Quote
RockRam
The first thing to decide is the value of the position and not the player.
I don't know who to blame for what has happened in the past 5 years because very little the Fisher regime did made any sense to me, especially on offense.
He always talked about, and designed, an 80's offense around power blocking, power running, and super safe passing. Run first and run often. Play it tight until the 4th quarter and then win in the final 4 minutes.
Does anyone remember Fisher saying that the very first thing they practice on O is running the 4 minute drill? I got so sick of hearing that. The 4 minute drill is ONLY about protecting a lead or getting a FG Kicker into place with a few seconds left to kick the winning FG. Gad.
Therefore for Fisher a FG kicker probably should have been the highest paid player. But he wasn't. He went with GZ.
But then to add insult to injury, he drafts a smurf WR using a 1st and 2nd round pick. In a power offense?
Then he packages a zillion picks to pick a prolific pocket passer who throws the ball 40 times a game. What???
Then he hires a never before OC to be his OC. And what is his pedigree? TE coach.
Even the picking of Gurley. Gurley is a big back but he's not really a power back like Eddie George.
None of this made any sense.
So now here we are with Donald. In a 3-4 is a DT really the heart of the defense? Is that where you want its highest paid player? According to everyone who seems to know something, Wade's D depends on great rush OLBs and a bevy of physical, press coverage CBs. So that's where the money ought to go to my way of thinking.
So no one is questioning Donald's greatness or even what the market is for a great DT. I'm questioning whether great DT is the right place for the Rams to spend their cap allowance. And my answer is absolutely not.
Some players come along and are so transcendent that they blow away what we thought we knew about the value of a position. Yes, some positions may be inherently more valuable than others. QB seems inherently more valuable than DT. But that doesn't mean the Rams can't be a Superbowl team on which Aaron Donald is the MVP and Jared Goff isn't. Are you going to argue that Trent Dilfer was more important, or deserved more money, than Ray Lewis for the Ravens in 2000?
"Value of the position and not the player" is WAAAAAY too blunt an instrument to use in guiding specific personnel decisions.