Bargain FA Shopping Has Not Paid Off

[AvengerRam]

I, and others, praised the Rams this offseason for what was viewed as "smart shopping" in the FA market. The Rams went for low to mid-range FAs, rather than making a run at any of the Blue Chip players available.

This strategy has not worked out as planned. Look at the results:

Dexter Coakley: While I do think he's been platooned too much, and he has had a few moments, overall he has not made much of an impact. At his age, its doubtful he ever will.

Chris Claiborne: Again, he's had his moments, but they've been few and far between. Now he's been benched in favor of Trev Faulk. Very disappointing.

Michael Hawthorne: Cut.

Michael Stone: Cut.

Rex Tucker: Barely adequate a guard. A train wreck at tackle.

Roland Williams Didn't do much before getting hurt.

This offseason, the Rams should alter their strategy. Instead of looking for diamonds in the rough, the Rams should concentrate on retaining players who have peformed (Ryan Pickett) and go after an impact player or two (Some early candidates: Steve Hutchinson - if he's not franchised; Nate Clements).

[general counsel]

I support that view and would add another thought. Lock some of your own guys up a bit earlier, curtis for example and maybe pisa.

ramming speed to all

general counsel

[bruce_wannabe]

yeah go for an up and coming star who will elavate this team immediatley... the bargain basement idea was a reasonable one but it didnt work out.... or as i see its marmie's scheme yet again on defense!!!!!

[coy bacon]

I wouldn't write off the two LBs just yet. I think their performance has been poor because of poor defensive tactics and coaching.

If that dude from Balt. were one of our LBs, his performance would be lagging as well.

The Union army that performed so poorly under Burnside at Fredericksburg did magnificently at Gettysburg under Meade.

Dump the Marmie.

[txramsfan]

Well, that's not necessarily true that we only went after bargain basement FA's. Let's see:

Pace
Holt
Bruce
Bulger
Warner
Turley (at the time he was a very good OL)
Faulk

By signing our own FA's, it has really tied our hands on signing outside top notch FA's.

[AvengerRam]

Those were all examples of players on the roster who were re-signed. The post is about adding players through free agency.

While it could be argued that Pace's status impacted how the Rams spent, with only one key player that must be re-signed this offseason (Pickett), I hope the Rams will try to add an impact player or two.

[txramsfan]

I understand your thread Av, however, ahhh nevermind.

[RamsFan16]

Yea I understand it also and its true. very dissappointing

[sbramfan]

And didn't we sign Coakley to a 5 year deal? What was that all about? Please tell me this is one of those 2 year deals that you can void before committing to the final 3 years?

I'm OK with Claiborne for now, because even if we upgrade, he can be the back-up that we lost when we traded Robert Thomas.

I'm still thinking 3-4 next year would pay off. With so much "west coast" offense out there, I think it's better to have the bulk of your defense in that 3-7 yard area, which can minimize big run plays, even though you may give up more 3-4 yard gains, you can "bend but not break" with a second line of defense. Right now, teams are "dinking and dunking" the Rams to death. Tight ends up the middle for 6-7 yards are open all day long, and those cut back runs take everyone on the line of scrimmage out of the play.

You can always still line up 4-3 in short yardage situations to crowd the line.

[talkstoangels61]

with the 3-4 you usually get 5 men rushing more which is what i'd do NOW!.............send 5 what more can a offense do that they are not already doing?.................nothing would be the answer.
I'd line up my front four then pull either a safety down witn a LB on the other side or even 2 lbs outside showing blitz with a safety dropping down to replace one of the backers!............geez its not real hard on how to keep a OLINE confused not to mention drive a QB crazy trying to figure out who's coming after you next!..............It's time to keep the opostion guessing instead of our D!

[Nick]

I'm still thinking 3-4 next year would pay off.

Maybe, but we'd really need to change the defensive personnel. Pickett may work as a 3-4 NT, but neither Little or Hargrove would be your ideal DEs in that scheme. Little may be able to move to OLB in the scheme, but does he have enough in coverage to be able to do so? What happens to Hargrove? Do we keep Lewis, a pass rushing DT, to try and convert him to a 3-4 DE? Even if we did, we're going to need another starting DE for the other spot.

We'd also need another big ILB to play next to Claiborne, at least someone who could compete with Trev Faulk for the job. With Little on one side, we'd need to upgrade the other OLB, because both Pisa and Coakley are probably too small. In the secondary, I'm not sure there's a specific type of defensive back the 3-4 requires, but I would think we need guys back there efficient both in coverage and against the run. A guy like Rodney Harrison of the Pats is probably better known as a big hit guy, but also comes up with his share of interceptions.

Then again, there's the opinion that we need a complete personnel overhaul regardless, so who knows? I think if we go that route though, we're in line for a more extensive overhaul than we would be if we were going to try and fix the holes in the current defense.

[sbramfan]

Maybe, but we'd really need to change the defensive personnel. Pickett may work as a 3-4 NT, but neither Little or Hargrove would be your ideal DEs in that scheme.

2 things.

A: I actually think the Rams should do this BECAUSE of their personel. Little and Hargrove are both "tweeners" who could stunt their way to the QB efficiently on passing downs and are good enough athletes to cover a TE, or RB coming out of the backfield. Especially from the LB spot, where you can watch the play develop better than at DE when you are stuck in the middle of everything off the snap. Damione Lewis could be a great DE in a 3-4.

and

B: Could it be any worse than it is now?

[Nick]

B: Could it be any worse than it is now?

That's the real question.

[HUbison]

And didn't we sign Coakley to a 5 year deal? What was that all about? Please tell me this is one of those 2 year deals that you can void before committing to the final 3 years?

This is pretty much every NFL contract. We'd have to eat the guaranteed money, but his salary would be null and void.