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https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/05/14/matt-millen-sick-amyloidosis-detroit-lions-mmqb-peter-king

Matt Millen Fights For His Life: ‘It’s Getting Late. We Need a Big Stop’
A football stalwart gamely battles a rare disease—a heart transplant looms as a possibility—with an attitude of acceptance on acreage in rural Pennsylvania. Other sections include a look back at the late Chuck Knox’s career; notes on Matt Patricia, Mark Ingram, Adam Vinatieri; and more
By Peter King



DURHAM, Pa. — The other day, spring exploding with the 18,000 flowering plantings on his 200-acre property of rolling hills and classic stone buildings, Matt Millen took the controls of his John Deere backhoe and began moving 12 huge logs. One after the other, chaining them up, pulling them off the pile, and moving them to where most of this wood is going to be part of the construction of a storage building on the Millen estate here in the northeast corner of the state he loves.

Millen finished after maybe an hour. He climbed slowly off the huge machine, and gave his Rottweilers, Ranger and Bench, a couple of scratches around the ears.

This is a sick man?

Take a closer look. Millen, 60, has that pale-faced look you sometimes see in people deep into chemotherapy. The four-time Super Bowl-winning linebacker was noted for playing with intelligent abandon for the Raiders, Niners and Washington, but he doesn’t do much with abandon these days. He just had his weekly chemo treatment the previous day, and he’s surprised he’s feeling up to doing as much as he’s done on one of the first warm mornings of the year here.

Millen’s down around 50 pounds in the past year, chasing a cure for a disease called amyloidosis that is particularly evil: He needs debilitating chemotherapy now to fight amyloid, a rogue protein that attacks organs (his heart, in this case). Because the amyloid is attacking his heart, he’ll eventually need a heart transplant to have a chance to live many more years.

“We’re in the fourth quarter of a big football game,” Millen said. “We’re down 13. Playing defense. It’s getting late.”

Millen thought, and he laughed. He does a lot of laughing. He is not impressed with his own mortality, nor does he have the slightest problem discussing it.

“We need a stop,” he said. “We need a big stop.”

Millen has had one of the most interesting football lives of our time. A linebacker both vicious and impossible to trick, he’s the only player in history to win a Super Bowl in four cities: Oakland and Los Angeles (with the itinerant Raiders), and then San Francisco and Washington. Then he became Son of John Madden on TV, destined, it seemed, to replace Madden as the brainiac BOOM-BAM analyst of the people.

But he got an offer to become president and GM of the woebegone Lions in 2001 that he couldn’t refuse. Maybe he should have. Millen lasted seven years and four games, and was fired in the midst of Detroit’s 0-16 season in 2008. Then he went back to TV. Now he does NFL games for FOX and college games for the Big Ten Network. And still will in 2018, if his health holds through the chemo.

Many head-scratching things about this incurable malady plaguing Millen. This might be the topper: It took doctors almost as long as his ill-fated NFL executive career lasted to find out he had amyloidosis. He traveled to New York, to Los Angeles, to Rochester, Minn., to Philadelphia, to Chicago, with multiple doctors seen in a couple of those cities, before finally finding out this truth from a doctor in Jacksonville a year ago: “My friend, I know what you’ve got, and you’re not going to like it.”

The long, strange trip to diagnosis (amyloidosis fools doctors and clinicians because it mimics other diseases) started one day in 2011 on this property, as Millen was walking up the steep mini-mountain on the western edge of the property with his wife Pat. “We’d walk three miles, and we'd attack that big hill. And of course Pat would just bury me all the time,” Millen recalled.

“And I thought no big deal, because she's little and she's in great shape. Sometimes I'd catch up to her and we'd run at the end and I'd beat her. And then, I couldn't. I'd start walking, and I was like, What is going on? I'd start getting this pressure like right at the base of my chest. Then I couldn’t make it up to the top. Then I couldn't even get halfway up. That lasts about a year, year and a half, and I figure I better go see a doctor.”

The first doctor visit was 2012. Multiple heart tests followed, and tests for severe acid reflux, and tests for lyme disease. Nothing. He passed a kidney stone in 2015, got a non-malignant tumor removed from his chest a year later, and still nothing. Millen was sick of feeling like crap.

One day a couple of years ago, he decided that since the doctors kept telling him his heart was great and they couldn’t find anything else wrong, he’d take out the walk-behind 60-inch mower he used to mow the five acres he kept in groundskeeper’s condition and just attack his property. The lawn was a football game—four quarters, and he’d mow one sector, one quarter, at a time. So he was on the first series of the first quarter, in essence, and here came the issue again.

“So I'm walking it, and I can't go 100 yards and it’s starting to bother me. But armed with the knowledge that there's nothing wrong, I get to this little hill, and I'm like I'm running up this hill. If I fall over dead, tough. This thing was really pissing me off. So I ran up the hill, it’s just killing me, and I was like, I'm done. I've got to find a doctor.”


Getty Images

More doctors. Liver, kidney exams. Nothing. Finally, a team physician for the Eagles, a sleuth named Gary Dorshimer, sent him to the Mayo Clinic. This time, he’d stay till they found out what it was. Millen went to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, to a doctor named Gary Lee.

“So this is about a year ago,” Millen said, now inside his pristinely maintained home, on an antique couch. “I walked into his office, we sat down and we talked for about 15 to 20 minutes, and that’s when he tells me he knows what I got and I’m not gonna like it. I’m like, How do you know that? You didn’t even do a freakin’ test on me.

He says, ‘I’ve been studying this disease for quite some time, amyloidosis. I'm looking at your carotid artery right now, it’s pronounced. I'm looking at the muscles in your head, and they’re deteriorated. Where there should be muscles around your eyes, you're getting more puffiness instead of muscle mass.’

“And I'm like, ‘Way to read your keys man! That's a good linebacker!’”

Lee’s testing proved that this disastrous protein, amyloid, was being produced in Millen’s bone marrow and was being deposited in the area around his heart. The amyloid is produced in the bone marrow and in Millen’s case, has traveled to his heart walls, making the heart less elastic and unable to perform the necessary pumping for healthy heart function. Treatments including chemotherapy could manage Millen’s symptoms but not cure the disease. Eventually, he’ll need the heart transplant.

“It’s just a matter of when,” Millen said. “And when the window opens for me, I may only have like five months to get it done.”

I said: “Are you amazed that a person as healthy as you’ve been your whole life can be told you need a heart transplant?”

“It’s unbelievable!” he said. “Here’s what I kept on saying—I’d be working out or I’d be cutting the grass, or I’d be doing something and I would have to stop. I could walk 50 feet and I’d be like, What is going on? I would always say, ‘Pat, didn’t I just play in a Super Bowl 20 minutes ago?’”

“Had any ‘Why me?’ moments?” I asked.

“Never,” he said. “Not one. I don’t think like that. This doesn’t bother me too much. I believe in life you’re supposed to take the bad with the good. You take what you get. This is our life. This is what we get. And so it was the same thing when I was playing.

We were fortunate to win Super Bowls. There are guys who go through their whole career, great players, who don’t win one. I’m in Oakland, L.A., San Fran, Washington. We won one everywhere. You just can’t figure those things sometimes. So you just get what you get. I’m okay with that.

“I’m also okay if I don’t wake up one day. We’re all gonna get there. I’m 60 years old and yeah, I’d like to kick around a little longer, but if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. I’m actually really good with that. Some of it is just being pragmatic. I’ve always been that way.

“And this life—this incredible life. It’s amazing to me. I’ve met presidents, I’ve met prime ministers, I’ve been around top world leaders, I’ve been around icons like Mr. Ford [the late Lions owner William Clay Ford]—and I’ve had awesome conversations with these people. The great lesson? We’re all the same. We’re all the same. There is no difference.”

Millen’s attitude is so good, so positive—honestly, he could star in the remake of It’s a Wonderful Life—that I feel I could ask him anything at this moment. I could ask about where this “That’s life” ethos comes from. I probably should have.

But I want to ask him about the Lions.

“As you look back on it,” I said, “did you enjoy Detroit or …”

“Yes,” he interrupts. “I enjoyed—I did not like the process because of the reality of what it is. Really when I take my steps back, I was not ready at all. Not even close. I was in over my head. And by the time I figured it out, it wasn’t necessarily too late, but we were in pretty deep.”


George Gojkovich/Getty Images

So many weird things about Millen’s tenure. This one just boggles the mind: In the five drafts between 2003 and 2007, Millen had the second, seventh, 10th, ninth and second overall picks. He took wide receivers in four of those five drafts. Charles Rogers in 2003, Roy Williams in 2004, Mike Williams in 2005, Calvin Johnson in 2007.

“The one that killed me was Mike Williams,” Millen said. “That was just so stupid Pete. It’s like my brain fell off my head. Why would I do that?”

“So why did you?” I asked.

“I listened to the group. They thought if they got Mike Williams and paired him with Roy Williams that in the red zone we could do all these things. And I was like okay. Do you realize at that time, when we were just about ready to pick, I had DeMarcus Ware on the phone? And I said, ‘All right, take Mike Williams.’ My son was in the draft room with us, and that’s when my son punched me. What a dope I was.”

“How football history could have changed if you picked Ware instead of Mike Williams,” I said.

“How ‘bout that?” Millen said. “Maybe we would have ruined him too.”

Millen, of course, was fired by William Clay Ford four games into the winless 2008 season. But he says he’s glad to have had the experience. To this day, he loves the Ford family. He understands why he got whacked (“They had to do it”) and says he has no bitterness, and says he understands why the fans feel the enmity they feel for him.

“Now I know what really happens when you build a team,” he said. “It’s so imperfect. There’s so many things that just happen that you stumble into. And sometimes it works out the way you plan it, but not often because it’s a people business. That’s what it is. Like with Charles [Rogers]. I worked him out. I met with Charles. Charles wasn’t a strong person. I knew that.

I miscalculated all the people that would latch onto him, especially being so close to his hometown; he was from Saginaw. And that was a real problem. My choice then was to take him or the kid from Miami, Andre Johnson. The only reason that I didn’t take Andre Johnson was I thought this would be good for the franchise—a hometown kid, and he had better speed, but Andre was a physical guy.”

Rogers had issues with Vicodin, marijuana, multiple DUIs and the weight of fathering eight children, two before he was out of high school. He was a mess for most of his awful three-year NFL career (36 catches, four touchdowns), and the Lions cut him in 2006.

Yes, the football architecture thing didn’t quite work out for Millen.


Peter King/The MMQB

Millen is a garrulous sort, so it’s not rare for him to open his life like this. But now he’s doing it because he wants the public to know something about amyloidosis. Namely, that it’s incredibly hard to diagnose, even by the smartest doctors. Will McDonough, the famed Boston Globewriter, died of amyloidosis in 2003.

His family had an autopsy done, and it wasn’t till then that the amyloidosis was discovered. “He did a stress test the day he died,” son Sean McDonough, the ESPN announcer, told me Sunday. “And the doctors told him he was fine—everything looks good. That’s how unexpected this can be.” Sean McDonough was thrilled Millen is speaking up now, so the light can be shined on a mostly unknown killer. (To learn more, visit the Amyloidosis Foundation.)

Some 4,500 documented cases of the disease are found each year, with many more going undiagnosed. Millen hopes by him telling his story, others who cannot find the root cause of an illness might ask a doctor about amyloidosis. The longer a person waits to be diagnosed, the more of the damaging amyloid protein can be produced. And, of course, the chance to stave off the disease through aggressive treatment is reduced the longer it takes to be diagnosed.

A bit of an update here: Millen visited another doctor at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York on Thursday. It was determined he would come off chemotherapy for two or three weeks to judge his progress, but nothing about his future treatment is likely to change, however. He’ll eventually be on a transplant list, and he’ll hope for the kindness of a stranger’s heart.

Early in the afternoon of my visit, Millen seemed tired. Time to go. But he had one last thing to show me back outside: a gate, a beautiful stone arched gate, with a Bible verse he finds telling in his life. He pointed to it.

“This is important,” he said.

It read: “Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life. And only a few find it.”

It’s a verse he wanted his four children to follow in life: Take the right and the righteous path, not the popular path. Now he’s on his own narrow road. He’s okay with that.

CHUCK KNOX: 1932-2018

Bill Parcells once said this of his friend Chuck Knox, who died Saturday from complications of dementia: “He’s the guy tough guys want to play for.” Knox proved it three times. He coached three teams that were struggling when he got hired: the early seventies Rams, the late seventies Bills, and mid-eighties Seahawks. He turned every one of them around.

In Knox’s first year with the Rams, in 1973, Los Angeles went 12-2, and Knox won coach of the year.

In his third year with the Bills, in 1980, Buffalo went 11-5, and Knox won coach of the year.

In his second year with the Seahawks, in 1984, Seattle went 12-4, and Knox won coach of the year.

He established a run-first, Ground Chuck style of offense, befitting a man who grew up in western Pennsylvania and spent time working in the steel mills there pre-coaching days. If you couldn’t run, Knox thought that said everything about your team. And it worked everywhere he coached, even in the post-O.J. Simpson Bills days.

Knox coached 22 NFL seasons, and his 186 regular-season wins are 10th all-time in the 98-season history of the NFL. As with Marty Schottenheimer (seventh in regular-season wins) and Dan Reeves (ninth), Knox is on the outside of the Hall of Fame looking in, though his 193 wins in all games is 10 more than Parcells, who is in the Hall, and 11 more than Tom Coughlin, who may be one day.

The difference is Super Bowls: Parcells and Coughlin have two, Knox zero. But no one who played for Knox will say Super Bowls should rule his résumé. He made every team he coached tougher, and better.

STAT OF THE WEEK

Since 2013, influential NFC general managers Dave Gettleman and John Schneider have each won NFC titles—Gettleman’s Carolina Panthers once, Schneider’s Seattle Seahawks twice. (Gettleman, after five years with the Panthers, took over the Giants in late December.)

They handle the draft from opposite poles.

• In the six drafts (five Panthers, one Giants) since 2013, Gettleman has traded his first-round draft choice zero times.

• In the six drafts since 2013, Schneider has traded his first-round draft choice six times.

Conclusions to be drawn: not many, if any. In the five regular seasons from 2013-17, the results of the teams these two general managers formed:

• Seattle is 54-25-1, has won three division titles, and has made the playoffs four times.

• Carolina is 51-28-1, has won three division titles, and has made the playoffs four times.

My point: There’s no one way to build a good football team, except maybe for this—you better have a good quarterback.

THINGS I THINK I THINK

1. I think there is no easy solution to the Matt Patricia situation in Detroit. But I think there are three points to make:

a. Barring more information coming to light that would damage Patricia’s case that he was innocent of sexual assault in a Texas incident when he was 21 in 1996, Patricia deserves to be considered not guilty of the charge. He and a friend were charged and indicted, with the case being dropped because the woman in question did not want to move forward with the case because of the stress.

That’s where it lay until the Detroit News discovered the existence of the charge last week. Because Patricia was not convicted of a crime, and because it never resurfaced with any additional evidence in the 22 years since, he deserves to be allowed to coach the Lions with the presumption of innocence next to his name.

b. As The MMQBand other outlets wrote in the wake of the news, it’s fairly easy to find the existence of the charge against Patricia using a Nexis search. When a franchise worth billions doesn’t discover the story till the local paper advises the team of it, that’s a blatant red flag on the process the Lions use.

And when team president Rod Wood immediately says the franchise backs Patricia “1,000 percent,” what does that say to women who would root for the team? Wood should have said the team would do an exhaustive investigation into the story.

c. There’s nothing wrong journalistically with what the Detroit Newsdid in reporting a 22-year-old story, particularly in the environment we’re living now. Imagine if a reporter found out about this story, didn’t report anything, and a year later, another media outlet found the woman in question and she said she wanted to come forward with her side of the story.

This story deserves to be known. Not to ruin Patricia’s career by any means, but to simply say this should be a part of the Matt Patricia story, and he deserves to be able to coach because of the disposition of the case.

2. I think I’ve always been fascinated with career arc of Adam Vinatieri, who, if good health holds, will probably break the NFL’s scoring record by midseason. (He needs 58 points to pass Morten Andersen, which he could do left-footed.) But I wrote about Vinatieri the other day, and I found out a few things I didn’t know. I found out he came perilously close to being cut (and likely not picked up by anyone) in the first month of his career in 1996.

“I thought I was one bad game away, maybe one kick away, from the end of my football career,” Vinatieri told me. “I was very close to going home to South Dakota, and probably going to medical school.” And I found out just what he thought he’d do if he’d had one more lousy NFL game kicking for Bill Parcells. You’ll have to read this to find out his path in life had the kicking thing not worked out.

3. I think you never know the motivation why team officials talk up one team or another, and May is a time of smoke-blowing. But I found Denver GM John Elway’s comments about the AFC West and about one team in particular interesting.

He told reporters in Omaha the other day: “It's the wild, wild West. I thought the Chargers did a really nice job with the draft. They’ve got the settled quarterback, even though the Raiders do too. Looking at it, [the Chargers] may be the ones to beat. As I stand here, looking at it, the Chargers might be the team to beat.”

4. I think, absolutely, wide receiver Brandon Marshall has a good year of football left in him, at 34, and would be a great depth signing by Seattle.

5. I think this went unnoticed until Field Yates pointed it out, but it shouldn’t: Former Wisconsin and Arkansas coach Bret Bielema has begun coaching with the Patriots. He helped Bill Belichick in the run-up to the 2018 draft, and now, apparently, the relationship is going to the next level. Heck of a story.

6. I think I’m intrigued by the ESPN Monday night crew—Joe Tessitore and Jason Witten in the booth, Lisa Salters and Booger McFarland on the sidelines. Very interesting chemistry experiment, when the color guy is the rookie (Witten) starting his media career at the highest level of television.

7. I think the Mark Ingram four-game PED suspension to start the season might make Alvin Kamara the NFL’s most important offensive weapon of the first four weeks of this season. Kamara, who played an increasingly major role for the Saints in earning the offensive rookie of the year award in 2017, will have to carry a bigger load in September than the Saints originally thought.

Last year, in the first quarter of the season, Kamara had only 35 touches from scrimmage—15 rushes, 20 receptions. Thirty-five touches, 230 yards. I bet that’s doubled, at least, in the first quarter of 2018.

8. I think I have no idea why the Senior Bowl and Phil Savage “parted ways,” apparently amicably, but I do know this: Savage, the former Browns GM, made the Senior Bowl a professional event, appointment-attending on the NFL calendar. He will be missed in a major way. The way he navigated the needs of the 32 teams and the omnipresent media and the players themselves was deft.

9. I think I loved this story that Peter Gammons had in The Athleticabout Ichiro Suzuki as the curtain fell on his illustrious baseball career. Seems that in 2017, when Ichiro was a Miami Marlin, he got a text from a number he didn’t recognize, asking about his stretching routine.

Manager Don Mattingly said Ichiro was confused because he didn’t know the sender of the text. “Some guy named Tom Brady,” Ichiro said, according to Mattingly. “Who the f--- is Tom Brady?” Now there’s a guy with focus on his chosen career.

Any of you guys that live on the west coast like Habit Burger. They just opened a place in King of Prussia Pa.

There are quite a few... guys like Rodgers, Brady, Brees, Roethlisberger, Manning... won’t be cheap, but they are obviously elite.

What about that next tier?

Prescott, Mariota, Winston, Keenum

Good players... but are they worthy of the deals they will command?

I’m glad those 4 aren’t our decision to make.

We've lost one of our own. Eight years as the Rams head coach across a couple stints. He's passed away at the age of 86.

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Feel free to add........

Conference finals coming up!!!!!

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The live shots during the NFL Draft captured the steel rising out of the dirt.

The new 70,0000-seat stadium, scheduled to open in 2020, is beginning to take shape in Inglewood.

While the Los Angeles Rams are building their future home, however, they aren’t exactly building for the future.

As a headline-grabbing offseason has reinforced, the Rams are responding to last fall’s breakout season by reaching for the Lombardi Trophy.

“It’s been a special offseason for us,” Rams head coach Sean McVay told season-ticket holders last month during a draft kickoff party in downtown Los Angeles. “We’ve been able to acquire some really good players.”

During a wild three-week span in March and April, the Rams traded for All-Pro cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib, signed All-Pro defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and traded for three-time 1,000-yard receiver Brandin Cooks.

As a result, the Rams Super Bowl odds were slashed from 18-1 to 9-1, according to Bovada.com. By the time May arrived, the Rams were the third favorite to win the Super Bowl, behind New England and Philadelphia, the two teams who played for the trophy in February.


The Rams added defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh to a defense that is expected to be one of the best in the NFL next season.(Photo: RICHARD VOGEL/ AP)

“We’re excited about the expectations and certainly don’t shy away from them,” said McVay, moments after former "Saturday Night Live" comic and Rams fan Taran Killam called him “The Boy Wonder” during his introduction.

This time last year, McVay was a relative unknown who had just eclipsed Lane Kiffin as the youngest NFL head coach of the modern era.

The biggest question, publicly, was whether the then-31-year-old was experienced enough to do the job.

Mike Martz, the Rams' head coach the last time they were the No. 1 offense in the league, wondered why the team had hired a “buddy” for young quarterback Jared Goff.

“And this guy is a quarterback expert?” Martz said. “Wait a minute while I puke.”

By November, when McVay had pulled off a sudden turnaround that would feature a seven-win improvement, the first worst-to-first scoring improvement of the Super Bowl era and the franchise’s first playoff game in 13 years, the question had been answered.

“McVay should be coach of the year,” Martz told The MMQB.

A couple months later, he was.

Sean McVay won Coach of the Year in his first season guiding the Rams.(Photo: CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR)

Much of the foundation of the Rams’ surprising turnaround last fall was laid in the spring.

That’s when the team solidified their offensive line with the veteran free-agent additions of tackle Andrew Whitworth and center John Sullivan.

That’s when the team signed receiver Robert Woods, who would lead the team in receptions and receiving yards on a per-game basis.

That’s when the team drafted rookies who would combine to make 26 starts, including receiver Cooper Kupp, tight end Gerald Everett and safety John Johnson.

“I think there’s a confidence that we were able to at least lay and establish a foundation,” McVay said about 2017. “But I think what those players will also tell you is that (you) really have to wipe the slate clean. We have to earn it every single day.”

The Rams could see it all coming together before they even took the field for training camp. As captured in Amazon’s “All or Nothing,” McVay leaned over to Les Snead in the War Room during the draft and told the general manager, "If the minicamp is any indicator, we hit on our free agents."

The Rams have been even more aggressive this offseason, dealing away a first-round pick to New England for Cooks, a second and a fourth for Peters and taking on Talib’s $11 million cap hit to become perhaps the NFL “it” team of the offseason.


Receiver Brandin Cooks was another big pickup for the Rams in the offseason.(Photo: AP FILE)

The moves made the returning players on the roster sit up and take notice, along with the rest of the league.

“We’re just getting the best people that we can as a team,” second-year linebacker Samson Ebukam said. “That’s just motivation for somebody like me to work harder, because I want to be part of this team when it’s all going down.”

Cooks has even thanked New England coach Bill Belichick for trading him to Los Angeles.

“He didn’t just send me off anywhere,” Cooks said on this week’s episode of the Rams’ Facebook Watch show, “Behind The Grind.”

“He sent me to a great organization in the Rams, being now with Coach McVay and a great offense like this, and a great quarterback like Jared Goff.”


ESPN announced this week that the new "Monday Night Football" team will debut for the Rams opener at Oakland, featuring McVay’s chess match with mentor Jon Gruden, despite the late kickoff.

”The Rams ... have been the offseason buzz team with what they accomplished in free agency with the win-now attitude,” new "MNF" play-by-play voice Joe Tessitore said. “(They’ve) got a dynamic young quarterback, obviously got the All-Pros all over the place everywhere you look, especially now with the additions on defense at cornerback and defensive line.”

It’s another example of the rising hype surrounding the franchise.

“We can’t fall into the hype,” defensive tackle Michael Brockers said. “We just have to put our heads down and continue to grind.”

The Rams will play in prime time five times this fall, including on "Monday Night Football" against Oakland and Kansas City, in which Peters’ will face his former team. Divisional and conference showdowns with rival San Francisco and Super Bowl champion Philadelphia, respectively, will be showcased on "Sunday Night Football." The matchup with Minnesota also was chosen to kick of Fox's new Thursday Night coverage in Week 4.

The five prime-time appearances present a significant contrast to the franchise’s recent history. Apart from the required Thursday night appearance, Rams played in prime time just five times in their final six seasons in St. Louis and only once since returning to Los Angeles.

The franchise’s only showcase in 12 seasons of "Sunday Night Football" remains the 2010 season finale against Seattle, which was flexed into prime time because it was a defacto NFC West title game.

If taking over a team on a 13-year losing streak seemed like a difficult task, McVay will now attempt, in his follow-up campaign, to live up to the hype.

“What you feel good about is you’ve been able to establish a rapport and you have a familiarity with a lot of these players,” McVay said. “We know what our coaches are about. Now it’s going into Year 2 of our offensive and defensive systems.

“Just that comfort level where we know each other, we know what to expect. Now let’s continue to try to improve and evolve as we move forward.”


[www.vcstar.com]

I’m pouring wine at the river festival in Reno wearing my old Rams jacket and a guy comes in wearing a shehawks hat and really poorly done leg tat. I just looked at him and said, “poor Russle”. He wasn’t amused. Typical pissy shecocks fan.

Personally I have my doubts about Jackson, but the QB situation could get interesting in Balitimore if the team struggles.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/...n-lions-caught-off-guard-and-other-nfl-notes/

Keep an eye on this Joe Flacco/Lamar Jackson situation. It isn't getting the national attention that the overt Big Ben/Mason Rudolph apparent blood feud is garnering, but this has the potential to get sideways.

Flacco has been ignoring the rookie, according to the rookie, and I don't think this rookie is going to bow down or kiss any rings – nor should he – and I don't see Flacco being invested in a mentor role (nor should he be given his career in Baltimore is in the balance).

Flacco is never going to get down the muck the way Roethlisberger has, and he'll be passive-aggressive about the situation at worst – without the outward disdain for the Rudolph selection that Roethlisberger seems to be relishing in – but it won't take much for Jackson to win over the fans and this could get prickly, quickly.

The Rams have always been a team that has wanted to build through the draft.

After getting to the playoffs in 2017 by winning the NFC West, they wanted to take the next step and get a first round bye as well as compete for a Super Bowl berth. In order to do that, they felt the best way to accomplish that goal was to add veterans. Not only have they done that, they added veterans with outstanding resumes.

On offense, the Rams lost wide receiver Sammy Watkins to free agency when he signed in Kansas City. The front office quickly replaced him with Brandin Cooks who may not be as physical as Watkins, but he is faster and a bit more explosive. Cooks may be a better fit in the Rams offense than Watkins was.

Along the offensive line, they wanted to add depth and did that in the draft adding tackle Joe Noteboom, center Brian Allen and tackle Jamil Demby. Getting Noteboom in the third round may be a steal because he has the talent to start as a rookie.

The biggest additions for the Rams was on defense where they have added former Pro Bowlers Ndamukong Suh, Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib. Those additions give the Rams perhaps the strongest defensive line and secondary in the NFL.

The Rams backend will have Talib and Peters at the corners and Lamarcus Joyner and John Johnson at safety. That gives the Rams three players who are among the best at their positions in the entire NFL. Talib and Peters are both considered No. 1 corners and Joyner has top instincts, range and ball skills.

Like the secondary, the defensive line is scary it’s so strong. Suh and Aaron Donald are among the best inside players in football and give the Rams arguably the strongest inside pass rush in the NFL. The third member of the line is Michael Brockers, who is strong in his own right, as he had 55 total tackles and 4.5 sacks a year ago.

The edge pass rushers are Samson Ekubam, who will replace the departed Robert Quinn, and Matt Longacre. It was Ekubam’s and Longacre’s strong play in 2017 that allowed the Rams to trade Quinn to the Miami Dolphins. Neither has yet to reach his ceiling as an NFL player and with 2018 being their second year in Wade Phillips' attacking scheme they will only improve.

Depth at outside linebacker will come from rookie Obo Okoronkwo. Obo is only 6-foot-1 and 253 pounds but his long arms (33 ¾”) allows him to play taller. He totaled 17 sacks over the last two seasons.

The one thing that is certain, is that in 2018 it will be a nightmare for offensive coordinators trying to prepare an offensive game plan when they have to go up against the Rams.

As good as the Rams defense is, the key to the Rams showing improvement and competing to get to the next level will be the play of quarterback Jared Goff. Goff struggled as a rookie but in fairness the Rams didn’t have the offensive coaches in place to help him develop. With the hire last year of Sean McVay as head coach, the Rams surrounded Goff with top quarterback tutors and Goff showed remarkable improvement.

This off-season the Rams lost two of those coaches as Greg Olsen went to the Raiders as offensive coordinator and Matt LaFleur moved on to the Tennessee Titans. Replacing Olsen and LeFleur are Zac Taylor and Jedd Fisch to work with Goff. Both have extensive experience working with quarterbacks at both the NFL and college levels.

With 2018 being Goff's second year in McVay’s offense he should play even better than he did in 2017. Last year Goff threw for more than 3,800 yards, completed 62 percent of his throws and threw for 28 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. The expectations are that Goff improves his completion percentage and throws for more yards and touchdowns. Add in the running of Todd Gurley and the Rams offense can be almost as scary as the defense.

Did the Rams do enough to become a legitimate Super Bowl contender? Experts around the league feel they have but like with any team they have to play to their potential and keep core players injury free. If that happens, the Los Angeles Rams should be a contender to win the NFC Championship come January.

[www.profootballweekly.com]

DTR 100: Ranking the Top 100 NFL Players
May 11, 2018 | By::Jake Ellenbogen


The NFL Network started their NFL 100, so I decided to do my own top 100 rankings. Here is the debut of the DTR 100. The only thing is this, NFL does their rankings based on the past 2017 season. As for my rankings, this is where I rank the top 100 players in the league factoring the recent past few years. 2017 does play a big part in these rankings but so do injuries that leave out some marquee names. Enjoy and let me know your thoughts!

Notable Omissions:


Eric Berry, FS, Kansas City Chiefs - ACL injury

Kam Chancellor, SS, Seattle Seahawks - Neck injury

Julian Edelman, WR, New England Patriots - ACL injury

Reuben Foster, ILB, San Francisco 49ers - Career in question

Richie Incognito, LG, Buffalo Bills - Retirement

Andrew Luck, QB, Indianapolis Colts - Shoulder Injury

Jason Peters, LT, Philadelphia Eagles - ACL injury

Allen Robinson, WR, Chicago Bears - ACL injury

Ryan Shazier, ILB, Pittsburgh Steelers - Spinal Injury

Richard Sherman, CB, San Francisco 49ers - Achilles injury

Joe Thomas, LT, Cleveland Browns - Injury and Retirement

J.J. Watt, DE, Houston Texans - Multiple Injuries


100.Rodger Saffold, LG, Los Angeles Rams


Sure, I'll get pushback on this pick, but make no mistake Rodger Saffold is a borderline elite player in this league. The Rams have not had the fortunes of having a healthy Saffold but this past season, Saffold was a gigantic part of the best offense in football. Saffold's ability to get to the second half and multi-task is what makes him stand out. Just ask Todd Gurley.


99.Kevin Zeitler, RG, Cleveland Browns


Unlike Saffold, Zeitler's bread and butter is his ability in pass protection. While the Browns did go 0-16, it's important to not lump everyone together. Make no mistake, regardless of who is the signal-caller whether it's Tyrod Taylor or Baker Mayfield, Zeitler makes up a nice offensive line.


98.Jared Goff, QB, Los Angeles Rams


The Rams franchise Pro Bowl QB had himself a season in year two under Sean McVay. Due to his first season, I could not rank him up with the Russell Wilson's of the world but Goff absolutely has to make the list. 28 touchdowns and 7 interceptions while almost throwing for 4,000 yards? Goff is only going to continue to move up this list as he grows and learns in this offense.


97.Hunter Henry, TE, Los Angeles Chargers


There is a reason that the Chargers had no issue moving on from Antonio Gates. The former Arkansas Razorback has been a gem ever since being drafted in the 2016 NFL Draft. Do not underestimate Henry, his film is legit. While he only ended up with 45 catches for 579 and others ended up with higher totals, I was extremely impressed with how quickly he emerged as one of the best run blockers in the league. He's a complete Tight end who will be eyeing 800-plus yards this season.


96.Brandon Brooks, RG, Philadelphia Eagles


This list is going to give the offensive lineman more credit than the NFL Network list. Brandon Brooks is as balanced as it gets. The monster guard does it all but he really has no weakness. You know with many guards they will be great run blockers but they have no ability to pass block? Yeah, Brooks doesn't even know how you could be that kind of player.


95.Zach Ertz, TE, Philadelphia Eagles


Zach Ertz is turning into a star and the play above definitely helped with that. Ertz has consistently produced as a receiving threat, he just simply doesn't block well. That's why someone with 74 catches for 824 yards and eight touchdowns isn't higher. I really like Ertz but he needs to improve his blocking because he's already a top-five Tight end as a receiver.


94.Tyron Smith, LT, Dallas Cowboys


There is some reason to worry about Tyron Smith. Before this past season, Smith would have been the top Left Tackle for many, but he suffered a back injury that clearly disrupted his play this season. Smith still had a solid year but he is not quite what he was a year ago due to the injury. The Cowboys will certainly be hoping he comes back 100% in 2018.


93.Taylor Lewan, LT, Tennessee Titans


Taylor Lewan is by far the baddest tackle on the planet. He's mean, he's a captain and while he is a jerk on the football field, he might be the most likable guy off the field. Lewan had a bit of a down year to his standards this past year which is why he fell in this spot, still, Lewan is one of the best Left tackles in the game.


92.Keenan Allen, WR, Los Angeles Chargers


Allen is such a fun receiver to watch and even more fun to root for after all of the injuries he's battled in his young but talented career. Allen is one of the more underrated receivers in the league but it was obvious he was going to make an impact coming off that serious injury he suffered the year before. That's just Keenan Allen for you.


91.Jason Peters, LT, Philadelphia Eagles


Jason Peters is a captain for the reigning Super Bowl champions, unfortunately, he went down with a torn ACL right before the game. Peters has been a model of consistency and has held up extremely well at the blindspot protector spot. Peters is a better pass blocker than run blocker but he was elite at both for a while. Even still, the 36-year old Peters continues to play at a high level.


90.Kirk Cousins, QB, Minnesota Vikings


Kirk Cousins is a fun QB to watch but the knock on him has been the lack of success his team has had despite the statistics Cousins has continuously put up. He was one of the underrated QB's in the game until he became the highest paid QB in league history. Cousins shows solid mobility, toughness and accuracy which has made him into arguably a top 10 QB.


89.Myles Garrett, DE, Cleveland Browns


A rookie pass rusher that will stay in people's memory for a while. Despite the fact Garrett played on an 0-16 team, he was still extremely fun to watch and flashed elite edge rusher potential in his rookie season. It's fair to say Garrett is already one of the best young pass rushers in this league. He's only going to get better and that will go on for another five years, that's what's scary.


88.Jarvis Landry, WR, Cleveland Browns


Jarvis Landry has been a receiving machine since joining the league. He has exactly 400 receptions for just over 4,000 yards and 22 touchdowns. He was traded to the Cleveland Browns in the off-season and it will be exciting watching him around talent like Josh Gordon, David Njoku, Corey Coleman, Nick Chubb & Antonio Callaway.


87.Brandin Cooks, WR, Los Angeles Rams


Brandin Cooks has had quite the career and at only age 24, he has a ton of room to continue to grow. Cooks is a speed demon that shows the ability to win with route running, open field vision and his smooth hands. There is a reason the Rams traded a 1st-round pick away for Cooks, almost 4,000 yards receiving and 27 touchdowns in two seasons is very impressive.


86.Andrew Whitworth, LT, Los Angeles Rams


The Rams were 4-12 and had a pitiful offensive line and just offense in general. We all know Sean McVay and what was brought in helped, but a lot of that resurgence was due to the presence of Andrew Whitworth. A staple for the Bengals offensive line for years decided to head to Los Angeles and found himself leading an offense to their best output since the Greatest Show on Turf. Whitworth's awareness and a nonstop motor is what makes him so special.


85.DeMarcus Lawrence, DE, Dallas Cowboys


I have Lawrence here and not near the top due to the lack of consistency. This is someone that had just one sack in 2016 and went from that to having 14.5 in 2017. It was also his contract year, regardless, Lawrence looked like he legitimately found his stride and although it looks a little flukey, Lawrence is likely here to stay as one of the young star sack artists in the league.


84.Josh Sitton, LG, Miami Dolphins


He's just so good...Josh Sitton no matter the season has been one of the best in the league at his position. Another extremely balanced guard that does everything exceptionally well. Sitton is 31 years old and probably has another six years left with the way he is playing.


83.Joe Staley, LT, San Francisco 49ers


Joe Staley is the definition of the heart and soul for the 49ers. He's been consistently great for a long time. The 49ers will likely need to replace the 33-year old someday soon but for now, Staley does not show any sign of slowing down.


82.Greg Olsen, TE, Carolina Panthers


Greg Olsen is one of the league's best Tight end's, for some reason the Chicago Bears drafted him and let him go off to team up with Cam Newton in Carolina and it's been a ride ever since. Olsen has


81.Doug Baldwin, WR, Seattle Seahawks


Perhaps one of the league's top route runners in the game, Doug Baldwin and his "undersized" frame has been catching passes from Russell Wilson for years now. Baldwin is by far and has been by far the best weapon for Wilson in Seattle for a while now. His ability to separate consistently and make plays after the catch is what has turned him into a top receiver.


80.Mike Daniels, DE, Green Bay Packers


He's an absolute force, he's an All-Pro capable talent but he has been limited for years in Dom Capers defensive system. Now, Mike Pettine is the DC in Green Bay and that means look out for Mike Daniels to break out even more.


79.Chandler Jones, OLB, Arizona Cardinals


Chandler Jones has some of the quickest and strongest hands which is one of the main reasons he wins and beats his man so much. Jones was great in New England, he had a monster 2017 season with the Cardinals and as Arizona continues to add more talent, Jones will likely have more opportunities and less double teams to take on.


78.William Jackson III, CB, Cincinnati Bengals


William Jackson III is criminally underrated. The young CB is one of the best already and no one wants to utter a sound about him. When you watch the film he's as shutdown as anyone in the league. The only issue for people about why they do not notice Jackson? His turnovers aren't what they were at Houston when he took in five interceptions. Once he starts breaking the game open with his ball skills Jackson will be in the conversation for best CB.


77.Adam Thielen, WR, Minnesota Vikings


I used to think this was the most underrated receiver in the game. He finally started getting his recognition this past year after another impressive season that was even better than his coming out party. The former special teams ace turned great receiver shows elite route-running ability and excellent hands. Where is Stefon Diggs? He just missed the list, Thielen is the better receiver, it's close. However, the edge goes to Thielen.


76.Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs


Travis Kelce has the superstar look with a giant Gronkowski-like frame catching the football and breaking tackles like nobody. Kelce led the league in receptions and was second in receiving yards. With second-year QB Patrick Mahomes II now under center Kelce's production could triple. Why is he so low? He's a great receiving Tight end but his blocking needs improvement. Which is why he falls behind Delanie Walker of the Tennessee Titans.


75.Delanie Walker, TE, Tennessee Titans


At one point Delanie Walker was just a blocking TE behind Vernon Davis on the 49ers. Over time Davis' played declined and Walker evolved into one of the best Tight ends in the entire league. He was targeted just 214 times in San Francisco over the course of seven years and since entering Tennessee, he has been targeted 538 in two fewer seasons. Great blocker but an even better receiver that understands the game. It's a shame he didn't get to start sooner.


74.Melvin Ingram, DE, Los Angeles Chargers


It's crazy when watching Melvin Ingram you'd like to think he's in a top tier of EDGE rushers but with Ingram, he honestly only has a career season-high of 10.5 sacks. He's gotten better every season though and has been one of the more rock solid edge run defenders in the league.


73.Andrew Norwell, LG, Jacksonville Jaguars


Another young player that has just ascended over his career. Andrew Norwell became the highest-paid offensive guard in the league this off-season and it's not hard to see why when you turn on the tape. He's the best pass blocking offensive guard in the league and is a stud run blocker as well. He has a nasty edge about him and is going to be a breath of fresh air for the Jaguars.


72.Matt Ryan, QB, Atlanta Falcons


Now, the highest-paid player in the NFL, Matt Ryan has been a huge part of bringing the Falcons into relevancy. He is one year removed from winning the MVP in a season in which he took his team to the Super Bowl and lost in overtime. He has thrown for over 4,000 yards in each of the last seven seasons. Ryan has led his Falcons to a career record of 95-63 and is one of the top bunch of QB's in this league.


71.Linval Joseph, DT, Minnesota Vikings


Hard to believe the Giants had Linval Joseph, let him go in free agency and then passed on the best defensive tackle in football that same year in the draft. If they didn't get Odell Beckham Jr, that would have been a total disgrace. Joseph is just a run-mauler and has turned himself into a top-tier one at that. He offers some ability as a pass rusher but since he's next to guys like Everson Griffen and Danielle Hunter it's not really a necessity.


70. Earl Thomas, FS, Seattle Seahawks


Earl Thomas has been an absolute monster in this league playing next to Kam Chancellor at the backend of the Legion of Boom secondary. Thomas has battled some unfortunate injuries but he's still one of the top players at his position. He's one of the best cover safeties the game has seen in quite awhile.


69.Matthew Stafford, QB, Detroit Lions


Matthew Stafford has been an absolute gunslinger over the course of his career while playing with Calvin "Megatron" Johnson. The unfair thing about it all is that Stafford was always considered the guy that was bailed out by Megatron. He proved once Johnson retired that it was no fluke. The only true knock on Stafford is the lack of postseason success but he's one of more talented QB's in this league and with the addition of Kerryon Johnson at RB he's going to be even better this season.


68.Justin Houston, OLB, Kansas City Chiefs


The unfortunate thing is that Justin Houston had 22 sacks in 2014 but since he has fallen off in that department due to the injuries he's suffered. Still, he's one of the best at his position and offers help in all areas at an outside backer. Hopefully, he can stay healthy and get back to the 2014 season.


67.LeSean McCoy, RB, Buffalo Bills


With six seasons of 1,000 yards rushing under his belt, including a 17 touchdown season back in 2011 and over 400 receptions, LeSean McCoy has been a nightmare for defenses. I was skeptical about how someone like McCoy would fit a ground and pound running game but since coming to the Bills, McCoy has continued his career campaign as of the top backs in the game.


66.Sean Lee, OLB, Dallas Cowboys


The Cowboys have a hard time winning when Sean Lee is not on the field and that's understandable. Lee is everywhere on the field. He has accumulated 13 interceptions and over 400 tackles in his career. The issue with Lee is that he missed an entire season in 2014 and 25 other games. He's just had a hard time staying healthy and it's robbed him big time.


65.Tre'Davious White, CB, Buffalo Bills


Tre'Davious White went from a rookie out of LSU right into becoming a top CB in this league. He was phenomenal in coverage, he started every game, had four interceptions, 18 pass breakups, a forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and 53 tackles. White is primed for just as good of a season in year two and he will likely be higher on this list once he shows that type of production again.


64.Marshon Lattimore, CB, New Orleans Saints


It's as if this Saints first-round pick became a star overnight. Lattimore in his rookie year was extremely important to leading the Saints defense. You saw how out of funk the defense was without him. Lattimore heads into year two of which could be a season where he proves he is the best CB in football.


63.Landon Collins, SS, New York Giants


The Giants were pitiful last year but Landon Collins is an absolute stud. Collins displays the ability to be a leader, a playmaker and franchise player. The Giants will need to find someone to put next to Collins but the young star has blossomed into one of the top players at his position even after his position change.


62.Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Arizona Cardinals


Larry Fitzgerald regardless of who throws him the ball is spectacular. Just how spectacular? Larry has a total of 28 drops over 2,000-plus targets. Fitzgerald is still widely regarded as a top-tier receiver and that won't change until he has hung up his cleats and has retired from the league.


61.Darius Slay, CB, Detroit Lions


For a while I felt like Darius Slay was severely underrated but I think people are starting to catch on to just how good Slay really is. Slay finished this past season with eight interceptions and has turned into one of the most feared cornerbacks to throw at in the game.


60.Kevin Byard, FS, Tennessee Titans


From NFL Draft sleeper out of Middle Tennessee State to Pro Bowl Safety for the Tennessee Titans. It's been a crazy start to the young career of Kevin Byard. Even though Deion Sanders doesn't seem to know who Byard is, the rest of the NFL fans out there are starting to. Byard is a top-five player at his position and he's only 24 years old.


59.Mike Evans, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers



Remember when people called Mike Evans overrated and a product of Johnny Manziel? Yeah, well, that's simply not the case and as Evans has proven. That was never the case. Mike Evans is a physical freak and just a rare type of receiver but he continues to get better and grow year in and year out alongside QB Jameis Winston. Four straight thousand yard seasons and 32 total touchdowns in his career says a lot.


58.Jadeveon Clowney, OLB, Houston Texans


The former number one overall selection has been a star at the next level. He isn't quite Aaron Donald, Odell Beckham Jr. or Khalil Mack from that class but he's not far from them either. The stats aren't really there yet but they are coming, without Watt, Clowney has continued to show he is the future of the defense in Houston.


57.Jurrell Casey, DE, Tennessee Titans


For some reason, Jurrell Casey has been criminally underrated for years. He's been the anchor on that defensive line for years and his play has been consistently great. He's not Aaron Donald, he's not Geno Atkins or Fletcher Cox but he's a top-tier player at his position and should be respected as one.


56.LaMarcus Joyner, FS, Los Angeles Rams


The Rams traded up and stole LaMarcus Joyner from the Baltimore Ravens in the 2014 NFL Draft. Now, at first, that looked like a mistake but once he was given the opportunity to play the nickel corner spot, he found his rhythm. He ascended into an elite level player once the new regime took over and he switched to Free Safety. He's 5-foot-8 but make no mistake Joyner is one of the best safeties in the league and should only improve.


55.Kareem Hunt, RB, Kansas City Chiefs


He never fumbled at Toledo and the first carry he had in the NFL he fumbled it away. If Spencer Ware didn't go down in preseason we never would have known exactly what Kareem Hunt could have been. After that fumble week one in New England, Hunt exploded and it didn't stop as he went onto win the rushing title.


54.DeForest Buckner, DT, San Francisco 49ers


DeForest Buckner is an incredible talent that fell into San Francisco's lap. Buckner is a physical specimen that has the monster build and athletic physical traits to boot. Buckner plays on a line with Soloman Thomas and Arik Armstead that just continues to get better. The former Oregon Duck is already one of the best young defensive players in football.


53.Deion Jones, MLB, Atlanta Falcons


He's one of the most exciting linebackers in the league. Deion Jones is part of the new age of ultra-athletic linebackers that are vertically challenged. He's a tackling machine that has all the ability in the world to cover the field. He's the middleman in what is the fastest defense in football.


52.Adrian Amos, FS, Chicago Bears


The former fifth-round pick out of Penn State took a couple of years to get going but he emerged as a star Safety this past year. He's part of a defense that is up and coming and could be a force in 2018.


51.Xavier Rhodes, CB, Minnesota Vikings


For some, Xavier Rhodes might be the best cornerback in the league. I don't quite agree with that but he is great regardless of position on a list. He's the number one corner on one of the best defenses in the league.


50.Leonard Fournette, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars


The highest graded RB I've ever scouted by far has to be Leonard Fournette (until Saquon Barkley came into existence). Still, Fournette was a. huge acquisition by the Jaguars and is already one of the best running backs in the NFL.


49.Aqib Talib, CB, Los Angeles Rams


The Rams had a loud off-season that involved in trading for one of the best corners in the league. Aqib Talib has been an elite cornerback for the majority of his career. He was part of the best cornerback duo in football with Chris Harris Jr. and now he's part of likely another top duo with Marcus Peters.


48.Lane Johnson, RT, Philadelphia Eagles


Perhaps the best Right Tackle in the sport, Lane Johnson has been an absolute lock on the right side of the line for Carson Wentz. When Wentz went down, the same thing for Nick Foles. Johnson's only issue is that he keeps getting suspended. That has to stop.


47.David DeCastro, RG, Pittsburgh Steelers


David DeCastro is a dominant guard on a Super Bowl contender that really doesn't get the credit he deserves. He's an absolute mauler on film and opens up a lot for not only Le'Veon Bell but let's not forget how vital his pass protection is for Big Ben.


46.Telvin Smith, OLB, Jacksonville Jaguars


Telvin Smith is just a phenomenal player. While it was a total low blow to call himself "the real 50" which he geared at nearly-paralyzed Ryan Shazier, he's still one of the best in the game. A healthy Shazier would give him a run for his money but Smith is one of the key cogs on the league's best defense.


45.Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Dallas Cowboys


He had a fantastic year behind a fantastic offensive line to start off his career. The second year, however, he missed tons of time due to a suspension by the league and it's why he fell to 45 on this list.


44.David Bakhtiari, LT, Green Bay Packers


Once again, offensive linemen exist on my top 100. David Bakhtiari has been sensational while being in charge of protecting Aaron Rodgers' blindside. He does not get enough credit and if he continues to improve, he might end up as the best Left Tackle in football.


43.Brandon Graham, DE, Philadelphia Eagles


This is the player that many Eagles fans disliked because he was taken over Earl Thomas in the draft. Well, he finds himself ahead of Thomas in my rankings now. Brandon Graham was a superhero in the Super Bowl and has been one on that Philly defense for the last few years now. He has truly ascended into an elite or near-elite player.


42.Lavonte David, OLB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers


We talked about how Eagles fans for a while didn't like Brandon Graham because he was picked before Earl Thomas. Well, I didn't give Brian Quick a chance because the Rams picked him instead of Lavonte David. David of course, has been an absolute stud in the NFL. Recently he took stud and turned himself into a bonafide elite level player.


41.Gerald McCoy, DT, Tampa Bay Buccaneers


Another elite player on that Buccaneers defense is none other than Gerald McCoy. McCoy has been underrated for quite some time and a lot of that has to do with the lack of success the Bucs have established. Now, the Bucs have added Jason Pierre-Paul, Vita Vea and Vinny Curry to help the one-man wrecking crew which is sure to help the team turn it around.


40.Marcus Peters, CB, Los Angeles Rams


The Chiefs gave up on a star CB because he simply isn't a yes man and the fact he does things his way. Marcus Peters is a highly emotional player and that's his game. His game also relies on him gambling big time on plays. No conservative ounce exists in Peters' body which has quickly ascended him into one the game's fiercest game-breaking corners. He and Talib are going to be a QB's nightmare this year.


39.Casey Hayward, CB, Los Angeles Chargers


Last year's most impressive CB in my mind was Casey Hayward. Hayward was all over the field and while he has plenty of ball skills to make a play and force turnovers, one cannot underrate how important his game is as simply someone that can shut down receivers. His versatility to play out of the nickel or on the outside adds more to his value.


38.Jason Kelce, C, Philadelphia Eagles


Jason Kelce might be everyone's favorite center in the league after the speech he made post-Super Bowl. However, he is one of the best centers in the league just off his consistency, power and technique. Kelce has been the anchor on that offensive line in Philly along with fellow teammate Jason Peters for a long time.


37.Michael Thomas, WR, New Orleans Saints


He was knocked from running too slow of a 40-time but Michael Thomas was destined to be a star in the NFL. When you watched his film in college, the way he is able to win off the line of scrimmage and the footwork he displays while completely deceiving the cornerback and bluffing his route is incredible. As expected, it all translated into the NFL and Thomas continues to dominate the competition.


36.Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints


Drew Brees would have been higher on this list a year ago but I felt like as great as he is, you did see a slight decline in his ability this past season. You can't really blame the 39-year old who is simply wearing down after a long Hall of Fame career. There was a reason the Saints when run-heavy with Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram. Besides their production, they were the best option over Brees. Still, Brees is right up there with the top QB's and it's not worth arguing that.


35.Travis Frederick, C, Dallas Cowboys


The best center in the league, on the best offensive line in the league, is just disastrous for defenses. Travis Frederick is as rock solid as you can find at the center position. He's durable, he's reliable, he's intelligent and he has developed great chemistry playing next to another elite player in Zack Martin on the right side of the Cowboys line.


34.Damon Harrison, NT, New York Giants


I don't care what anyone says Damon Harrison is the best run mauler in the NFL and he's an absolute force for the Giants but he is still being criminally underrated. The man they call Snacks went from stocking shelves to agreeing to go to a college he knew nothing about to becoming the best nose tackle in the sport.


33.A.J. Green, WR, Cincinnati Bengals


A.J. Green was a rare high school WR prospect and has been an elite force in the NFL. I feel as though he still isn't up with Odell Beckham Jr, Antonio Brown, Julio Jones or DeAndre Hopkins though. Why? It's not really entirely his fault, his QB is Andy Dalton. I hope someday A.J. Green gets to play in Green Bay and we are able to see just how great Green can really become.


32.Fletcher Cox, DT, Philadelphia Eagles


The Eagles have a mammoth on their defense and that's Fletcher Cox. He's one of the best defensive interior linemen in the league. Eagles fans want to put him ahead of Aaron Donald but Cox just isn't that type of player. Donald is in a league of his own but Cox is a phenomenal player and is an elite level player.


31.Joey Bosa, DE, Los Angeles Chargers


Joey Bosa was someone I called overrated coming out of the draft but wow was I wrong. Bosa is not only a rising star, he's already one of the best pass rushers in football. His brother Nick is likely going to be a top-five pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. It's safe to say the name Bosa means legit pass rusher.


30.Trent Williams, LT, Washington Redskins


Some may fight me on this but the Silverback has been the best Left Tackle in the league for a while now. He's the most consistent, he's durable for a tackle and he's just flat-out dominant. He's been the anchor on the most underrated offensive line in football.


29.Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints


Alvin Kamara was one of those players I knew I would end up being right about coming out of college. Kamara has been accused of having success based entirely on Mark Ingram. Ingram was just suspended for four games and while that theory, in my opinion, is total rubbish...Kamara will have a chance to show it in the first four games of the season.


28.Zack Martin, RG, Dallas Cowboys


The Dallas Cowboys struck gold on this guy but they weren't far from making the biggest mistake and drafting Johnny Manziel. Luckily for Dallas Cowboys fans, Stephen Jones saved the franchise by snatched the draft card from Jerry Jones' hands. Reportedly... Anyway, Zack Martin is the best offensive lineman in the game. He allowed the fewest pressures on the QB among all guards last season


27.Ndamukong Suh, DT, Los Angeles Rams


Ndamukong Suh is just an absolute physical freak. He can rush the passer, he can stop the run and he's very intelligent on the football field. He just happened to join the Rams and will now line up next to Aaron Donald and Michael Brockers. Yes, that actually happened.


26.Kawann Short, DT, Carolina Panthers


I'm a little confused that somehow Kawann Short is underrated. Short has been dominant for the Panthers for a while now. Short has not missed a game and has started every game for the last three consecutive seasons. Due to the dominance, Aaron Donald has displayed, people have stopped noticing the brilliance of play that Short brings to the table.


25.Calais Campbell, DE, Jacksonville Jaguars


Calais Campbell blossomed into one of the best defensive players in the league. He also left the Cardinals and played them this past year. Campbell was one of the runners-up to Donald for the Defensive Player of. the Year award. Campbell is just another rare player.


24.Le'Veon Bell, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers


Le'Veon Bell is the most patient back in the league (besides when it comes to getting paid). Bell does it all as a receiver and a runner not to mention as a blocker. The reason he's not higher? Injuries have always bothered him and the Steelers record without him proves he isn't as valuable as Big Ben.


23.Ben Roethlisberger, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers


He's going to end up leaving the game as one of the most underrated QBs of all time. He played in the same era as Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and for some reason despite having Super Bowl success, Ben is left out of serious discussions. Roethlisberger just had one of the most remarkable performances against the best defense in the league in the playoffs.


22.Chris Harris Jr, CB, Denver Broncos


He had his worst season this past year but Chris Harris Jr. has been the most consistent CB in the game. He just has never received the credit he deserves. He went a long time without giving up a touchdown and simply is as versatile as it gets. Harris Jr. has been the most underrated cornerback in the league.


21.David Johnson, RB, Arizona Cardinals


When David Johnson had just as good of a season as Ezekiel Elliot with a terrible offensive line, it was Elliott who received MVP votes. No one batted an eye at Johnson, but when the Cardinals lost him early in the season you saw their offense absolutely stifle. Johnson is the best RB that no one talks about anymore.


20.Geno Atkins, DT, Cincinnati Bengals


Before Aaron Donald, Geno Atkins was the quick-footed and undersized defensive tackle wrecking offensive interiors. Donald ascended and people started to forget just how great Atkins was. Atkins is the second best defensive tackle in the league. It's just a shame he doesn't play on a team that gets more exposure.


19.Cameron Jordan, DE, New Orleans Saints


Cameron Jordan has been an absolute force for the Saints defense that has tried to improve for years. This past year, they finally broke through and Jordan had another elite season. He's been doing it since he entered the league but people are just now noticing.


18.A.J. Bouye, CB, Jacksonville Jaguars



Talk about a player that seemingly came out of nowhere. A.J. Bouye got his shot after first-round pick Kevin Johnson broke his foot. The Texans found a gem but refused to pay Bouye just what he wanted and now he is on the Jaguars next to Jalen Ramsey which together, forms the best cornerback duo we may have ever seen.


17.Bobby Wagner, MLB, Seattle Seahawks


Bobby Wagner is the heart and soul of the Seahawks. No matter how bad or good they play you know he's never going to take a play off. Wagner has 507 career tackles and 15.5 sacks. He's been the exact leader the former Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks needed.


16.Luke Kuechly, MLB, Carolina Panthers


The best linebacker in the NFL is and has been Luke Kuechly. You talk about the most intelligent, sound and fierce linebacker in the game? That's Kuechly. He does it all and has been the heart and soul of the Panthers. He helped lead their young defense to the Super Bowl against the Denver Broncos.


15.DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Houston Texans


I just continue to marvel at DeAndre Hopkins. No matter who is at QB, Hopkins puts on a show. He has turned himself into an elite player and the argument for best 50/50 ball receiver is now heated between him and the man listed a spot ahead of him, Julio Jones. With Deshaun Watson healthy, Hopkins could ascend into the NFL's most dynamic receiver.


14.Julio Jones, WR, Atlanta Falcons


Julio Jones has been a top WR at every level he's competed at. The Falcons star has over 9,000 yards receiving on 585 receptions and 43 touchdowns for his career. It's quite honestly insane the fact Julio averages 15.5 yards per catch. Matt Ryan has been one of the luckier QBs being able to have someone like Jones to lean on.


13.Russell Wilson, QB, Seattle Seahawks


Russell Wilson is a Super Bowl champion and the only reason the Seahawks have been able to stay above water during their fall from grace. Wilson has over 22,000 passing yards and 3,000 rushing yards for his career which also goes right along with his 161 touchdowns and 64 percent completion rate. He's started every. single. game since coming into the NFL as a third-round pick in 2012.


12.Rob Gronkowski, TE, New England Patriots


He's the greatest TE of all time and has played with one of the greatest QBs of all time while forming one of the most incredible duos of all time. What makes Gronk so great? He's an athletic freak, he's an elite receiver and he's an elite blocker. He just dominates in every phase of being a Tight End. He's racked up over 7,000 receiving yards and 76 touchdowns in his career. Only issue? His injuries.


11.Khalil Mack, DE, Oakland Raiders


The man that came from Buffalo college won the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2016. Khalil Mack has been one of the most dominant pass rushing forces in the game. He has 304 tackles and 40.5 sacks. Even though Mack had a down year to his standards he still ended up with more pressures and stops combined than Von Miller.


10.Harrison Smith, FS, Minnesota Vikings


According to Pro Football Focus Harrison Smith allowed the lowest passer rating for a safety the website has ever charted dating back to 2006. With the ability to cover and turn the ball over like Smith has, it just underrates his other great attributes like his ability to read the play and react but also his top-notch tackling efficiency that allows him to stop the run as well as anyone.


9.Von Miller, OLB, Denver Broncos


As mentioned earlier Khalil Mack had more stops and pressures combined than Von Miller. However, I think Miller is the overall more dominant player and pass rusher. Let's also factor in the fact he helped win the Denver Broncos a Super Bowl with his dominance against the Panthers all night long which included the famous game-clinching strip-sack on Cam Newton. Miller's 83.5 sacks at age 29 reminds us we are looking at one of the most dominant sack artists in league history.


8.Jalen Ramsey, CB, Jacksonville Jaguars


Jalen Ramsey came into the league as the best Safety in the draft coming out of Florida State. Well, the Jaguars had other plans and decided to utilize his talents at CB. His only knock is that he isn't as much of a ballhawk as everyone wants the best CB in football to be. Regardless, his range, his recognition, his closing speed, smooth hips and his eyes are the reason Ramsey is the best lockdown CB in the NFL.


7.Antonio Brown, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers


Antonio Brown is an incredible receiver and just because he places as my number two receiver does not mean I feel he isn't worthy to be considered the top receiver. Brown has 733 receptions, nearly 10,000 receiving yards and 59 touchdowns in his career. He's also just 29 years old and has formed a rare duo with Ben Roethlisberger. He's the Steelers best player right now and might be the best player the Steelers have had since Troy Polamalu or even further back. Brown is a legendary player for a legendary organization.


6.Odell Beckham Jr, WR, New York Giants


Odell Beckham Jr. suffered an unfortunate 2017 season but the young 25-year old star WR has accumulated over 4,000 yards and is nearing 40 touchdowns in 47 games which is on par with how Jerry Rice's career went down. OBJ might be called a diva, he might be knocked for being selfish but OBJ is the best receiver this game has seen since Calvin Johnson came into the league and took it by storm. Odell isn't anywhere near as physically gifted as Megatron though which makes it more impressive.


5.Todd Gurley, RB, Los Angeles Rams


I know I am going to get a ton of flac for putting Todd Gurley at number five but I don't really care. His 2016 season was an anomaly and he played in what he called a high school offense. Todd Gurley proved this past year he is the best RB in the game today. He's just beyond valuable and should have won the MVP. Gurley have almost 800 yards receiving and 1,300 rushing. The yards generated after the catch, whether he was hurdling defenders, stiff-arming them, running them over or just juking through them Gurley proved he's on another level. He single-handedly took over in vital games near the end of the season in Seattle and Tennessee and proved he's the best RB in the league. Gurley is a more compact Steven Jackson and a bigger Marshall Faulk.


4.Carson Wentz, QB, Philadelphia Eagles


If Wentz did not tear his ACL he would have won the MVP no questions asked. Wentz might be the best player in the league if it's not Rodgers but with the ACL tear I felt I needed to drop him a tad on this list. Wentz is just a special talent and is primed for greatness as long as he stays healthy. What he does as a pure thrower of the football and the way he is able to shake out of sacks and extend plays is just rare.


3.Tom Brady, QB, New England Patriots


I know I said Todd Gurley should have been MVP but it's only fair to put Tom Brady ahead of him on this list. I think Tom Brady after this past Super Bowl proved he still has it. Sure, he lost but Brady was sensational throwing for over 500 yards in the game that he came about a play or two short of winning it all again. Brady led all QBs with a 96.6 passer rating under pressure according to Pro Football Focus. You might hate him but he's an incredible talent and keeps trucking along even at the age of 40.


2.Aaron Donald, DT, Los Angeles Rams


Aaron Donald. What can you say? He's the best defensive player in the league and it's not even close. He's been a top five defensive player since he came into the league. The once "undersized" defensive tackle is now getting the last laugh. The Rams lost their playoff game this season but it wasn't at the fault of Donald who pressured Matt Ryan over 10 times in the first half. Donald's first and only career playoff game was one of the most physically imposing performances you will ever see a defensive player play. Donald has had eight games since 2016 with at least nine or more pressures on the QB. To go with that per PFF, Donald led the league with 91 total pressures on the QB which is more than Miller and Mack who line up on the edge. When you talk about Donald, you talk about a legendary player that forces you to scrap your plans of attack after the first 30 minutes of a game. It's quite honestly criminal he just received his first Defensive Player of the Year award.


1.Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers


Yes, I know Rodgers was injured last season and his Green Bay Packers didn't make the playoffs. He even struggled after returning to early. However, no one was more valuable to his team than Rodgers. Without Rodgers the Packers crumbled and were unable to make it to the postseason. Aaron Rodgers is the Greatest QB of all time for my measure. Chris Simms and Adam Lefkoe praise it all of the time on their Simms and Lefkoe podcast. It's not crazy. Rodgers has everything you could ask for in a QB. He's accounted for 38,502 passing yards, a career 65.1 completion percentage, 313 touchdowns and just 78 interceptions. This is essentially the game's most unbelievable QB. He has 235 more touchdowns than interceptions. His pocket mobility, improvisational skills, football IQ, deception, arm velocity, accuracy and awareness is what makes Rodgers not only the best QB today but the best QB of all time. Rings aside (and he has one) we all know deep down Rodgers has not played with a Gronkowski, a Moss or a Jerry Rice. Maybe someday he will get to throw to a receiver like A.J. Green as I previously mentioned.


That's it folks... Thanks for reading this and before you start @ing me @JKBogenDTR or @DowntownRams on Twitter or Facebook or wherever you are reading this please realize this is my list and it in no way reflects how the NFL or the consensus itself views these players. Lastly, I complied a nice little shoutout list for the honorable mentions that just missed the final 100 spots.


Honorable Mentions:


Derek Carr, QB, Oakland Raiders

Marcus Mariota, QB, Tennessee Titans

Cam Newton, QB, Carolina Panthers

Phil Rivers, QB, Los Angeles Chargers

Alex Smith, QB, Washington Redskins

Alex Collins, RB, Baltimore Ravens

Devonta Freeman, RB, Atlanta Falcons

Melvin Gordon, RB, Los Angeles Chargers

Jordan Howard, RB, Chicago Bears

Mark Ingram, RB, New Orleans Saints

Dion Lewis, RB, Tennessee Titans

Tyreek Hill, WR, Kansas City Chiefs

Stefon Diggs, WR, Minnesota Vikings

T.Y. Hilton, WR, Indianapolis Colts

Alshon Jeffery, WR, Philadelphia Eagles

Marvin Jones, WR, Detroit Lions

Emmanuel Sanders, WR, Denver Broncos

Golden Tate, WR, Detroit Lions

Demaryius Thomas, WR, Denver Broncos

Cameron Brate, TE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Evan Engram, TE, New York Giants

Terron Armstead, LT, New Orleans Saints

Demar Dotson, RT, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Marcus Gilbert, RT, Pittsburgh Steelers

Ryan Ramczyk, RT, New Orleans Saints

Daryl Williams, RT, Carolina Panthers

Joel Bitonio, LG, Cleveland Browns

Kelechi Osemele, LG, Oakland Raiders

T.J. Lang, RG, Detroit Lions

Brandon Scherff, RG, Washington Redskins

Rodney Hudson, C, Oakland Raiders

Brandon Linder, C, Jacksonville Jaguars

Alex Mack, C, Atlanta Falcons

Matt Paradis, C, Denver Broncos

Akiem Hicks, DE, Chicago Bears

Cameron Heyward, DE, Pittsburgh Steelers

Chris Jones, DE, Kansas City Chiefs

Robert Ayers, DE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Trey Flowers, DE, New England Patriots

Everson Griffen, DE, Minnesota Vikings

Jabaal Sheard, DE, Indianapolis Colts

Stephon Tuitt, DE, Pittsburgh Steelers

Leonard Williams, DE, New York Jets

Michael Brockers, DT, Los Angeles Rams

Kenny Clark, DT, Green Bay Packers

Grady Jarrett, DT, Atlanta Falcons

Malik Jackson, DT, Jacksonville Jaguars

Brandon Williams, DT, Baltimore Ravens

NaVorro Bowman, ILB, Free Agent

Demario Davis, ILB, New Orleans Saints

Avery Williamson, ILB, New York Jets

Vontaze Burfict, OLB, Cincinnati Bengals

Malcolm Butler, CB, Tennessee Titans

Kendall Fuller, CB, Kansas City Chiefs

Janoris Jenkins, CB, New York Giants

Trumaine Johnson, CB, New York Jets

Desmond King, CB, Los Angeles Chargers

Josh Norman, CB, Washington Redskins

Patrick Peterson, CB, Arizona Cardinals

Nickell Robey-Coleman, CB, Los Angeles Rams

Jimmy Smith, CB, Baltimore Ravens

Desmond Trufant, CB, Atlanta Falcons

Trevor Williams, CB, Los Angeles Chargers

HaHa Clinton-Dix, FS, Green Bay Packers

Reshad Jones, FS, Miami Dolphins

Devin McCourty, FS, New England Patriots

Glover Quin, FS, Detroit Lions

Eric Weddle, FS, Baltimore Ravens

Marcus Williams, FS, New Orleans Saints

Jamal Adams, SS, New York Jets

Tyvon Branch, SS, Arizona Cardinals

Tony Jefferson, SS, Baltimore Ravens

Malcolm Jenkins, SS, Philadelphia Eagles

John Johnson III, SS, Los Angeles Rams

Robbie Gould, K, San Francisco 49ers

Stephen Gostkowski, K, New England Patriots

Justin Tucker, K, Baltimore Ravens

Greg Zuerlein, K, Los Angeles Rams

Johnny Hekker, P, Los Angeles Rams

Brett Kern, P, Tennessee Titans

Marquette King, P, Denver Broncos

View: http://www.therams.com/news-and-events/article-1/Franklin-Myers-Primed-for-Development-Under-Wade-Phillips-/ace85e62-506b-4e6e-8fc6-301c721967e0

Franklin-Myers Primed for Development Under Wade Phillips
Posted 16 hours ago

When Stephen F. Austin’s John Franklin-Myers was drafted by the Rams, he knew he was coming onto a team with a stacked defensive line.

Not only will Franklin-Myers be joining a room that includes the reigning Defensive Player of the Year in Aaron Donald, but also other talented linemen like Ndamukong Suh and Michael Brockers.

However, the star-studded roster doesn't seem to phase the 2017 All-Southland Second Team selection.

“Obviously, they don’t need D-tackles right now,” Franklin admitted. “[But] I’m willing to go in there and do whatever it takes to win. Like I told [defensive line] coach Bill Johnson, I’ve played a little outside backer, dropped into coverage. I’ve played defensive end and I’ve played D-tackle."

And with that combination of versatility and talent, Franklin-Myers is poised to develop nicely under one of the top coordinators in the league in the Rams’ Wade Phillips. His impressive production last season — recording 13.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks — and standout measurables give Phillips two important aspects to look forward to.

“I like him because he’s 6-foot-4, 283 pounds and runs a 4.7 first,” Phillips said with a laugh. “But he’s a development guy, a develop-quickly guy it looked like to me.”

Phillips and the Rams staff got an up-close look at Franklin-Myers through the NFL Combine, where his overall performance and skill set impressed many. And with that in mind, Phillips was confident that the small school product would progress consistently throughout his first year in Los Angeles.

“We studied him a lot and he’s talented," Phillips said. “We think we can help him in the short term, but he’s got a ways to go to be at a level where he needs to be with his talents. So we’re looking forward to working with him.”

http://www.espn.com/blog/los-angele...y-the-rams-lean-so-heavily-on-the-senior-bowl

Why the Rams lean so heavily on the Senior Bowl

LOS ANGELES -- Cooper Kupp ran an underwhelming 4.62-second 40-yard dash at the scouting combine in March 2017, and Les Snead celebrated.

The Los Angeles Rams general manager figured Kupp's time would cause him to slip behind a plethora of more physically gifted wide receivers in his class, which meant Snead could snatch him in the later rounds for what would eventually become one of the biggest steals from that year's draft. Snead had already seen Kupp shine against elite college talent while playing actual football at the Senior Bowl, a showcase Rams decision makers and evaluators have leaned on heavily in recent years.

Buffalo Bills for the most in the NFL during that time. This includes the Rams' top picks each year, tight end Gerald Everett in 2017 and offensive lineman Joe Noteboom in 2018. It also includes Kupp, fellow wide receiver Josh Reynolds, safety John Johnson, outside linebacker Obo Okoronkwo, defensive lineman Tanzel Smart, offensive lineman Jamil Demby and fullback Sam Rogers.

It's hardly a coincidence.

Said Snead: "You get to see guys go compete against really good seniors in their class."

In many ways, the Senior Bowl represents college football's premier showcase. The game itself is valuable. But even more so are the three days of practice leading up to it, which offer scouts, coaches and executives an extended look at high-end prospects competing against one another. It proved exceedingly valuable to the Dallas Cowboys two years ago. Their staff was selected to coach the North team, and one of the quarterbacks on the opposite side was Dak Prescott -- a fourth-round pick by the Cowboys who became the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Snead selected more Senior Bowl players in the last two drafts (nine) than he did in the previous five (eight).

One potential reason for is the Rams have recently leaned on more seasoned players to offset a roster that was the NFL's youngest -- and thus one of its rawest -- for several years running. An even bigger reason, perhaps, stems from the reassurance that comes with watching players perform against elite competition on the field at the Senior Bowl. This is especially important for a Rams organization that needs to hit on what little draft capital it possesses.

Using the Jimmy Johnson Value Chart, the Rams' draft capital from 2017 to 2018 ranks 1,388th among 1,413 based on two-year stretches since 1970, according to research from ESPN's Bill Barnwell.

The better they do with that, the longer their contending window will stay open.

The Senior Bowl has allowed the Rams to evaluate how small-school players match up against prospects from FBS programs they never face. Last year, they saw it with Kupp, who broke records against inferior competition while playing at Eastern Washington. This year, they saw it with Demby, who played at Maine and was actually able to spend time blocking Okoronkwo, from Oklahoma.

“You wouldn’t get to see that when you’re watching him play at Maine, and you get to see it at the Senior Bowl," Snead said. "I do think it helps you go, ‘OK, some of the traits that he has will transfer to this league.’”

If anybody sees this shirt anywhere in a size L, please let me know. It just screams "old school" to me.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...antees-la-rules-mitch-trubisky-rises-and-more

2018 NFL guarantees: L.A. rules, Mitch Trubisky rises and more
By Adam Schein

The 2018 NFL Draft has been in the books for a couple weeks now, but the buzz on this epic class remains ever-present. Fans are fired up. Players, too. Heck, even front-office heavies are feeling their oats.,

"I honestly think (people) are going to look back 20 years from now," New York Jets CEO Christopher Johnson said Tuesday, via ESPN.com, "and say this is the moment the Jets shifted into a new gear, that they became a great team."

I get it. Mid-May always feels like a good time to let it fly. With the coaching carousel, the bulk of free agency and the draft in the rearview, rosters have really taken shape. It's only natural to peer into the future. Time to dream big, time to think bold. Yes, this is always the time when I channel my inner Joe Namath and toss out some audacious proclamations on the coming campaign.

Without further ado, here are my way-too-early guarantees for the 2018 NFL season, Schein Nine style:

1) Each Los Angeles team makes a deep playoff run.

I'm all in on the Rams and Chargers this year. I think both teams will win 10-plus games and be in the thick of their respective division races.

Over the past week on my SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio show, "Schein on Sports," I've spoken with Rams general manager Les Snead and Chargers GM Tom Telesco. Both are feeling good about the offseason, and rightfully so.

Snead cleaned up in trades and free agency, making a reigning division champ even stronger. Brandin Cooks, Aqib Talib, Marcus Peters and Ndamukong Suh were spectacular pickups. We all know this. But don't sleep on what the Chargers did.

Snagging Swiss Army Knife safety Derwin James with the No. 17 overall pick was a heist. Adding him to a defensive backfield that already includes Casey Hayward, Jason Verrett, Desmond King and Jahleel Addae makes that unit special.

And given the pressure that will be applied by the dynamic pass-rushing duo of Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram, the Bolts' secondary is poised to make plays -- plenty of 'em. Meanwhile, last year's top pick, Mike Williams, had his 2017 season derailed by injury. It's a big offseason for him. And I think he's going to be great in Year 2.

Both teams are well-coached and have big-time running backs. Philip Rivers is a future Hall of Famer. Jared Goff blossomed into a fine player under Sean McVay. The Chargers and Rams are both hitting the postseason and winning playoff games. I guarantee it. An all-L.A. Super Bowl isn't a Hollywood pipe dream. It's truly possible.

2) The Denver Broncos finish last in the AFC West.

I still cannot believe the Browns passed on Bradley Chubb. It was a no-brainer for John Elway to pounce on the accomplished N.C. State product -- this gives the Broncos the kind of pass-rushing juice that they had in their Super Bowl season of 2015. Unfortunately, the rest of the roster doesn't exactly resemble that title squad.

Denver has issues. Both lines have question marks. The defense is nowhere near as loaded as the 2015 unit, while the offense is unsettled at tight end and in the backfield. And the roster just doesn't stack up to the competition in the AFC West.

Even though Case Keenum is an upgrade from last year's quarterback situation in Denver, he doesn't compare to Philip Rivers or Derek Carr. And I think Patrick Mahomes is going to be special in his first year as the Chiefs' starter. Denver will look up at all three. I guarantee it.

3) The Cleveland Browns DON'T finish last in the AFC North.

I loathed the Browns' draft approach in Round 1. Cleveland took the fourth-best quarterback with the first overall pick and passed on the best defender with the fourth overall pick.

I loved Cleveland's March, when the Browns brought in quality football players like Tyrod Taylor, Jarvis Landry and Carlos Hyde. With viable threats lining up behind a solid O-line, Cleveland's offense -- which has finished 30th or worst in scoring over each of the past three seasons -- could actually put some points on the board. And with some better health luck in Year 2, defensive end Myles Garrett could take the league by storm.

Meanwhile, the arrow is pointing the wrong way in both Baltimore and Cincinnati. (Is Marvin Lewis really coming back, or was that just a dream?) Cleveland has held down the AFC North cellar in 13 of the past 15 seasons, including each of the last seven. That changes in 2018.

4) Aaron Donald wins Defensive Player of the Year (again).

I provided this very guarantee in this very column one year ago. And it came to fruition. So ... If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Donald is the best defensive player in the sport by any measuring stick. This cat is the definition of a game wrecker. And now, with Ndamukong Suh joining him up front, Donald will have the opportunity to wreak even more havoc. He is going to ruin Sundays for offensive coordinators. Now, about that new contract ...

5) David Johnson is the NFL's best running back in 2018.

Johnson was on my SiriusXM Radio show last month and said he is 100 percent, physically. Oh, and his goals include 1,500 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving. Honestly, I'm not going to bet against this guy. He's special.

The Cardinals should have my guy Josh Rosen as the quarterback sooner rather than later. That will greatly help Johnson's cause. Comeback Player of the Year? How about Offensive Player of the Year? Johnson's going to be right in the mix for that high honor.

6) The Houston Texans go from 4-12 to playoff participants.

I love this team. There is no more drama and infighting. New GM Brian Gaine and head coach Bill O'Brien see things the same way. And O'Brien is armed with a brand-new contract. Onward and upward, Texans!

Deshaun Watson is an extraordinary talent. Every football fan in America took notice during his abbreviated rookie season. And it sounds like his recovery from knee surgery is coming along nicely. Get back Watson ... and J.J. Watt ... and Whitney Mercilus? And add the Honey Badger into this delicious stew? See you in the playoffs, Houston!

7) Mitchell Trubisky is this year's Jared Goff.

I'm infatuated with the Bears' offseason. Wrote back in March that Chicago's poised to be the NFL's Cinderella team. The Bears smartly followed the Rams' blueprint from last offseason: hand the keys to an offensive guru/quarterback whisperer (Matt Nagy) and dedicate the offseason to surrounding your young signal-caller with talent (Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel and Trey Burton in free agency, James Daniels and Anthony Miller in the draft).

Trubisky will follow in Goff's footsteps and take a major jump in his sophomore campaign.

8) The Atlanta Falcons field a top-five offense.

Matt Ryan rightly got PAID. Calvin Ridley was a perfect draft pick -- a speed receiver to complement Julio Jones. Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman are a fantastic backfield duo. And it's Year 2 for Steve Sarkisian calling the plays.

Last year was the blip for Atlanta's offense. 2016 was real -- and we'll see that again in 2018.

9) The Jacksonville Jaguars boast the league's best defense.

Appearing recently as a guest on my SiriusXM Radio show, Jaguars coach Doug Marrone was giddy when describing how the big and athletic Taven Bryan will fit into the D-line rotation. Man, what a loaded group. What a loaded defense. The Jaguars' D boasts difference makers at every level. And it's deep. Bryan and former No. 3 overall pick Dante Fowler Jr. and promising rookie safety Ronnie Harrison are all coming off the bench.

Yes, following last year's appearance in the AFC title game, Marrone's team faces the great challenge of living up to expectations. The coach knows this. But his veteran leadership, spearheaded by Calais Campbell, is strong. And this defense is absolutely nasty -- a league-best unit.

View attachment 25133

So I just saw this posted on the ESPN website...do we think Snead has an addiction to trading??? It took this graphic to really hit home.

Rams’ preseason times and dates:

@ BAL, Thu., Aug. 9, 4:30pm PST
v. OAK, Sat., Aug. 18, 1pm PST
v. HOU, Sat., Aug. 25, 1pm PST
@ NO, Thu., Aug. 30, 5pm PST

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https://curiouscat.me/Baller4LifeTH

www.facebook.com/ramsbehindthegrind

This episode is amazing with a lot of focus on B. Cooks. As much as I love Sammy and will miss him, Brandin seems to just be wired differently and those intangibles I think give him better long term upside. Even if Watkins has the slight edge physically with his size/speed combo.

Can't wait to see this offense in year 2.

With the close of the 2018 NFL Draft, 11 college prospects can now call themselves Los Angeles Rams.

After a draft haul that saw the franchise make moves to acquire 10 selections in Day 3 alone, the Rams were able to replenish depth at multiple positions — bringing in several new, dynamic playmakers.

And now that the big event has come and past, therams.com will be taking a look at each member of the club’s 2018 Draft Class.

With the close of the 2018 NFL Draft, 11 college prospects can now call themselves Los Angeles Rams.

After a draft haul that saw the franchise make moves to acquire 10 selections in Day 3 alone, the Rams were able to replenish depth at multiple positions — bringing in several new, dynamic playmakers.

And now that the big event has come and past, therams.com will be taking a look at each member of the club’s 2018 Draft Class.

[www.therams.com]

https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/05/08/d...wney-johnny-manziel-blake-bortles-khalil-mack

True NFL Draft Grades: 2014 Draft, Four Years Later

• Every spring there’s a rush to (prematurely) grade every team’s draft, even though we all know you can’t truly grade a draft until years later, when the players have (or haven’t) developed. With that in mind, a look back at the true grades of the 2014 NFL draft
  By ANDY BENOIT

LOS ANGELES (THEN ST. LOUIS) RAMS

Round 1 (2 overall). Greg Robinson, T, Auburn

1 (13). Aaron Donald, DT, Pittsburgh

2 (41). Lamarcus Joyner, CB, Florida State

3 (75). Tre Mason, RB, Auburn

4 (110). Maurice Alexander, SS, Utah State

6 (188). E.J. Gaines, DB, Missouri

6 (214). Garrett Gilbert, QB, Southern Methodist

7 (226). Mitchell Van Dyk, T, Portland State

7 (241). Christian Bryant, DB, Ohio State

7 (249). Michael Sam, DE, Missouri

7 (250). Demetrius Rhaney, C, Tennessee State

Greg Robinson’s career was like one big heavy plop onto a whoopy cushion. He struggled at multiple positions, for multiple coaches and in multiple schemes. At 25, he’s currently an unsigned free agent.

Aaron Donald, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, is whatever you’d call the opposite of Greg Robinson.

Tre Mason had off-field problems that his family attributed to head injuries, ending his career.

File this Lamarcus Joyner pick in the back of your mind. Joyner began his career as a nickel slot, but in 2017 he moved to free safety, where he played well enough to warrant a 2018 franchise tag. His 5' 8", 184-pound frame wouldn’t suggest it, but Joyner is a ferocious hitter. He’s also very rangy.

Joyner starts ahead of Maurice Alexander, who has been an adequate backup but is too limited in coverage to start. Also in that secondary was E.J. Gaines, who turned out to be a steal and went to Buffalo in 2017 as part of the Sammy Watkins trade.

The players who were selected after Gaines combined to play 13 NFL games, mainly on special teams. If not for that, and much, much more so for the Robinson pick, this draft would have been a solid A, maybe even an A+ if Joyner keeps ascending. But a giant whiff on the No. 2 overall selection and a disappointing third-round running back can’t be ignored.

Grade: B

I just watched Montana on NFLN's ' Good Morning Football show. It was a great interview, and I hope someone can get a copy of it and post it here for everyone to see!!

He was asked a lot of questions about QB's today and in the past. What makes a great QB, and today's game vs Football in the past!

" .. in todays game QB are so protected ( Back-in-the-day) you had to stand in there and be accurate knowing you where going to get hit, and hit hard ... Can you imagine Dan Marino in todays game ..."

There was a lot he said I liked, even though he was a 40-Whinner!

This should be fun.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/...-legitimate-chance-of-winning-the-super-bowl/

Ranking the eight teams that have a legitimate chance of winning the Super Bowl

How many teams in the NFL have a legit shot to win the Super Bowl this upcoming season?

Sure, it's only May, and injuries and unforeseen schedule situations and numerous other factors will surely intervene to railroad some seasons and buttress others, but just play along with me for now. We still have about four months before real football games are being played. So indulge me. If you had to separate the haves from the have-nots at the highest level possible, who would make the cut?

I figure roughly 25 percent of the league in a good year has the real potential to hoist the Lombardi Trophy. Out of 32 teams, I'll say eight would make my cut right now. Sort of like if you were creating two super divisions within the league. Which eight teams seem like the best bets right now – at a time when you can start putting money anywhere you want in Vegas – and in what order?

Well, after spending hours running my mathematical equations and testing my algorithms (or not), here is my list of the Elite Eight in the NFL as we head into OTAs. Because as much as people will try to tell you that a certain player or a certain team will be making some substantial gains over the next six weeks based on lukewarm practices in T-shirts and shorts, don't believe them. Ain't happening. Until these guys put the pads on, nothing much is going to change with these rosters and no one's stock is really going to rise or fall.

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Any player evaluations or projections made off of spring practices are fraught with peril (even less scientific and reliable that this exercise I am currently undertaking!) and no starter is winning or losing a job during OTAs unless someone close to him on the depth chart suffers a freak injury. So with that out of the way, here are the teams that most have my attention in terms of being able to win it all.

1. Eagles
I know no one repeats anymore, except for the Pats like once a decade, but I also can't recall too many champs who get a markedly better quarterback returning than the one who they won the Super Bowl with. Doesn't matter when or how Carson Wentz starts the season, just that he looks the part come December. The roster is still intact enough, Jason Peters could provide a big boost to the offensive line if he can stay healthy, and while they did lose some bright minds off their offensive staff, it's still Doug Pederson's baby on that side of the ball and not losing DC Jim Schwartz to a head coaching job was a coup. No hangovers here with Wentz super motivated.

2. Vikings
They came damn close a year ago, it's hard not to love their roster and kudos to them for being willing to go all-out to land Kirk Cousins in an attempt to win it all right now. Cousins can exceed what Case Keenum did, he has ample weapons, and we'll see in January about his big-game ability. The running game should be fine with Dalvin Cook returning. They have a true home-field advantage. They're loaded with young, hungry, impactful players. And the sting of how meekly they went down in Philly last year should fuel their quest. Yes, this franchise generally finds a way to wilt at the worst possible time, but all slumps end eventually.

3. Patriots
No one can look at all of the talent they lost this offseason and say they appear to be a better team than a year ago. Replacing a starting left tackle and corner and a couple of starting receivers and running backs is a task even for the great Bill Belichick. Then add in all the Tom Brady/Gronk/Belichick drama and the fact Bob Kraft needs to step up and pay Brady and Gronk again and it might not look pretty. And the outfit Brady wore to The Met should be a disqualifier alone. But who really got better at the top of the AFC? And how aren't the Pats going to roll through the AFC East with the likes of AJ McCarron/Josh Allen and Ryan Tannehill and Josh McCown/Sam Darnold to contend with? And who is going to beat them in Foxboro in January? Sure, Brady could finally get sucker punched by Father Time, but if he plays at close to last year's level they'll be just fine in the end. Watch.

4. Saints
Everyone is harping on the Marcus Davenport trade as this huge gamble … but they don't need him to be a 15-sack guy right now. Just be able to make a play or two on third down late in the season and that might be enough to get them a little deeper in the playoffs. Keeping Drew Brees was paramount. I wouldn't rule out them making a big trade before the deadline, if possible, to upgrade at pass catcher or pass rusher, and Mark Ingram's suspension might be a good thing come the postseason, when his legs should be fresher. They have a Super Bowl-winning coach and QB and most of their other best players are still on their rookie contracts. That's not a bad formula.

5. Panthers
The NFC South should be a monster. Which cuts both ways. A good team or two might miss the payoffs entirely from that division, but the teams that emerge may already have a leg up on the rest of the field. Breaking with some old tendencies on offense was huge, as they added some new coaches and ideas on that side of the ball. D.J. Moore can be an immediate spark plug, they started figuring out how to unlock Christian McCaffrey in the second half of last season and Greg Olsen still moves the chains. Yes, the secondary gives me some concern, but the defense got its swagger back a year ago and Cam Newton wins a lot of football games.

6. Packers
Aaron Rodgers is the best in the world and this team still, somehow, hung around the periphery of the playoff scene without him for most of the season with Brett Hundleypretending to be an NFL quarterback. I'm not sure that basically swapping Jordy Nelson for Jimmy Graham is much of an upgrade, but I also am not naïve enough to think this offense will be an issue with Rodgers back. And the defense has to be much better. Love the additions to the secondary and they have the makings of the best 3-4 DL in the NFL. Muhammad Wilkerson will prove to be a massive signing and this has to the season where Green Bay doesn't run out of running backs by, like, November, right?

7. Steelers
It's hard not to want to pencil in Pittsburgh vs. New England in the AFC Championship Game. But after getting declawed by Jacksonville in the playoffs a year ago, the Steelers will have to earn their way back. Ben Roethlisberger seems all about earning a new contract (and alienating backup Mason Rudolph) and this is the last hurrah with Le'Veon Bell. Ending the madness with Martavis Bryant was a wise move, too. The last time the team made a coordinator change it brought the best out of Big Ben in the coming seasons. Woulda loved to see an Earl Thomas trade put them over the top, and I still have concerns about the linebacker group and edge rushers, but the AFC is so watered down that the Steelers still really stand out to me.

8. Chargers
Others might have the Falcons in this group (I'll believe Steve Sarkisian can get that offense humming when I see it) or the Rams (I could see a little regression from them) and I wouldn't argue much. They almost made the cut. But the Chargers should have an easier path to the playoffs, they already could make big plays in the passing game and attack the opposing quarterback (essentials to win it all) and I love what they added this offseason. Like the Vikings, it's hard not to think they'll somehow undermine themselves in the end, given their history of doing just that, but Philip Rivers must have one more playoff run in him and they can be damn balanced on offense (adding Mike Pouncey will further help that cause). There is no shortage of talent on defense and I'm not sure anyone else in the AFC West is treading water, much less really getting markedly better.

With the close of the 2018 NFL Draft, 11 college prospects can now call themselves Los Angeles Rams.

After a draft haul that saw the franchise make moves to acquire 10 selections in Day 3 alone, the Rams were able to replenish depth at multiple positions — bringing in several new, dynamic playmakers.

And now that the big event has come and past, therams.com will be taking a look at each member of the club’s 2018 Draft Class.

Outside linebacker Trevon Young has experienced a crooked path to the league.

The sixth-round draft pick went from a promising talent in high school to Iowa Western Community College — taking a year to develop — before transferring to Louisville. From there Young fought through multiple injuries, suffering a fractured hip in the Cardinals’ 2015 bowl game that caused him to miss the entire 2016 season.

But these factors never stopped Young from working hard and pushing through adversity. He bounced back in 2017 to finish the year with 62 tackles, 4.5 sacks, and five pass breakups.

And as he gets set to join the Rams in 2018, the outside linebacker said that although “most people don’t know a lot about me and my road here,” coming to L.A is “more than I [could have] asked for.”

Here is Trevon Young in his own words:

On how it feels like to be drafted by the Rams:

“It’s such a big relief. I’m so honored and feel so blessed to be part of that organization. I know this organization has some big things ahead of them. To be honest, with my situation, I really didn’t know it was going to happen. I’ve honestly been sick all day just not knowing. But, to finally get that call, I can’t even explain the feeling. It’s so great.”

On how he thinks he’ll fit in defensive coordinator Wade Phillips’ scheme:

“I feel like I’m going to be a pass rusher. What I bring to the team is putting pressure on the quarterback or whatever they ask me to do, I’m willing to do. So, I’m ready to go. I feel like I’m a versatile player [and] with practice, I’ll be able to do whatever they ask me to.”

On getting the call after going from high school, to community college, to Louisville:

“I know most people don’t know a lot about me and my road here and where I come from. I’ve been through so much to get to this point. To finally get this call and be a part of an organization like the Rams is more than a dream and more than what I [could have] asked for.”

[www.therams.com]