Defense 2007 = Defense 2000???? Maybe

[ramsbruce]

I don't think the secondary is really our problem Tx. As a unit they had to try and perform in the worst kind of situation with almost zero support up front and actually held their own a lot of the time IMO. I'm not sure it matters who you put back there if the opposing quarterback has all day to throw and pick you apart.

As for Clements, spending $80 million for a player who could only marginally help the defense would have been a mistake. Teams don't throw at us, they run on us at will, with good reason. Paying crazy money for a cover corner who would rarely get the chance to make an impact would not have been the answer.

Well, you sort of validated my point. Here's why. If we get zero support up front, don't we need better support back behind? Clements isn't a marginal player. He is much better than Bartell, Holt and Bruce and Pace are getting up there, and time is of the essence. If the Rams can't find someone up front to help the D, then Clements would have been better than standing pat. As it looks now, the Rams better score 40 a game.

Both good arguments, but I go with Mike on this one. With little to no pass rush it won't matter who we stick back there in the secondary, so giving a big contract to Clements who is real good, but not great, isn't the answer when we have many holes to fill.

[txramsfan]

That's what I like about discussion like this bruce.....we can do it without yelling at each other. mike and I have debates like this quite often and it always turns out being informative. For me at least.

Keep the discussions coming. This is healthy.

[r8rh8rmike]

Well, you sort of validated my point. Here's why. If we get zero support up front, don't we need better support back behind? Clements isn't a marginal player. He is much better than Bartell, Holt and Bruce and Pace are getting up there, and time is of the essence. If the Rams can't find someone up front to help the D, then Clements would have been better than standing pat. As it looks now, the Rams better score 40 a game.

There is no doubt that Clements is a great corner and in the right situation would pay huge dividends. I just don't think when we have a defense that teams will almost exclusively try to run on, a player like Clements will be able to make much of a difference, especially for $80 million which is what I was referring to with regard to marginality.

I'm still confident we will make a few more moves that will improve things and get that must score number down to 30 points.

[txramsfan]

Well, here's something else.....(always something else with me....lol)

IF the Rams had a secondary that is tough to throw against, because last year we weren't that tough, would that help the LB's in run pursuit?

[ramsbruce]

Well, here's something else.....(always something else with me....lol)

IF the Rams had a secondary that is tough to throw against, because last year we weren't that tough, would that help the LB's in run pursuit?

If our D Line can't keep the opposing teams O Line off of our LBs there isn't much hope of freeing up our LBs in run pursuit. Last year after a few games the NFL knew we couldn't stop the run, so it didn't even matter that much that our secondary was young and somewhat inexperienced because teams didn't need to throw on us, teams loaded up and ran on us and our D Line could do nothing to stop them and keep them off of our LBs so we could make a play.

[r8rh8rmike]

If our D Line can't keep the opposing teams O Line off of our LBs there isn't much hope of freeing up our LBs in run pursuit. Last year after a few games the NFL knew we couldn't stop the run, so it didn't even matter that much that our secondary was young and somewhat inexperienced because teams didn't need to throw on us, teams loaded up and ran on us and our D Line could do nothing to stop them and keep them off of our LBs so we could make a play.

Agreed. If things don't improve at the initial point of attack, our LB's and DB's will continue to be compromised, regardless of their skill level.

[Fortuninerhater]

There is no such thing as a secondary to tough to throw against Tx. You could put 4 HOFs out there and even they would get torched by even an average offense if there's no pass rush.

[Bar-bq]

There is no such thing as a secondary to tough to throw against Tx. You could put 4 HOFs out there and even they would get torched by even an average offense if there's no pass rush.

I'm not so sure. You have to dig what Champ Bailey's done in Denver with a line that isn't by any means fantastic, but is far from lousy. It's a solid line. Bailey shuts out half the field. He is tough to throw against.

If we could find ourselves that sort of player (Cough...Hill...Cough)(Cough...If we're very lucky...Cough) I'll bet we could do the same, which forces the other team to throw towards the other members of our secondary and to run the ball more ooften than not. If we can get...stability on the line, solid is all i'm asking, i think it goes lengths towards helpin the defense.

[txramsfan]

There is no such thing as a secondary to tough to throw against Tx. You could put 4 HOFs out there and even they would get torched by even an average offense if there's no pass rush.

Well, then I hope Bulger dosen't develop a rotator cuff problem because our D line is terrible and they aren't going to get any better. And if that is where everything starts and ends on D, then why are we spending all our money on offense? I would have settled for one great WR, let one go, and spent some money on the D line.

[keith m. klink]

i wish more people would listen to nick, and stop fretting,

[txramsfan]

Ok, everyone is saying that we need to majorly improve the initial point of contact. So, let's trade up and get Branch. If not, and the Rams don't necessarily improve the front line.....then all this "fretting" better go to the front office instead of on ClanRam.

[RamOfDenmark]

Ok, everyone is saying that we need to majorly improve the initial point of contact. So, let's trade up and get Branch. If not, and the Rams don't necessarily improve the front line.....then all this "fretting" better go to the front office instead of on ClanRam.

It might be worth a try, how far up would we need to trade to get Branch? I'm thinking maybe 5th to grab him before Washington does, they need a guy to play alongside Griffin on their line I think so they could grab him at number 6. It would be very expensive though, we might be better served grabbing Okoye further down although I very much doubt he would be on the board when we pick, we'd probably need to trade up a few spots to get him too.

[Fortuninerhater]

I'm not so sure. You have to dig what Champ Bailey's done in Denver with a line that isn't by any means fantastic, but is far from lousy. It's a solid line. Bailey shuts out half the field. He is tough to throw against.

If we could find ourselves that sort of player (Cough...Hill...Cough)(Cough...If we're very lucky...Cough) I'll bet we could do the same, which forces the other team to throw towards the other members of our secondary and to run the ball more ooften than not. If we can get...stability on the line, solid is all i'm asking, i think it goes lengths towards helpin the defense.

How ironic is your name in this discussion, because that's exactly what any corner would be without a pass rush.

[HUbison]

1. This is a nice discussion....especially for the offseason.

2. At this point the 2007 defense looks exactly like the 2006 defense. All 11 starters are still under contract, and the top 11 tacklers are returning. It seems to me, even if we did nothing in the draft, the 2007 defense is most like going to perform at a level near the 2006 team.

3. The 2006 defense (which should be close to the 2007 defense) gave up 23.8 points per game, not 30 points per game, not 35 points per game, not 40 points per game........but 23.8 points per game. That's not insurmountable.

4. The 2006 defense = 23.8 points per game (28th), 335 yards per game (23rd).
The 2000 defense = 29.4 points per game (31st), 361 yards per game (24th).

[JRoc]

If we address the title of this thread, ie the suggestion that the current D is as bad as that of 2000, HU really does put a lot in perspective. Many of us have been talking a lot about it without actually looking at the facts and figures.

We have the same players as last year, with a few nice additions, so we're no worse. We're in our second season of Haslett's system so we can only get better at executing it.

We can't expect miracles from Linehan and co. They inherited a very poor D and have improved it a lot in just a year. Last years D was hugely improved, especially in the secondary, over the D of 2005.

We could really do with a big DT but there's none available in FA. All we can do at the moment is hope for a good draft and perhaps for some june 1st cuts that the Rams could sign(though that's noy very likely).

Overall the team is in a much better position than it was this time last year.there's no point moaning over what we can't change. Until the draft there's not going to be any difference makers the Rams can sign on D, so we'll just have to live with it and hope for an improvement from the guys we have now.