Rams News Recap: Jan. 8

[RamBill]

Plan to Keep NFL in St. Louis to be Revealed –PD
Details of the plan for a new downtown football stadium here are expected to be announced Friday.

Warner, Pace named finalists for Pro Football Hall of Fame –PD
The Rams went two for four Thursday night as the Pro Football Hall of Fame trimmed its list of candidates from 26 semifinalists to 15 finalists.

Nick Wagoner On Who Should Be the Rams New OC –Audio

The Rams, Relocation and Free Agency –Wagoner
Given the up in the air status of the St. Louis Rams when it comes to their future in the city, it stands to reason that their goal of improving the team through free agency could be made more difficult this year.

Managing Third Down a Major Issue for Rams in ’14 –Wagoner
More often than not, when the St. Louis Rams struggled on third down in 2014, the question of how to improve there would be posed to coach Jeff Fisher or offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer.

Sorting Through Rams’ Potential Offensive Coordinator Candidates –Wagoner
The St. Louis Rams are one of nearly 10 teams in need of a new offensive coordinator.

Morning Ram-blings: Skeptics on L.A. Stadium Plan –Wagoner
St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke made his plans for his team and Los Angeles quite clear on Monday when the plans for a massive development including a stadium in Inglewood were revealed.

Who Will Replace Brian Schottenheimer? — Audio

Bernie on Rams OC Job: “I can’t imagine a job that would be less appealing –Audio

St. Louis is Wasting Time Trying to Retain Rams –Video

Would LA Fans Welcome the St. Louis Rams? –Video

 

[RamBill]

Morning Ram-blings: Rating the Rams' O-line
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/15309/morning-ram-blings-rating-the-rams-o-line

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- At this point, we could probably lead this morning update nearly every day with something from around the internet with thoughts on the St. Louis Rams and Los Angeles.

But we'll take a little bit of a break from that by turning to something that isn't as important but might be about equally depressing for Rams fans.

Over at Pro Football Focus, they have made it a yearly mission to rate and rank the best and worst units around the league. This week, they rated every team's offensive line. For those of you who watched the Rams this season, it should probably come as no surprise that the Rams didn't fare too well.

The Rams came in at No. 31 for the season, only ahead of the Miami Dolphins. PFF ranked the Rams 30th in pass blocking, 28th in run blocking and 28th in penalties. The overall ranking is down from where the Rams finished a year ago, when they were a respectable 13th.

Of course, all such rankings should come with a grain of salt because these are grades done using PFF's own system. But there's no denying the Rams offensive line failed to consistently perform and will need major attention in this offseason. Heading into next season, only Greg Robinson and Rodger Saffold look like pieces the Rams can count on.

How the rest of the line pans out remains to be seen.

I.C.Y.M.I.

A roundup of Thursday's Rams stories appearing on ESPN.com. ... In the Ram-blings, we began the day with a look at some skepticism on the Los Angeles stadium plan. ... We then looked at the Rams' struggles on getting into third and manageable this season. ... We then sorted through the available offensive coordinator candidates the Rams could consider. ... Next, we offered thoughts from general manager Les Snead and Jeff Fisher on what the looming relocation might do for the Rams' free-agent efforts. ... We closed the day with a look at the Rams who were named part of the 15-person finalists class for induction into the Hall of Fame this year: Kurt Warner, Orlando Pace and Kevin Greene.

Elsewhere:

The NFL released the Mueller report on Thursday.

Great read from Elizabeth Merrill on how the Seattle Seahawks got it rolling just when everyone began to write them off.

Worth keeping an eye on: The Browns and Kyle Shanahan parted ways on Thursday.

At 101sports.com, the Fast Lane discussed the offensive coordinator options.

At stltoday.com, Bernie Miklasz asks what Rams fans are supposed to do in a possible lame duck season.

Miklasz also writes that it's Fisher not Brian Schottenheimer who has held the offense back in recent years.