Nfl.com analyst creates an "ideal" 53 man roster - picks 5 Rams

[thermobee]

Quarterbacks

*Tom Brady ($5,750,000)
Sam Bradford ($405,000)
Brady is an easy pick, as he is exactly the kind of person to lead the team and execute the offense. Brady will be the driving force because he will demand excellence from every player on every play. He will get their full attention, making sure there are not mental mistakes during the game. Bradford as the backup adds a nice young player to play behind Brady and learn how he works his craft. I decided to go with only two quarterbacks, which is becoming the norm in the league.
Spent: $6,155,000.
Running backs

Peyton Hillis ($555,000)
Ray Rice ($555,000)
*Arian Foster ($525,000)
Bernard Scott ($480,000)
LeSean McCoy ($480,000)
Yes, I know I am cheap. I decided to add only running backs in their first contract because I did not want to spend top dollar on this position, knowing there would be plenty of talent available. Hillis and Rice are the highest paid backs on team at $555,000, which is well below their real value. I wanted to have the right blend of backs -- power with Hillis; speed and loose-play ability with Foster and McCoy; a shifty three-down player in Rice and a return man with Scott, who might be the next star running back in the league if he is ever featured. For success at this position, a team needs versatile players who must be able to pass protect when called. All these backs can do that well.
Spent: $2,595,000
Wide receivers

*Vincent Jackson ($12,000,000)
*Andre Johnson ($6,000,000)
Percy Harvin ($655,000)
DeSean Jackson ($555,000)
Danny Amendola ($480,000)
Building a wide receiver group is like building a basketball team. Each successful basketball team should have a power forward, small forward and point guard. And any successful receiving corps should have the same style of players -- a power forward-type receiver who can win and muscle for the ball, go inside and make the tough plays and is not afraid of contact (Vincent Jackson); a small forward-type receiver who must be extremely athletic, able to run and explode with the ball in his hands (Johnson); and a point guard-type receiver who must be quick, explosive and create plays in critical situations (DeSean Jackson, Harvin and Amendola). With great point guards on the field, the other receivers will be in position to win against single coverage.
Spent: $19,690,000
Tight ends

*Brandon Pettigrew ($728,750)
Jared Cook ($480,000)
*Rob Gronkowski ($405,000)
Following my basketball analogy, the tight end position would be the center -- the player who controls the middle of the field in many ways. This is another position I went young and cheap, but all three still are great players priced well below their value. Each player runs well, blocks at the point of attack and pass protects. Gronkowski is the starter. Each time I watch him, he reminds me of a faster Mark Bavaro because he is always open and is tough at the point.
Spent: $1,613,751
Offensive line

*Donald Penn ($7,200,000)
*Chris Snee ($2,950,000)
Carl Nicks ($2,610,000)
*Josh Sitton ($1,200,000)
Ryan Clady ($1,105,000)
*Michael Oher ($630,000)
Sebastian Vollmer ($510,000)
*Maurkice Pouncey ($405,000)
Rodger Saffold ($405,000)
Setting up the offensive line, I made sure I had a collection of players who are tough, smart and capable of playing left tackle. The inside guards and centers are all able to run block and pass protect. The other critical requirement were finding strong players inside to keep the pocket flat, allowing Brady to step up as he pleases.
Spent: $17,015,000
Total spent on offense: $47,068,751


Defensive line

Terrell Suggs ($3,400,000)
Domata Peko ($3,100,000)
*Trent Cole ($2,900,000)
Robert Mathis ($2,410,000)
*Ndamukong Suh ($1,405,000)
B.J. Raji ($955,000)
*Gerald McCoy ($873,750)
Henry Melton ($480,000)
Jason Pierre-Paul ($475,000)
Carlos Dunlap ($405,000)
I just love defensive linemen. My ideal draft would be to pick them in every round as you can never have enough good players in this group. Carrying 10 is not a problem as it's important to keep them fresh and fit for the fourth quarter when the game is on the line. The philosophy of assembling this defensive line was to have tackles who were capable of rushing the passer on first down, but also tough at the line of scrimmage. I also wanted power players who can bull rush guards and not allow the quarterback to step up. With McCoy and Suh inside, this crop has power and athleticism to create a soft pocket, allowing the ends to rush the passer and make plays. The philosophy for the end position was built on finding rushers who can defeat single blocks and have the ability to overpower a tackle. Since not all ends can run around the edges -- the worst place to be in football is past the quarterback -- it is important to have ends who can go inside. My ends are capable of both and can be disruptive forces.
Spent: $16,403,750
Linebackers

*DeMarcus Ware ($6,700,000)
*Lance Briggs ($3,650,000)
Jarret Johnson ($3,500,000)
Jon Beason ($1,100,000)
*Clay Matthews ($660,000)
*Curtis Lofton ($602,000)
Brian Orakpo ($480,000)
Versatility was the key element in assembling this group. I needed some players who could rush the passer (Matthews, Ware and Orkapo) and some players who could play off the ball and cover (Briggs, Lofton and Johnson). This guys must also provide special teams coverage since my receivers are not going to be much help in the kicking game. With the exception of Ware, this entire group should comprise the punt team and should cover extremely well.
Spent: $15,592,000


Defensive backs

* Eric Berry ($3,250,000)
Brent Grimes ($2,610,000)
* Aqib Talib ($1,650,000)
Morgan Burnett ($1,000,000)
* Louis Delmas ($608,750)
Brandon Flowers ($555,000)
Jairus Byrd ($480,000)
* Devin McCourty ($450,000)
Tramon Williams ($405,000)
This group consists of five corners and four safeties. Each player is able to make a contribution in the kicking game. Safeties must be able to tackle, be physical in the run game and show range in the passing game. Instincts and awareness are critical factors a safety and all four excel in this area. At corner, the key component was finding bigger players who could play press coverage, jam at the line and win early in the route. Remember, the pass rush should be excellent. The team also needed a smaller quicker corner (Grimes) to stay with the quick, little receivers. These corners also must be able to tackle. When a team plays with a corner who cannot tackle, it is hard to balance the defense. This is another position where each player is still in his rookie contract, thus making their salaries so low.
Spent: $11,080,750

Specialists

Donnie Jones (punter) ($1,100,000)
Josh Brown (kicker) ($2,600,000)
Justin Drescher (long snapper) ($300,000)
Brown is dead-on consistent kicking field goals at any distance. Jones has a powerful leg and can control vertical field position. Spent: $4,000,000
Total spent on defense: $48,176,500
Total spent overall: $95,245,251

[Azul e Oro]

Five Rams sounds impressive until you realize two of them are kickers.

This guy is bargain hunting a lot which may have influenced the Amendola & Saffold picks. What GM would take Amendola over Welker if Brady was the QB ? We all know know what a bargain Saffold is at LT.

This fantasy GM left about $25 mill of cap space on the table.What's the point of that in a fantasy scenario?

[TekeRam]

Well, he also only counted Sam as having $405,000 as a cap charge. He's somewhere in that $12-17 million range, so the cap space is much closer than he said. The guy signs a 6 year 70 million dollar contract and his cap charge is 400 thousand? Please.

Makes you feel good that we have his ideal kicking team though, right?

I would take Amendola over Welker, no matter the QB. I also would have taken Laurinaitis as one of my linebackers as well.

The guy picked 4-3 defensive linemen and picked 3-4 outside linebackers for the most part. Hope the guy has Rex Ryan as a defensive coordinator, because he's not going to have base zone coverage to speak of. Also, I'm rather unimpressed with his entire secondary, though as he mentioned, he wanted to play bump and run(since he's going to have to blitz every down with that front 7) so I guess that works.

Truth be told, as long as Poppinga and Leber are as good as they should be, I'd take our defense over this guy's. Our line should be great and we have two really good cover corners and safeties who can play to our system. Hell, give me Andre Johnson, with a healthy Clayton and I'd take our offense too!

[Nick]

Well, he also only counted Sam as having $405,000 as a cap charge. He's somewhere in that $12-17 million range, so the cap space is much closer than he said. The guy signs a 6 year 70 million dollar contract and his cap charge is 400 thousand? Please.

The writer listed Sam's salary, which is $405,000. But he neglected to include Sam's $17.974 million "signing" bonus, which adds to his cap charge.

Truth be told, as long as Poppinga and Leber are as good as they should be, I'd take our defense over this guy's.

Uhh, I like our defense as well, but I think we may need to send a sanity rescue party after you on this one.

[TekeRam]

Last year we had a winning defense and we've only built on that with Quinn, Bannon, Poppinga, Leber, and Mikell. Our loss from last year is Atogwe, but he didn't fit Spag's system like Mikell does.

Our problem was that our offense could move the ball finally, which let our defense rest, but they couldn't put points, especially 7's, on the board. That let teams keep a balanced game plan against us in the 2nd half even when we were ahead.

Spags made a statement with the guys he brought in this year. We're going to stop the run(Bannon, Poppinga, Mikell, and Leber to some degree), and assuming that we can score(MSW, Salas, Amazon Kend-L, Cadillac) more this year, we're going to force teams to throw against our very good cover corners and contend with our even better pass rush this year(addition of Quinn).

Do I wish we had Tramon Williams as opposed to Harris as our nickel, of hell yes. But we have parts that make what should be a very good defense, not a 3-4 starting front seven made up of Cole, Suh and McCoy(all 4-3 players known for pass rushing), and 3 outside linebackers in Matthews, Briggs and Ware with an average middle backer in Lofton to balance (I'd have gone with Matthews, Ware, Laurinaitis and Timmons myself). His players don't fit a workable scheme where ours do, and that's why I would take our defense over his.

[Nick]

His players don't fit a workable scheme where ours do, and that's why I would take our defense over his.

But as you point out, you're comparing a real defense built with a specific scheme in mind to a fantasy defense with no schematic considerations in place. It's a rather apples to oranges comparison, and not a particularly fair criticism IMO. Ignoring the fact that some of those front seven defenders probably do have some scheme versatility, I'm sure if one was inclined, an "ideal" defensive roster specifically for a 4-3 scheme could be created as well. Are we really to believe that, had Lombardi generated a roster of all-star players from around the league specifically for the 4-3, that it would still be inferior to the Rams' unit?

I don't really think a specific scheme was the point, though. For instance, I doubt Lombardi gave much if any thought to blocking schemes when he chose his offensive lineman. Rather, I think Lombardi was simply exploring the kind of roster one could create while trying to maximize his talent for the price, hence why a number of guys who are still in rookie deals are included (he admits as much in the RB section). I think it was a fun concept to try and explore, but probably not meant to be taken too seriously.