2016, posting 77 total tackles, including a team-high 56 solo, plus a team-high three interceptions, one sack, nine pass breakups, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. The Boston College defense finished that season ranked ninth in the nation in total defense (314.2 yards/game), second overall in sacks (3.62 sacks/game) and 10th in the nation in turnovers gained (27).

Johnson's performance during his final collegiate season earned him an invitation to the 2017 Senior Bowl, which also counted future Rams teammates and draft classmates Gerald Everett and Cooper Kupp among its participants.

Like Everett and Kupp, Johnson also received an invitation to the NFL Scouting Combine that year. The Rams used the first of their two third-round picks on Kupp at No. 69 overall, then snagged Johnson at No. 91.

"He has decent size but won't be a banger as a tackler, however, his ability in coverage has NFL personnel men buzzing as a potential early starter in the league," Zierlein wrote on Johnson's NFL Draft profile.

Rams highlights

It took five games into Johnson's rookie season, but Zierlein's prediction did come to fruition.

Johnson earned his first career start in Week 5 of the 2017 season against the Seahawks, recording three combined tackles, two pass breakups and an interception which he returned 69 yards. He played in all 16 games in his first NFL season, adding 10 more starts to his resume after Week 5.

In 2018, Johnson finished as the Rams' second-leading tackler with 118 combined and posted a team-high four interceptions. His first season as a full-time starter at safety was also highlighted by making the game-clinching interception against Saints in the NFC Championship to send the Rams to the Super Bowl.

Though he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in 2019 – a season in which NFL Media analyst Gil Brandt put him on his preseason list of breakout candidates at defensive back – Johnson is working to bounce back strong entering the fourth and final year of his rookie contract in 2020.

Alright... this doesn’t mean Game 1 is done... It can keep going...

The Coronavirus lockdown. No Sports. We have the Draft... some trades and free agent news...not much else.

So... let’s keep playing around here. The forum is our sandbox.

Introducing...


GAME 2!


I know what you are thinking..



And you would be RIGHT!

The Gif Game!!

Sounds like work? No. But maybe a tad more F A N C Y....

The Rules are Simple;

1. Must be a gif (animated image)
2. Must use Giphy
3. A person posts a gif
4. The next person responds with a related gif

Basically Game One with Gifs...

That’s it! Game 1 trained us!

Save this Giphy link if you like... simply search from the search bar top of page;


BE SURE TO GRAB THE GIF LINK

The great thing about this method, you just paste the link directly in your post, after you copied as follows. That’s it.




Giphy is also integrated at ROD from the post box. The search isn’t as deep, however.




Okay...

A little more challenging... but that’s what a game is... we can drink and do this...

HERE WE GO.... if this thread crashes the site, this thread will be deleted and all evidence of this colossal mistake of a game...



I will get us started. Next person, respond with a related gif (or whatever comes to mind that matches reasonably)...

See next post...

Again. Welp...

https://www.espn.com/xfl/story/_/id...perations-lays-employees-no-plans-return-2021

NFL to consider rule preventing multiple dead ball fouls to run time off clock

In the Titans’ playoff win over the Patriots in January, they were able to run more than a minute off of the clock by taking back-to-back delay of game penalties before punting the ball away.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick had employed a similar tactic in the past, but the Competition Committee has proposed a rule that would keep Belichick, Titans coach Mike Vrabel or any other team from doing so again in the future.

When Belichick used the tactic in an October win over the Jets, he called it “a loophole that will be closed and probably should be closed.” Now the NFL has a chance to close it once and for all.

The NFL announced that the committee has proposed amending the rule about when the game clock starts in order “to prevent teams from manipulating the game clock by committing multiple dead-ball fouls while the clock is running.” The rule currently calls for the clock to start after a penalty outside of the final two minutes of the first half and the final five minutes of the second half or if a specific rule states that the clock should not start.

Report: Dan Fouts out at CBS

CBS spent a pile of money on a former quarterback-turned-analyst this offseason, but won’t be bringing back a Hall-of-Famer.

According to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, CBS isn’t bringing back former Chargers quarterback Dan Fouts, who was the analyst on their No. 2 team.

The 69-year-old Fouts’ contract had expired, so the move wasn’t related to the coronavirus outbreak.

CBS is reportedly trying to lure Fox’s Charles Davis as a replacement, and is also considering Trent Green to work with Ian Eagle.

The network signed Tony Romo to a ten-year, $180 million contract in February, which seems like a bazillion years ago.

We all know the issues... Rams short on cash to sign him, his destructive personality etc. Yet he solves Brandon Cooks departure with not needing to waste a draft pick when the team has so many other needs.

Most of all the wide receiver corps will be lethal.

Sign him to a 1 year prove it deal. As of this moment he has to be really humbled by a his antics.

At the end of the day he is easily a 65-80 catches/1000+ yard guy. NO person we draft will come close and it frees up a draft selection to use it where it is needed most on an upgrade at RB, ILB, OLB, C, G.

Please don't knee jerk reaction and say no think it out. My guess he will be a choir boy hoping to get another chance. His agent has told him look at Kapernick and others. Owners are not putting up with that diva bullshit anymore.

Thoughts?

This little guy. See photo below.

That bracket-thing takes the post box from RICH text to PLAIN text.

This is helpful for pasting in copied content, such as copies of text from articles.

This button removes formatting and therefore the copied material may paste in cleaner for you.

It also removes all hyperlinks. Also, sometimes desired.

PLEASE NOTE: If you click it, it remembers the last toggle position. Which can confuse you if hit accidentally (you will not see formatting options... they become light-grey).

Could NFC West send all four teams to the playoffs?

With the NFL expanding the postseason from 12 to 14 teams, each conference will have three wild-card teams. Which means that, in theory, all three wild-card teams can come from the same division. Which means that, in theory, all four teams from one division can make the playoffs in a given year.

It’s a topic Simms and I tripped over during Thursday’s PFTOT, while discussing a viewer question regarding whether the Broncos or Chargers present more of a threat to the Chiefs in 2020.

Under the old format, three teams have made it multiple times, with the second- and third-place teams from a given division joining the champion as wild cards. That extra wild card now could go, in theory, to the team that also finishes dead last in its own division.

Should the team that finishes in last place of a given division be excluded, even if it has a better record than the other three second-place teams in its conference? For the same reason that the league places so much importance on winning the division, guaranteeing the champion a home playoff game regardless of record in comparison to wild-card teams, the team landing dead last in its assigned division arguably should be excluded, even if its record is better than all other potential wild cards in the conference.

For now, though, the three wild cards may all come from one division, and maybe something like that could happen in 2020. Consider this: The teams of the NFC West (currently the best division in the NFL) play the teams of the NFC East (currently the worst division in the NFL) and the teams of the AFC East (the division currently in the most flux, to say the least). If the 49ers, Seahawks, Rams, and Cardinals stay in the range of 4-2, 3-3, and 2-4 in their six division games, they can fatten up their records via the 10 games out of the division, and those eight games against the AFC and NFC East could help the NFC West teams do just that. The other two games, played against teams of the NFC North and NFC South based on where teams placed in 2019, could further smooth things out, with for example the 49ers facing the Packers and Saints and the Cardinals playing the Lions and Panthers.

It’s definitely a long shot that all four teams would make it. The point is that all four in any division could. And that, based on the schedule formula in a given season, maybe at some point all four will.

The Rams trading away Brandin Cooks has me extremely bothered. Not because he’s that valuable, but because we just extended him two seasons ago. This has become a disturbing trend with this FO.

Since Les Snead has became GM, we have handed out 12 extensions. I will detail them below.

2012:
James Laurinaitis- 5 years $41.5 million. Played 3 more years. Cut after 2015.

Chris Long- 4 years $50 million. Played 3 more years. Cut after 2015.

2014:
Robert Quinn- 4 years $66 million. Played 3 more years. Traded to Dolphins after 2017.

Johnny Hekker- 6 years $18 million. Currently still on roster.

2015:
Nick Foles- 2 years $24.5 million. Played 1 year. Cut after 2015.

2016:
Tavon Austin- 4 years $42 million. Played 1 more year. Traded to Cowboys after 2017.

Jeff Fisher- 2 years. Fired 1 game later.

2017:
Alec Ogletree- 4 years $42.75 million. Traded to Giants after 2017 season.

2018:
Brandin Cooks- 5 years $80 million. Played 2 seasons. Traded to Texans after 2019 season.

Todd Gurley- 4 years $60 million. Played 1 more year. Cut after 2019 season.

Aaron Donald- 6 years $135 million. Greatest player of all time.

2019:
Jared Goff- 4 years $134 million. Current QB1.

I only counted the years after the contract was signed(unless they were cut/traded after that season or it was their first season with Rams).

The average amount of years with the team after signing an extension is 1.75 with the average extension being 4 years.

$56 million in dead cap hits total.


This is a sign of dysfunction. Well run teams don’t have these issues. I’m not sure if there’s one single person to blame. But in my opinion, someone needs to be fired.

Hi,

I cover high school sports in San Antonio, the home of both Malcolm Brown and Josh Reynolds. Here is my interview from 2019 with Malcolm:

Login to view embedded media View: https://twitter.com/MrBowtie1982/status/1241766035910467584

Login to view embedded media View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfK3zb4nVFM


Will post Reynolds later in the spring.

Greg

I didn't make a thread about trading Cooks months ago as the right move due to those that think ANY and ALL moves Rams management do is a good move (defend coaches/payers when they are here and talk bad about them the moment they are gone). The Gurley and Cooks unloading show you first hand that they do make mistakes (which they realize) and even though some of us don't get paid for a living in the football world some that follow the game and business of the NFL, more specifically our team can see mistakes being made in the process of occurring.

I'm saying this right now, and I guarantee Snead/McVay have talked about if not actively looking for a trade partner to get Ramsey the hell out of dodge.

Attitude and locker room presence is huge for their model and anybody who doesn't conform will get a pink slip or traded i.e. Gurley. Ramsey is a ME not We play period, end of story, I was horrified to hear we traded 2 1st's for him. We need to do damage assessments and figure out what we can get back for him.

Logistics you might ask? IDK tbh, I'm sure they can write a contract before a team trades for him to ship his ass off that Ramsey, The Rams and said team agree on. Trade his ass to the Dolphins, somebody, anybody, he just needs to go.

Just heard Levi Stadium will not see any events until Thanksgiving. What does that mean to the season & NFL.

Heard hockey might go straight to the playoffs in South Dakota ?? No Fans.

Netane has massive upside. He dominated at Fresno State. He is ranked the #1 Guard, but teams will shy away based on an Achilles injury in 2018 and shoulder injury last year. He has given up only 2 sacks and around 10 hits total in 3 years total domination.

The analysis on him is he throws DEs and DTs around like rag dolls the actual reference was like those players were Punters.

I would if he lasts take him with our conditional 3rd.

Guard and Center to me are the three week spots on the line he would go a long way to helping the line approve.

I have Verizon. I have a Note 10 +. About 20 minutes ago I lost 4g. And went to 3g for 10 minutes or so, now my phones back to 4g. Full bars, which i never get at work and my internet is moving fast as fuck...pornhub, here i come!

Rams behind on payments. They need to apply for the stimulus pay program

Tom Landry’s last playoff game and we sent him home bloody and beaten.

Login to view embedded media View: https://streamable.com/8t1azs

What position group are you guys most excited to watch next season..?

For me it would be the linebackers I’m excited to see the next step in growth for the young guys. I think they’ll have a big impact on how far the team goes.

Ravens GM Eric DeCosta: There are 25 'draftable' WRs in the 2020 NFL Draft

The Baltimore Ravens spent the early parts of free agency, ahead of the 2020 NFL Draft, bolstering their defense. The additions of Calais Campbell via a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Derek Wolfe in free agency along with Baltimore re-signing a bunch of their own players should boost a defense that ranked fourth in yards allowed last season. But for all the Ravens did defensively already, they haven’t addressed any of their offensive needs.

One such need is at wide receiver, where Baltimore has historically been lacking elite talent. At the Ravens’ pre-draft press conference, general manager Eric DeCosta said he feels there are receivers on the roster ready to “make another jump.” However, he acknowledged the coaches and scouts have “found some guys they’re excited about” in the 2020 NFL Draft. In total, DeCosta said, “there’s probably 25 draftable wideouts in this draft.”

Baltimore would be foolish to not take advantage of that level of depth in this draft class. With quarterback Lamar Jackson winning the NFL’s MVP award last season, now is the time to surround him with even more talent and maximize the offense’s potential.

The Ravens tried to address their wide receiver woes last year, taking Marquise Brown in the first round and Miles Boykin in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Brown had a solid season in spite of an injury-ridden year and Boykin made the occasional big splash. With Baltimore re-signing Willie Snead and Chris Moore, most of the primary group from last season is set to return for 2020.

However, the Ravens’ passing attack struggled to move the ball at times last season when the run game was stymied as well. Though far less frequently than in previous years, untimely drops once again popped up for the pass catchers as well. While Baltimore has a decent group of wide receivers, there’s a clear need to find more depth and even find another top option opposite Brown.

As the Ravens have found out in recent years, resting on their laurels at the position has put them in a massive hole. Previously, Baltimore would drop few draft selections at wide receiver and then largely ignore the position with the hope someone would pan out. When that didn’t happen, the Ravens had to turn to older players as stop-gap solutions, asking them to do far too much and getting rather mediocre results in return.

Finding a starting-caliber wide receiver should be easy to do in the 2020 NFL Draft with some of the top options potentially being true No. 1 guy. If Baltimore has identified so many wide receivers they like, they need to ensure they land one or two of them in the 2020 NFL Draft.

As some of you may have read in my status update, I lost a relative to Covid-19 yesterday. My Great Uncle Larry passed away at the ripe young age of 92.

My Grandfather named him "The Flamboyant One" and he lived up to it. He was a graphic designer in NYC, and used to draw some covers for Newsweek, Time, New Yorker and a few other magazines. He also was in alot of print ads, most of them for cigarettes, even tho he didnt smoke. Most of the ads had him in a casino, with a smoke in his hand, playing Blackjack, roulette or some other table game. And he loved the casino. He had a second home right outside Atlantic City, and anyone was allowed any time, just call him before you showed up because " he might be entertaining friends who go both ways" LOL


Any, back in the 1981, my mother had this piece of shit car, A Fiat 128 that she bought because thats what she could afford. This thing was in the shop every other week and my uncles said Fiat stood for Fix it Again Tony.

One day, Uncle Larry calls and says he is stopping in for a visit. He pulled in to the driveway in a brand new Chrysler LeBaron. He told my mom he "won a few bucks" at the casino and thought she could use the car. Turned out he won over 300k at Harrahs .He also bought a car for his sister, Alice, and gave his other sister, my grandmother, some cash.

That was the type of guy he was, and he stayed that way throughout his whole life.


Thanks for reading

I have Facebook. But it's mostly for memes. I thought we could have a section we could drop those memes that make us laugh our asses off. I love them. The one im gonna share, i laughed at for three days. Lol

2020 NFL Draft: How six teams without first-round picks can still have successful drafts

When creating mock drafts, you often have to remind upset readers that the NFL Draft is more than one round, and teams don't always address their most glaring need in Round 1. And this year, there are six teams without a first-round selection, so for them, it really starts after the first round.

Let's evaluate how those teams can still ace their drafts.

(Draft objectives are listed in order of importance.)

Buffalo Bills
Draft objectives: Get depth/potential long-term starters at CB and EDGE, competition for OL, look for WR value
Draft capital: Seven picks - Round 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 7
First pick: Round 2, No. 54 overall

The Bills have built one of the best, deepest rosters in the AFC under the watchful eye of GM Brandon Beane. But his work isn't done.

Even with the depth additions of veterans Josh Norman and E.J. Gaines along with incumbent Levi Wallace, the No. 2 cornerback spot is far from settled and could use a long-term answer. Up front, with Jerry Hughes turning 32 and Mario Addison 33 in September, Buffalo has to get younger at the edge-rusher position. Even No. 3 outside rusher Trent Murphy turns 30 in December.

Buffalo has a plethora of serviceable offensive line depth options, including recently signed Daryl Williams to go along with a logjam between Cody Ford and Ty Nsekhe vying for the right tackle job. But with Dion Dawkins -- though likely re-signed -- in the final year of his rookie deal and returning starting right guard Jon Feliciano also playing on the last year of his contract, Buffalo should bring in another talented blocker.

While the Bills arguably have the best wide receiver trio in the conference with Stefon Diggs, John Brown, and Cole Beasley, it's still a group lacking size. And given the insane depth of this receiver class, if a big-bodied wideout they like falls, the Bills should strongly consider him.

Pittsburgh Steelers
Draft objectives: Find offensive playmakers, search for a pass-rushing defensive lineman, grab OL depth, build for future at CB
Draft capital: Six picks - Round 2, 3, 4, 4, 6, 7
First pick: Round 2, No. 49 overall

This will be a more critical season than most for the Steelers, which boosts the importance of this draft. Here's why. Ben Roethlisberger is coming off a severe elbow injury and is 38 years old. Beyond that, 2021 free agents include JuJu Smith-Schuster, Joe Haden, Cam Heyward, Alejandro Villenueva, Matt Feiler, and James Conner.

Currently, the Steelers have the fifth-lowest amount of cap space in football and are set to have the 10th-lowest figure in 2021, per Spotrac.com.

It's not only a clear-cut "win-now" season for Pittsburgh, but the time is now to find foundational franchise building blocks for the future. At No. 49 overall, the Steelers should look to the edge to have that rookie join Bud Dupree and T.J. Watt before (likely) taking over for Dupree in 2021. However, if a top-flight receiver is still available, picking him would be a prudent decision even with Smith-Schuster, James Washington, and Diontae Johnson currently on rookie deals.

The offensive line is good, but potentially in flux soon based on the impending free agents and age (David DeCastro and Maurkice Pouncey are both in their 30s), so finding more depth to pair with Chukwuma Okorafor, Derwin Gray and Zach Banner should not be ignored later in draft.

Javon Hargrave won't be easy to replace on the interior, and given Heyward being in the final year of his deal, finding a disruptive hand-in-the-dirt defensive lineman is a necessity, as is getting younger in the secondary, with Joe Haden 32.

Los Angeles Rams
Draft objectives: Prioritize EDGE early, plan for the future at CB, look for specific offensive linemen
Draft capital: Six picks - Round 2, 3, 3, 4, 6, 7
First pick: Round 2, No. 52 overall

The Rams today represent the league's most striking example of why NFL stands for Not For Long. After aggressively shoving all of their chips to the center of the table -- and nearly having it pay off by way of a Super Bowl win -- the Rams' roster needs a fair amount of reconstruction.

With Dante Fowler gone, the edge rusher position needs to be prioritized relatively early. Don't sleep on Obo Okoronkwo, but the presence of Leonard Floyd shouldn't be enough to stop Los Angeles from doubling up on outside pass rushers in this class.

As for the offensive line, we know Sean McVay needs agile, laterally athletic blockers over one-on-one maulers. Given Andrew Whitworth's age, Austin Blythe entering a contract year and Brian Allen's tenuous grasp on the starting center gig, the Rams should be peeking around for value up front in each round.

Jalen Ramsey is likely to be re-signed, but the rest of the cornerback group is filled with uncertainty. Going cornerback with one of those third-round picks would be smart for the Rams, as they play in the high-powered NFC.

Indianapolis Colts
Draft objectives: Add offensive playmakers, add EDGE, think long-term at QB, find CB depth, don't get complacent with OL
Draft capital: Seven picks - Round 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6
First pick: Round 2, No. 34 overall

For years now, the Colts have had T.Y. Hilton and then a group of overachieving but ultimately limited secondary and tertiary wideouts. That needs to change, especially with 38-year-old Philip Rivers in Indianapolis on a one-year deal for the swan song of his career.

Speaking of Rivers, the quarterback position can't be forgotten when looking into the future. Brissett was average over the past two seasons and is on the final year of the extension he signed in 2019. Indianapolis truly is in position to draft a talented but raw quarterback and redshirt him for an entire season.

The Colts need to improve off the edge when it comes to getting after the quarterback. Justin Houston is 31 and on the final year of his deal. Kemoko Turay has flashed but ended his second NFL season on IR. The ultra-explosive Ben Banogu is still a developmental type due to his lacking pass-rushing moves.

Frank Reich's club does have a collection of young corners on the roster in Rock Ya-Sin, Quincy Wilson, and Marvell Tell, but none of those players appear to be bound for stardom at this juncture, so that vital spot on the field needs to be addressed.

Right now, Indianapolis can make a claim as the team with the best offensive line in football. But top labels are fleeting in the NFL. Left tackle Anthony Castonzo flirted with retirement this offseason, and center Ryan Kelly is set for free agency in 2021. Indianapolis needs to plan for the future at those key positions up front next to Quenton Nelson at left guard.

Chicago Bears
Draft objectives: Don't be afraid to go WR early, continue to build the OL, find a long-term No. 2 CB
Draft capital: Seven picks - Round 2, 2, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7
First pick: Round 2, No. 50 overall

The Bears are in a tough spot, mostly due to their quarterback situation. And while that remains a team weakness, we must remember that two years ago, the Bears defense and run game carried the team to the NFC North crown.

But Chicago can't simply hope that happens again. In 2018, the Bears forced a league-leading 36 turnovers. That's probably not happening again for a while. There's nothing wrong with leaning on a strong defense, though. The offense can't be ignored despite that team philosophy, and Allen Robinson needs help at receiver, even if Anthony Miller takes a step forward. Don't sleep on third-year pro Javon Wims; I wouldn't be shocked if he ultimately passed Riley Ridley on the depth chart. Insulating Mitchell Trubisky or Nick Foles is a must.

The offensive line is quietly solid, but the tackles are adequate at best, and the right guard job is up for grabs. Receiver and interior offensive line should be prioritized with those second-round selections.

Kyle Fuller is one of the more underrated corners in the game. Chicago's depth behind him is severely lacking. Ask Steelers fans if the Bears should feel comfortable with Artie Burns as the club's No. 2 corner.

Houston Texans
Draft objectives: Be aggressive at the WR spot, look for a pocket-pushing DT, add OL and CB
Draft capital: Eight picks - Round 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 7, 7
First pick: Round 2, No. 40 overall

Despite some baffling decisions by Bill O'Brien lately, the Texans, without a first-round pick in 2020 or 2021, do still have three top 100 selections, including multiple seconds.

With the initial Round 2 selection for the Texans, they should look to replace some of DeAndre Hopkins' tremendous production. But it's not just that. Will Fuller is playing on the fifth-year option of his rookie deal, and Kenny Stills is a free agent after the season. Yikes.

Losing D.J. Reader, the disruptive boulder in the middle of Romeo Crennel's defensive line, stings, so another athletic space-eater should be part of the Texans' draft checklist.

Even after the shocking first-round selection of Tytus Howard last year and an earlier-than-most-expected pick of Max Scharping in the second round, Houston could still use reinforcements up front. Deshaun Watson's sack rate dipped from a horrific 10.9% in 2018 to 8.2% last season, but that figure was still the sixth-highest rate in the league.

Bringing back Bradley Roby was smart. He crushed his prove-it deal last season and is a long, athletic outside corner who can drop into the slot and play there effectively. Yet after a concerning rookie campaign from second-round pick Lonnie Johnson, Houston should dip its toes into the cornerback pool in this class, even with the presence of two trade acquisitions Vernon Hargreaves and Gareon Conley.

Rams didn’t feature a RB in the passing game as much, but they don’t need to

Todd Gurley seemed to disappear as a receiving threat and while the offense was worse, they don’t necessarily need to replace Gurley with another Gurley
By Kenneth Arthur@KennethArthuRS Apr 7, 2020, 2:25pm CDT


When the LA Rams had their quick Sean McVay-fueled turnaround in 2017, they did so with a trio of new receivers that we all talk about a lot. Then they did replace one of those receivers with an even better receiver and we talked about them some more. Of course, we also talked about Todd Gurley.

In spite of his talented teammates on the outside of the pocket, Gurley finished second on the team in targets in 2017 with 87 throws his way. He caught 64 for 788 yards and six touchdowns. The following year, Gurley “slipped” to third in targets behind Robert Woods and Brandin Cooks (Cooper Kupp did miss half of the season) but he still got 81 passes thrown at him in 14 games. The rate of throws his way per game remained steady.

But as we already know, things last year did not go the way that Gurley or McVay wanted them to on offense and even though he was active for 15 games, the running back slipped to sixth in targets behind Woods, Kupp, Tyler Higbee, Cooks, and Gerald Everett. The team now focused more on the trio of receivers and duo of tight ends. Malcolm Brown and Darrell Henderson finished with just six targets each.

The Rams were disappointed in their offensive output but it wasn’t a bad passing offense. LA ranked 13th in passing DVOA in spite of Gurley getting just 49 throws and catching 31 for 207 yards. Compared to the 2017-2018 Rams, we may think that not utilizing the RB in the passing game in a Christian McCaffrey world is a bad thing.

But comparing to the best offenses in the NFL, we see that a McCaffrey-led offense is not necessarily the most efficient path to success.

This morning I made a spreadsheet of the top-10 target-getters for all 32 teams. My inspiration being that the Rams didn’t have a running back in the top five of targets, which seemed rare for today, and sure enough only six other teams were spread out this way.

Teams that didn’t feature a RB in their top five (Passing Offense DVOA ranking):
Baltimore Ravens (1)
Kansas City Chiefs (2)
Tennessee Titans (6)
LA Rams (13)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (18)
Miami Dolphins (25)
Cincinnati Bengals (28)

Among these seven teams, we see the two best offenses in the NFL, both of whom were also led in targets by a tight end. We also see the Titans, the league’s hottest offense in the second half of the season and Ryan Tannehill dumped passes off to backs at a lower rate than Marcus Mariota. We did see arguably the league’s two worst teams, but the Dolphins were pumping a lot of passes to Kenyan Drake before trading him to the Arizona Cardinals, then shifted that attention to Mark Walton, Kalen Ballage, and Patrick Laird. The Bengals didn’t have a single RB draw attention, but together Joe Mixon and Gio Bernard had 88 targets.

I’m not saying this is monumentally different than the Chiefs, who spread the ball around to LeSean McCoy, Damien Williams, and Darrel Williams (90 combined targets), but any idea that the modern NFL offense may “need” or even “want” a McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley, or Alvin Kamara-type is short-sighted. The New Orleans Saints had 97 targets for Kamara, but also feature an elite QB and WR. The Ravens seem like a team ideal for running back dump-offs but Mark Ingram was only targeted 29 times and they instead had three tight ends in their top five for targets.

For any team that may struggle at QB, a reliable pass-catching running back may not help much. The New York Giants were 26th in passing offense DVOA. The Panthers were 31st.The Rams want to get back to where they were in 2017-2018 when Gurley was at his best. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that they need the next Gurley.

Added benefit of trading two 1st round picks for Jalen Ramsey

The LA Rams paid a high cost for the star cornerback, but the complications of the draft make it look like an even smarter investment
By Kenneth Arthur@KennethArthuRS Apr 7, 2020, 4:37pm CDT

Four years ago, Jalen Ramsey was a first round pick. In fact, he was a very high pick, going fifth overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The LA Rams technically could have had him then, but they moved up for a quarterback. The Philadelphia Eagles did the same. The LA Chargers selected Joey Bosa and the Dallas Cowboys elected to go with Ezekiel Elliott. There was a chance that Ramsey could have gone as high as third overall to the Chargers in many scenarios, but he probably hit his draft selection floor at pick five because he was just that good of a prospect.

Four years later, he’s done nearly everything in his power to meet and exceed the expectations that teams had for him leading up to the 2016 NFL Draft.

In 2016, the Jaguars improved to 15th against the pass (by DVOA) with the rookie Ramsey after finishing 31st the year before. As a rookie, Ramsey played in all 16 games, intercepted two passes, and had 14 passes defensed.

In 2017, the Jaguars ranked first in pass defense and Ramsey was named as a first team All-Pro. He intercepted four passes and deflected 17. Jacksonville’s defense (and franchise) deteriorated again in 2018 but Ramsey remained one of the top players at his position, intercepting three passes and deflecting 13 away.

That’s when things got weird and Ramsey forced his way into a trade out of the Jags locker room, landing in LA in exchange for two first round picks and a fourth rounder. He finished with only five passes defensed and one interception yada yada, but what we know of him already is that Ramsey is a three-time Pro Bowl, one-time All-Pro corner who doesn’t turn 26 until October and frankly he’s wasted as anything other than a great player on a really good defense.

There are certainly times where two first round picks for any player, even a player of Ramsey’s caliber, is too costly. But considering the state of the 2020 NFL Draft and offseason, I think that the Rams accidentally happened to get even better value for Ramsey than they could have imagined when they shipped those two first rounders off to acquire him.

As it stands now, LA is one of six teams who don’t have a first round pick for April 23. The others are:

• The Indianapolis Colts, for DeForest Buckner
• The Pittsburgh Steelers, for Minkah Fitzpatrick
• The Chicago Bears, for Khalil Mack
• The Rams, for Ramsey
• The Buffalo Bills, for Stefon Diggs
• The Houston Texans, for Laremy Tunsil

Strangely (I think strangely, at least) not a single one of these picks was acquired in a deal made of picks last year. They were all shipped off for proven veteran players. In the case of Mack, it was made two seasons ago, before we could have known much of anything about the 2020 class. The Texans made their move for Tunsil last offseason. The Steelers opted to take advantage of Fitzpatrick being available midseason and I think are probably quite happy with their new elite safety over having to dip into the middle of the first round this year. The Colts and Bills made their trades within the last month, maybe seeing ahead to a world where the draft has the potential to be a complete nightmare for some organizations.

That’s why I think that if there was ever a moment to “celebrate” getting a break from the first round of the draft, it would be in 2020.

Not even having a first rounder, Pittsburgh GM Kevin Colbert is asking for three more rounds to be added this year. Why? Because there’s going to be such a huge margin of error, he expects. Teams did not get pro days with many of the top college programs. The league was lucky to even get the scouting combine done before all the major shutdowns began to happen around March 11.

Individual in-person meetings with prospects were also prohibited, forcing teams to go with FaceTime, Skype, Zoom, phone calls, and the like. Physical examinations? Not a chance. Prospects who didn’t get invited to the combine? Too bad. The fact that a large chunk of the draft every year is made up of players who didn’t get combine invites? Oh well.

I imagine that some teams will find April 23 to be very difficult. If the teams had been given 12-24 months to prepare for this — as I imagine would have been the case if this was a plan at all — there would still be errors along the way. You have to allow for a certain number of mistakes during beta testing. Instead, teams have less than six weeks.

I don’t know if Sean McVay will be one of the coaches to get frustrated with a completely virtual, remote, online draft — perhaps this is where his youth comes in handy — but I do know that as of last weekend, he thought he’d just gather the war room at his house and as of Monday, we know that the NFL disallowed any notion of “gatherings.” It tells me that even head coaches are learning new things every day about how many complications there are going to be during the draft, which tells me that of course commissioner Roger Goodell also can’t quite plan a future of unexpected twists and turns surrounding the draft.

Instead, Goodell must feel he has to push through regardless of the complications. A “shitshow” draft is better than no draft at all.

That’s one reason to maybe be thankful that an All-Pro cornerback is worth no first rounders for two years.