Lack of Vision of our Front Office

[RamCub]

A comparison of the Patriots front office and ours:

Patriots front office:

1) Has a Hall of Fame quarterback who is amongst the highest paid quarterbacks in the league

2) Tom Brady has been one of the most durable quarterbacks over the course of his long career - having missed one season due to injury

3) Patriots decide to spend draft picks on quarterbacks during Brady's tenure - Mallett and Garoppolo

Rams front office:

1) Has an unprovern quarterback who is amongst the highest paid quarterbacks in the league

2) Sam Bradford has been the most injury prone quarterback over the course of his short career

3) Rams decide not to spend draft picks on quarterbacks during Bradford's tenure

So, given the circumstances between the two teams, which team should have been more pro-active in its vision of building a football team for the present and the future? Especially with a boatload of high draft picks?

Don't let us Ram fans down again this year!!!

 

[ozarkram]

Flip a coin right. Brady was an also ran projected to do nothing. Pats struck gold. Bradford projected to be elite. We struck dung. To this point. It happens.

 

[UnrealTerm04]

QBs like Brady are extremely rare. I wonder if Billicheck will stick around once Brady retires.

 

[ksudodger]

RamCub, I have to disagree with your breakdown here slightly.

1. You cannot blame the front office for Bradford's salary. Any player we would have taken there would have gotten that money.

2. Injuries happen. They cannot be predicted. Bradford could just as easily played 5 full seasons as opposed to having the 2 ACL tears. Cannot blame the front office for that.

3. As someone already said, Brady was projected to be essentially Shaun Hill his entire career. Pats struck gold and you know it. That one is not on the current front office obviously. We KNOW how horrible the previous front office group was (see Barron, Alex or Hill,Tye or Klopfenstien, Joe)

4. Where I do agree is on the drafting of QB's with this front office group. No QB taken in 2012, Austin Davis signed as UDFA. Bleh. No QB in 2013 and Garrett Gilbert in 2014. Hopefully 2015 is the year where they pull the trigger on someone either in round 2 or 3 (Bryce Petty, Brett Hundley,Garret Grayson, Sean Mannion)

 

[shopson67]

Patriots have been way more miss than hit with their drafting over the last several years. They have a dominant team and can afford to take risks with their picks, such as drafting Mallett and Garoppolo to sit and learn.

They never even used Mallett, so they basically traded that 2011 3rd rounder for a 2015 6th rounder, plus used a 2014 2nd rounder to replace him. You can call that smart if you want, but it looks pretty wasteful given Brady's longevity. How bad will it look if they move on from Garoppolo before Brady retires? They haven't won it all in a decade, so maybe those picks could've been better utilized.

 

[Smed55]

Patriots have been way more miss than hit with their drafting over the last several years. They have a dominant team and can afford to take risks with their picks, such as drafting Mallett and Garoppolo to sit and learn.

They never even used Mallett, so they basically traded that 2011 3rd rounder for a 2015 6th rounder, plus used a 2014 2nd rounder to replace him. You can call that smart if you want, but it looks pretty wasteful given Brady's longevity. How bad will it look if they move on from Garoppolo before Brady retires? They haven't won it all in a decade, so maybe those picks could've been better utilized.

That may be so, but I could live with that, at least they are winning every year, ya Patriot fans are probably the opposite of us and if they don't win it all every year it's a failure as far as they are concerned, I only wish we could fail that bad!

The thing is even if they don't hit on their draft picks, they still find pieces to plug in every year, then plug someone else in again the next year. Other than Moss, and maybe Llyod, Brady has made most of his WR's. True he has Gronk, but again, I think NE could even find someone to replace him! Hernandez was an elite TE until we found out he was the king of the Knuckleheads!

 

[shopson67]

Obviously, the Rams should've drafted a potential replacement QB before this, as the other 3rd day "shots in the dark" don't really count. However, unless they were going to use a 1st or 2nd rounder, who would've made a difference to this point? 3 guys in 2012 (Wilson, Foles, Cousins) are really the only 3-7 round picks that have started efficiently since Bradford was drafted. Tough to use a 1st or 2nd rounder on a QB when your team has SO many other holes to fill and an expensive #1 overall QB already on the roster.

National Football League: NFL Draft History - by Position

 

[shopson67]

That may be so, but I could live with that, at least they are winning every year, ya Patriot fans are probably the opposite of us and if they don't win it all every year it's a failure as far as they are concerned, I only wish we could fail that bad!

The thing is even if they don't hit on their draft picks, they still find pieces to plug in every year, then plug someone else in again the next year. Other than Moss, and maybe Llyod, Brady has made most of his WR's. True he has Gronk, but again, I think NE could even find someone to replace him! Hernandez was an elite TE until we found out he was the king of the Knuckleheads!

Again, they have the luxury of a strong base. Rams have been consistently robbed of that ever since Vermeil retired. Most teams weren't willing to risk a 2nd round pick on an injured TE (Gronk), and certainly wouldn't have followed that up with a 4th rounder at the same position. Rams tried to fill TE in 2011 in the 2nd and failed miserably, taking Kendricks over Cameron and Thomas. If the Pats had missed, they would just shrug it off and keep winning most likely.

 

[Smed55]

Again, they have the luxury of a strong base. Rams have been consistently robbed of that ever since Vermeil retired. Most teams weren't willing to risk a 2nd round pick on an injured TE (Gronk), and certainly wouldn't have followed that up with a 4th rounder at the same position. Rams tried to fill TE in 2011 in the 2nd and failed miserably, taking Kendricks over Cameron and Thomas. If the Pats had missed, they would just shrug it off and keep winning most likely.

I think that's the point we are both trying to make, their smart, were not!

 

[shopson67]

I think that's the point we are both trying to make, their smart, were not!

Sure, but their advantage is widened given their already strong team. I would say the Rams have drafted better than the Patriots since Snisher arrived.

 

[27mtrcougar]

Sure, but their advantage is widened given their already strong team. I would say the Rams have drafted better than the Patriots since Snisher arrived.

no doubt about that. the pats recent drafts have not been good.

 

[RamCub]

The Patriots didn't count on Brady being this durable and have had the foresight to draft potential future replacements. The point I'm making is not whether their draft picks at QB work out or not. The point is that with all they have going for them at the QB position, they aren't taking the QB position for granted like we have been! We keep counting on Bradford and look where we are.

Another example is the Seahawks. They sign Matt Flynn to a multimillion dollar free agent contract. That same offseason they spend a 3rd round draft pick on a quarteback - Russell Wilson. The Rams would not have had the foresight to do that. It would have been Flynn and a third round pick on some project like Mo Alexander or a one-legged kicker!

 

[Retroram52]

Speaking of the FO. They have some FA decisions to make. Barksdale is top on the list followed by Kendricks and Kenny Brit. Brit's extension is already underway. What to do with Jake Long is another along with waiting to see what Sammie finally does although it appears he is returning.

In other news. The Rams re-signed Matt Conrath and none other than Austin Pettis who was out of football for nearly the entire year to new contracts. The prospect of flippin' burgers for a living for Pettis apparently has produced a change of heart. Maybe he'll be this year's Janoris Jenkins and Chris Givens to miracle worker Fisher. Jenkins has really become a decent man off the field as has Givens so maybe there is something to Fisher's ability to turn these guys around.

 

[TEB11]

Lance Kendricks is off to New England. Josh McDaniels played a HUGE part in drafting him when he was the Rams OC and wants him along side Gronk next season!

 

[Smed55]

Lance Kendricks is off to New England. Josh McDaniels played a HUGE part in drafting him when he was the Rams OC and wants him along side Gronk next season!

That's to bad, I liked him better than Cook!

 

[shopson67]

Not seeing any Kendricks news mentioning NE, where did you hear/read this?

 

[STLADAM]

you don't need new its a solid fit... aaron hernandez replacment

 

[shopson67]

you don't need new its a solid fit... aaron hernandez replacment

maybe a homeless man's version of Hernandez, if you really squint your eyes...

 

[ksudodger]

Um, players cannot sign with other teams, or even TALK to other teams until March 1st. Kendricks is still a Ram.

 

[Retroram52]

Yea. I don't know where people get this stuff, but you Commish and Shopson are correct. Kendricks is officially still a Ram.