What Ram is ready for a quantum leap?

[AvengerRam]

What player on the Rams right now do you see going from being a decent or a good player, to a true top player (Pro Bowl caliber). For the purposes of this poll, while it may be debatable to some, I'm leaving Marc Bulger out. I think he's already reached a very high level, having played in a Pro Bowl. The choices are all guys who have never played in a Pro Bowl.

[HUbison]

A lot of good choices there AV. In fact, any of those guys could blow up this year or next. My choice would be Kennedy. Going into the 2003 offseason, Kennedy was the cream of the DT crop. He was an easy top 5 pick. Then something happened in the days leading up to the draft. FOs starting shying away from him. According to various articles and Kennedy himself, they weren't sure if his head was in the right spot. Kennedy admitted he got some bad advice from a former teammate (I've always speculated Lavar Arrington) that the NFL was easy and there wouldn't be any real transition. Kennedy believed him and he wasn't mentally prepared. His rookie season was a whirlwind that took him by surprise. Then of course last year, after a great offseason, he injures his foot which was supposed to sideline him for the whole year. But he fought his way back and made significant contributions on the D-line.

Barring injury, I think he's ready to show why he was (at one time) the top D-line prospect in the 2003 class.

[AvengerRam]

I voted for Steven Jackson, but if you ask Mike Martz this question, he always seems to point to Kevin Curtis.


From what I saw of Curtis at the end of last year, I can definitely see him becoming Bruce's heir apparent when Bruce finally starts to truly slow down.

[HUbison]

if you ask Mike Martz this question, he always seems to point to Kevin Curtis.

IIRC, the Rams had Curtis as the #2 WR in his draft, behind only Charles Rogers. Which means they put Curtis ahead of Andre Johnson, Bryant Johnson, Taylor Jacobs, Bethel Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Tyrone Calico, Kelley Washington, Nate Burleson, etc. That's some pretty good company to be ranked 2nd.

I may question Martz' judgement on lots things, but WR talent isn't one of them.

[AvengerRam]

I'd take Curtis over any of those guys except Anquan Boldin and Andre Johnson. Johnson's a freak of nature and may be one of the top 5 WRs in the league before long.

[sbramfan]

Um, yeah can we trade Kevin Curtis for Anquan Boldin today please?

I think Curtis to some degree has proven himself as a quality player in this league, so I can't really say that if he has a great year next year, being the 3rd WR, that he took a quantum leap. Nor do I think that if SJ has a huge year (unless it's REALLY huge) that he had that far to jump.

So I'm left with the Tackles. 2, technically 3, first round DT's that have bearly broken the seam.

One of them needs to make a quantum leap.

[HUbison]

Um, yeah can we trade Kevin Curtis for Anquan Boldin today please?

Yea, looking at raw stats this looks like a no-brainer, I agree. But I wonder how would Curtis perform as the number 1 out in the desert? And how would Boldin's stats look playing behind Holt and Bruce?

[sbramfan]

Yeah, but how would you feel as a defense if you were the THIRD corner and you had to cover AB?

you'd be in trouble.

Curtis is a bit small to be the #1 guy, but would have some success.

[general counsel]

Its going to be very, very tough for curtis to be considered for the pro bowl as a #3 receiver, no matter how good he is.

general counsel

[general counsel]

How about travis fisher. Big year coming in my view.

general counsel

[HUbison]

Yeah, but how would you feel as a defense if you were the THIRD corner and you had to cover AB?

you'd be in trouble.

Curtis is a bit small to be the #1 guy, but would have some success.

If it were the 3rd corner and not SS or LB covering him. And with the new "hands off" rules for DBs the quick receivers are being given more chances of success.

[HUbison]

How about travis fisher. Big year coming in my view.

general counsel

Yea, that broken arm really set him back last year. He could step up this year.

[RAMMAN68]

I think Pisa, if he stays at LB, will benifit from the expirience of Coakley and Claiborn. The guy has good speed, just needs to put on a few more pounds and work on tackling. :ramlogo:

[ZigZagRam]

I'm gonna say Jimmy 'The Bear' Kennedy. They say good DT's emerge in their 3rd year. Last year was basically his rookie year with the injury he suffered in his actual rookie year, and he showed signs of extreme improvement. I really think this kid can be a star if he continues to work hard like he did last year.

Steven Jackson seems like an obvious answer also. If he can stay healthy this kid can be a monster. I love it when he just runs over people. And who can forget the lick he gave Calvin Pace on special teams in the opening game last season.

Kevin Curtis looked spectacular at the end of last year. He put up great stats in Bruce's absence which tells me he'll be a great replacement when the time comes around. With Rev. Ike, Torry, and Coach Ellard coaching him along, this kid has a great chance to succeed as a speedy #2 receiver.

My Wild Card choice is Anthony Hargrove. You saw what he did to Walter Jones. I think this kid will be an absolute terror on the defensive line soon. With him and Little (hopefully) I think we're all going to forget about #98 real soon.

[majorram]

I think Kennedy will have a monster year clogging up the middle, taking up blockers, that sack that he had against the hawks in the playoffs was a thing of beauty!!!!..hes ready to break out!!!

I agree with Zig on Hargrove, I just love this kid, we may have found a hidden gem with him!!!!

steve :ramlogo: