https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/10/02/week-five-power-rankings-8/

1. Rams (4-0; last week No. 1): The Greatest Show-Offs on Turf, Part II.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...er-rankings-week-5-bears-ravens-barrel-upward

RANK: 1 Rams

Previous rank: No. 1

If the Rams didn't resemble a Super Bowl outfit (or at least the premier team in the league) to you on "Thursday Night Football," they never will. Sure, you can single out the mass quantity of yardage allowed to the Vikings (446).

Two things. First, Kirk Cousins played out of his mind for part of that game.
Second, Rams CB Marcus Peters was definitely not 100 percent, while his cohort Aqib Talib was sidelined (and will continue to be).

I said last week on both the radio and "The Power Rankings Show" on NFL Network that Jared Goff might be the top intermediate thrower in the NFL. Not sure anyone can disagree now. #SBLIII

https://www.sbnation.com/2018/10/2/...arating-themselves-rams-chiefs-jaguars-saints

1 Los Angeles Rams

Thursday Night Football gave us an excellent start to Week 4 in a game in which both teams’ quarterbacks threw for more than 400 yards. Rams quarterback Jared Goff passed for 465 yards, five touchdowns, and zero interceptions in an impressive win over the Vikings. That performance has the Rams staying at No. 1 in our power rankings heading into Week 5.

https://sports.yahoo.com/week-five-power-rankings-151347783.html

1. Rams (4-0; last week No. 1)

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...ngs-standout-rookies-all-32-teams-2018-week-5

1. Los Angeles Rams
Record: 4-0

Rookie snaps leader: DE John Franklin-Myers, 98 snaps out of 230 (42.6 percent). The fourth-round pick out of Stephen F. Austin is coming off his most productive game, with a strip sack in the Thursday night win over the Vikings.

http://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/...s-patriots-packers/1p6mvbza9109s17eyoieknucf1

1. Los Angeles Rams 4-0 (last week: 1)

With Jared Goff going off and Todd Gurley as the exceptional afterthought, it really doesn’t matter if they’re a little shorthanded defensively.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles...consensus-rank-for-every-team-entering-week-5

1. Los Angeles Rams (4-0)

Like there was any question.

The Los Angeles Rams made an emphatic statement Thursday night in a game that we viewed as a potential NFC Championship Game preview before the season. In cruising past the Minnesota Vikings at home, the Rams said to the rest of the NFL, "We are the team to beat."

They did it with an offensive onslaught that would have made Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce proud.

The Rams were unstoppable offensively against the Vikings. Quarterback Jared Goff threw for 465 yards and five touchdowns with a perfect passer rating and long scoring strikes to Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp and Brandin Cooks. Tailback Todd Gurley topped 150 total yards and scored himself.

Right now, the Rams are an unstoppable juggernaut on offense. If a banged-up defense can play at anything resembling the same level, the Rams are going to be next to impossible to beat.

https://www.bleedinggreennation.com...eague-eagles-cowboys-giants-patriots-dolphins

1 - Kansas City Chiefs (Last Week: 1) - Pat Mahomes is the TRUTH and Andy Reid is such a good coach ... in the regular season, at least.

2 - Los Angeles Rams (LW: 2) - The Rams are for real. That offense is scary. Jared Goff was dropping dimes against Minnesota’s defense.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/powerrankings/

1: Rams

The Rams defense is 27th against the run and 29th in sacks per play. That has to be concerning going forward, starting Thursday against the Vikings.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/10/02/nfl-power-rankings-2018

1. LOS ANGELES RAMS (4-0)
Last Week’s rank: 2
Points in poll: 317
Highest-place vote: 1 (7)
Lowest-place vote: 2 (3)
Last week’s result: Win 38-31 vs. Minnesota
Next game: at Seattle

Four weeks, four different teams atop the Power Poll. Can the Rams hang onto the spot longer than a week, unlike the Patriots, Jaguars and Chiefs?

Congratulations to @Ramstien for being our 3rd exact score winner in 4 weeks as he nailed the 35-23 victory over the Chargers

Now the mighty Los Angeles Rams head north to Seattle to take on the Seahawks. I asked Pete Carroll how he felt about this game and he just



and even the diehard fans are like



so lets get down to it. The first poster who comes closest to the final score, including the correct winning team will win $10,000 RoDollars. Pick the exact score and win $25,000 RoDollars. Remember the first person to pick a score owns that score, so lets try to be original. @Ramstien pretty much picked the only score that was left last week and beat out @MrRiceGuyRJ by 1 point.


So get your crystal ball out and start predicting.

Andy Reid System:
2017 Alex Smith QB rating after 4 games: 123.85
2018 Pat Mahomes QB rating after 4 games: 126.5

Sean Mcvay System :
2017 Jared Goff QB rating after 4 games: 111.9
2018 Jared Goff QB rating afer 4 games: 127.3


Goff year to year improvement:
2016 - 63.6
2017- 100.5
2018 - 127.3

Goff 2018 game to game improvement:
Game 1 - Raiders - 97.2
Game 2 - Cardinals - 108.1
Game 3 - Chargers - 123.8
Game 4 - Vikings - 158.3

Goff is now the highest rated QB in the NFL after 4 weeks.

Top 10:

1 Goff --127.3
2 Mahomes --126.5
3 Brees -- 115.3
4 Fitz -- 114.3
5 Ryan -- 114.0
6 Rivers -- 110.8
7 Tannehill -- 106.1
8 Cousins -- 103.6
9 Smith -- 102.2
10 Trubunsky -- 101.6

Barron, Zuerlein, Natson All May Return in Week 5

by Myles Simmons

While head coach Sean McVay shared disappointing injury news on Monday with outside linebacker Dominique Easley undergoing knee surgery, he also had good news to report on a few players.McVay noted that inside linebacker Mark Barron, kicker Greg Zuerlein, and returner JoJo Natson all have a chance to play against the Seahawks this week.

While Barron participated in Los Angeles’ walk-thru sessions throughout training camp, he was unable to participate in the vast majority of the club’s practices in the first quarter of the regular season. Barron was listed as a limited participant in the final season of Week 4. And now it looks as if he may be able to play against Seattle.

“We’re encouraged. We’re looking forward to seeing how he progresses this week. And there’s a possibility he could be ready to go. That’s something that we’re going to evaluate as the week progresses,” McVay said. “But this was kind of always a target date that we had set to really get a chance to truly evaluate him, knowing that we had those four games in, really, a short time span. So this week provides an opportunity to evaluate him. And if we can get Mark back on the field, we’ll feel good about that.” Barron was on the field for Monday’s practice during the portion open to the media.
.@M_B_24 is back on the practice field for individual drills! #LARams pic.twitter.com/CnnQxGrGnC

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) October 1, 2018
Returner JoJo Natson was practicing as well. He’s recovering from hand surgery, but McVay said he has a chance to suit up against Seattle. “There’s a possibility,” McVay said. “He had a good surgery. It is on that left hand, so his dominant hand of how he holds the football is with that right [hand]. But we’ll see as the week goes with him as well.”

Zuerlein, however, was not spotted on the field for Monday’s practice. But the head coach said Zuerlein was able successfully complete a recent workout. “I think there’s a chance, also, that Greg could be ready to go this week. So that’s something that’s very encouraging," McVay said. "He had a workout yesterday, did a great job. Like anything else, got a little bit fatigued towards the end. But there is a possibility that Greg could be ready to go.”
“Until you really get a little bit further into the week with Greg, with Mark — those are things that will be evaluated and will certainly affect how we go about our 46 and who’s going to be active on gamdday.”

There is some urgency in particular for the club’s kicking position. During his conference call last Friday, McVay said the club would have to evaluate that spot. Through two games in Zuerlein’s stead, Sam Ficken has missed a pair of field goals — one from 46 yards against the Chargers, and another from just 28-yards out against the Vikings last Thursday.

“Certainly we've got to be better in that area when we get a chance to go up 13 in a game that's been back and forth. Those are plays that we have to be able to make and make them consistently,” McVay said on Friday. “Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case the last couple weeks, but every decision we make is something that we discuss as a staff.” Ficken has, however, connected on a 34-yard field goal and all 10 of his extra-point attempts.

Zuerlein converted 4-of-5 field goals and three extra points in Week 1 at Oakland — including a 55-yard field goal off the Oakland Coliseum infield dirt. His 158 points scored led the league in 2017, with 38 field goals and 44 extra points.

Game day Thread for tonight's game?

Just a little bit of info, over there creeping around the Seahawks forum and saw they had Maurice Alexander, among several others, in today for a tryout. I thought he had caught on somewhere but I guess not.

They also had Paxton Lynch in as well.

This is a really great write up with lots of video to go along with it from Reddit. Written by a Vikings fan. Check it out if you have a few minutes.

Login to view embedded media View: https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/9jy9a2/film_study_how_sean_mcvay_and_the_rams_scored_at/

Could be a nice boost.

Login to view embedded media View: https://twitter.com/VinnyBonsignore/status/1046863015029628928

Last year, Carson Wentz quarterbacked the Eagles into play off contention before he was injured. The Rams missed a huge opportunity to win that game when he went down, but screwed the pooch. Wentz went out and Foles went in and guided the team through the play offs and to a Super Bowl win.Wentz watched his back up win the highest honor while he was in civilian clothes. Will he ever get the chance to do it?

Remember in 2002 how sure we were that the success would continue? So many factors have to align to even make it to the Super Bowl, let alone to win it. The Eagles don't look good. The Eagles Oline is warmed over garbage and have allowed the recently cleared-to-play Wentz, to get hit hard. Wentz' style doesn't seem to allow for a long career, as he likes to be the tough guy that wants to fight for yards, risking hits.

How bad would it be to think a players only chance to win it all, was lost in his first year as the starter?

Considering the road team is usually -3 that's a 10.5 point swing.

https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2018/10/01/nfl-los-angeles-rams-seahakws-week-5-odds-betting-line/

Rams open as big road favorites over the Seahawks in Week 5
By: Cameron DaSilva

The Los Angeles Rams have made things look easy through four weeks, finishing the first quarter of the season undefeated. They’ve won all but one game by double-digits, too, absolutely dominating the majority of their opponents thus far.

That’s not expected to change in Week 5 when they travel to Seattle to take on an Earl Thomas-less Seahawks team that nearly lost to the Cardinals. According to the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, the Rams opened as 7.5-point favorites over the Seahawks in Week 5. That line holds true on Vegas Insider, as well.

Login to view embedded media View: https://twitter.com/OddsShark/status/1046548368963620865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1046548368963620865&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheramswire.usatoday.com%2F2018%2F10%2F01%2Fnfl-los-angeles-rams-seahakws-week-5-odds-betting-line%2F

The over/under opened at 49 points but has since jumped to 50, potentially because of Thomas’ fractured leg that will keep him out on Sunday and for the remainder of the season. The Rams boast the best offense in the NFL and a defense that is starting to click along the defensive line with Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh sacking Kirk Cousins a total of three times in Week 4.

Seattle doesn’t stand much of a chance against Los Angeles this week, especially with the Rams coming off a mini-bye.

Los Angeles Rams need to explore additional options at kicker


by Nick Fox22 hours ago


At 4-0, the Los Angeles Rams are where they want to be, with the exception of their kicking game. Here are a few names they might consider adding as they wait for Greg Zuerlein to return from injury.
Los Angeles Rams replacement kicker Sam Ficken has gone 1-for-3 in the last two games in Greg Zuerlein‘s absence. Sean McVay was unwilling to commit to him after his missed filed goal that would have clinched the game on Thursday in the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Vikings.

So the Rams are left evaluating the kicking position. On the one hand, they are simply biding time until Zuerlein returns, which could be as soon as a couple of weeks.

On the other hand, kicking has become one of the most important aspects of the game, resulting in wins and losses around the league every week. The Rams would be wise to give it some attention, as a missed kick could cost a game, a first-round bye, or home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

In the end, here are three kickers the Rams would do well to consider.

Nick Novak

Novak has been a journeyman kicker in his career, playing for six different teams. He is 37, but kickers stay relevant into their late 30’s, so age should not be an issue, and all that bouncing around could presuppose him to dealing with the turbulence of week to week duty with the Rams.

Most importantly, he has played 118 games and is 182 of 222 on field goals, including 17 of 31 from 50+ yards. His career long is 53, which he has made twice.

Kai Forbath

Forbath is a veteran kicker who was cut by the Vikings in the preseason in favor of Dan Carlson, who went 1 of 4 in two games and ensure his future in a career other than football.

The Vikings should have stayed with Forbath, who as a veteran has made 116 of 135 kicks in his career, is 6 of 9 over 50 yards, and has a career long of 57. He would fill in nicely as Zeurlein’s replacement.

Roberto Aguayo

Aguayo is famous for his hype, and failure to live up to it. The Buccaneers traded up to draft him in the second round (that is not a typo) in the 2016 NFL Draft.

He missed some big kicks and disappointed in his lone season with Tampa Bay. However, he remains one of the better kickers in recent college memory as well as unemployed.

Aguayo has the least experience and the worst percentage of this bunch, going 22 of 31 in his career with a long of 43 and is 0 for 1 from 50+. This would be a move based on past potential, but he’s worth a tryout and a look.

https://ramblinfan.com/2018/09/30/los-angeles-rams-search-for-new-kicker/

I've seen the question brought up in a few places so I thought I'd do some comparing. Here are the stats for the three GSOT receivers (and Faulk) and here are the numbers for our current crew (plus Gurley) extrapolated out to 16 games. I'm not sure if we can keep up this torrid pace, but these numbers would be historical. The fact that the three current receivers have 32, 33, and 34 targets between them tell me McVay is purposefully doing this to keep opposing defenses from keying on one go-to guy...another example of his genius. Here's my source, if anyone is interested. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/ram/1999.htm

*An argument could be made that you throw Ricky Proehl into that mix. He had 33/49 for 349 but 0 TD.

by Stephen Igoe

The Sunday action from Week 4 of the NFL season is in the books. Following another compelling round of games, teams around the league now have a legitimate idea of what their biggest strengths and weaknesses are four contests into the season. Front offices have already started to make big decisions to improve their 53-man rosters.

Two of the biggest free agents left standing were scooped up last week when Green Bay signed Bashaud Breeland and the Panthers inked Eric Reid to a free agent contract. Former all-pro receiver Dez Bryant still remains a free agent, as do some other notable names.

Here's a look at where all 32 teams in the league stand in regards to cap space after four weeks of action (all numbers are courtesy of Spotrac.com).
https://247sports.com/LongFormArtic...L-teams-through-Week-4-122423573/#122423573_1

19. Los Angeles Rams: $6.319 million

(Photo: John McCoy, Getty)
Total Cap: $175.2 million

Active Cap: $147.0 million

Dead Cap: $12.8 million

Adjustments: $4.3 million

To read the article click the link below. Only Rams mentions are posted to save you the time to look for them. Cause that's the kind of guy I am.
*****************************************************************
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/10/01/fmia-week-4-quarter-pole-nfl-peter-king/

The Rams rule. Since Sean McVay arrived last season, the Rams are 15-5 and average 30.9 points per game. They’re the best team in football, the only 4-0 team as October dawns, and except for the Chiefs, it’s not very close.

Offensive Players of the Week

Cooper Kupp, wide receiver, Los Angeles Rams. You know your receiving corps is in fine fettle when the number three guy, Kupp, is on pace to catch 86 balls for 1,392 yards, 16 touchdowns and a 14.5-yards-per-catch average.

Kupp beat linebacker Anthony Barr for one touchdown catch Thursday night and two corners for the other one in a nine-catch, 162-yard, two-TD night against Minnesota. Kupp’s a possession receiver and a field-stretcher.
------------------------------------------------
Coaches of the Week

Sean McVay, coach, Los Angeles Rams. When McVay got to southern California 20 months ago, job one was fixing quarterback Jared Goff, who had a lousy rookie year that left his confidence shaken. Since then, Goff has rebuilt his mechanics and footwork and confidence, and he has been one of the game’s most efficient, explosive quarterbacks.

The five-TD master-show by Goff in the win over the Vikings reinforced all the work McVay has done with him. Wrote Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times post-game: “[McVay] is the quintessential Goffensive coordinator, drawing up plays that allow his third-year quarterback to pick apart opponents with surgical precision.” True.
-------------------------------------
Numbers Game

Comparing the Rams before and after Sean McVay is an exercise in why coaching matters. McVay is 20 games into his NFL head-coaching career after the Rams’ 38-31 win over the Vikings on Thursday night. So I charted his first 20 games versus the Rams’ previous 20.

Under McVay
Record: 15-5
Points Scored: 618
Points Differential: +222
Passer Rating: 104.1

Before McVay (Previous 20 Games)
Record: 7-13
Points Scored: 315
Points Differential: -152
Passer Rating: 72.7

Jared Goff’s passer rating before McVay arrived: 63.6.

Since McVay arrived: 106.4.
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Johnny Hekker threw that fake-punt pass against the Vikes 49 yards in the air, and it was a perfect spiral. Would have been the play of the week except for the little matter of the incompletion.
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I think there is little question what the game of the year is now. And no one would have picked it even a month ago. Clue? Week 11. Another clue? Not in the United States. It’s Chiefs-Rams on Monday, Nov. 19, in Mexico City. I’m not much of a gamblin’ man. But as my good friend Brent Musburger would say, Take the over.
-----------------------------------
Three points to make about those possible flex dates:

• Re: Rams at Niners, Week 7—Not a lot of great potential flex options here. I’d bet on New Orleans at Baltimore as the best shot if each has a winning record a week from today—if the league flexes. Moving New England-Chicago from the early Sunday window would give the Patriots an unheard-of five straight prime-time games.

But if the Rams continue to be a juggernaut, the sexiness of McVay/Goff/Donald would make it tempting for the league to keep the game, even with C.J. Beathard the other quarterback. In the end, I think the league won’t want to flex this game unless the Niners looks like a lost cause a week from now. Deadline for flex: Oct. 9.

• Re: Niners at Seahawks, Week 13—Minnesota at New England, the current FOX doubleheader game in the late window that Sunday, could be interesting here. San Francisco at Seattle was compelling too because of Richard Sherman returning to Seattle for the first time, but if both teams are struggling and there’s a better game, this week will a better chance for a flex than Week 7.

• Just so you know, here are the prime-time rules: A team can be scheduled for as many as five prime-time games. A team can be flexed into a sixth prime-time game in any week from Week 5 through 16. And the league can choose any game in Week 17 to be the Sunday night game. Theoretically, then, a team scheduled for five prime-time games and then flexed into a sixth could still end up playing a seventh if it’s chosen for the final game of the season.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...e-young-qb-starters-thrive-bill-barnwell-2018

The cheat code to unlock a Super Bowl-caliber team in the modern NFL is to find a useful quarterback on a rookie deal. It has been clear going back to the early days of this collective bargaining agreement, when the Seahawks surrounded Russell Wilson with stars and nearly claimed consecutive championships. Last year, the Eagles built a team around Carson Wentz talented enough to win even after Wentz went down because of a torn ACL. Tom Brady is obviously not on a rookie deal, but the Patriots have made it to the Super Bowl four times under the current CBA with Brady on a below-market contract.

Teams have realized this, of course, which is why we've seen them go on a spending spree to surround their young quarterbacks with stars while they remain cheap:

• The Rams traded up for Jared Goff in 2016 and then acquired Brandin Cooks, Marcus Peters, Aqib Taliband Ndamukong Suh this year, while signing Cooks, Todd Gurley and Aaron Donald to massive extensions while Goff is still making peanuts.
  
  
• The Eagles brought back virtually everyone of consequence from their Super Bowl team while locking up new acquisitions such as Alshon Jeffery and Tim Jernigan over the past 12 months.
  
  
• The Chiefs signed Sammy Watkins with the money they saved by replacing Alex Smith with Patrick Mahomes.
  
  
• The Bears signed an entire receiving corps in free agency for Mitchell Trubisky.
  

The 4-0 Rams are a model to teams like the Bears and Browns, who are building around quarterbacks taken at or near the top of the draft. The Rams are structuring their extension schedule around Goff, who has two years and $16.5 million in cap charges remaining on his rookie deal. Los Angeles will have one more year of cost control in 2020 with Goff's unguaranteed fifth-year option, which comes to more than $25 million, though teams traditionally use that year to sign their star quarterback to a long-term contract extension.

Time is of the essence with these moves. Wilson eventually got a market-value deal, and while he has continued to play well, the Seahawks' roster has gotten worse around him. Joe Flaccosigned a massive contract after playing out the fifth year of his rookie deal with the Ravens, who have been pinching pennies ever since. Cam Newton signed an extension with the Panthers before his 2015 MVP season and subsequent Super Bowl appearance, but his cap hit during that 2015 campaign was a relatively modest $13 million before jumping to $19.5 million and higher. He hasn't been back to the Super Bowl. Even Brady's cap hit -- which hadn't topped $15 million since 2010 -- jumped to $22 million this year, leaving the Patriots with what looks like a thin roster in spots during their indifferent start to the season.

Unless your quarterback is married to a supermodel with a net worth stretching into nine figures, though, the bargain doesn't last forever. The best-case scenario is that you get four seasons of excellent play at a below-market rate before locking up your franchise passer and hoping to find arbitrage opportunities elsewhere.

Well, that's the current best-case scenario. As @DamonGilmour posed on Twitter a couple of weeks ago, what if you could have a cheap quarterback ... forever?

Some team's going to try it. If you're the Rams, do you trade Jared Goff after year 3/4 and use the picks you get to grab another cheap QB to work with Sean McVay? https://t.co/t1AnJCGnSw

— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) September 14, 2018
There's a fascinating idea here, and I think it deserves some thought. Is a talented quarterback on a rookie deal such a valuable proposition that an organization should get on a cycle of finding a quarterback in the draft before trading him once he gets expensive? Is that even a feasible plan? And if it is, which organizations could even realistically consider it? Let's run through a few reasonable questions about this theory and see what we find.

What if the new guy isn't any good?
This is the obvious question, and it's going to stop the most risk-averse teams from even exploring the possibilities. A general manager who trades away a useful quarterback entering his prime to draft a new passer who fails to win fans over is going to get fired. General managers do not want to get fired.
Of course, it's also fair to note that some executives are willing to be more aggressive. It's not an identical scenario, but the Chiefs were willing to trade up to grab Patrick Mahomes in the first round of the 2017 draft despite the presence of Alex Smith. Smith is older than the quarterbacks we're laying out in this scenario, but then-GM John Dorsey clearly felt as if the team had peaked with Smith under center and made the move to go after Mahomes. We're only four games into Mahomes' career, but the Chiefs look to have the scariest offense in football.

There's also the possibility that sticking on the current path with an expensive quarterback won't lead to further success. There was arguably no way the Ravens could have moved on from Flacco after he produced one of the best postseasons in league history during the 2012 playoffs, but the move has kneecapped Baltimore ever since. Flacco signed a six-year, $120.6 million deal that was structured to force an extension after three years. If the Ravens cut Flacco after the 2018 season as expected, they'll end up having paid him $124 million over six years for below-average play.

Baltimore also has been forced to restructure several deals to free up cap space and add talent as an aftereffect of the Flacco extension, so even after its longtime quarterback leaves, his impact will still be felt. The Ravens kept Flacco while moving on from Tyrod Taylor, who was a competent starter during his time in Buffalo, though he struggled in Cleveland this season.

Flacco is an example of a quarterback who entered the league before the current CBA was signed, but among the current-CBA passers, seven have signed meaningful extensions with the team that drafted them: Andy Dalton, Colin Kaepernick, Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson, Ryan Tannehill, Derek Carr and Blake Bortles. Of those seven, only Bortles' team made the playoffs last season, and that was while he was still on his rookie deal before signing an extension this offseason.

In some cases, it's not even about the quarterback playing poorly. Wilson has continued to play at a high level in Seattle, but the infrastructure around him has fallen apart. The Seahawks took away the money they spent on Wilson from the offensive line, hoping that offensive line coach Tom Cable could develop athletes and draft picks into useful players. He couldn't, and when that plan failed, the next step was to spend on the likes of Luke Joeckel, Duane Brown and Justin Britt while saving money on defense, which led to Richard Sherman and Sheldon Richardson leaving town.

If you're thinking about this as if it's a question of quarterback vs. quarterback, you're doing it wrong. It's not, to pick a quarterback, four years of Derek Carr versus four years with a random rookie. It's four years of Carr versus four years with a rookie and whatever else you can get with the money you save by not spending a premium for a quarterback.

Imagine a scenario in which the Raiders didn't re-sign Carr and then traded him to the Jets before the 2017 draft for the sixth overall pick, which they then used on Deshaun Watson. Carr's contract is roughly $25 million per year. The sixth overall pick in the 2017 draft makes right around $5.5 million, leaving a difference of $19.5 million per year with which to work. Instead of Carr vs. Watson, it's a question of whether the Raiders would rather have Carr or, say, a trio of Watson, Calais Campbell and Dion Lewis, which adds up to $25.5 million in annual salaries. Alternately, an extra $19.5 million would have gone a long way toward paying Khalil Mack, whose new deal averages $23.5 million per season. Carr and Johnathan Hankins ($27 million), or Watson and Mack ($28 million)? The Raiders got back two draft picks for Mack, but they also would have picked up a haul for Carr last offseason, too.
How would a team even go about making the quarterback change?
Well, the first thing you do is scout. You have to think about this sort of move months in advance, extending through the college football season. You have to find a quarterback who you think is good enough to come in and take over for a successful starter, which means you have to scout as if you're looking for a No. 1 quarterback. Remember that the Eagles, who were undergoing a regime change, re-signed Sam Bradford and gave Chase Daniel a lucrative deal for a backup before falling in love with Wentz and trading up with the Browns to make him the second overall pick.

You can make a case that a team might want to just draft a quarterback in the middle of the draft and see if it can develop him into a starter, as the Patriots did with Jimmy Garoppolo. I'm not as enthused by that idea, if only because quarterbacks taken after the first round don't have a high success rate. The Patriots used the 62nd pick on Garoppolo, which was the highest selection they've used on a quarterback in the Brady era, but they didn't get much out of passers they drafted in a similar range, like Ryan Mallett (74), Jacoby Brissett(91), and Kevin O'Connell (94). I think a team can make this sort of trade only if it is extremely confident it's coming away with a franchise quarterback, as the Chiefs were with Mahomes.

As a result, you can't really telegraph the move by acquiring your new quarterback a year in advance, unless you're absolutely flush with draft picks like the early-'90s Cowboys or the pre-Dorsey Browns. If the Rams were going to trade Goff, as an example, they couldn't trade up in the 2019 draft to grab a passer with the intention of letting him sit on the bench for a year before trading Goff in 2020. It would erode Goff's confidence and dramatically reduce the team's leverage when it did decide to make a trade.

Stupid article keeps going... tired of copy and paste.
To finish:
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...e-young-qb-starters-thrive-bill-barnwell-2018

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...offensive-defensive-players-year-best-rookies

Just wanted to post this for all of our enjoyment. For all those labeling Goff a bust 2 years ago, how about now?

We played 4 games in 18 days! And went 4-0! :yess::wow:

Looking at teams considered to be in the top echelon of the conference 4 weeks ago:

Los Angeles Rams 4 - 0 - 0
New Orleans Saints 3 - 1 - 0
Green Bay Packers 2 - 1 - 1
Carolina Panthers 2 - 1 - 0
Philadelphia Eagles 2 - 2 - 0
Minnesota Vikings 1 - 2 - 1
Atlanta Falcons 1 - 3 - 0

I just like looking at numbers like this, especially when the Rams are on top. Any of these teams could catch fire at any time and start a run. Two of the teams (NO, Atl) seem to be having some serious defensive issues. Green Bay seems to be getting better as Rodgers gets better. Carolina and Philadelphia are hard to decipher at the moment. The Rams look a little vulnerable on defense, but that should come around as the season progresses. The offense is scary good and getting better. Good time to be a Rams fan.

On to quarter # 2!

So the Atlanta Braves with the fewest number of wins gets a day off !!!!! Then the losers of the divisional playoff games play a wild card game. I'm not liking this at all. Didn't it use to be head to head record during the year determine the division winner?

I know McVay didn’t necessarily “invent” the type of offense he runs, but sure seems like Nagy is borrowing a lot from it. I’m not knocking him at all. It’s a copycat league, more so flattered I guess.

Now, if only our defense can go back to being dominant like theirs...

from youtube. wait til you see his tats. good stuff.

Login to view embedded media View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVit4vSAMsk

I'm listening to Philly fans melt down about the loss. Mediocre offense, and serious problems with the defense. Offense can be helped as guys become healthy, but the defense is in rough shape, as guys like Rodney McCloud are lost to injury....

They are afraid of the Vikings...lol