Front Office Offseason Report Card (You Give the Grades!)

[AvengerRam]

Grade the Front Office on its offseason performance in the following categories:

Free Agent/Trade Market
Acquisition of free agents and players via trade, and decisions relating to resigning Rams with expired contracts.

Financial Management
Management of expenditures on contracts in relation to both short and long-term salary cap considerations.

Draft
Selection of players and trades involving draft choices.

Off-Field Personnel Issues/Reputation
Dealing with players with off-the-field issues and maintaining team reputation.

Staffing
Coaching changes and delation/division of authority and duties among coaching and Front Office staff.

[AvengerRam]

My grades:

Free Agent/Trade Market: B
For the most part, the team stayed away from high priced players. Drew Bennett was the biggest ticket item, and he should help the team significantly. McMichael and Draft are both good acquisitions. Took flyers on the Halls (James, Dante). If they pay off the grade could be higher. Donnie Jones also could also be a contributer. Would have liked to have seen a veteran pass rusher obtained.

Financial Management: A
Signing Bulger to a long term deal and getting all the draft choices squared away before camp were key deals. The cap looks very healthy, and the Rams should be able to ensure that they can afford the HUGE payday upcoming for Steven Jackson.

Draft: B+
The day after the draft, I had the Rams at a grade of B. Carriker's apparent ability to man the NT spot raises the grade, as does the faster than expected progress of Wade. Still would have liked to have seen a DE in the mix, as well an interior OL. Good use of second day picks to obtain J.Hall, D.Hall and D.Jones.

Off-Field Personnel Issues/Reputation: B+
Dominique Byrd and Claude Wroten had run-ins with the law, and the team handled them in a calm manner that prevented the situations from escalating. Not sure how much of a role the team had in Fakhir Brown's suspension, though it seems that the team should make sure those in the substance abuse program don't miss tests.

Staffing: B-
I still think that Scott Linehan is too quick to hire friends for key positions (i.e. Special Teams Coach). The decisionmaking "team" does not seem to have a clear-cut division of labor, but they seem to work effectively. For a long term issue, I have some concern that there is not an up-and-coming defensive coach being groomed who could be elevated should Jim Haslett ever get another Head Coaching gig.

[RealRam]

No comments for now. Gotta go to work! (Home)

Free Agent/Trade Market: B+

Financial Management: A

Draft: A

Off-Field Personnel Issues/Reputation: B

Staffing: C+
Okay, one comment. I'm concerned about several of our coaches having too little NFL experience. See Coaching Staff at the Rams Official web site.


PS: Hmm. On further review, I changed my 'Staffing' grade from C- to C+. Coaches have plenty of NFL experience; it's with the Rams that several of them are only now in their 1st or 2nd yr.

[Richbert88]

Cheerleaders: A+

Reason to Have a Beer: A+

Pirate Broadcast Channel: F

[RamsFan16]

Free Agent/Trade Market: B+
We didn't add superstars but we added players that fit our scheme and plans. One thing I would have liked to see them add through F/A or trade though was a veteran SAM Linebacker that would have pushed Chillar for the starting job.

Financial Management: A
Didn't overspend on players, gave them market value and properly evaluated the talent and gave them the right size of contract. Didn't overspend.

Draft: A-
A possibility that our First 3 picks, and our 6th round pick have alot of invovlement in our plans this season. Can't get much better than can it?

Off-Field Personnel Issues/Reputation: A-
Other than Byrd, no problems. Goes to show you can create a team that can potentially compete for a title without having a team of inmates.

Staffing: B
Didn't like the acquistion of Al Roberts at first becasue of the fact he was a HS coach buta seems to be working hard on improving the Special teams, can't ask for more.

[Goldenfleece]

Grade the Front Office on its offseason performance in the following categories:

Free Agent/Trade Market:B
Bennett and McMichael were big additions on the offensive side of the ball. I think James Hall is an underrated player who may surprise some people. Dante Hall was probably worth the gamble of a 5th round pick. There were slim pickings in the free agency pool this year especially when it came to the defensive line. Overall, we strengthened the team, but I couldn't help questioning whether we had done enough to shore up the defense.


Financial Management:A
Bulger got his extension, and we signed Carriker early. We didn't really overpay any of our signings, and good cap management has kept us from having to cut any of our top players.

Draft:B+
Carriker was a great choice for the first pick. Defensive end and tackle were both high priorities, so either way we were filling a need. Leonard looks like a good player, but it was a luxury pick to take a back who is unlikely to ever start for us when the defense obviously still needed improvement. Wade seemed like a slightly risky pick because it seemed we were taking him more based on physical ability than demonstrated football skill. I thought there were better options still on the board. I couldn't complain about our second day, as we stocked up on offensive and defensive linemen. My biggest complaint was that the team did not pick up another defensive end through the draft or free agency.

Off-Field Personnel Issues/Reputation:B+
We drafted high character individuals. However, we also signed a tight end with a history of domestic violence charges. Wroten got into some minor trouble. Dominique Byrd's first arrest was in December, so the night club incident doesn't count towards the off-season, but his DUI and driving without a license charges in March do. He's an embarrassment to to the team. Brown's suspension for violation of the substance abuse policy doesn't look good whether he's innocent or not. You still get the impression that the team is trying to bring in people who will make us proud.

Staffing:C
The only major change I know of is the special teams coach. I really don't know enough about Roberts to make the call. He does have NFL experience, but you have to think there was a reason he was coaching at a high school when he got the call. We'll have to see how this one turns out.

[MauiRam]

Originally Posted by AvengerRam

My grades:

Staffing: B-
I still think that Scott Linehan is too quick to hire friends for key positions (i.e. Special Teams Coach). The decisionmaking "team" does not seem to have a clear-cut division of labor, but they seem to work effectively. For a long term issue, I have some concern that there is not an up-and-coming defensive coach being groomed who could be elevated should Jim Haslett ever get another Head Coaching gig.

Good point about grooming a guy from within to succeed Haslett and therefore not have to change to an entirely new defense with time lost so to speak over the duration of the new learning curve. I can't help but wonder however, how the Rams feel about Venturi (lots of experience there), Willy Robinson (12 yrs pro under his belt) and my dark horse pick Brian Baker who has the least experience (11 yrs pro) of the three. I don't see it being implausible that we could promote from within if our D shines this year and JH were to move on.

The hiring of "friends" is nothing new, and I've little against it as long as the "friends" produce. If a coach has worked with another coach in the past, and become friends in the process, it is very likely that an intregal part of the friendship was based on mutual respect for ability to coach, teach, and implement a particular system not to mention personal character. The very fact that Linny hired JH implied to me, that Scott wasn't worried about being overshadowed by one of his own coaches, say as opposed to the hiring of Marmie by the paranoid Mad Mike ...