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  • #1

    Media Myths

    There seems to be a lot of myths out there in the media these days. Here are a few of the most prominent:

    MYTH: The sale of the Rams is preventing them from being active in the free agent market.

    REALITY: There really is no significant free agent market at this point. The uncapped year converted a large percentage of potential UFAs to RFAs and, as a result, there have been few "major" signings this offseason throughout the league. Anyone can speculate as to whether the Rams might have done more if the sale were completed, but that's pure speculation. To state it as if its a fact is misleading, at best.

    MYTH: The Rams aren't making enough of an effort to sign O.J. Atogwe.

    REALITY: We don't know what the Rams have offered. All we do know is that they have been dancing this dance for two years now. Given that fact, I think it is a safe assumption that the Rams believe that Atogwe is overvaluing himself withi his long-term contract demands. Given that he's coming off an injury (possibly two), and he is about to turn 29, they may be right.

    MYTH: The Rams run defense is horrible.

    REALITY: It went largely unnoticed, but the Rams run defense improved significantly last year. In 2008, they gave up an average of 4.9 ypc. In 2009, that number improved to 4.4 ypc. That is the same ypc allowed by New England, and better than New Orleans. Add to that a run-stuffing DT (Robbins), more size at the LB position (Diggs, Carpenter) and DBs who like to play the run (Murphy, Payne) and this could be a strong point of the team.

    MYTH: If the league approves the sale to Kroenke by bending the cross-ownership rules, it will start a legal battle with Khan.

    REALITY: While Khan, like anyone else, can certainly try to bring a legal action, he would not have a viable claim. Simply put, Khan has no standing to challenge the league's interpretation (or, if necessary, modification/amendment) of its rules. Moreover, you have to ask yourself, what would be the point of such an action? Even if Khan could overturn the approval of Kroenke as the owner, the league would still have to approve him. How likely is it that they would do so after a heated legal battle?
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Media Myths

    The Rams have stated that the ownership situation is not affecting FA. To an extent I believe that, simply because they have money set aside. This also makes them reluctant to blow it all on one guy however. So it affects it but only to a certain extent in my opinion.

    I'm really not concerned with Atogwe at this point. Tired of fans freaking out over the guy and it's getting annoying. He had a down year last year, he's going to be on the cusp of 30 coming off of two injuries and wants to be one of the highest paid safeties in the league with his bad tackling....enough already. Some players you just can't keep and Atogwe is shaping up to be one of them. Let him go because it seems to me he's intent on playing elsewhere while he still has some years left anyway.

    The thing that skews that numbers with the Rams run defense is the fact that they could shut down the run in the first half of just about every game, then get gashed (particularly on stretch plays) for big runs late in the game. People don't remember the first half shutdowns, they remember the 60 yarders by backup running backs, and that's understandable. Certainly an outsider looking at the Rams who does nothing but look at what other people have to say and youtube highlights (that almost always show the Rams doing something bad..) to form their opinions is going to say "RAMS SUCKZ!" (eh pretty rightfully so) and subsequently that just about every thing we did was horrible.

    It takes a fan to break down film to see what the real problem was. We suffered from lack of play makers and lack of speed on the outside all year. When our defense finally got tired all of this was exposed even more and we got gashed for long runs that skewed stats and game performance averages.

    This coming year we need our big men to occupy more blockers to stop them from gaining that second level (Robbins) and we need more speed on the outside (Carpenter). We'll see how this year shakes up but let's not assume we will remain the same as last year because you have yet to see what we currently have on the field. Is it wrong to assume young guys will get better?

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Media Myths

      I don't agree that the ownership issue is impacting free agency. I think the lack of a CBA and that next year will be a lock out season are FAR LARGER factors in the decision making process.

      I think the lockout year IS a major factor in long term contracts. Let's say you are looking at OJ (29 years old). You sign him to a 3 year contract. In 2010 you get him for a reasonable price / 2011 he's not playing / 2012 he's now an old guy and you've got him locked up when you probably don't want him at 31 years of age. I think it's a factor. You only really got 1 year of play out of him. Why not just go young in 2010 w/ Dahl, risk the lockout in 2011 and sign someone fresh in 2012 when the league returns?

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Media Myths

        That's a good point that I had overlooked. I guess my unwillingness to believe that the retards making decision would be so stupid as to let football die for an entire season...

        But yes no football in 2011 would be devastating for the older guys in the league who can't afford to miss years. Jackson would be almost 30 by the time he plays football for us again.

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Media Myths

          Originally posted by RebelYell View Post
          I don't agree that the ownership issue is impacting free agency. I think the lack of a CBA and that next year will be a lock out season are FAR LARGER factors in the decision making process.

          I think the lockout year IS a major factor in long term contracts. Let's say you are looking at OJ (29 years old). You sign him to a 3 year contract. In 2010 you get him for a reasonable price / 2011 he's not playing / 2012 he's now an old guy and you've got him locked up when you probably don't want him at 31 years of age. I think it's a factor. You only really got 1 year of play out of him. Why not just go young in 2010 w/ Dahl, risk the lockout in 2011 and sign someone fresh in 2012 when the league returns?
          There also is the addition of the total width and breadth of unknown factors that will materialize with the new CBA. The owners and GM's have no idea what will and what won't be allowed into consideration for the collective bargaining agreement and subsequently have no idea of what the salary cap will look like or how it will be structured.

          Will there be a hard cap? Will it be a penalty cap like the NBA or MLB? How much will the new salary cap start at? Will it contain provisions penalizing teams that dumped players and their contracts this year and in 2011? Will there be a rookie cap? The release of Jamarcus Russell who made over $100K per completion screams that a rookie cap is necessary to prevent a top 5 pick flame-out from crippling a franchise for 5-7 years.

          The change from the 4 year URFA to the 6 year URFA classification has been discussed ad nauseum insofar that it made for a very weak free agent class. The depth of the free agency pool was very shallow and teams were smart enough to not get in bidding wars with each other and pander to free agents who wanted long term contracts with the aforementioned uncertainties of the future CBA.

          FWIW, I've even seen it mentioned by one of our disintelligent members on DallasCowboys.com that Jerry Jones was broke and therefore wasn't signing any free agents this offseason.

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Media Myths

            I don't want to pee in anyone's Wheaties, but the running defense stat is a little skewed. While we did only allow 4.4 ypc, we also gave up 137.6 rushing yards per game which is ranked 27th in the NFL and allowed 24 rushing tds which is tied with the Raiders for last in the NFL. We also allowed 6 runs of 40 yards or more which is also last in the NFL. I will agree that we have improved though since in 2008 we allowed 154.7 rushing ypg ranked 29th and 26 rushing tds also tied for last. I think my point is that while we have improved we still weren't that good against the run. I think with Robbins and the other new players we will be better, but I'm not sold on it being our strong point.

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Media Myths

              Originally posted by Judaxi View Post
              I don't want to pee in anyone's Wheaties, but the running defense stat is a little skewed. While we did only allow 4.4 ypc, we also gave up 137.6 rushing yards per game which is ranked 27th in the NFL and allowed 24 rushing tds which is tied with the Raiders for last in the NFL. We also allowed 6 runs of 40 yards or more which is also last in the NFL. I will agree that we have improved though since in 2008 we allowed 154.7 rushing ypg ranked 29th and 26 rushing tds also tied for last. I think my point is that while we have improved we still weren't that good against the run. I think with Robbins and the other new players we will be better, but I'm not sold on it being our strong point.
              You have to look at those stats in context too. The Rams' offense virtually never gave the team a lead, so opposing teams would pound and pound and pound with the running game. Eventually, the D is bound to give up a big run.

              Overall, though, there clearly was significant improvement, and that trend should continue.

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: Media Myths

                Originally posted by Judaxi View Post
                I don't want to pee in anyone's Wheaties, but the running defense stat is a little skewed. While we did only allow 4.4 ypc, we also gave up 137.6 rushing yards per game which is ranked 27th in the NFL and allowed 24 rushing tds which is tied with the Raiders for last in the NFL. We also allowed 6 runs of 40 yards or more which is also last in the NFL. I will agree that we have improved though since in 2008 we allowed 154.7 rushing ypg ranked 29th and 26 rushing tds also tied for last. I think my point is that while we have improved we still weren't that good against the run. I think with Robbins and the other new players we will be better, but I'm not sold on it being our strong point.
                Well yes, but which stat is skewed? The 4.4? Or the 137.6? Or neither?

                Here's what I'm saying....

                Yes, the Rams ranked 27th in rushing yards allowed, but they also ranked 27th in rushing attempts. They gave up more yards because teams attempted to run on them more.

                What concerns me from last year's run D is the astonishing efficiency with which opposing offenses scored by the run. The Rams ranked 31st in defending attempts/TD on the ground. Opposing offenses found the endzone with every 20.8 rushing attempts against the Rams last year. Only the Giants (20.1) were worse.

                However, with regards to defending the longball, that is to say attempts/20+yard gain, the Rams were 17th at 41.7 rushes for every 20+ yard burst. Not great, but right now league average is a success when you're talking about a team with 6 wins in 3 years.
                The more things change, the more they stay the same.

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: Media Myths

                  Originally posted by AvengerRam View Post
                  You have to look at those stats in context too. The Rams' offense virtually never gave the team a lead, so opposing teams would pound and pound and pound with the running game. Eventually, the D is bound to give up a big run.

                  Overall, though, there clearly was significant improvement, and that trend should continue.
                  That's a good point that I didn't think about. Thinking of it like that you're right that is significant improvement that hopefully with the addition of our new players we can build on.

                  Comment

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                  Related Topics

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                  • MauiRam
                    Nice perspective on Atogwe's resigning ..
                    by MauiRam
                    Atogwe's odyssey has happy ending, back where he started
                    By Jason La Canfora | NFL Network

                    During a time of relatively unprecedented uncertainty regarding the future of the collective bargaining agreement, and in a year unlike any other in the free-agency era, few players have experienced these unique circumstances like O.J. Atogwe.

                    A year ago, the Rams safety was a franchise player. Then, as a result of the quirks in the system this year, he found himself a restricted free agent, placed with a low tender initially in March. The Rams opted not to raise that tender, retained his rights through the spring, and then, unable to reach a long-term settlement, Atogwe became an unrestricted free agent on June 1. While many of his peers have lamented their plight, refusing to attend workouts and minicamps and sounding off on management, Atogwe ended up signing a five-year extension back with St. Louis.

                    How about that? A bona fide, feel-good, happy-ending NFL contract story? In this, the summer of our labor discontent? I love it.

                    Atogwe's situation was the first of its kind in league history, and had numerous twists and turns, what with the various tender deadlines and the delayed unrestricted free agency, but the sides emerged, smiling, with a five-year, $32 million extension. Amid all the bombast, it's great to know deals can still get done and fair-mindedness is still rewarded.

                    "It speaks to the kind of person O.J. is," said Kevin Demoff, the Rams executive vice president of football operations and a primary negotiator for the club, "and the importance he placed on being one of the key veteran leaders in helping the Rams change direction. It also speaks to the partnership between O.J. and (general manager) Billy (Devaney) and (coach) Steve (Spagnuolo), through all of this uncertainty to be able to keep a strong relationship and keep an open dialogue, and we never got to the point where either side was frustrated or displeased publicly, and I'm impressed with the way all of those people handled it, which allowed ultimately the right deal to come together.

                    "The spirit of cooperation between Steve and Billy and O.J. is really what drove this deal. And I hope people realize how unique of a person O.J. is to handle the off-the-field contract issues so well over the past two years. And we appreciate his vision for moving this club forward and being a key part of that."

                    Atogwe is a thoughtful player, mature beyond his 29 years, who valued staying with the only franchise he's ever played for. Despite the lean years -- and it's been very lean in St. Louis -- he followed his instincts, and his heart.

                    "This is where I'm supposed to be," Atogwe said during a conference call Wednesday. "This is where my work is still to be done. St. Louis has been my home these last five years and my time here was not...
                    -06-30-2010, 12:03 PM
                  • thickandthin
                    I'm getting scared...
                    by thickandthin
                    Why is Atogwe not getting signed back? I know he had an injury but he is like the leader of the defense.. we can't afford to lose him and we are running out of time.
                    -05-04-2010, 07:00 PM
                  • The Optimistic Lamb
                    Drafting A Safety
                    by The Optimistic Lamb
                    I'm finding it hard to believe that the Rams are going to pay OJ Atogwae 7 mil for the 2011 season, when Polamalu was paid 4.3 mil in 2010. Now, not to put down Atogwae, but Polamalu is a once in a lifetime player.

                    I don't believe its fair to the rest of the Rams defenders if one player is grossly overpaid, while the rest of them have to cut a deal. Nor do I believe its a sound business decision, what leverage will the Rams FO have with Laurinaitis when his contract has to be renewed?

                    Please check my facts, im not a contract expert, but Atogwae should not make more, as much, or slightly less than Polamalu. What about Ed Reed? Bob Sanders? Daren Sharper? Antrell Rolle? Brian Dawkins? Hell... Earl Thomas and Eric Berry had more picks than Atogwae this season, and they're rookies. Although order is up for debate, any way you wanna look at it, there's a long list of names before OJ Atogwae.

                    His paycheck is just too much...

                    So what does the clanram think of drafting a replacement? Possibly 1st or 2nd?
                    Yes, its too much to spend, draft a replacement
                    33.33%
                    7
                    No, pay da man!!!!
                    66.67%
                    14
                    -01-17-2011, 01:21 AM
                  • mikhal5569
                    Q and A's W/Randy Karraker
                    by mikhal5569
                    Randy Karraker Q and A

                    (This is an excellent Q and A piece that I found somewhere on the web. It's loaded with a ton of great questions and fairly direct answers, which should provide a lot of material to talk about during this slow time of the year. Sit back and relax it's going to take you a while to read through it, this bad boy is LONG.)

                    by Bucky:
                    A wide receiver question: If the Rams
                    somehow end up playing two TE's nearly 50% of the time, which two wide receivers
                    would you keep out there with the two TE's? I love Amendola as a slot receiver
                    but I don't think he is that good if he has to line up outside. I have no clue
                    here.


                    RK:
                    Hey Bucky. I would anticipate Amendola will be out
                    there most of the time. Envision what New England does. They can use him in a
                    slot and split a guy like Kendricks out on the other side. There’s going to be a
                    lot of movement so they can isolate Amendola. McDaniels loves him. He’s going to
                    see a lot of snaps. I would think they’ll take KOR duties away though, to
                    preserve him a bit.





                    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------



                    by ferragamo79:
                    Do you see the Rams pursuing some big names or
                    starters in free agency?

                    More specifically:

                    #1 Does Devaney
                    finally get a back up/change of pace RB such as Sproles, Bush, or Norwood?


                    #2 Do the Rams pursue much needed starters such as a WLB, DT (Many here
                    are hoping for Cofield) , S and/or guard or do they stand pat with what they
                    have? Do the Rams really see Greco as an option at guard?

                    RK:
                    Hi
                    Ferragamo. When I was at Rams Park over draft weekend, the two names I heard
                    that they liked, ironically, were Sproles and Cofield. Not only do they need
                    that backup/change of pace guy of which you spoke, but they need a Kevin
                    Faulk-type first down maker. Last year the Rams were 26th in 3rd down
                    efficiency. The new TE and hopefully receivers should help that, but a
                    difference making 3rd down back is key. Sean Payton says the Saints plan on
                    having Reggie, and Norwood isn’t much of a pass catcher. Sproles looks like the
                    best out there.

                    Cofield would be an upgrade over what the Rams have,
                    knows Spags’ system, and says his Giants career is over. He and Robbins are good
                    friends, too. So I would hope the Rams would ante up and pursue him. He would be
                    tied for first among Rams DT’s, at worst.

                    There aren’t may good OLB’s in
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                    Kawika Mitchell started for the Giants in the Super Bowl vs. NE, but he’s
                    getting up there in years and miles. Thomas Davis is always hurt. I’m assuming...
                    -05-14-2011, 09:30 AM
                  • MauiRam
                    Is there really an elephant in the room?
                    by MauiRam
                    It appears the Rams will have a new owner next season. It would also appear Khan is the lead horse. I have read differing views on what could be going on at Rams' park with new ownership looming .. The point of this thread is not who the new owner will be, rather to what extent will the "elephant in the room" influence FA and the draft if at all.

                    1) Would Chip and Lucia privately ask DeSpags to limit spending until a new owner takes over?

                    2) If the price of the team has already been negotiated, wouldn't brother and sister stand to make a greater exiting profit if spending were to be curtailed?

                    3) Might the prospective new owner attempt to influence DeSpags regarding spending on FA and the draft? It has been implied before that Billy and Spags could be lame ducks. For sure they'll have a job through the 2010 season, but all bets are off for 2011.

                    From my perspective it would seem best for DeSpags and crew to carry on with their vision of what they're trying to build regardless of impending new ownership, but is it realistic to believe the "elephant" won't interfere?
                    -03-15-2010, 10:36 AM
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