Only SLIGHTLY early mock draft 2015

[icefreeze57]

Well I don't really think we should take two. I think Hundley is the better of the 3 and I think I want Grayson more than I want Petty... either way, I paired the two cause they're both available later and I think if we take Hundley we are just comfortable with training him to take over for Bradford.

 

[sooner4life130]

DGB-Stefon Diggs and J T Yeldon would imo be a perfect draft. As much as I cant stand DGB(Most likely wont leave early anyways) he is still really effing good and has tons of potential. As for Diggs, Yes.... JT Yeldon is a given.

 

[SteelersPride]

So strong would be replacing Britt?

Actually, Strong would replace Pettis. Remember we are working with 5 WR since Pettis was cut. So we would have Quick,Britt,Strong,Austin,Bailey and Givens.

I don't like taking a WR in the first round. We've burned too many picks on that position in the last 3 years. We have to let these guys develop and maybe sprinkle in a vet here and there. Just like we did with Brit. I would sign him to a 3 year deal. But at a discounted Rate. He's been ok but just ok.

Like I said, I thought very hard about O line there at #14, and we could indeed take Scherff or Ogebuehi at #14 and then look at a WR in the 3rd. If you have watched Hundley a lot, that means you have watched Strong too as he is also Pac-12. Dude is a beast. I understand the trepidation on a WR so maybe if not O line, maybe we go OLB or CB with that first pick and again look at WR later in the draft. As for not liking Hundley, here is why I think he is the guy. He is the clear 3rd best QB in this draft and with missing out on Mariota and Winston, we NEED to address the QB issue. IMO either Hundley or Petty will be good fits. I also have a sneaking suspision that Hundley will be gone before we pick in round 2, so it may be a moot point.

outsider looking in. But hundley is an inaccurate passer. How are hundley and petty good fits? They are VASTLY different players

 

[shopson67]

DGB-Stefon Diggs and J T Yeldon would imo be a perfect draft. As much as I cant stand DGB(Most likely wont leave early anyways) he is still really effing good and has tons of potential. As for Diggs, Yes.... JT Yeldon is a given.

I've seen Diggs compared to Ginn a few times, and that's enough to make me stay away. Injured and not a great route runner, more of a straight-line receiver. DGB is a physical marvel, but with a 2 cent head. Maybe one more year of school will get him straightened out, but I wouldn't bet on it.

I like Yeldon, but I don't think the Rams need to look at RB as early as Yeldon will get picked (by the second round most likely). Rams need QB, OL, OLB, and FS before more RBs and WRs.

 

[shopson67]

Yet another B draft, traded up and get a top 2 QB:

Round 1 Pick 8 (NYG): Jameis Winston, QB, Florida State (A)
Round 3 Pick 17 (K.C.): Eric Kendricks, ILB, UCLA (B)
Round 5 Pick 11 (MINN): B.J. Finney, C, Kansas State (A-)
Round 5 Pick 14 (CLE): John Miller, OG, Louisville (B+)
Round 6 Pick 11 (MINN): Vince Mayle, WR, Washington State (A-)
Round 7 Pick 21 (N.O.): Mitch Morse, OT, Missouri (D)
Round 7 Pick 30: Damarious Randall, FS, Arizona State (D+)

Not sure why they hate Randall so much, I've seen him projected to go much higher. Morse is another solid Missouri OT, should be fine at RT.

 

[icefreeze57]

Not really sure I like their update.

I only traded once in this draft and it was to add a 4,5 and 7th by moving back in the 3rd. I tried to keep this draft pretty realistic, and that was the only real trade I can see them make. (Maybe moving up in the 6th or 7th for a certain player, but I really don't see them making many waves)


Your score is: 5091 (GRADE: A-)

Your Picks:
Round 1 Pick 12: Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama (A)
Round 2 Pick 12: Cameron Erving, OT, Florida State (B+)
Round 3 Pick 25 (DAL): D'Joun Smith, CB, Florida Atlantic (A)
Round 4 Pick 25 (DAL): Garrett Grayson, QB, Colorado State (A-)
Round 5 Pick 12: B.J. Finney, C, Kansas State (A-)
Round 5 Pick 25 (DAL): Dyshawn Davis, OLB, Syracuse (B+)
Round 7 Pick 18 (DAL): Brandon Ivory, DT, Alabama (A)
Round 7 Pick 30: Rory Anderson, TE, South Carolina (B-)




In the 1st I went with Cooper only because he was there. I'm not sure if the Rams will have an opportunity and if that opportunity is there the Rams should take it without thinking. I'd be willing to bet that on Day One he walks in as the BEST receiver on the team. And when you play in a conference with the 49ers, Cards, and oh yeah, the Seahawks. You need Amari Cooper to battle those defensive backs! Sam WILL be coming back and it's about time he gets a REAL weapon. Don't get me wrong, I love when the ball is in Tavon's hand, but he's not a true #1. We always knew that. If you pair them up, our new offensive coordinator should have a fucking field day! We need to hire someone who can be creative with the offense. I'd also point out that many of the OTs were already picked, which makes sense as a lot of the teams in the top ten have established vets and need Olines (the NFC South has QBs, need linemen, Giants - need linemen bad, other teams need QBs - (one may end up with Cutler, who knows). And I can see Cooper falling and OLine getting picked instead.

In the 2nd, grab the top OT left. He can start on the line for week one (hopefully). Ideally, Robinson grows up and moves to LT, Erving can fill in at RT.


After grabbing two offesneive starters, in the 3rd I grabbed Smith. I'm not sure if he can start for the Rams next season, but I do think he can be in the rotation and help improve the defenseive secondary overall. Which probably needs the biggest boost on our D.

I then grab Grayson, at this point Petty is already gone and I didn't want to wait longer to risk Grayson being gone so I grab him here in the 4th. I hoping after a year of sitting (or even gaining XP if there is an injury) we can be the eventual starter, and if he doesn't work out/Bradford takes off. He's a 4th round pick. I do not want to waste an early pick on a QB.

In the 5th I grab the center prospect. We need another inside guy and Finney was a 4 year starter on a good team. He has a chance to break the lineup. I also took Davis the OLB. Not really sure how I feel on him. The OLB class is overall weak this year. My hopes would be the Davis is good enough not to mess up if he needs to be on the field and contribute on special teams... its an extra pick in the end of the 5th.

No 6th

In the 7th, these are obviously lesser players, but Ivory dropped a few rounders, should make the team, and while our Dline is awesome, Ivory can add to the depth, which helps make it a top Dline. I also grab Anderson, he's a grinder and can make some nice catches. Has potential to make the team, would be practice squad at the worse, but in the 7th round a player like this is the type of pick we'd get.

 

[Clayton]

Rams have bigger needs than WR but if Cooper is there then they'd be dumb not to take him

 

[jacobarch]

I'm just afraid to draft a WR incase the universe decides to correct itself. I highly doubt we have two good WR drafts in a row. I wouldn't be surprised if all of the WR in the next draft are just average guys.

 

[27mtrcougar]

Cooper looks like the real deal for sure. unless he breaks his leg between now and the draft he looks to be a lock top 5 pick. I won't be surprised if someone moves up to get him. he has Torry Holt written all over him.

 

[icefreeze57]

Yeah, I think he'd be taken early, but if he's there he's a must draft!

I can see the linemen and QB needs pushing him back, but in all likeliness I don't think we'd get him. He would change the team though, wish he would fall.

 

[27mtrcougar]

Round 1 Pick 12: La'el Collins, OT, LSU (A)
Round 2 Pick 12: Alvin Dupree, DE, Kentucky (A-)
Round 3 Pick 12: Hroniss Grasu, C, Oregon (A)
Round 5 Pick 12: Cody Fajardo, QB, Nevada (B+)
Round 7 Pick 30: Marcus Murphy, RB, Missouri (A)

I Kinda like this. I was assuming they will resign Barksdale plug Collins in at RG he excels at run blocking and brings a nasty attitude. he can also play tackle if needed like saffold. Dupree was just to good to pass up he's a first rd pick. would challenge C. Long for sure and he's not getting younger and makes a lot of money. I was hoping Dismukes would be there in the 3rd but he was gone. But Grasu should be able to replace Wells and save 4 million cap space. Murphy would be a steal in the 7th. picking the QB was just to please the computer i have never seen him play.

 

[27mtrcougar]

This is an article I found from TST. I pretty much agree 100%

After watching every game this season and seeing what our weaknesses are, here is my analysis on what needs to be done in the offseason:

1) Restructure Sam Bradford's contract, and keep him as our starting quarterback.

Guys, stop with the idea of drafting a QB early in the draft. It's a waste of a draft pick that could be used somewhere else and it is a bad idea. I go by the philosophy that you either draft a QB in the 1st rd or you do not draft one at all. Want to know why? This is why:

QB's taken from RDs 2-4 from 2004-2013:

Matt Barkley - benchwarmer
Mike Glennon - sucks
Geno Smith - sucks
Ryan Nassib - who?
Tyler Wilson - sucks
Landry Jones - sucks
Brock Osweiler - benchwarmer
Russell Wilson - Spectacular player, amazing player
Nick Foles - pretty decent, not sold on him however
Kirk Cousins - overrated, below average
Andy Dalton - overrated, below average
Colin Kaepernick - overrated, average
Ryan Mallett - below average
Jimmy Clausen - nothing
Coly McCoy - below average
Mike Kafka - who?
Pat White - who?
Stephen McGee - who?
Brian Brohm - who?
Chad Henne - Decent quarterback
Kevin O'Connell - who?
Kevin Kolb - Beat up, subpar QB that was overrated for awhile
John Beck - who?
Drew Stanton - Subpar QB, nothing more than an average #2
Trent Edwards - long gone
Isaiah Stanback - who?
Kellen Clemens - This piece of shit? Really?
Tarvaris Jackson - sucks
Charlie Whitehurst - nothing more than a career long backup, subpar
Brodie Coyle - who?
Brad Smith - who?
Charlie Frye - who?
Andrew Walter - who?
David Greene - who?
Kyle Orton - Ok, an actual quarterback who ended up being pretty decent. Was worth the pick.
Stefan LeFors - who?
Matt Schaub - pick6 schaub? No thanks.
Luke McCown - Sucked

My point is that you're not going to find a Russell Wilson past the 1st rd. The chances of that happening are astronomical. If you haven't noticed, 99% of these guys amounted to nothing in the league and were a waste of a pick. So lets not waste a 2nd rd pick on a backup quarterback? Even a 4th is too much. Our starter has to (and will) be Sam Bradford for 2015. He is head and shoulders better than any QB we can get through the draft or FA. So that is what we need to do: restructure Sam Bradford's contract, and keep him as the starter.

The second thing I'd like to talk about is the receiving group we have that consists of Kenny Britt, Brian Quick, Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey, and Chris Givens. Our receivers are currently fine as is, and that is only because of Kenny Britt. Britt would have easily had a 1,000 yard season had Bradford been in at quarterback the whole year. At the beginning of the season, Davis was overlooking Britt, while later in the season, Hill has not had the arm necessary to get to Britt on numerous occasions. Britt should've had 182 yards receiving and a touchdown against the Giants in week 16, but Hill missed him, like he has frequently this season. Britt is our #1 receiver.

If we can't resign Britt, we're screwed at the receiver position and we'll be forced to take one early in the draft. Resigning Britt must be our top priority regarding free agency. He was great for us this season and will look even better if he has a good QB throwing to him.

Resigning Barksdale and Kendricks should be priorities as well. McLeod wouldn't be a bad resigning.

Releasing Jake long and Scott Wells should be no brainers in my opinion. Long is washed up and isn't his former self, and it's simply time to just put Greg Robinson in position and let him go with it. Wells has sucked complete balls this season and he costs way too much. He needs to go. This should free up some cap space allowing us to resign all of the guys I mentioned above.

Another thing that is overlooked but almost as important as the other things that I have mentioned, in my opinion, is our other OLB position across from Ogletree and LB depth. We have no one behind Laurinaitis and Ogletree. If either of them get hurt, we would be forced to put in Dunbar. Dunbar is a one dimensional player and has no reason starting, not even in his limited role as the other outside linebacker. I'm a strong believer that we need to draft a LB within the first two rounds of the draft this year. If Laurinaitis or Ogletree went down, we would be screwed. We need to have another OLB and one that can preferrably transfer to ILB in a switch.

And the last thing I think should be talked about is the secondary. Janoris Jenkins is a #1 corner in this league and our best corner. He really gets shit talked way too much around here. The dude has his bad moments but his good heavily outweighs his bad, and he is still getting better. Besides his game-changing ability, he also is our best tackler at corner. He seals the edge like no other and isn't afraid to tackle, contrary to many false claims about him. He's a really, really good player. I would argue that he was the best player on our team his rookie year and the best player on our defense this year. E.J. Gaines is also a very, very good player. He's probably more consistent than JJ but not as much of a gamechanger. He's fantastic as a #2 corner. Trumaine Johnson is the questionmark here. However, it is really quite irrelevent considering we have Lamarcus Joyner waiting in the wings. Cornerback is not a position of concern for me at this point, although maybe a little thin.

Safety was my biggest concern heading into the season but it has been quelled quite a bit. We've seen how dominant our safeties can be at times with McDonald, McLeod, and Barron. We've also seen how bad they can look, especially with miscommunications. This group is very inconsistent and I think it comes with their young age. What I like about these three guys is that they all hit hard. I think the Rams can manage with just these three safeties moving forward for at least another year. Maybe Barron will step into a larger role next year.

I think with the draft, we're going to end up with the #9 overall pick. I think we need to seriously considering taking Vic Beasley or Bernardrick Mckinney with this pick. We already knew last year that the Rams were really looking at Khalil Mack and even considered trading up for C.J. Mosely. So they're definetly looking at outside linebackers. The one I find most intriguing is Bernardrick McKinney, since he plays inside linebacker but can also be shifted outside. This pick would kill two birds in one stone, in giving us a really special starer but also a backup at inside linebacker and maybe the future replacement for Laurinaitis. So that is who I think should be our first pick.

Our 2nd/3rd round picks should be on offensive linemen. We cannot wait any longer to get players to beef up our front. I really like Reese Dismukes from Auburn, and he could be in play with our second round pick. Maybe grab a huge OT/G like Daryl Williams from Oklahoma with our 3rd rd pick. And with the 5th and 7th round picks? Grab more offensive linemen.

So that is what we should do. I know it is not much, but in reality, we are not that far away... At all. If we had Bradford this season we'd be talking playoffs. We would've beaten Philly, Dallas, Arizona, San Diego, and maybe the Giants this year in my opinion. This high draft pick we are getting as a result is only going to make us more powerful. If Bradford comes back full power next season, then the Rams should have no problem making the playoffs. This team is ready.

 

[27mtrcougar]

This could get interesting though if the rams lose to Seattle which is likely. Then the Vikes win at home against the Bears, Saints win at Tampa, the Giants win at home against the Eagles and the Falcons win at home against Carolina... all very possible. The Rams would shoot up to be picking 8th! If Winston drops to 5 or 6 then Fisher will be under some pressure to trade up for sure.

 

[ksudodger]

outsider looking in. But hundley is an inaccurate passer. How are hundley and petty good fits? They are VASTLY different players

IMO, Petty is the better fit because he is a slightly smaller, more mobile and more durable version of the QB we have (Bradford). Hundley would be a fit because of his athletic ability and the opportunity to work on his accuracy. But again, I like Petty or Garrett Grayson better than Hundley.

 

[ksudodger]

And with the 5th and 7th round picks? Grab more offensive linemen.


No bud, we need a cover DB (either CB or FS) and a LB (either ILB or WOLB) with those last 2 picks. If we accumulate more picks, grab a couple more big bodies.

If we go to war with ONLY the 5 picks, it SHOULD go like this: OT, Interior O Line, QB, Cover DB, LB

 

[sooner4life130]

This is an article I found from TST. I pretty much agree 100%

After watching every game this season and seeing what our weaknesses are, here is my analysis on what needs to be done in the offseason:

1) Restructure Sam Bradford's contract, and keep him as our starting quarterback.

Guys, stop with the idea of drafting a QB early in the draft. It's a waste of a draft pick that could be used somewhere else and it is a bad idea. I go by the philosophy that you either draft a QB in the 1st rd or you do not draft one at all. Want to know why? This is why:

QB's taken from RDs 2-4 from 2004-2013:

Matt Barkley - benchwarmer
Mike Glennon - sucks
Geno Smith - sucks
Ryan Nassib - who?
Tyler Wilson - sucks
Landry Jones - sucks
Brock Osweiler - benchwarmer
Russell Wilson - Spectacular player, amazing player
Nick Foles - pretty decent, not sold on him however
Kirk Cousins - overrated, below average
Andy Dalton - overrated, below average
Colin Kaepernick - overrated, average
Ryan Mallett - below average
Jimmy Clausen - nothing
Coly McCoy - below average
Mike Kafka - who?
Pat White - who?
Stephen McGee - who?
Brian Brohm - who?
Chad Henne - Decent quarterback
Kevin O'Connell - who?
Kevin Kolb - Beat up, subpar QB that was overrated for awhile
John Beck - who?
Drew Stanton - Subpar QB, nothing more than an average #2
Trent Edwards - long gone
Isaiah Stanback - who?
Kellen Clemens - This piece of shit? Really?
Tarvaris Jackson - sucks
Charlie Whitehurst - nothing more than a career long backup, subpar
Brodie Coyle - who?
Brad Smith - who?
Charlie Frye - who?
Andrew Walter - who?
David Greene - who?
Kyle Orton - Ok, an actual quarterback who ended up being pretty decent. Was worth the pick.
Stefan LeFors - who?
Matt Schaub - pick6 schaub? No thanks.
Luke McCown - Sucked

My point is that you're not going to find a Russell Wilson past the 1st rd. The chances of that happening are astronomical. If you haven't noticed, 99% of these guys amounted to nothing in the league and were a waste of a pick. So lets not waste a 2nd rd pick on a backup quarterback? Even a 4th is too much. Our starter has to (and will) be Sam Bradford for 2015. He is head and shoulders better than any QB we can get through the draft or FA. So that is what we need to do: restructure Sam Bradford's contract, and keep him as the starter.

The second thing I'd like to talk about is the receiving group we have that consists of Kenny Britt, Brian Quick, Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey, and Chris Givens. Our receivers are currently fine as is, and that is only because of Kenny Britt. Britt would have easily had a 1,000 yard season had Bradford been in at quarterback the whole year. At the beginning of the season, Davis was overlooking Britt, while later in the season, Hill has not had the arm necessary to get to Britt on numerous occasions. Britt should've had 182 yards receiving and a touchdown against the Giants in week 16, but Hill missed him, like he has frequently this season. Britt is our #1 receiver.

If we can't resign Britt, we're screwed at the receiver position and we'll be forced to take one early in the draft. Resigning Britt must be our top priority regarding free agency. He was great for us this season and will look even better if he has a good QB throwing to him.

Resigning Barksdale and Kendricks should be priorities as well. McLeod wouldn't be a bad resigning.

Releasing Jake long and Scott Wells should be no brainers in my opinion. Long is washed up and isn't his former self, and it's simply time to just put Greg Robinson in position and let him go with it. Wells has sucked complete balls this season and he costs way too much. He needs to go. This should free up some cap space allowing us to resign all of the guys I mentioned above.

Another thing that is overlooked but almost as important as the other things that I have mentioned, in my opinion, is our other OLB position across from Ogletree and LB depth. We have no one behind Laurinaitis and Ogletree. If either of them get hurt, we would be forced to put in Dunbar. Dunbar is a one dimensional player and has no reason starting, not even in his limited role as the other outside linebacker. I'm a strong believer that we need to draft a LB within the first two rounds of the draft this year. If Laurinaitis or Ogletree went down, we would be screwed. We need to have another OLB and one that can preferrably transfer to ILB in a switch.

And the last thing I think should be talked about is the secondary. Janoris Jenkins is a #1 corner in this league and our best corner. He really gets shit talked way too much around here. The dude has his bad moments but his good heavily outweighs his bad, and he is still getting better. Besides his game-changing ability, he also is our best tackler at corner. He seals the edge like no other and isn't afraid to tackle, contrary to many false claims about him. He's a really, really good player. I would argue that he was the best player on our team his rookie year and the best player on our defense this year. E.J. Gaines is also a very, very good player. He's probably more consistent than JJ but not as much of a gamechanger. He's fantastic as a #2 corner. Trumaine Johnson is the questionmark here. However, it is really quite irrelevent considering we have Lamarcus Joyner waiting in the wings. Cornerback is not a position of concern for me at this point, although maybe a little thin.

Safety was my biggest concern heading into the season but it has been quelled quite a bit. We've seen how dominant our safeties can be at times with McDonald, McLeod, and Barron. We've also seen how bad they can look, especially with miscommunications. This group is very inconsistent and I think it comes with their young age. What I like about these three guys is that they all hit hard. I think the Rams can manage with just these three safeties moving forward for at least another year. Maybe Barron will step into a larger role next year.

I think with the draft, we're going to end up with the #9 overall pick. I think we need to seriously considering taking Vic Beasley or Bernardrick Mckinney with this pick. We already knew last year that the Rams were really looking at Khalil Mack and even considered trading up for C.J. Mosely. So they're definetly looking at outside linebackers. The one I find most intriguing is Bernardrick McKinney, since he plays inside linebacker but can also be shifted outside. This pick would kill two birds in one stone, in giving us a really special starer but also a backup at inside linebacker and maybe the future replacement for Laurinaitis. So that is who I think should be our first pick.

Our 2nd/3rd round picks should be on offensive linemen. We cannot wait any longer to get players to beef up our front. I really like Reese Dismukes from Auburn, and he could be in play with our second round pick. Maybe grab a huge OT/G like Daryl Williams from Oklahoma with our 3rd rd pick. And with the 5th and 7th round picks? Grab more offensive linemen.

So that is what we should do. I know it is not much, but in reality, we are not that far away... At all. If we had Bradford this season we'd be talking playoffs. We would've beaten Philly, Dallas, Arizona, San Diego, and maybe the Giants this year in my opinion. This high draft pick we are getting as a result is only going to make us more powerful. If Bradford comes back full power next season, then the Rams should have no problem making the playoffs. This team is ready.

You must not watch a lot of college football. There were a lot of Qb's on that list that any CFB fan should know. Not only that, your observations on who sucks or not is at times a pretty poor judgement. Dalton sucks? really? Oh but Stanton is at least subpar..... I would take Dalton over 2/3 of the league.

 

[shopson67]

Yeah, that was a very pessimistic view of those QBs. Way too harsh on Dalton and Glennon, and I'm curious as to how Cousins is overrated as a backup QB? That Redskins roster is awful in general.

By the way, Nassib is backing up Eli, which is why you don't hear about him. He may never become anything, but he hasn't had an opportunity (much like Osweiler and Mallett).

 

[27mtrcougar]

You must not watch a lot of college football. There were a lot of Qb's on that list that any CFB fan should know. Not only that, your observations on who sucks or not is at times a pretty poor judgement. Dalton sucks? really? Oh but Stanton is at least subpar..... I would take Dalton over 2/3 of the league.

If your talking to me that was an article I found. I would take Dalton for sure. But he is on a really good team.

 

[Smed55]

Coug, wow I actually agree with 90% of what you are saying! Of course you already know the 10% of it I don't agree with

As far as QB's go, you can also say that there is a butt load of big name 1st round QB's that never made it, or who just flat out sucked, in fact that list might match the one you found!

As far as Bradford beating Phil, Dal, Ari, SD, and NYG, I agree he could of possibly won the SD game, as far as Phil, Dal, and NY, I highly doubt Sammie is going to put up more than 34, 34, and 37 points, that's asking a lot. The Arizona game "maybe" but I doubt that also, we played like crap as a team offensively and I don't think Sammie would have changed that, Arizona D played lights out.

And you also have to factor in the games that Sammie would suck and maybe we would have lost 1 or 2 games that we won! You have to be realistic and know that he would have a few bad games, we've seen it before

 

[Smed55]

Coug, I also disagree with your assessment of Britt, if I remember correctly he was hurt at the beginning of the year, and really didn't play until game 3.

With Davis in 6 games 31 targets and 17 catches with 2TD's

With Hill the first 6 games 33 targets and 17 catches for 1TD.
(of course he had 9 catches on 11 targets his last game)

I agree Hill has continually under and over thrown Britt, I think Britt could easily have 3 maybe 4 more TD's, but Hill sucks.

Britt is more of a veteran, but Quick was having a very good year before he was hurt, (25 catches on 39 targets with 3TD's) they are both the same size, so even if we didn't have Britt, I think we would be fine with Quick, Bailey, and Austin in the slot.

And again you are assuming that Bradford would have gotten him the ball even more for 1000, you don't think Samie would have ever been going to Quick also, and Bailey? If anything I think Austin would have benefited more form Bradford, he dumps the ball off a lot and doesn't look downfield as much as our "backups" do!