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  • #1

    Positions I Feel Good About

    The positions on the roster I feel OK about:

    1. MLB. The kid is good.

    2. Safety. Dahl has been good in Butler's absence.

    3. Center. Not dominant, but he ain't the problem either.

    4. Cornerback. We still need another one, but our CBs don't get embarrassed each week.

    5. Number #2 Receiver. Between Robinson and Avery, one of them is bound to be good enough for that.

    6. Defensive End. I don't feel great about this because of our lack pass rush, but our DEs have been good against the run. Long in particular looks like a good one against the run. I bet he'd get to the passer with real help elsewhere.


    Positions I feel only so-so about:

    1. DT. They're better this year, but dominant they ain't.

    2. WLB. Witherspoon is fine, but he doesn't stand out like he did two years ago either. He isn't worth the big money he's getting paid, but at least he shows up and does his job.

    3. RB. People will hate this being listed there, but I wonder how many more productive seasons Jackson will have and we have nothing behind. If he goes down, our offense would be beyond bad.

    4. OT. Two first rounders starting (when Smith is healthy), but no dominance there. Jury is clearly out on Smith and Barron is at best mediocre.


    The worst positions:

    1. QB. Combine Boller's athleticism and moxie with Bulger's accuracy, and you'd have a decent quarterback. Sadly, they're separate people.

    2. TE. McMichaels has the dropsies and Fells still can't earn starting time.

    3. FB...unimpressed by Karney.

    4. SLB. Lennon...no. Vorba...no. Grant? Probably not.

    5. #1WR. Do we have an NFL #1 on the roster? I haven't seen him yet.

    6. OG. Bell has been awful (RT next year?) and I don't understand anyone's fascination with Incognito.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Positions I Feel Good About

    Originally posted by chiguy View Post
    The positions on the roster I feel OK about:

    1. MLB. The kid is good.

    2. Safety. Dahl has been good in Butler's absence.

    3. Center. Not dominant, but he ain't the problem either.

    4. Cornerback. We still need another one, but our CBs don't get embarrassed each week.

    5. Number #2 Receiver. Between Robinson and Avery, one of them is bound to be good enough for that.

    6. Defensive End. I don't feel great about this because of our lack pass rush, but our DEs have been good against the run. Long in particular looks like a good one against the run. I bet he'd get to the passer with real help elsewhere.


    Positions I feel only so-so about:

    1. DT. They're better this year, but dominant they ain't.

    2. WLB. Witherspoon is fine, but he doesn't stand out like he did two years ago either. He isn't worth the big money he's getting paid, but at least he shows up and does his job.

    3. RB. People will hate this being listed there, but I wonder how many more productive seasons Jackson will have and we have nothing behind. If he goes down, our offense would be beyond bad.

    4. OT. Two first rounders starting (when Smith is healthy), but no dominance there. Jury is clearly out on Smith and Barron is at best mediocre.


    The worst positions:

    1. QB. Combine Boller's athleticism and moxie with Bulger's accuracy, and you'd have a decent quarterback. Sadly, they're separate people.

    2. TE. McMichaels has the dropsies and Fells still can't earn starting time.

    3. FB...unimpressed by Karney.

    4. SLB. Lennon...no. Vorba...no. Grant? Probably not.

    5. #1WR. Do we have an NFL #1 on the roster? I haven't seen him yet.

    6. OG. Bell has been awful (RT next year?) and I don't understand anyone's fascination with Incognito.
    I agree with you on a lot of those points except

    Its hard to say Barron and Smith are mediocre when it just takes time to develop and they are coming along ok. Definatley not wowing in games but seem to be coming along ok. Wouldn't say "mediocre" at best.

    I agree with you about depth behind Jackson. They would rather give Mike Karney carries than use Gado as a change of pace back. Idk much about Gado but he hasn't done a ton to impress.

    Karney is doing just fine runs well and does fine at blocking. I think he's fine as the FB and the protection problems are way behind him.

    MicMichael is definitely dropping a lot of balls. He's not seeming to be doing that very as a pass catcher and his blocking is fair and maybe questionable. Fells is showing he can catch well and a nice pass catch TE. "not earning starting time" meh he gets his time to go downfield for passes I wouldn't really point that out.

    Vobora is injured so hard to make a judgement about him since he hasn't played much and Lenon has been ok but hard for me to personally say much cause I haven't noticed what he does.

    Bell I agree about probably the worst starting linemen we have.

    Also just to kinda touch on other things you said.

    Boller has been decent other than the int and fumble in the last 1 games, idk why you said that, Bulger lets give him the year before we say he's bad either.

    Ya good points but just my view compared to yours as a second opinion.

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Positions I Feel Good About

      I'd disagree on tight end. We don't have an Antonio Gates, but it seems like we're making a point of using two tight end sets to take advantage of our talent there.

      Conversely, I'd downgrade our defensive ends to the so-so category. Yeah, they're hard workers, but I don't see us getting sacks without blitzing at this point.

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Positions I Feel Good About

        Originally posted by chiguy View Post
        5. #1WR. Do we have an NFL #1 on the roster? I haven't seen him yet.
        No hope for you that Laurent Robinson could end up being that guy?

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Positions I Feel Good About

          I can agree Lenon is a bum and Bell and Cogs aren't good. The tackles have been OK, but Jason Smith hasn't been completely healthy. The WRs just like the rest of the team are young and improving. Burton had a good game and has the best hands on the team by far. Avery has improved of his horrendous start and is getting some yac. Amdendola is comming along, but he needs to hold on to the ball. McMike still droppin some balls, but he and Fells have been more affective in the passing game. S-Jax is a beast end of argument. DEs good against the run, but could do better as pass rushers.

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Positions I Feel Good About

            Originally posted by Lange View Post
            Its hard to say Barron and Smith are mediocre when it just takes time to develop and they are coming along ok. Definatley not wowing in games but seem to be coming along ok. Wouldn't say "mediocre" at best.
            Well, remember that I'm talking about positions and not necessarily players. Until we see Smith do it consistently -- and I'm definitely hopeful on that score -- I don't think we can say we're comfortable with the position.

            As for Barron...how much more time do you want to give the guy? He's not good enough to be a dominant LT and he's terrible at RT. My hope is that we try Bell out at RT, Smith at LT, and Greco at G and that miraculously gives a good line next year.


            Vobora is injured so hard to make a judgement about him since he hasn't played much and Lenon has been ok but hard for me to personally say much cause I haven't noticed what he does.
            Vobora wouldn't be starting if we didn't have serious cap issues; Draft would be there instead. I'd be willing to bet that SLB is a position the staff wants to improve on and that its high on their list.

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Positions I Feel Good About

              Originally posted by cfh128 View Post
              No hope for you that Laurent Robinson could end up being that guy?
              Not until he stays on the field enough for us to see if he can do it consistently.

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: Positions I Feel Good About

                I disagree with you on feeling good about Long. He has not produce and is a border line bust. He only had two tackles, no QB pressure, and no QB sacks and so far has been a big disappointment for being drafted so high. The Rams next year needs to draft
                or through free agency get a player who can put pressure on the opposing team qb.
                Last edited by mtah6245; -10-12-2009, 05:59 AM.

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: Positions I Feel Good About

                  Vobora is not hurt. He is serving a suspension for violating the drug policy. The fact that he was the last player picked in last years draft and was starting for us speaks volumes about the dearth of talent we have at the position.

                  I agree with many of these assessments. Our defensive line needs to do a better job getting to the QB- it's as simple as that. We can talk all day about "Long occupying blockers", blah, blah, blah- but if you don't pressure the QB and get a couple of sacks from your defensive linemen each game he'll pick apart your secondary.

                  If the offensive line plays like it apparently did yesterday, we can move the ball and win. Problem is, they don't do it each week and suffer breakdowns and injuries. Without the line, nothing works offensively.

                  We need a feature receiver. Laurent Robinson did a solid job for us before the injury, but I do not believe he is a bona fide #1 guy. He is a good 2nd or 3rd receiver.

                  The QB situation has been discussed to death on multiple threads and need not be repeated. We need a QB who will be the face of the franchise for the next 10-12 years.

                  Very disappointed in the Mike Karney acquisition. Maybe I'm ignorant, but i looked at this guy as maybe a poor man's Mike Alstott. He's not even a poor man's Madison Hedgecock.

                  Laurinitis is a player. Love the guy. Defensively, we're not far away.

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: Positions I Feel Good About

                    I don't see how anyone could look at Steven Jackson's stats and reach the conclusion that his lead blocker, Karney, is not doing his job.

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: Positions I Feel Good About

                      Originally posted by chiguy View Post


                      4. OT. Two first rounders starting (when Smith is healthy), but no dominance there. Jury is clearly out on Smith and Barron is at best mediocre.

                      OK this is really PISSING me off.

                      have u watched a single Ram game this year?

                      Barron is stepping up and doing a great job.

                      Last week Allen had 4.5 sacks. This week Barron held him only 2 tckles none of them were a sack. I dont think he allowed a sack all year (correct me if im wrong i did not watch last weeks game)

                      Smith has been injured but he has been better than mediocre so far

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: Positions I Feel Good About

                        Originally posted by mtah6245 View Post
                        I disagree with you on feeling good about Long. He has not produce and is a border line bust. He only had two tackles, no QB pressure, and no QB sacks and so far has been a big disappointment for being drafted so high. The Rams next year needs to draft
                        or through free agency get a player who can put pressure on the opposing team qb.
                        Borderline bust? Seriously? He had 40 tackles and 4 sacks as a rookie. He has 17 tackles so far in the midst of an abysmal start by the ENTIRE team. He definitely has improvements to make (as do most young players) but to say he has not produced and is a borderline bust is going a bit overboard in my opinion.
                        Steve

                        What you see is what you get, but what you see depends on where you stand.

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: Positions I Feel Good About

                          5. #1WR. Do we have an NFL #1 on the roster? I haven't seen him yet.
                          TE. McMichaels has the dropsies and Fells still can't earn starting time.
                          I agree on the WR no ture #1 they are all 2's or 3's IMO. McMichaels has been disapointing.
                          :ramlogo:

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Re: Positions I Feel Good About

                            I think folks are so infuriated by Barron and Incognito's stupid penalties in the past, that they overlook some of their positive play. I think both of them played really good games against the Vikings and I'm encouraged by that.

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Re: Positions I Feel Good About

                              Jared Allen looks unstoppable right now, and for Barron to hold him in check like that is really a statement to the positive strides he has been making on the left side. I don't think Barron can be blamed for Allen's fumble return either.

                              Comment

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                              • rNemesis
                                HOW CLOSE IS THIS TEAM TO COMPETING?(VERY LONG)Please provide feedback
                                by rNemesis
                                First of all let me just say that these last few years have been VERY frustrating and embarassing for me as a RAM FAN and I'm sure you guys are just as disappointed. I have watched my team go from the greatest show on turf to, as a washington post columnist said after the redskins loss, " the most miserable mass on grass". MY main question here is , " How far are the rams from being a decent competitive rock solid team? Its a long way to go; it doesnt happen overnight but it shouldnt take FOREVER either.


                                But I am not gonna sit here and talk about that all night. We know what has happened. We know what we've become. 13 straight losses dating back to last season. 3-13 in 2007 and 2-14 in 2008. 5 wins in the last 30 or so games? ( not sure exactly the stats) That is horrible.

                                Let's go back year by year as to how we finished record wise.
                                In the 1990's we were bad. But so were other teams which are now good today. But if you look at our 90's record to others, you will see that we were bad most of those years. Other teams had bad years too during the 90's but it was only really the lions, bengals, cardinals and saints. That should show you how bad of a team the Rams are. We never finished over 7 wins from 1990 up until 1999, which was our superbowl year. Which now tells me that the Rams have been bad, are now bad, and I hope we dont continue to be bad. But lately one has to believe that that is the penalty for our actions.

                                2000- 10-6 DECENT
                                2001- 14-2 ( excellent; we beat the pats that season but lost in the SB to the same :|)
                                2002- 7-9 Not bad
                                2003- 12-4 excellent
                                2004- 8-8 not bad; competitive
                                2005- I think we were 7-9 or 6-10 cant remember
                                2006- 8-8
                                2007- 3-13 horrible
                                2008- 2-14 lousy

                                I am not surprised at how we have fallen so badly. What I cant seem to understand is how fast we have fallen as such. How come we havent been able to stop the bleeding and bounce back like other teams have seemed to?

                                So tell me guys. How far off is this team from competing? Well, I look at the league and I have noticed that most of the other teams have playmakers in a lot of key positions. Why is that? Because they do a great job of DRAFTING PLAYERS THAT FIT INTO THEIR SCHEME WELL. We on the other hand have not done that lately. We have drafted players that have done well IN THEIR SCHEME and so it didnt matter to the previous regime ( Jay ZYgmunt ) if they fit or not the point was they wanted them so much that they drafted them regardless of their college scheme and success. In the era since Martz left, we have drafted the likes of busts ( or so they appear to be) like Tye Hill, Adam Carriker, Claude Wroten, Fakhir Brown, etc. The list goes on and on.

                                THIS HAS REALLY HURT THIS ORGANIZATION SO MUCH THAT IT IS REARING ITS UGLY HEAD NOW. Bad drafting has put us in such a talentless hole that...
                                -09-29-2009, 07:43 PM
                              • 39thebeast
                                Are we that far off defensively?... offense well
                                by 39thebeast
                                Defensively get me a great LE through the draft or FA and then add a dominant SLB *cough* cough* Eric Norwood OLB South Carolina, so Vobora can back up all three spots and we should be good with the platoon of DTs we are using(Ramsey, Gibson, Ryan, Scott, possibly Carriker?). I really dont think we are that far off on defense from being good, when healthy. We have young corners and they will develop if we add playmakers at SLB and LE.

                                Offense thats a whole other story. Our offense is literally 1 on 11 now that Robinson is out. I know its way early, but the whole offense needs to be rebuilt IMO. People need to be demoted or cut. I will say we have 2 maybe 3 great building blocks if Robinson can stay healthy. Obviously Steven Jackson and Jason Smith. Its really early, but I only see 4 guaranteed starting spots on offense next year(S-Jax, Smith, Robinson, and Brown). I could see youngsters like Avery and Burton getting demoted. I can see vets like Bell and Bulger getting cut (for the record im not a Bulger hater). Guys like McMichael, Cogs, and Barron not being resigned. Guys like Smith and Brown switching positions Smith to left Tackle and Brown to Guard. We need some type of spark offensively that we don't have now. That could come in a variety of ways play calling, a true number one threat, a big cohesive offensive line, a playmaking TE, or dare I say a young Franchise QB. Frankly we need all those things.

                                My point is those complaining about the D need to stop. Spags has only had 1 year to build it and he done a good job so far. Spending the majority of our picks and offseason cap space on defense has put Spags a few pieces away, granted those pieces wont be easy to fill, but it can be done. They have set up offensive building blocks along with some complementary guys in 3 parts of the defense Chris Long on the D-line with a host of young DTs. James Laurantis complemented by the vet Spoon and young guy Vobora. Then our Best defensive player of OJ complemented by Bartell and Butler.

                                Offensively we are all going to need alot more patience considering how few starters may be starting next year. Those of you who think Boller is the messiah he isn't lets get real. The new regime really hasen't put there stamp on changing the offense just yet. Take away the replacements of oft injured Orlando Pace and Torry Holt the who is a couple steps slower and Jason Brown is the only new guy. Unlike the defense we can't say the new organization has set up their own building blocks besides Smith (S-jax technically is Linny/MArtz guy)
                                -09-27-2009, 09:19 PM
                              • Goldenfleece
                                State of the Rams: Offense
                                by Goldenfleece
                                The rebuilding process looks quite formidable at this point. We have all kinds of needs all over the place. But how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. So without further ado, here is my best effort to prioritize needs on the offense. Defense to follow eventually.


                                Quarterbacks
                                Current Options: Bulger, Boller, Null
                                Evaluation: It is my personal opinion that although Bulger's problems this year had more to do with protection and the play of receivers, his skill set is not ideally suited for a West Coast Offense. He is at his best when he has time to see what is happening and go through his checkdowns. He can be very accurate throwing into tight coverage when he has his timing down with receivers who run sharp routes because he knows where they are going to be when the ball arrives. We don't have such seasoned receivers, and the offense we are running relies more on quick decision-making than precise down-field passing. Rumors have already begun circulating about whether Bulger will remain with the team next season. Boller's strength is his ability to improvise, but he is not accurate enough to be a long-term solution. Null appears to be a player with some upside, but right now it is far more likely he has a future as a back-up than as a starter.
                                Off-season Priority: Very High. Odds are that our next winning season will be with a quarterback who is not currently on the roster.

                                Runningbacks
                                Current Options: Steven Jackson, Samkon Gado, Kenneth Darby, Chris Ogbannaya, Mike Karney
                                Evaluation: Jackson is easily one of the top backs in the league right now. He breaks tackles, has good top-end speed, and is an above-average pass catcher at the position to boot.

                                Gado bounced around the league for a couple years before landing with the Rams and accomplished little with the team in 2009. Darby's 5.6 yards/carry in limited action in 2009 looks rather impressive on the surface, but if you throw out his single longest run, the average drops to a more pedestrian 3.8 yards/carry for the remainder. Ogbannaya did not work his way onto the game day roster until late in the season but did see some action in the final two games of the season. I would think that Gado will likely be gone before the start of the season; at this point in their careers, Darby and Ogbannaya would probably not be above third string on most teams in the league.

                                Mike Karney is an archetypal fullback, but rarely receives the ball even in short yardage situations.
                                Off-season Priority: Medium-Low. There is a substantial drop-off between our current #1 and #2 options. Entering the season without a better #2 would be risky but not disastrous.

                                Wide Receivers
                                Current Options: Laurent Robinson, Donnie Avery, Keenan Burton, Brandon Gibson, Danny Amendola, Brooks Foster, Ruvell Martin, Jordan Kent
                                Evaluation: Don't let the number of receivers fool you; probably...
                                -01-14-2010, 07:57 PM
                              • RamsFan16
                                What we have, what we need ( Long )
                                by RamsFan16
                                What we have, and what we need

                                Offensively, the Rams have a lot of potential, unfortunately that doesn’t automatically translate to All Pro talent. As cornerstones, we have several. Starting with the Offensive Line, we have Jason Brown, and Jason Smith. Both young, and talented, with room to improve. Jason Smith the rookie RT has had a few injuries this season, with the most recent being a severe concussion. Prior to the injury, he was playing at a very high level. While run blocking, Smith was a absolute bulldozer, driving opponents back, pancaking them, and being relentless. While in pass protection, he showed much improvement. He started out slow and got had a “Welcome to the NFL, Rookie!” moment when Julius Peppers made a comedian out of Smith. Other than that one play, Smith has been solid in pass protection, and outstanding in the running game. The Rams are set at C, and RT, and some could say LG for the future. Yes, LG, Jacob Bell has been playing much better this season, believe it or not. Starting lineman Alex Barron ( LT ) and Richie Incognito ( RG ) have expiring contracts at the end of the season, with that, the question “Do the Rams bring them back?” comes up. Granted, they make boneheaded penalties on occasion, they’re players, they’ve becoming accustomed to this scheme and other than penalties have played at a “winning level”. Even if they’re not guaranteed a starting spot, bring them back. A team with enough holes the way it is does not need to create anymore for themselves. At worst, the two of them will be solid backups. Bring in some draft picks, or Free Agents to compete with them, make them earn it, but we cannot just let them walk, and create 2 holes on the line when they’ve gelled together pretty well as of late
                                .
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                                -12-09-2009, 03:20 AM
                              • RamsFan16
                                Why the heck not us? Why the heck not this year?
                                by RamsFan16
                                I've been watching Highlight videos, looking over our roster, look more into our transactions, reading around the web and what not. And we get looked past, we get down played, we get ZERO credit. During the season, and even towards the end, we had spurts where you thought, damn, if we could play this way all the time. We'd be a force. Look at Dallas, Washington, and a few games towards the end including Atlanta. Along the way we kept optimistic saying "We need a new head Coach, a Center, true Blocking Full back, someone to play over Klop and actually block. We need a stud Safety, and a stud LB."

                                And we did, we actually got a Pro Bowl quality Center in Jason Brown, a Pro Bowl Fullback in Karney, a stud Safety who will do whatever he needs and is a damn good run stopper in James Butler, resigned Bartell and Atogwe assuring a young backfield with a load of potential. We brought in Steve Spagnuolo as HC and Ken Flajole as Defensive Coordinator, both who are VERY well respected around the league. The Giants always had the past few season under Spagnuolo, a dominate defense that we all wanted to be like, and Flajole even thought the Panthers defense didn't play up to par, made sure those Linebackers played the way they should. And even if you ask Panther fans, they'll say that the strongest part of the defense were the linebackers which is a Flajole coached crew. And with the tight end, we wanted a blocking one, and we got a straight up blocker, whose well known for it in Bill Bajema, and got a good young LB out of Ohio State in James Lauranitis. We moved Witherspoon back outside to his playmaking position, got Lauranitis and have a opening at the SLB position. Whoever wins it will be a decent player, Tinoisamoa, Draft and Culberson are quality players. We got what we wished for, why not us?

                                The QB? Marc Bulger was a Pro Bowler, and now is in a slump. Is it mental? Probably, is it physically? Probably. Either way, I know I've been a hypricrate about this, but under this new offense where it's going to be much more Quarterback friendly, I fully expect him to return to his old form, and reports out of camp are that he's been looking like his old self. He's definitely got help this offseason with Jason Brown, Jason Smith, Billy Bajema (to block), Karney (to block) and Laurant Smith (a big deepfield target whose showed a lot of potential). In this offseason it's going to be power running which sets up the mid - deep range passes. Bulger excels in mid-range passes and has shown that he can get it deep. He also will have the chance to dump it off short to Jackson. I think we're fine here.

                                The RB? We have Steven Jackson, a Pro Bowler, a guy whose had 4 straight 1,000 yard seasons, with a terrible Head Coach, bad offensive scheme and bad offensive line. Add in maulers Jason Brown, Jason Smith, Billy Bajema, and Mike Karney. And you then get a great young rookie who has the sky as the limit for potential, two younger...
                                -05-07-2009, 10:17 PM
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