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Rams43
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David Deacon
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Rams43
In no particular order…
Boom, if healthy, will be starting LOT come September. They’re committed to him contractually and he’s among ‘best 5’ of Boom, Jackson, Avila, Bruss or Anchrum or McClendon at RG, and Hav. I think Boom has to win the job over Jackson, Bruss has to show he can play and is healthy, Hav's and Avila are locks, Center is open Avila/Allen/Shelton and final configuration of OL will be figured out in camp.
Allen, despite his knee will not only be kept but probably start until his inevitable injury. Agree but will be much quicker to move him to IR once he gets dinged up
This will be Higbee’s last year as a Ram. I think McVay has finally decided to develop TE prominently into his O. Probably will draft a pass catching TE next year, too. Probably agree but depends on how players develop. They will have cap space for a team friendly deal.
The battle for WR’s 3 through 6 will be fierce. Impossible to handicap at this point. Kupp/Jefferson/Tutu and Skow are locks. Last 2 spots are anyone's guess
Rams overall Edge play will be superior to the ‘22 version, even though Floyd is now gone. This will make Morris’ job a lot easier.
Wagner will be missed but not by all that much. Jones will fill in nicely.
Both Durant and Tomlinson will start at CB. Not sure exactly where Morris will deploy them, but they will be on the field and be ballhawks.One of those guys will be in the slot. Rochell or Kendricks might start
Kendrick will be a reserve despite Morris’ happy coachspeak. Rams can do better. They MUST do better. Rams must like Kendrick and or Rochelle more than the board or they would have drafted a CB in a draft loaded with CB talent/color]
I think our ST are gonna shine. The Blackburn hire is looking like a HR. Hope your right but we have an unknown kicker/punter and long snapper. Coverage Units should be strong as we have a lot of big, fast strong players who will be fighting for a job and ST will be their ticket to the final roster
This assistant coach corps will prove to be one of McVay’s best, maybe even best ever overall. Gonna miss the old RB coach but otherwise I agree
I’m so optimistic about this revived OL that I think both Stafford and Akers could have career years. I think McVay has learned his lesson about importance of strong OL and will never again allow it to slip behind. I agree and the size, brawn and depth of the OL allows for a power running game which will make Stafford & WR/TE crew more dangerous
If McVay can pull all this together and somehow win 9 games I think he might be in the conversation for COTY. If Morris gets the defense to play in the middle of the pack McVay wins COTY and Morris gets a HC job and Rams make the playoffs
Thoughts?
What a wonderful reply, Deacon. I really appreciate the thought you put into it.
I’d like to clarify a few of my predictions just for the record. I may not have expressed myself as well as I could.
The ‘best 5’ on the OL is complicated. Coach Wendell will have to make several key decisions, won’t he? I agree that Jackson might be straight up a better LOT than Boom, especially considering Boom’’s injury history. But I also think that the lineup I suggested is the ‘best 5’ with Boom at LOT. The upgrades of Jackson at LG and Avila at OC more than offset the possible slight downgrade at LOT, imo. Time will tell if my projection is accurate. There’s certainly plenty of room for debate.
I feel pretty strongly that this is Higbee’s last year with Rams. I think McVay is going in a different (and better) direction at TE and in the future we will see better draft choices devoted to that room plus better coaching and scheming for those youngsters. I further think McVay was paying attention to the outstanding TE play throughout the playoffs and wants some of that for his Rams. It would be another sign of growth on McVay’s part to me. (Along with OL and ST emphasis).
About the WR battle. Yeah, Atwell and Skow are probably locks to make the team, but I was referring to the actual pecking order after Jefferson. Where will Nacua and now Johnson fit? Who will get the most snaps/targets after Jefferson? And how will McVay choose to attack certain D’s with these variously skilled WR’s? Lots of moving parts. Honestly, I’m kinda optimistic about Nacua and Johnson. Bottom line, just for one example, is that Atwell could wind up anywhere from #3 to #6 as WR this year. That was my point about fierce competition.
I agree with your suggestion that Morris must like Kendrick and Rochell more than the board does. Otherwise, there were tons of CB’s for them in this draft but they kept picking other positions. Actions always speak louder than words. I’m hoping that Morris was listening intently to advice from Lake and Pleasant on this topic.
I would be thrilled to see Morris’ D have a good year and see him hired as a HC elsewhere. Would be great for Rams on multiple levels.
Great discussion, man.
