Quote
Classicalwit
I think the thing that we will learn most bout is weather the Rams' trading away high draft picks, and constructing the roster on a foundation of high-priced free agents is going to work. Aaron Donald is getting older, and is likely at, or nearing, the point where he will peak. How long Will Jalen Ramsey continue to play at this level? Has Matt Stafford already reached his peak?
If the play of all of these high-priced players begins to level off, we will, I think, have remaining a roster comprised mostly of middling talent.
I think we have, at best, two seasons to win it all and even that, I think again, will depend on the team having no major injuries to significant starters.
Just a couple of thoughts.
Good DTs like Sapp and Randle generally played around 12-14 years before accumulating injuries that depleted them. Randle had an 11 sack season in his 12th year. Sapp had a 10 sack season in his 12th year. If that counts as a rough estimate, AD should be good through at least 12 years, maybe up to 14. A 12-14 year window would mean he could play through 2025-27.
Guys like that may begin to lose some things physically but they do not lose the mentality to be great, which means both drive and preparation, and their experience puts them way ahead of their opposition on game days. An 11th year AD going up against some 3rd year guard? Forget it. Guys like Sapp and Randle have already shown DTs still bring a lot under those circumstances.
In terms of the defensive roster stuff, I would rather have 2-3 stars surrounded by good but not great players--that means you can always field a good defense. There is no such thing as a defense that is all-pro everywhere. IMO you subtract the 2-3 best players from ANY defense and the rest of them are not going to play at the same level. Always building around your 2-3 stars is the basic formula for every great defense. It's rare when you get more than that (Steelers in the 70s, 85 Bears).
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/26/2021 05:59AM by zn.