Postions up for grabs - who has the inside track?

[AvengerRam]

There are a few positions that are up for grabs on the Rams' roster. Who will emerge?

Backup QBs:
Candidates: Smoker, Martin, Fitzpatrick
Who will emerge? Smoker, Martin.
Only two of the three will make the roster. I have a hard time believing that Martz will cut Martin, the only veteran in the bunch, unless Smoker looks extremely sharp in preseason. If he doesn't, and Fitzpatrick shows promise, Smoker could be the odd man out.

LG:
Candidates: Tercero, Sapaia, Tucker, Incognito, Terrell
Who will emerge? Tucker
I think that, in the long run, this will be Incognito's job. But, given his injury and his past, I don't think the Rams want to throw him into the fray immediately. Tucker has a lot of talent, and if he's healthy, I give him the edge.

RT:
Candidates: Barron, Tercero, Sapaia
Who will emerge? Barron
Forget what you hear about Barron's need to improve his technique. This is just typical Martz reverse-psychology motivation. He's trying to light a fire under Barron. It will work, and he'll be the starter by opening day.

TE/FB:
Candidates: (TE) Manumaleuna, R.Williams, Jensen, Collins (FB) Goodspeed, Hedge****, Massey
Who will emerge? Manumaleuna, Collins, Goodspeed, Hedge****, Massey
Massey is certain to retain his roster spot due to his long-snapper role. Of the other six, the Rams probably will keep only four. Jensen is likely to be among the cuts. The other one? Hard to say. I don't think that Williams is assured a roster spot, and if Hedge**** can fill the role of blocking TE in the two TE set, I'll guess Williams will go.

Starting Safety:
Candidates: Archuleta, Hawthorne, Stone, Atogwe, Bartell, Carter, Furrey
Who will emerge? Archuleta, Antogwe
I expect Arch to be ready for the season and, despite his sub-par year in 2004, if he's healthy, he's a playmaker. I don't think Hawthorne or Stone is expected to be a starter. Their roles are more defined as nickel and dime backs and special teams players. While Bartell may have the most upside, and Carter will contribute, I think Atogwe is the most ready-for-prime-time of the bunch.

Punter:
Candidates: Stemke, Hodges
Who will emerge? Hodges
Stemke was never more than a stop-gap. If Hodges shows any potential, he'll win the job.

[general counsel]

Incognito is a long snapper, i dont know how good he is. I agree that massey is safe for this year since i dont think we can take the risk that incognito melts down leaving us without a long snapper.

When you wrote LT, i assume you meant RT, no disrespect intended to The Big Man, who should be the starter and hopefully wont miss a play between now and 2017.

general counsel

[AvengerRam]

Yes, I did mean RT.


Shoot, we'll fix that.

[ramstiles]

Backup QBs:
I see Smoker, Martin, and if Fitzpatrick shows promise martx will put him on the prac squad
I thought smoker showed promise last season

LG:
I see Tucker starting and if he has overcome his injury staying then Incognito will go to C if hes healthy

RT:
Barron no doubt

TE/FB: I agree and as GC says once Incognito proves his fitness he will long snap and massey will be gone

Starting Safety:
Archuleta, Antogwe I think OJ is going to be a star for us

Punter: I agree

[ZigZagRam]

Forget what you hear about Barron's need to improve his technique. This is just typical Martz reverse-psychology motivation. He's trying to light a fire under Barron. It will work, and he'll be the starter by opening day.

I disagree. Barron, just like Pace, is so big he never had to learn proper blocking technique in high school, or college. I was listening to an interview with Jim Hanifan on the radio the other day and he says every lineman coming out of college has to be re-taught from scratch.

He says first they totally break you down, starting with the stance and build up from there. Whether Barron emerges right away will depend on how quick he adapts to actually being taught the NFL way to block. If he doesn't pick it up quickly he could be on the bench at the start of the season, a la Orlando.


...and it's Atogwe. He's a Ram now. Let's get it right. :redface: