Jake Long

[BOSS429Mustang]

Pro bowlers aren't likely to sign with a team like the Rams in free agency, which is why Long was such a strong signing. Many harp on the Cook signing, but he was the leading receiver last season. Hopefully another season in the system along with improvement from the WR corps (and a full season with one QB) will see him take the next step.

I'm not ready to cast aside Jenkins and Johnson just yet either. I think the horrible DC and his system of playing the corners 8-10 yards off the line of scrimmage set them up for failure, so hopefully they show marked improvement this year under a real DC.

Some of what you say I agree with Shopson, and some I don't.

I think the Rams are an up and coming team and the rest of the league knows it, and therefore they will be more attractive to FA in the future. Everybody wants to play for a team with potential if given a choice.

I do agree with you on the Secondary however. We were one of the worst in the league last year, and Walton definitely had something to do with that. He was a bad coach in Detroit, and was even worse when he was with the Rams. We will give up our share of big plays under William's defensive system, but we will also have our share of big defensive plays as well. Last year we just gave up big plays and didn't get any compensation to off-set that. This year that will improve almost by default.

 

[Retroram52]

GW is a vast improvement over Walton. What defensive coach has the secondary routinely play 10-20 yards off the ball especially many times in the red zone? Yea I get the youth factor and all but at some point that should have stopped. It created a natural huge gap right behind JL and it was often recognized and taken advantage of by the opponent way too often. Now that players have another year under their belts and under GW's defensive schemes, this won't be so frequent and we won't get beat so badly with big plays this year.

 

[ksudodger]

We have more solid depth on the o line now than we have in at least 5 years. a healthy line of Long,Saffold,Wells,Robinson,Barksdale will be tough to deal with. Then having Barnes,Hooey,Jones,Van Dyk who are all versatile, that is HUGE!!

 

[ksudodger]

FA Dahl was brought over in the spag era. I think Wells was too?

Dahl was indeed signed in 2011 by Devaney... Wells was a 2012 FA signing

 

[jacobarch]

I said the 'off season' was stellar not all on the list and it began with that RGIII trade!

Besides you're missing an important aspect when it comes to building a roster, these guys we picked up were all upgrades to what we had as opposed to 'all that great' as you put it....

Now Wells was with Snisher however you're right about Dahl. I just mixed Dahl up with Langford! (I knew there was another 'get' in free agency) So scratch Harvey and add Kendall. Oh and in double checking, I forgot Jo Lonn! Again, these guys aren't pro bowler just ALL upgrades from what we had!

Making your roster better is the objective of every off season.

Now Givens will be fine with Sam, he just had chemistry issues with Clemens...

Jenkins is better than average however had some trouble with reading Wilson's high ducks when he throws deep. Other than that, he played pretty well for most the season as I recall.

Givens had issues with Sam too. He looked simply awful last year.
I dunno if Jenkins is better than average. He didn't play well at all last year. Got burned a TON! Getting burned by the Seattle WR's isn't pretty either. Because Seattle WR's weren't that great. lol.

I agree some of the pick ups were pretty good. I like Dunbar and the Langford pickups. However, my biggest complaint comes from the Offensive side of the ball. Some of their scouting has been very very questionable. I have to words for you..........Pead & Quick.

 

[Silas]

The Punter is usually the Rams' MVP. Let's hope that changes next season.

 

[Vitamike]

Givens had issues with Sam too. He looked simply awful last year.
I dunno if Jenkins is better than average. He didn't play well at all last year. Got burned a TON! Getting burned by the Seattle WR's isn't pretty either. Because Seattle WR's weren't that great. lol.

I agree some of the pick ups were pretty good. I like Dunbar and the Langford pickups. However, my biggest complaint comes from the Offensive side of the ball. Some of their scouting has been very very questionable. I have to words for you..........Pead & Quick.

Maybe on the Rams boards here but I read somewhere recently, and I agree, WR is the toughest position in the NFL to transition from College to the Pros.

Yes, where Chris had some problems 'last' year even with Sam. Most of Chris's issues last year compared to his rookie year (Which was stellar!) I attribute to the loss of Amendola and Givens. Givens was the defacto No. 1 and not Sam's 3rd option and drew the best CB's on the opposing teams early on while Sam was starting at QB.

I look for this to change in year 3 for Givens. He will get open more often and post better numbers for two reasons. One, I believe Britt will draw No. 1 coverages and Two just because of the run game we will be playing all season...

Oh and I think we see the Jenkins thing a little bit different but that's a whole different post and I gots to go to work!

JMHO.

 

[mutigers1fan]

The Punter is usually the Rams' MVP. Let's hope that changes next season.

I see big things coming from Hekker this year!

Fun fact, my nephew was born of Johnny Hekker's birthday. I was bored and killing time that day so I looked up celebrities with that DOB and he was about the best I could find.

 

[Retroram52]

Speaking of Jake Long and the O-line. There is a really good article on SB Nation about who is the best O-line in the NFL. We made the Wild-Card category. Interestingly, there are a couple of Ex-Rams mentioned in other categories who made the list: Those being Shelly Smith in Miami and John Greco in Cleveland. I think we had this discussion before how we cut players and they go on to other teams and have outstanding careers. It just sucks but here is the link: Which NFL teams have the best offensive lines? - SBNation.com

 

[SJ76]

Our punter is always solid! We need to give him more recognition. LOL Who is he again? Greg Z was pretty good too the past 2 years.




And Janoris didn't look great last year, but I thought Tru Johnson came on at the end. We'll see how his coverage skills are, but he's fearless and plays hard. That's what I like.


As far as Givens... He looked ok his rookie year, but I think expectations got out of hand last off-season.

 

[Retroram52]

There is another article at SB Nation about Cortland Finnegan ripping Tim Walton. It states that Finnegan thought Walton was completely in over his head and didn't have a clue on running a defense. Of course, we the fans already knew that all too well. Apparently Finnegan doesn't understand what fans already know. It is a good read though.

 

[icefreeze57]

I like Janoris and Johnson tbh

 

[Vitamike]

There is another article at SB Nation about Cortland Finnegan ripping Tim Walton. It states that Finnegan thought Walton was completely in over his head and didn't have a clue on running a defense. Of course, we the fans already knew that all too well. Apparently Finnegan doesn't understand what fans already know. It is a good read though.

I guess I thought we all gave JJ (And all the defensive for that much) a pass because of Walton until he was handcuffed and ultimately canned. Now those two games vs the Hags, he just got beat on those deep ducks Wilson throws and that was my exception Jaco.