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Rams43
I suspect that Staley will have huge impact in FA and draft priority decisions, as he should be. I expect a very heavy D oriented draft.
I expect Staley to come up with a top 7 D, despite losing Fowler and Littleton.
I think almost everything you say is fairly reasonable, though I have various degrees of agreement and disagreement with this or that bit of it. No big.
But on this? I think expectations are a little high here, in what I quote.
Staley is a fairly young and green LB coach who is now in the DC role, and as such, how much impact could he really have when it comes to draft picks or FAs? There's a very good chance that he is on a steep learning curve and actually cannot possibly know enough yet to be a useful resource in draft evaluation. In fact, since he did not go to the combine, there's a very real possibility that he's just taking a back seat when it comes to that stuff. I think his role will be informing the personnel people what kinds of players he needs and likes for his system.
The Rams have uncertainty and holes to fill at OLB, ILB, DT, and DE. It's asking a lot for a defense with those issues to suddenly emerge as a top 7 unit. I certainly think they can be good--but top 7? I highly doubt it.
They have clear strengths they can rely on--Donald and the secondary, and to an extent Matthews---but expecting a top front 7 is a big leap IMO. They have to rely on a combination of rookies and what they already have on the front 7, and that suggests they won't be 'there" yet when the season starts.
,.,,
