Quote
zn
Ever since free agency and the cap were instituted, it is impossible to keep an OL longterm that is made up entirely of your own draft picks.
According to some research that was done a while back, teams turn over on average 3 OL every 2 years. Again that's the cap plus free agency.
To stock your OL you need to use every means of acquring players. Draft high, draft low. Sign UDFAs. Sign high market free agents. Pick up cast offs & other teams's cuts (ronin). Sign budget free agents. Trades.
You have to do all those things.
And when a player is a Ram he's a Ram.
The great 83 OL consisted entirely of 4 Rams draftees and 1 UDFA. Pankey Hill Smith Harrah Slater.
Then look at the 99 OL, plus the presumed 2021 OL.
Pace Nutten Gruttadauria Timmerman Miller
Whitworth Edwards Corbett Evans Hav
High draft picks: Pace, Hav
Low draft picks: Miller, Edwards, Evans
UDFAs: Gruttadauria
High market free agents: Timmerman, Whitworth
"Ronin" (cuts & cast-offs): Nutten
Trade: Corbett
Where does Whitworth rank as a Rams OL? One of the top all-time Rams LOTs, and the best one since Pace.
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Excellent post, zn. Take a bow, sir!
