I really want to like Ogletree, but....

[jacktheripper85]

man he seems to come up small in big spots. Earlier in the year against Dallas he whiffs against Eliot on a huge 3rd and goal and than that whiff last night. Ouch! Biggest momentum change in the game. Score before the half than hold them to 3 and out on their opening possession than get the ball back with a chance to take the lead. Instead 8 minutes later, they score, gain momentum and tire out our defense. Just a backbreaker-Ogletree has to realize the moment and sell out to make that play-disappointing.

And I’m not letting Cooper off the hook but to me we had gotten over that and had all the momentum. That missed tackle was a killer.

 

[-X-]

He tried to grab and wrap, but slipped off.
It happens. Is he elite? No. But he's a big reason we made it as far as we did.

 

[Ellard80]

Yeah that was another huge play - most coaches will tell you that a game typically comes down to a handful of plays. You could definitely see that in last nights game.

 

[OC--LeftCoast]

man he seems to come up small in big spots. Earlier in the year against Dallas he whiffs against Eliot on a huge 3rd and goal and than that whiff last night. Ouch! Biggest momentum change in the game. Score before the half than hold them to 3 and out on their opening possession than get the ball back with a chance to take the lead. Instead 8 minutes later, they score, gain momentum and tire out our defense. Just a backbreaker-Ogletree has to realize the moment and sell out to make that play-disappointing.

And I’m not letting Cooper off the hook but to me we had gotten over that and had all the momentum. That missed tackle was a killer.

I pretty much agree with everything you just said, they desperately needed to get off the field at that moment and that missed open field tackle was deflating—-dare I say, borderline 7-9 baloney sausage

 

[OntarioRam]

He also probably makes the most "splash" plays on the team, looked very good getting penetration all night, and the entire defense couldn't get off the field much due to turnovers and Brockers going down. The missed tackle was unacceptable, true. Those happen too often with Ogletree. But he is what he is at this point of his career. He's a net positive by far and I'm happy he's on the roster.

 

[snackdaddy]

I'm thinking the same thing. I like his athleticism at times but he's not good at some things. That whiff was big. Make that tackle and we get the ball back still down one score. He missed it and they make it a two score game. He doesn't do a good job of shedding blockers either. That's something that has always plagued him. And yes, I did think of that missed tackle on Elliot when I saw that. I even mentioned it to my son when it happened.

Its not like I'm advocating for his release or something. He can be a playmaker. But maybe Wade can make adjustments to make up for his shortcomings? Put him in a better position to use his strengths and avoid his weaknesses?

 

[Jacobarch]

He has wiffed a lot this year. He need to get better at tackling and angles that's for sure. It's was also his first year in a new defense so I'll cut him a little slack

 

[jacktheripper85]

I'm thinking the same thing. I like his athleticism at times but he's not good at some things. That whiff was big. Make that tackle and we get the ball back still down one score. He missed it and they make it a two score game. He doesn't do a good job of shedding blockers either. That's something that has always plagued him. And yes, I did think of that missed tackle on Elliot when I saw that. I even mentioned it to my son when it happened.

Its not like I'm advocating for his release or something. He can be a playmaker. But maybe Wade can make adjustments to make up for his shortcomings? Put him in a better position to use his strengths and avoid his weaknesses?

I’m with you. I’m not one to rag on our players but that play just bugged me. I love Ogletree’s athletisism, splash plays he makes and appreciate that he is the captain of the defense. I like having him on the team. With that being said championship players make championship plays in those few defining moments during a game and he didn’t. I don’t need to look any further than our last Super Bowl victory to understand that.

 

[fearsomefour]

His technique leaves a lot to be desired.
But, the D is much worse off without him.

 

[fastcat]

Olgetree has been tackling technique has been the EXACT same since i seen him playing at Georgia. He is either going to just run into a player or if the angle isnt there it Will be an arm tackle. And on top of that he cant shed a block. Thats why i was surprised they resigned him to play mlb in a 3-4, i was also surprised to see them move him to mlb in a 4-3 also, but anyone was an upgrade from JL55 at that point. He is not a fit in our D, he is an 4-3 outside lb. Dont get me qrong he is a good player but if tou want to stop the run you dont put him in the middle unless your d scheme is for the DTs to hold up blocks instead of penetration. And our DTs are always penetrating... Scheme is juat wrong for Tree

 

[BonifayRam]

It might be that both Barron & Ogletree are excellent Inside LB'ers but put them together creates a weakness that teams plan & have exploited this season. Fact is both of them have ailments that might have greatly affected their play effectiveness.

Barron has been UN healthy this entire past year. He came into the season that way & ended this season that way. Mark Barron signed a 5 year, $45 million contract with the rams on March 9, 2016. Barron received $15 million in full guarantees Rams still owe Barron 28 million.

The Barron contract was done when this team had Fisher/Williams here & were a base 34 D. The Tree contract was done when were knew we were running a 34 D. When re accessing the failures of this last season & the way the Rams were manhandled by a 6th seed team it would appear that Barron may be the LB'er who may be on the way out more than Tree.

 

[gabriel18]

He looked off last night for some reason. I can't explain it but usually he plays all out and is always trying to strip the ball when the runner is being tackled . I saw none of that

 

[Memphis Ram]

He tackles too high at times, but he should be playing in Barron's playmaking LB spot, IMO.

 

[Ram_Rally]

He tried to grab and wrap, but slipped off.
It happens. Is he elite? No. But he's a big reason we made it as far as we did.

He's missed a lot of tackles over the years though. I like him, I just hope we move him to a different LB spot. We need a real general in the middle.

 

[-X-]

He's missed a lot of tackles over the years though. I like him, I just hope we move him to a different LB spot. We need a real general in the middle.

Yeah, true, and @Memphis Ram is right. He and Barron should be in each other's spots. But in the grand scheme of things, I think he (Ogletree) does enough good back there to by far outweigh any bad. He absolutely could be replaced someone who's more of a thumper if we're staying with this 3-4 hybrid, but I just don't think phasing him out is a high priority right now. There are other, higher, priorities IMO.

 

[BonifayRam]

In truth this 34 D by Wade in 2017 was a patched up from the beginning. I would look for some serious changes to take place in the off season but Ogletree IMO is here for a long while, but like it been discussed before Tree might be placed in a better interior LB'ing post that plays better to his skills & talents. Wade might have know of the weakness issues @ both weak-side Edge Rusher position (Quinn) & Inside LB weak- side (Barron) Both playing together. Wade might have been dealing with covering up this weakness all season too.The same could be said to be a possible issue playing Barron/Ogletree together inside.

@flv could give us more detail insight as to the ramifications for releasing Barron or trading him. Barron has proven to be an outstanding weak-side LB'er in a 43 Defense. So Barron has some value but his $$$ contract might be a serious problem to deal with in trying to trade him.

 

[sjm1582002]

The Ram's NT is easily the weakest position on the whole D. Tree is a converted OLB and I think he fits best outside. Barron is also too light to be inside. We need thumpers at ILB who demolish rb's and OLB's that can rush the passer.

Should be interesting to see how the staff adresses this situation during the draft/FA.

It is no less important than finding Whit's heir apparent.

 

[BonifayRam]

Thanks that was quick coming from across the very big pond Thats clears that muddy stuff for me. The Eagles will either release or try once again to trade their 34 D inside LB'er Mychal Kendricks who has been playing out of position in the base 43 SSLB'er post soon enough. I have posted this many times he would make a good strong side interior LB'er for Wade's D & thus allow Wade to slide Tree over to the Barron post thus adding a bona fide veteran thumper into the mix inside.

 

[MachS]

Our run defense is bad because of our LBs not our DL. Tree and Baron are very overrated and inconsistent. Tree misses way too many tackles for a MLB. I don't think that play lost us the game, but we need to try and upgrade there if we can.