Gordo's Tipsheet: Rams planned for 2016 breakout

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RamBill

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Tipsheet: Rams planned for 2016 breakout

• By Jeff Gordon

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_d37ac764-2cd7-56a1-a4be-be8c1a265668.html

When the Rams drafted a rehabbing running back and a bunch of offensive linemen to train on the job last season, it was glaringly obvious they were building for the 2016 season.

The organization targeted this year for its shift to Los Angeles and decided to use last season as preparation for that.

Why else would the Rams build around running back Todd Gurley, who wouldn't be able to play in Week 1, and so many linemen who wouldn't be ready to block right away?

"Four of our five starters from the 2014 team, when we went to draft, still weren't on our roster for various reasons," Rams general manager Les Snead told the Los Angeles Times while down at the Senior Bowl looking for the next Isaiah Pead and Brian Quick. "We needed to draft, develop some guys and let them grow together . . . we think we're on our way to see it come to fruition."

True enough, Rob Havenstein and Co. learned the NFL ropes while the Rams muddled to another losing season in St. Louis. So, yes, they should be good to go in LA.

Will the Rams as a whole be ready to actually reach the other side of .500 in Year 5 of the eternal Jeff Fisher rebuild?

"The goal is to be consistently good and I think that should be the goal whether you're moving to L.A. or you're in a very small town somewhere else," Snead told the Times. "If you come out and you consistently compete and you're consistently good and you earn some equity . . . (fans are) going to get behind you . . . Take L.A. out of it. Let's be a good football team, consistently good. We've had some inconsistencies in the past. That's why you keep doing it. Keep evolving, keep maturing, all those things to get consistently good."

Off course, playing behind a young offensive line last season left quarterback Nick Foles shell-shocked. That forced the Rams to head West with the uninspiring Case Keenum as their starting quarterback.

So will the Rams take another stab at drafting a quarterback?

"You definitely have to prepare that you might do it," Snead said. "Sometimes with QBs we've seen some very successful ones go in the second round, and the third round seems to be hot of late. I'm thinking of Russell Wilson. I'm thinking of Kirk Cousins. So the thing about the draft is, because it's become a nice entertainment segment … there's so much attention on the first round, especially at the QB position, that sometimes the third-round QB, it's ‘Oh, he's a third-round QB.' But the long story short on all of that is we'll definitely scout QBs, and we'll definitely look at the trade market and free-agent market. The answer is yes."

With any luck, Snead will locate the next Garrett Gilbert.
 

Akrasian

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When the Rams drafted a rehabbing running back and a bunch of offensive linemen to train on the job last season, it was glaringly obvious they were building for the 2016 season.

The organization targeted this year for its shift to Los Angeles and decided to use last season as preparation for that.

Why else would the Rams build around running back Todd Gurley, who wouldn't be able to play in Week 1, and so many linemen who wouldn't be ready to block right away?

Well, as anybody who actually pays attention to the Rams know, Gurley was the best talent available AND fits what Fisher wants to do with a team perfectly. And even with him not being ready to start the season, they got more contributions from him than anybody else they could have picked at that spot.

Also as anybody who has been following the Rams know, the Rams had kept trying to sign free agents to fill holes on the OL, and it kept on not working - so they went with the draft instead, and got a lot of contributions from the players they picked high, and used multiple picks later knowing that not all would be ready to help.

Only an idiot thinks that Fisher intentionally went into 2015 figuring they would not make an effort to win. They traded for a QB they (mistakenly) thought would help, got arguably the best player in the draft - certainly the best player available that late - and their #2 pick also contributed significantly immediately.
 

Roman Snow

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Don't forget his Pead and Quick cracks, or the whole premise of his piece: that Snead and Fisher used 2015 as a throw away season in St. Louis to be ready for 2016 in LA.

Triple douche.
 

PowayRamFan

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So Snead is at the Senior Bowl looking for the next Isiah Pead or Brian Quick, huh? Wow, the butthurt is strong with Gordo.
 

Memento

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Forget sour grapes; Gordon's like a whole sour grapefruit.
 

Faceplant

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Why is this jackass still covering the Rams???
 

bluecoconuts

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At least Gordo will always have this statue in his honor.

edb65d1165ec33739a4aa086d18cffed.jpg
 

OldSchool

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Wow with all the salt in his writing I bet the Dead Sea is safe now.
 

Loyal

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What he is writing if for a butthurt St Louis fanbase. Not that they don't have legitimate reasons for being angry, Gordo is writing cr@p articles to exploit that...I have't read a PD article about the Rams since the decision, and for a few lines above...
 

RamFan503

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What he is writing if for a butthurt St Louis fanbase.

I get the sentiment - I do. But can we please dispense with the whole butthurt mantra. I hate the kind of crap Gordo put in this article but we have some great Rams fans on here that are from the Lou and have supported this team through thick and thin. They are still here and I'm guessing most of them don't care for this kind of reporting either.

Call Gordo a dick for it and you'd be dead on balls accurate. I would just like to see us as the Rams family try to concentrate on the future and let this dickish behavior stand for what it obviously is.
 

CGI_Ram

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If the Rams wanted a toss-away season they wouldn't have spent nearly the full cap, signed Fairley, traded for Foles, and other moves.

I'm not buying it.
 

Loyal

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I get the sentiment - I do. But can we please dispense with the whole butthurt mantra. I hate the kind of crap Gordo put in this article but we have some great Rams fans on here that are from the Lou and have supported this team through thick and thin. They are still here and I'm guessing most of them don't care for this kind of reporting either.

Call Gordo a dick for it and you'd be dead on balls accurate. I would just like to see us as the Rams family try to concentrate on the future and let this dickish behavior stand for what it obviously is.
Well, I said this too : "Not that they don't have legitimate reasons for being angry, Gordo is writing cr@p articles to exploit that.."
It wasn't a shot at St Louis fans, but I understand what you are saying