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stlramz
Thanks. I appreciate it.
Consistent buzz across various fans = increased chance of success.
Being ignored by everyone = not evidence that player will succeed or fail.
I would add to that, if someone struggles in camp, it rarely goes away. Some guys though do much better in year 2. So a lost rookie is not always a lost cause player...but usually is. And sometimes, a particular camp reporter will get invested in a particular player who, we later realize, wasn't really going to make it.
The treat I promised .This is from a July 26, 2014 camp report on the DL.
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* Defensive line: So much to talk about here it should probably be its own post. The obvious first: Robert Quinn and Chris Long are good. They killed Robinson and Barksdale 1-on-1 and Bradford would not have survived 11-on-11 had it been full contact. Quinn and Long were pretty much getting to the end of Bradford’s drop before he was. Add Aaron Donald, who was mostly on the second unit, to those two and the Rams should have about a million sacks this year. Aaron Donald is so fast he can do the Kessel Run in 11 parsecs. 1-on-1, he’s practically past the Rams’ 2nd-string o-linemen before they’re out of their stances. He consistently beat people and forced the practice QB to step up. Sometime in his career I believe Donald will actually beat the ball to the QB on a shotgun snap. This works in run defense, too; in one of the late 11-on-11 reps, he blipped into the backfield and nearly beat Mason to the handoff. Still created a big loss. The only o-lineman Donald faced and didn’t smoke 1-on-1 was Saffold. He had the early step on him, but Rodger, one of the league’s quicker guards, had just enough make-up speed to reset and keep himself in front. But it felt like any time I turned around – poof! – there’s Aaron Donald beating somebody. I cannot think of a defensive tackle I have seen who is faster off the ball. He’s like the Flash. With Donald, the Rams’ defensive line has potential to be the Next-Greatest Show on Earth. Instead of “Who ya gonna cover?”, the question is going to be “Who ya gonna double-team?”, and the answer now is the same answer it was back then.
