A Fearsome Front Seven

Well watching the Rams defensive line struggle to consistently apply pressure to Quarterbacks has been hard for all of us to watch and specifically hard on our secondary as we've watched them be picked apart on a weekly basis. We rank near the bottom if not AT the bottom in interceptions and have seen not a single one of our cornerbacks get one all season (this was ALMOST changed by Gorrer this weekend..).

This is partly due no doubt to injuries to our starters as well but little excuse can be made for our D-Line's inconsistency this year. Guys like ryan, long, scott, and douzable have all shown flashes but inconsistency remains to be the issue as quarterbacks continue to have all day to throw.

With Spags being a defensive guy and being known especially for his defensive line expertise, we can look to what we can expect this offseason. If we draft Suh with the first overall pick, which looks to almost be a lock with the only other option i see is us marketing the pick around to other teams for more picks, this is what we will be working with.

Little (If he stays another year), Suh, Carriker/Ryan/Scott, and Long. In theory that could be the best D-Line in football. With Lau playing Mike next year the rams should look to finding either two pass rushers for the outside backer spots are a combination of pass rusher and run stopper. With guys like Sean Weatherspoon who could easily slip to the second you have your pass rusher. If we can add another pass rusher or simply a solid outside backer through free agency or the draft we suddenly have possibly the best front seven in football.

of course all of this is a LOT of speculating on what the rams are aiming to do but this all sounds to be a reasonable course of action me. If we're going to build this defense up. It starts up front naturally. Build that D-Line, then the Backers, then the secondary.

There's a number of routes the rams could take in this draft to building a powerhouse D and if the guys im naming pan out there is no reason we shouldn't be next year.

Who do you guys think we should grab in the second round, if you think we should go defense at all?

Best defensive line? Probably in a year or two, but I don't think the addition of Suh will instantly eclipse Minnesota's line

Do you realize the Rams have used 50% of their first round picks in the last ten years on defensive linemen? Where are we now? Two of the last three years have seen us pick DEs, which has not turned out very well. We are hoping Chris Long will mature into a good DE, but that is not a sure thing. What about Adam Carriker? Please, I am very skeptical about using yet another draft pick on a DL.

We have passed up several franchise QBs for marginal talent the last few years. Even under the best circumstances (if Su turns out to be a stud), our offense will be doing three and outs and our defense will be exhausted by the second quarter. We desperately need a long-term QB, far worse than we need another DL.

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Originally Posted by swatter555

Do you realize the Rams have used 50% of their first round picks in the last ten years on defensive linemen? Where are we now? Two of the last three years have seen us pick DEs, which has not turned out very well. We are hoping Chris Long will mature into a good DE, but that is not a sure thing. What about Adam Carriker? Please, I am very skeptical about using yet another draft pick on a DL.

We have passed up several franchise QBs for marginal talent the last few years. Even under the best circumstances (if Su turns out to be a stud), our offense will be doing three and outs and our defense will be exhausted by the second quarter. We desperately need a long-term QB, far worse than we need another DL.

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True, Swatter, we have passed over QBs for DLs and haven't exactly rocked the world, but when you look at a line that features (potentially) Suh, Carriker and Long, you've got several dementions to it. The beauty of Suh is, hell, the guy can fall back for a pick to get the O decent field position in at least a few situation and probably help us notch up at least a few more wins in the process.

If he's batting down passes at the line, tip drilling and causing double teams from day one, I can't see any value in drafting Clausen or Bradford when a guy like Locker's sitting out there in '11.

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Originally Posted by swatter555

Do you realize the Rams have used 50% of their first round picks in the last ten years on defensive linemen? Where are we now? Two of the last three years have seen us pick DEs, which has not turned out very well. We are hoping Chris Long will mature into a good DE, but that is not a sure thing. What about Adam Carriker? Please, I am very skeptical about using yet another draft pick on a DL.

We have passed up several franchise QBs for marginal talent the last few years. Even under the best circumstances (if Su turns out to be a stud), our offense will be doing three and outs and our defense will be exhausted by the second quarter. We desperately need a long-term QB, far worse than we need another DL.

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Just because they have used picks on DL players before that didnt work out before doesnt mean they shouldnt again. Should the Rams not have picked Steven Jackson because they previously picked Trung Canidate and Lawrence Phillips in the first round?

First of all, in the last two years one of the guys we picked was a DT. He was a 3-4 DE in college, but is better suited to playing DT in the NFL. He was coming on strong but his injuries have held him back. I dont know how you can say that the Chris Long pick didnt turn out well though. If you have seen a game recently, the guy is beastly.

We have passed up several "franchise QBs" for marginal talent? Not so sure about that. At the time of picking, the only instance i can recall when the Rams actually passed on picking a QB that they could have got that wouldnt have been a reach was passing on Jay Cutler to take Hill. And you can argue that CB was a bigger need then what with Bulger having played well at the time. Even then, the bigger annoyance was that the Rams passed on drafint Haloti Ngata to take Hill

Another point is that you seem to think the only way we can get a QB is by drafting one and having him play right away this year. If you have seen a Jets game recently you might see why thats not ideal. You havent even factored in the idea that we could pick Suh in the first, grab a QB to develop in a later round, and pick up a free agent QB to hold the reigns while said QB develops into a stud. Thats the best circumstances we could have this offseason.

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Originally Posted by Bralidore(RAMMODE)

Who do you guys think we should grab in the second round, if you think we should go defense at all?

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I'm with you on Sean Weatherspoon. I have the Rams taking him with first pick in the 2nd round in my S.O.S Mock 1.0 which is posted in the Draft & FA forum.

Another possibility could be Everson Griffin, the DE from USC.

At any rate, I like the thoughts that you are putting down.

WHAT SAY YE?

I only see 2 of our current front 7 as a lock for next seasons front 7. They would be Chris Long and Lauranitis. The other 5 spots are up for grabs in my opinion.

:helmet:

If we end up with Suh, I'd feel pretty good about Suh at UT and Scott/Ryan platooning at NT. Carriker is a wild card. It would be nice to see him come back and play a role.

Long holds one DE spot. I'm not counting on either Little or Hall returning (not to say they can't, but I'm not counting on it), so its wide open. I think the Rams should look at some mid-level FAs (Darryl Tapp might be worth consideration) and slot the DE spot for around the 4th or 5th round of the draft. You might not get a "complete player" at that spot, but there are likely to be some pass rush specialists who could come in and contribute.

If the Rams end up with the second pick, that changes things. Right now, I'd rather take Derrick Morgan than Gerald McCoy. That would mean the Rams would be set at the starting DE spot with Long and Morgan, but might need to upgrade the DT spot later in the draft.

At LB, the only sure thing is Laurinaitis. I wouldn't mind seeing some FA money spent at one of the OLB spots. I don't think the Rams can afford to dedicate a high draft choice to the LB position, unless there is a truly great value pick to be had.

I agree, although i do think, on defense, OLB is our next big area of concern. Vobora has been solid but if there's a guy out there who can rush the passer better or has more upside then we need to definitely upgrade to him. The other OLB spot needs to be upgraded definitely, Lenon is backup at best. heck truthfully Vobora probably is as well.

About Carriker, you have to give the guy another shot. He's shown some flashes and you don't want him going to another team and showing out while all of a sudden being healthy..(now what players have we had that has done that..). If he gets injured for an extended period again however, its adios.

At RE, I agree we should look for a pass rushing specialist over a run-stopping end.

And again with the second pick, its all about whos there, as we have gone over in previous threads there's a good chance a lot of first round talent could fall to the early second round, if that is the case you'll have to weigh your options and see whos the biggest steal while also trying to fill a need.

If healthy I have a good feeling about our front 4. A prospect that is still creeping up on the horizon is the off chance that Osi wants to play for his old D-coordinator! He's very unhappy in NY, and he's been relegated to back-up duty by a desperate coordinator there.

DeSpags would do us very well to let Little go, bump Long to LE and sign Osi on for a few years. Then draft that monster Suh! C'mon people let's do this.

I guess I will never understand this single-minded obsession about drafting DLs by the Rams, especially considering the historical lack of success we have had. Our defense was bad this year, but it was just a symptom of a greater problem- our offense sticking up the place.

If we once again relegate the rebuilding of our offense to 3rd or 4th round picks and cheap free agents, we will once again stink. That is the long and short of it. I know that picking a QB with a high pick is risky, but as the Rams have proved, so is drafting DLs.

And I am not advocating throwing a rookie QB to the wolves like Mark Sanchez and the Jets, but damn you have to at least try to get the top notch talent. Hoping for a diamond in the rough (drafting a QB later than the 1st round) is a much greater gamble than using a 1st round pick one.

We have soaked too many picks into a couple of positions, its time to move on. If the Rams pass up another star QB in the draft to pick a bust, this franchise will continue its losing ways well into the future.

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Originally Posted by AvengerRam

...If the Rams end up with the second pick, that changes things...

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ACK!!! Don't even say (think) that. As much as I hate losing to the Bozos-By-The-Bay, we could really use a DT like Suh. A win next weekend would be relatively pointless. It's not going to prove anything. I understand that it would be nice to get one last win under our belts. I just don't think a win would propel us to victory next season. Nor would a loss doom us to the basement. Just think of how sick you'd be watching the Lions D-line getting penetration up the middle behind Suh, while we struggle to keep it together again next season. That would be truly painful.

If the Niners really want to hurt us, they'll find a way to let us win next week.

I've seen significantly more effort from the Rams players this season. What we a sorely lacking is talent. I think the #1 pick might help us take care of one gaping hole (DT). If next season is uncapped, we might be able to do quite a bit. If our ownership is so inclined.

Hey, if the Colts can play scrubs to lose, we can too, right? ;)

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Originally Posted by Blankman17

Hey, if the Colts can play scrubs to lose, we can too, right? ;)

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I thought we already were.....:red:

I had to...:D

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Originally Posted by swatter555

I guess I will never understand this single-minded obsession about drafting DLs by the Rams, especially considering the historical lack of success we have had. Our defense was bad this year, but it was just a symptom of a greater problem- our offense sticking up the place.

If we once again relegate the rebuilding of our offense to 3rd or 4th round picks and cheap free agents, we will once again stink. That is the long and short of it. I know that picking a QB with a high pick is risky, but as the Rams have proved, so is drafting DLs.

And I am not advocating throwing a rookie QB to the wolves like Mark Sanchez and the Jets, but damn you have to at least try to get the top notch talent. Hoping for a diamond in the rough (drafting a QB later than the 1st round) is a much greater gamble than using a 1st round pick one.

We have soaked too many picks into a couple of positions, its time to move on. If the Rams pass up another star QB in the draft to pick a bust, this franchise will continue its losing ways well into the future.

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And what if the Rams pass up the top talent in the draft to draft a QB of the future in turn ends up a bust? You act like picking a first round QB is a sure thing, and mention previous Rams DL players that didnt pan out. Well what about first round QBs like Joey Harrington, David Carr, Brady Quinn, Byron Leftwich, Kyle Boller, Alex Smith, Matt Leinart and JaMarcus Russell?

The fact is this team is lacking in talent across the board, not just at QB. So we should be taking the best player available when we pick, not reaching for a QB.

I also dont know why you think they have only been getting "cheap" FAs in to improve the offense. In the two most recent offseasons the Rams have spent big money bringing in Jacob Bell and Jason Brown, two premier offensive linemen who were among the top free agents available at their positions. They have really played well this year. Combine that with the fact that Devaney now has us out of the cap hell we were in, dont be surprised if the Rams make another splash in free agency.