Heavy hands. He is a guy I think really takes a big step forward in 2024.by LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
If someone had asked me to estimate their combined yards from scrimmage before the season I'd have said maybe 600.by LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
One of his best coaching jobs in the 7 seasons in LA. 77th career NFL win Sunday which now ties him with Forrest Gregg, Bobby Ross and Sean McDermott for 67th all-time. Just behind John Robinson (79). By the way, Bill Belichick tied the record in his last game w/ the Patriots Sunday!- for most career losses (w/ Tom Landry at 178). Poetic.by LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
Jones deserves the extension ahead of Dotson. Without question in my opinion.by LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
Exactly. Did he come consult with them for 2-3 weeks or has he been there all year? No idea. Glad he was there. But I have not heard his name in months. Wendell has done a great job week to week.by LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
They are not paying and Edge rusher or CB- and they need to. Badly. And I would argue strongly that they should pay Jones before Dotson. I'll keep the top-tier ILB ahead of the RG. I also trust Snead and co. to find interior OL elsewhere if needed. Jettisoned FAs, the Draft, 3rd wave free agency/trade. Also, how do they view McClendon? Maybe as the next swing backup OT replacing Noteboom?by LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
2024 NFL Free Agent Rankings: Top 100 players set to enter free agency via PFF Maybe guys like Dalton Risner (ranked 65th, Contract Projection: 3 years, $24M) or Ezra Cleveland (67th, 3 years, $28.5M) might be good fallback options if Dotson commands too much?by LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
DeJean is really interesting and I could see, with his versatility, that he could be a really good STAR candidate. And just overall 23rd seems like the general range he'll go. A great scenario would be trading back ~3 spots (for an extra 3rd) and still getting him. Plus Iowa kids are just always, while not sure things, players that tend to have really high floors and are rarely ever busts. Saby LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
I think it has to go to Ryans in HOU or Stefanski in CLE. But McVay would be up there with the top 4-5 Coach of the Year candidates (along with Campbell and Harbaugh in my opinion).by LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
They lose Reynolds and Brudzinski after 1980. Inexplicably allow Ferragamo to leave in 1981. Try to remedy that with Pastorini in 1981 (sigh...) and in 1982 by acquiring Bert Jones who, well, didn't work out. As you said guys like Brooks, Perry, Thomas, Fanning, etc. rapidly showed their age. And while they drafted some good players in 1980 (Johnson, Pankey, Irvin, Guman) and 1981 (Owens, Colby LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
I get what you're saying and I recall seeing a lot of the same things in those years. But JL did make a lot of plays along the way too. One example, he had more TFL and QB hits over his 2nd and 3rd seasons than Jones has had. And that was on the 2010 and 2011 Rams... He also had 15.5 sacks, 33 PD and 9 INT, 8 FR in his first 6 seasons. The Rams' defense improved a lot when Fisher arrivedby LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
Agree. And if SF sits Purdy, CMC, Samuel and Kittle it becomes a 50/50 game no matter who the Rams do or do not play. But of course both teams can't sit everyone either. Multiple WR, OL, DL, secondary players, etc. will still have to play. Could be an interesting game.by LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
I agree. Laurinaitis came to the Rams in 2009 and was part of some truly bad, bad teams early in his career. Of course I'd take Jones all day at ILB. But Laurinaitis was hardly a bad player. He was a solid, hard working ILB for the Rams for their last 7 years in STL. Deserves more respect.by LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
Via FTNFantasy.com (which replaced Football Outsiders): The Rams' Abominable Kicking Game As long as we're talking about great teams and units, we should talk about a really bad unit. The Los Angeles Rams clinched a playoff spot yesterday but DVOA is less impressed with the team as a whole. The Rams are currently only 18th in DVOA. They rank seventh on offense, 22nd on defense, and this isby LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
As far as being a good not great player, good blocking TE, etc. Though Higbee has far better receiving numbers. Both were always someone you could upgrade from. But hardly someone you need to upgrade from.by LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
I do think Blackburn has proven a swing and a miss as ST coach. They will have to do something about upgrading that. But also there is something to the fact that, being the youngest roster in the league, their special teams are pretty inexperienced. But they are also not all rookies either. The core ST guys (based on snaps played) are Hummel, Skowronek, Rozeboom, Tomlinson, Reeder, Evans, Hoby LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
A pretty good, not great TE. Solid blocker, etc. His 2023 stats are almost all exactly middle of the road for what he has done his whole career. Could become the first Rams' TE to ever reach 400 catches and 4,000 yards in 2024. I am excited to see Allen develop, though.by LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
Guarantee the NFL really wants that match up and would put it on prime time (Saturday night).by LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
49ers will rest everyone they can, no question. And maybe I am wrong but I think the Rams should play to win and ensure keeping the 6 seed. You always want the higher seed not knowing how things can play out later. And while DET and DAL are both tough at home I would pick going to DET for sure. Ideally they could get a lead vs SF and pull Stafford, Kupp, Donald, etc. mid-3rd. Give Wentz ~20 sby LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
That loss was so disappointing yet I agree the bigger takeaway was the Rams had a legit QB with a rifle arm. I remember watching that game on TV as well with Bob Starr also on radio. I lived in LA '89-'98 and remember the Lakers cheapest ticket remained $9.50 up until the Shaq deal in '96, then the cheapest ticket went up to $22 I think.by LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
Becomes just the 6th Rams' WR to have 1,400+ yards in a season, joining Hirsch, Ellard, Bruce, Holt and Kupp.by LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
I was confident they'd be better than 2022 but thought 7-10 or possibly 8-9 was the limit.by LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
Yeah. I have said many times you dont have to be top 10 in everything (offense, defense and special teams) but you cannot be bottom 10 in anything. And Rams are clearly bottom of the league in special teams. They made a lot of very good coaching moves this past offseason but they need to upgrade ST coach in February.by LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
If they pick 23rd or whatever ideally a consensus top 15-20 player slips to them. But I also would not be against a minor move back to add another top-90 overall pick. They have 7 5th and 6th rounders so hardly need to add more day 3 picks. But having 4 in the top 90 could be good.by LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
With a $10M salary it's hard to see him having much trade value/interest. I would think most teams view him as a 6th man. Who knows, maybe the Rams can negotiate a salary reduction for him to stay. I would not be against him being back as a backup but just obviously not at anywhere near a $20M cap number.by LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
I have assumed they would just cut Noteboom and Allen at the beginning of the offseason. And I think that's still likely, in part to do right by the player and allow them a chance to find a home elsewhere. And also because they can operate for 2024 with the lesser cap savings (while also not spreading anything out further to 2025, etc.). But here's a thought. What if one was designated as a pby LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
Will be $53M once they release Noteboom and Allen. May have a couple million from 2023 they can carry over. So they will be comfortable. But I also would not expect (or want...) some sort of big spending spree in March.by LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
That game was a nice validation that they were going to be instantly competitive again after horrendous 1981 and 1982 seasons.by LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com
The only way they can possibly move on from Wilson is as a post-June 1st release. And even then, they are already roughly $18M over the projected 2024 salary cap.by LMU93 - RamsFootballFans.com