Jerome Carter

[RamJackson39]

When the Rams selected him last year, I wasnt too excited. I never expected to see him as a starting SS on the Rams D and I thought that he would be best served at another position. One of those positions would be OLB. He seems to be perfect for that position in that he has good speed, good size, and a nose for the ball.

So what is the general thought here on the board? Would a move to OLB be a good one for Carter?

[HUbison]

I don't know that Carter is big enough (220 lbs) to play OLB for us. If anything our LB corp needs to get bigger, not smaller.

However, I, for one, am willing to give Carter some leeway to develop. He was the very first draftee to sign last year. And not just the first Ram pick, but from the entire draft, Carter was the first to sign. He wanted the business side out of the way, so he could get to work. I appreciate that.

I still think Carter is simply a cheaper Arch, but hopefully his coverage skills and tackling skills will develop and fluorish under our new D.

[RamJackson39]

Well, he could add weight much like Furrey did last season. I just get the feeling that he would be a beast at the OLB position. He's not asked to cover as much there and he's used more against the run.

It was just something that I thought might be a good move since Arch will most likely be brought back.

[HUbison]

Well, he could add weight much like Furrey did last season. I just get the feeling that he would be a beast at the OLB position. He's not asked to cover as much there and he's used more against the run.

It was just something that I thought might be a good move since Arch will most likely be brought back.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the creativity you've shown in this thread. That's a lot more difficult than saying go get a Pro Bowl safety for a bargain.

As for Arch, I'm not convinced he's coming back. I still think somebody gives him a fat pay-day and he moves on down the road.

[chiguy]

No offense, but this might be the worst idea since the New Math.

[RamJackson39]

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the creativity you've shown in this thread. That's a lot more difficult than saying go get a Pro Bowl safety for a bargain.

As for Arch, I'm not convinced he's coming back. I still think somebody gives him a fat pay-day and he moves on down the road.

This is something that I started thinking about last season. We had signed Coakley and then we drafted Carter. I was watchign film on Carter and checking out his size, and I thought that with some added weight, he could be a stud OLB. Which would then fill a glaring hole with depth. At the time I was sold on Atogwe and believed that he would be the starter later on in the season. In fact, these are the things I said in another forum.

3rd Round. O.J. Atogwe FS
http://www.stlouisrams.com/article/48332/

One of the best picks in the draft. Atogwe has the talent to have been a second round pick. He performed extrememly well while at Stanford and is easily the best kept secret of the draft. He will enter into a heavily contested Safety battle in St.Louis and I expect him to win it. He has the intelligence to be a starter from day one and will develop into one of the leagues premier safeties.

4th Round. Jerome Carter SS
http://www.stlouisrams.com/article/48344/

This guy has scary talent. He is a monster in the run game and is effective against the pass. He does enter into a heavily contested safety battle though. I have questions on whether he will be able to keep up mentally with the likes of Stone and Atogwe this early in his career. I expect to see a lot of him this year, but I also think he might see more time at linebacker than anything.

I still would love to see Carter put on some weight and move up to address our needs at OLB, but I guess we'll all see how this season goes.

[chiguy]

If he can't tackle in the secondary with no blockers, what makes you think he can shed blockers and make tackles up at the line?

[Nick]

I think Carter would have potential as a WLB because of his tackling ability and solid play in the box combined with his less than ideal size for the position. However, we already have Pisa there, and I don't see Carter dethrowning Pisa from his starting job.

[CanadianRam!]

Well, he could add weight much like Furrey did last season. I just get the feeling that he would be a beast at the OLB position. He's not asked to cover as much there and he's used more against the run.

this exactly what can happen if he switches to OLB.
become another furrey type player that can make a few big plays once in a while but is nothiing more than a backup on most teams.

[RamsFan16]

No offense, but this might be the worst idea since the New Math.

Not really if he could pack on 20-25lbs like Furrey did he would be a beast at Linebacker. Nice idea RamJax39

[chiguy]

Not really if he could pack on 20-25lbs like Furrey did he would be a beast at Linebacker. Nice idea RamJax39

Let's run down the facts here, folks. First, our safeties were awful last year, particularly at tackle. Second, Carter was a safety and didn't see a whole lot of playing time, implying that he wasn't better than the starters at tackling. Third, when Carter did get playing time our tackling problems in the secondary didn't get better. From this you guys infer that Carter will be a great outside linebacker? Nutters.

[RamsFan16]

Let's run down the facts here, folks. First, our safeties were awful last year, particularly at tackle. Second, Carter was a safety and didn't see a whole lot of playing time, implying that he wasn't better than the starters at tackling. Third, when Carter did get playing time our tackling problems in the secondary didn't get better. From this you guys infer that Carter will be a great outside linebacker? Nutters.

If you don't play it doens't mean you cant tackle? You really think that he didn't start because he couldn't tackle? Thats a bogus statement. He didn't start becuase he wasnt ready to and he didn't know the playbook. Not that he couldn't tackle.

[Nick]

If you don't play it doens't mean you cant tackle? You really think that he didn't start because he couldn't tackle? Thats a bogus statement. He didn't start becuase he wasnt ready to and he didn't know the playbook. Not that he couldn't tackle.

So if after a summer of camp, he wasn't ready to start at his natural position, how long would it take him to get ready to start at a foreign position like OLB? And what do you do with Pisa, who is currently filling the WLB role that Carter would have to play if he made the transition? Furthermore, chiguy brings up a good point about the tackling. It didn't get better when Carter was subbed onto the field.

[RamJackson39]

Well Carter had a nice amount of tackles from the safety position even in limited playing time. I was really thinking of this move more if the Rams switched to a base 3-4 defense. As I wacth Carter I thought that he would be disruptive as an OLB seeing how quickly he was able to find a way to the ball. The guy has heart, and I think that eventually he's going to be a good player somewhere on the defense.

[Nick]

I was really thinking of this move more if the Rams switched to a base 3-4 defense.

Teams that play the 3-4 defense have pretty massive OLBs. The Pats have McGinest (6'5", 270) and Rosevelt Colvin (6'3", 250). The Steelers have Clark Haggans (6'4", 243) and Joey Porter (6'3", 250). When converting a player to play OLB in the 3-4, you're much more likely to convert a speed pass rushing DE than you are to convert a SS. That's because they're rush backers who will likely be asked to engage an offensive tackle in some situations; defensive end-type players fit this bill. A 225-pound Carter get blown off the line if he were giving up 75 pounds and a load of strength to an OT. We'd be better off asking Little to make the transition than Carter.