Jrry32 Second Mock - David Shaw Edition

[jrry32]

We all saw that Shaw came in for a visit. Ultimately, it doesn't mean much. Shaw probably still chooses to remain at Stanford. That all said, I'm going to throw this scenario out there anyways.
Hire
HC David Shaw
OC Greg Roman
DC Jim Leavitt

David Shaw stopped in for a visit this week. I'm hoping he'll consider coming here. Shaw has 6 seasons of head coaching experience under his belt at Stanford. In those 6 seasons, he's won 70% of his games. Shaw has 9 years of experience under his belt in the NFL. His father, Willie, coached for over a decade in the NFL (including as defensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams). Shaw came up under Jon Gruden. It's who he credited for his offensive philosophy. He runs a variant of Gruden's WCO. Shaw has shown the ability to adopt his offense to the personnel he's given. My one complaint about Shaw is that he's a conservative game manager. He's too quick to go to the ground-and-pound when he has a lead in the second half.

Greg Roman worked under Shaw at Stanford before following Harbaugh to the NFL to become his OC in San Francisco. I thought Roman did a solid job in San Francisco and Buffalo. He got fired in Buffalo, and Anthony Lynn has done a good job in his absence, but his offenses were statistically productive there. Either ways, he'll be working with Shaw like he did with Harbaugh in San Francisco, so I'm not worried about his being fired by Buffalo.

Jim Leavitt is an interesting name. If he didn't have a dark cloud hanging over him from his days at USF (fired for striking a player), he'd be a head coach somewhere in college right now. Leavitt is both a bright defensive mind and a great player developer. His defense at Colorado was ranked in the top 15 in points per game allowed and yards per game allowed this year going into the conference championship game. Leavitt was also very successful at building USF's football program from scratch. And he was San Francisco's LB Coach under Harbaugh when they had by far the best group LBs in the NFL from 2011 to 2014 (Aldon Smith, Patrick Willis, Navorro Bowman, Chris Borland, Ahmad Brooks, etc.). He has a strong track record of success.

John Fassel is kept on as special teams coordinator. No way we should let him walk. Shaw worked with his father in Baltimore. That may make it more likely he stays.

Some might ask why not keep Gregg Williams? I'm fine with keeping Williams. However, the last time Williams was passed over for a head coaching job (Washington), he quit. I don't know if he'll want to stay.

Cut
HB Tre Mason
OG Rodger Saffold
DE Eugene Sims

Re-sign
CB Trumaine Johnson - 5 years $60 million
K Greg Zuerlein - 3 years $6 million
HB Benny Cunningham - 3 years $6 million
WR Brian Quick - 1 year $2 million
DT Dominique Easley - RFA Tender
DE Ethan Westbrooks - RFA Tender
DE Matt Longacre - ERFA Tender

Let Walk
S T.J. McDonald (I like T.J., but Mo is a more natural fit at SS. Let's use the money we have elsewhere.)
WR Kenny Britt (I am worried about him working with a new HC. He doesn't have a strong track record of working with coaches who aren't Fisher.)
QB Case Keenum (Mannion is the backup of the future.)

Position Changes
LaMarcus Joyner - CB -> FS

With Alexander moving to SS, Joyner moves to FS. I think it's his natural position. Joyner doesn't play well with his back to the ball. He's at his best attacking downhill. He has surprising strength for a guy his size. In college, he showed good range and no fear at FS. He will deliver knockout shots. Offers the same type of skill-set that McLeod did.

Free Agency

WR Alshon Jeffery - 5 years $60 million

True #1 WRs in their prime don't often hit FA. Jeffery is the type of player we've pined for for years. I'm willing to accept the risks. WRs of his caliber don't often hit FA in the middle of their prime.

LG Ronald Leary - 5 years $35 million

We need OL help. There were rumors that Dallas was trying to trade Leary before the season. With the injury to La'El Collins, Leary stepped back into his starting spot. He was also a starter on the dominant 2014 Cowboys OL. Leary is a mauling run blocker who has the versatility to play in either a ZBS or a PBS. He's an above average but not elite pass protector. Either ways, he's a huge upgrade on what we have.

CB/S Micah Hyde - 3 years $9 million

Hyde is signed to improve our DB depth. He's a versatile player who can play anywhere in the defensive back-field.

S Matt Elam - 1 year $3 million

Elam provides depth at SS and gets a "prove it" deal. There's a strong argument that the Ravens used him in the wrong way. They tried to use him as a FS. Elam has always been more of a box safety.

NFL Draft
Round 2 Pick #8 - Ethan Pocic C/OG/OT LSU
Round 3 Pick #7 - Tre'Davious White CB LSU
Round 4 Pick #8 - Cooper Kupp WR Eastern Washington
Round 4 Comp Pick - J.J. Dielman OT/OG/C Utah
Round 5 Pick #7 - Josh Augusta NT Missouri
Round 6 Pick #8 - Nick DeLuca LB North Dakota State
Round 6 Comp Pick - Deatrich Wise Jr. DE Arkansas
Round 7 Pick #7 - T.J. Logan HB North Carolina

Projected Starters
QB: Jared Goff
HB: Todd Gurley
FB: Cory Harkey
XWR: Alshon Jeffery
ZWR: Tavon Austin vs. Brian Quick vs. Mike Thomas vs. Cooper Kupp
SLWR: Pharoh Cooper
TE: Tyler Higbee vs. Lance Kendricks
LT: Greg Robinson
LG: Ronald Leary
C: Ethan Pocic
RG: Jamon Brown vs. Cody Wichmann vs. J.J. Dielman
RT: Rob Havenstein

LDE: William Hayes
NT: Michael Brockers
UT: Aaron Donald
RDE: Robert Quinn
WLB: Mark Barron
MLB: Alec Ogletree
LCB: Trumaine Johnson
RCB: Tre'Davious White
SLCB: E.J. Gaines
FS: LaMarcus Joyner
SS: Maurice Alexander

K: Greg Zuerlein
P: Johnny Hekker
LS: Jake McQuaide
KR: Benny Cunningham vs. T.J. Logan
PR: Tavon Austin

 

[den-the-coach]

Yeah if all that transpired:

 

[Memento]

I love this mock. Every bit of it.

 

[den-the-coach]

Jim Leavitt would be excellent as a DC in the NFL and two coordinators of that magnitude would be a great start to a coaching staff and keeping Fassel would make it complete. Again, highly unlikely, but if I was ESK I would include a job for Willie Shaw within the organization.

What will most likely happen...Rams extend Fisher for two years and he hires Norv Turner, I would prefer Mike Shanahan, but I have a feeling Turner quit for a reason and I believe this is the reason...They make Rob Boras OL Coach and Turner can bring in a QB Coach of his choosing, hopefully not his son Scott who stayed with the Vikings.

 

[RamsFlash80]

This would be perfect omg. You even got my boy Kupp to go along with Alshon . You addressed most all our needs via FA and draft. Im also in the let TJ walk boat and spending the money elsewhere. I think Mo can take his spot easily. I also thought Joyner would be our FS when we drafted him. Kinda baffled why he hasnt been put there this season. It made sense last year etc cause we had McLeod. This offseason would make us playoff contenders for sure.

 

[TheDYVKX]

Not the sexiest with the OL pickups but I like it. One thing I'd say is not to give Leary that long of a deal, since he'll be 28 by the start of the season, the deal ends when he's 33. A little old for a lineman and we'd potentially be stuck with a declining player.

I guess you could probably structure the deal where there's no dead money around that time.

 

[jrry32]

Not the sexiest with the OL pickups but I like it. One thing I'd say is not to give Leary that long of a deal, since he'll be 28 by the start of the season, the deal ends when he's 33. A little old for a lineman and we'd potentially be stuck with a declining player.

I guess you could probably structure the deal where there's no dead money around that time.

The contract would go from 28 years old to 32 years old. And you make a fair point. However, most 5-year FA deals are really 3 or 4 year deals that the team stretches out for the agent's and the player's sake. Realistically, Leary would likely only be here for 3 or 4 years. That all said, guards do tend to last longer than most positions, so it's possible that Leary is still playing at a high level at 32 years old.

But yes, how the contract is structured would be key.

 

[TheDYVKX]

The contract would go from 28 years old to 32 years old. And you make a fair point. However, most 5-year FA deals are really 3 or 4 year deals that the team stretches out for the agent's and the player's sake. Realistically, Leary would likely only be here for 3 or 4 years. That all said, guards do tend to last longer than most positions, so it's possible that Leary is still playing at a high level at 32 years old.

But yes, how the contract is structured would be key.

That's fair. Either way I'm down. Nice job.

 

[Riverumbbq]

Love the Leary F/A pick, just question whether Fisher will spend heavily at the position, even with the departure of Saffold. I think the Jeffery pick-up is just about unanimous around here. Don't like GRob remaining at LT for another season, he just hasn't proven to deserve the position. Same goes for Brown/Wichmann remaining starters at OG, not sure how this changes anything from our current season, they could be decent depth, but starting ?, ... not sure I see it, although Fisher is sometimes loyal beyond reason. I'm all about Pocic with our 2'nd round pick, as i've been mocking this myself. Also worried about our depth at starting DE, Quinn is getting to be more of a game day question and Hayes looks like his age has caught up to him, he's just not a consistently effective pass rusher any longer. jmo.

 

[jrry32]

Love the Leary F/A pick, just question whether Fisher will spend heavily at the position, even with the departure of Saffold. I think the Jeffery pick-up is just about unanimous around here. Don't like GRob remaining at LT for another season, he just hasn't proven to deserve the position. Same goes for Brown/Wichmann remaining starters at OG, not sure how this changes anything from our current season, they could be decent depth, but starting ?, ... not sure I see it, although Fisher is sometimes loyal beyond reason. I'm all about Pocic with our 2'nd round pick, as i've been mocking this myself. Also worried about our depth at starting DE, Quinn is getting to be more of a game day question and Hayes looks like his age has caught up to him, he's just not a consistently effective pass rusher any longer. jmo.

I just can't see myself mocking off-seasons with Fisher in charged. It just seems so futile at this point.

FWIW, I agree on Quinn. If we could get a 1st for him, I'd trade him in a heartbeat.

 

[Riverumbbq]

I just can't see myself mocking off-seasons with Fisher in charged. It just seems so futile at this point.

FWIW, I agree on Quinn. If we could get a 1st for him, I'd trade him in a heartbeat.

No doubt I understand both of the above sentiments.

My other reason for wanting GRob moving inside is because he'll be entering his option year in 2018, which I see no way the Rams can pick up as things stand, so spending 2017 as an OG could decide whether he receives any offer to remain with the team beyond 2017. If he develops as an OG, he could eventually play himself into a younger Saffold type role where he potentially swings out to a few other positions in case of emergency. GRob's opportunities are running low for increasing his demand going forward, his best chances for remaining a Ram, if indeed he wishes that, may just be a position change. jmo.

 

[jrry32]

No doubt I understand both of the above sentiments.

My other reason for wanting GRob moving inside is because he'll be entering his option year in 2018, which I see no way the Rams can pick up as things stand, so spending 2017 as an OG could decide whether he receives any offer to remain with the team beyond 2017. If he develops as an OG, he could eventually play himself into a younger Saffold type role where he potentially swings out to a few other positions in case of emergency. GRob's opportunities are running low for increasing his demand going forward, his best chances for remaining a Ram, if indeed he wishes that, may just be a position change. jmo.

Robinson needs to move positions, but we need a LT to move him inside. I don't see one out there.(other than Reiff who the Lions will find a way to keep)

 

[Dieter the Brock]

Nice!!!!!

moving on from Hayes would make this better.

I'm glad so many mock drafts have Center as a our biggest need - i agree 100%. Pocic eould be a great pick

 

[Riverumbbq]

Robinson needs to move positions, but we need a LT to move him inside. I don't see one out there.(other than Reiff who the Lions will find a way to keep)

Well, this is why I go with Kalil. I agree that he wouldn't be my first choice if our situation was improved, but we're kinda stuck. Playing back in the Coliseum where his best years were also couldn't hurt. I don't see him suddenly becoming a pro-bowl player, but I do see an improvement over GRob. Just getting from bad to average will make me happy for 2017, and at LT, this about all I can hope for at this time. His record along with being on IR should make him CAP friendly for a 'prove it' deal.

As for @Dieter the Brock at DE, I offer Dion Jordan, another cheap 'prove it' option who should offer better depth than what we now have available if he'll be as healthy as now predicted. Actually, i'd start him if he's ready. Sims & Westbrooks also appear to have fallen off the map production wise, so it may be time to get Longacre more snaps. Again, beggars can't be choosers, so picking up a few cheap bang or bust type free agents with potential could keep us from completely drowning. jmo.

 

[jrry32]

Well, this is why I go with Kalil. I agree that he wouldn't be my first choice if our situation was improved, but we're kinda stuck. Playing back in the Coliseum where his best years were also couldn't hurt. I don't see him suddenly becoming a pro-bowl player, but I do see an improvement over GRob. Just getting from bad to average will make me happy for 2017, and at LT, this about all I can hope for at this time. His record along with being on IR should make him CAP friendly for a 'prove it' deal.

As for @Dieter the Brock at DE, I offer Dion Jordan, another cheap 'prove it' option who should offer better depth than what we now have available if he'll be as healthy as now predicted. Actually, i'd start him if he's ready. Sims & Westbrooks also appear to have fallen off the map production wise, so it may be time to get Longacre more snaps. Again, beggars can't be choosers, so picking up a few cheap bang or bust type free agents with potential could keep us from completely drowning. jmo.

Why is Kalil going to settle for a cap friendly deal? We're not the only team on the market who needs a LT. That's also ignoring that Kalil hasn't been an average LT in years. He might be an upgrade on Greg, but you're paying premium money for a mediocre player. IMO, it's not a good use of resources.

As for Dion Jordan, if I pick him up, I'm not counting on him for anything. He's not shown much at 4-3 DE, and he hasn't played since 2014.

 

[Riverumbbq]

Why is Kalil going to settle for a cap friendly deal? We're not the only team on the market who needs a LT. That's also ignoring that Kalil hasn't been an average LT in years. He might be an upgrade on Greg, but you're paying premium money for a mediocre player. IMO, it's not a good use of resources.

As for Dion Jordan, if I pick him up, I'm not counting on him for anything. He's not shown much at 4-3 DE, and he hasn't played since 2014.

Can't the same be said of Alshon Jeffery at WR, or any other free agent ? If Kalil is offered 'premium' money, then good luck to that team, but even with the need, teams have to measure the players effectiveness in regard to cost. As we've both stated now, Kalil hasn't been a great LT, add that he's also coming off IR, that doesn't help further his situation, ... I believe we agree that premium money should not be part of the plan for him, but some team will pay something based on need, maybe he'll be overpaid from past hype, although most teams will know what they are getting into if they seek his services. If it comes down to 'resources' as you say, keeping GRob at LT or making a reasonable offer for Kalil, i'll go with Kalil on the edge while moving Robinson inside. Kalil is a young player that may benefit from a change of scenery, I can't say what his market price tops out as, but if we don't kick the tires, i'd be surprised.

As far as Dion Jordan, would you prefer Sims & Westbrooks as they've played this season ? Jordan is younger than Sims, would save CAP AND at least offers a good deal of potential at a pressing position. I'll gamble on Jordan and promote Longacre.

 

[jrry32]

Can't the same be said of Alshon Jeffery at WR, or any other free agent ?

Yes. That's why I have us paying him $12 million a year.

If Kalil is offered 'premium' money, then good luck to that team, but even with the need, teams have to measure the players effectiveness in regard to cost. As we've both stated now, Kalil hasn't been a great LT, add that he's also coming off IR, that doesn't help further his situation, ... I believe we agree that premium money should not be part of the plan for him, but some team will pay something based on need, maybe he'll be overpaid from past hype, although most teams will know what they are getting into if they seek his services. If it comes down to 'resources' as you say, keeping GRob at LT or making a reasonable offer for Kalil, i'll go with Kalil on the edge while moving Robinson inside. Kalil is a young player that may benefit from a change of scenery, I can't say what his market price tops out as, but if we don't kick the tires, i'd be surprised.

If we could get Kalil on a "prove it" deal, I'd say sure. I don't think he's a good LT, but he can hold us over for a year. However, there's a lot of scarcity at LT. It's possible that Kalil is the only starting caliber LT on the market. In that scenario, he gets paid simply because nobody else is out there.

As far as Dion Jordan, would you prefer Sims & Westbrooks as they've played this season ? Jordan is younger than Sims, would save CAP AND at least offers a good deal of potential at a pressing position. I'll gamble on Jordan and promote Longacre.

I'm letting Sims go either ways. But if I'm bringing Jordan in, he's being brought in to compete like Easley was. I'm not bringing him in to count on him for anything.

 

[Riverumbbq]

Yes. That's why I have us paying him $12 million a year.



If we could get Kalil on a "prove it" deal, I'd say sure. I don't think he's a good LT, but he can hold us over for a year. However, there's a lot of scarcity at LT. It's possible that Kalil is the only starting caliber LT on the market. In that scenario, he gets paid simply because nobody else is out there.



I'm letting Sims go either ways. But if I'm bringing Jordan in, he's being brought in to compete like Easley was. I'm not bringing him in to count on him for anything.

Seems like the long route to say we pretty much agree. I'm OK with that. opcorn:

 

[lockdnram21]

I'm sorry butnTru is not worth 60 mill he's a good #2 but he doesn't deserve #1 cb money

 

[jrry32]

I'm sorry butnTru is not worth 60 mill he's a good #2 but he doesn't deserve #1 cb money

He's a #1. We either pay him or lose him.