Rams' Offseason State of the Union

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http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2505752-st-louis-rams-offseason-state-of-the-union

St. Louis Rams' Offseason State of the Union
By Steven Gerwel, Featured Columnist Jun 24, 2015


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With OTAs and minicamps now complete, the St. Louis Rams are officially done with the offseason. Now, the players will enjoy a long summer break before training camp kicks off.

It's an exciting year for the Rams. The rival San Francisco 49ers are on the decline, and the arrow is pointing up for St. Louis. With a little luck, the Rams will compete in 2015 and possibly even challenge the NFC for a playoff berth.

This article will take a brief glance at the primary units the team has built this offseason. We'll look at the two major areas—pass game and run game—for both sides of the ball and clarify what to expect in 2015.

The Passing Game
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Jeff Roberson/Associated Press

Key Newcomers:
Nick Foles, rookie offensive linemen

Key Goals: Produce a 1,000-yard receiver; get Nick Foles close to his 2013 form

St. Louis' passing game is an area that's being overlooked, but it'll play an important role on offense, especially early on in the season and in clutch time.

The veterans of this offense—Nick Foles, Jared Cook, Kenny Britt, Brian Quick—are all involved in the passing game. When it's the fourth quarter with the game on the line, teams typically depend on the veterans to lead the charge.

So, while the run game will certainly be the emphasis, it'll be Foles and the receivers who step up when it matters.

This is especially true for the early games. Todd Gurley will be nursing his injury on the sidelines while the rookie linemen struggle through growing pains. The Rams will counter that with a passing attack that'll be more prominent than people are anticipating.

Fans aren't expecting the passing game to light up the sky, but they'd like to see some basic signs of competence.

For one, a St. Louis receiver steps up to become the No. 1 guy. The Rams haven't had a 1,000-yard pass-catcher since Torry Holt in 2007. It's time for that to change. St. Louis needs a top receiver it can depend on with the game on the line.

In order for that to happen, Foles will have to regain his 2013 form. That's the second goal for this unit—getting Foles back on track.

Foles had his memorable Pro Bowl campaign in 2013, but he suffered from an injury and inconsistent play last season. If can rekindle his old form, the Rams can rest easy knowing that they finally found their franchise passer.

The Run Game
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Jeff Roberson/Associated Press

Key Newcomers:
Todd Gurley, rookie offensive linemen

Key Goals: Demonstrate Todd Gurley's potential; get young linemen acclimated

The passing game will play an important role, but St. Louis is depending on the running game to carry the offense. That was made perfectly clear by the team's offseason moves.

The team drafted Todd Gurley with the No. 10 overall pick, and he's being hyped as an elite prospect at running back—one of the best to come out in years.

The Rams also drafted four mauling offensive linemen—Rob Havenstein, Jamon Brown, Andrew Donnal and Cody Wichmann—and the assumption is at least two of them will be starters.

St. Louis is clearly expecting the offense to center around the run game. Eventually, the ground-and-pound strategy will blossom, but the youngsters have to get acclimated before that happens. That includes second-year left tackle Greg Robinson and running back Tre Mason.

The thing Rams fans are most eager to see out of the run game is Gurley. His action will be limited early on, but by the end of the season, fans will demand to see the flashes of the greatness that made him a top-10 pick. If that doesn't happen, it'll be a cause for concern.

The other thing we need to see is continuity and comfort on the offensive line. With three new starters, it's obvious that the group will have some early kinks to work out.

However, if we don't see dramatic improvements on the line by the end of the season, fans will not be pleased. Rams fans will suddenly remember how Havenstein and Brown were considered big reaches on draft day, and the front office will be held accountable.

Overall, if Gurley flashes some greatness and the line is not a total liability, the run game will have a lot to offer in 2015.

Pass Defense
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Michael Zito/Associated Press

Key Newcomers:
Nick Fairley, Mark Barron (first full season with team)

Key Goals: Lead the NFL in sacks; prevent big plays; create turnovers

The St. Louis pass defense is made up of two components—a young but talented secondary and the most lethal pass rush in the game.

The edge-rush duo of Chris Long and Robert Quinn will be back in full force in 2015. Long missed 10 games in 2014 and had just one sack, so a healthy comeback will provide a major boost to the pass rush.

Long and Quinn alone are enough to strike fear in opponents, but that just scratches the surface in St. Louis. Second-year Pro Bowler Aaron Donald will be lined up inside, and he racked up nine sacks as a rookie in 2014.

Michael Brockers and Nick Fairley will also cause chaos on the inside. Meanwhile, rotational players William Hayes and Eugene Sims will also sub in, ensuring that the line stays fresh for four quarters.

Overall, the Rams have five former first-round draft picks on the defensive line—Long, Quinn, Donald, Brockers and Fairley—and all of them were selected in the top 15.

The Rams have more defensive line talent than any NFL team, so there's no reason why the group shouldn't lead the NFL in sacks.

The secondary is less impressive than the defensive line, but it's still a talented group.

The Rams acquired safety Mark Barron from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers early in the 2014 season, per NFL.com. He's not technically a newcomer, but this will be his first full season with the team. The former top-10 pick from 2012 was a mismatch in Tampa Bay's defense, so it'll be interesting to see if he can thrive in St. Louis.

Barron will likely share time at safety with hard-hitters T.J. McDonald and Rodney McLeod.

Janoris Jenkins, E.J. Gaines and Trumaine Johnson will be the primary trio at cornerback. Lamarcus Joyner—the team's second-round selection in 2014—will also see plenty of action.

One thing the cornerbacks need to work on is securing more takeaways. Jenkins and Gaines were the primary starters and had just two interceptions apiece. Johnson, who played in just nine games, managed to outdo both of them with three.

Along with creating turnovers, the group needs to prevent back-breaking plays at crucial moments. Jenkins in particular was susceptible to blown coverage, as seen during Brandon Lloyd's 80-yard touchdown on Monday Night Football when the Rams played the San Francisco 49ers.

If the secondary can prevent killer plays and secure picks, the pass rush will take care of the rest.

Run Defense
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Michael Thomas/Associated Press

Key Newcomers:
Nick Fairley, Akeem Ayers

Key Goals: Rank in the top five (fewest rushing yards per game)

The St. Louis defensive line is well-known for its dangerous ability to rush the passer, but the group's ability to stop the run still needs work.

The Rams finished 14th in run defense (110.3 yards per game) last season, which is admirable. But considering how much the team has invested in defensive talent, it needs to be doing much better. Finishing as a top-10 run defense is actually a modest goal.

Instead, the group should be aiming for a top-five finish.

As mentioned in the previous slide, the Rams have enough defensive line talent to ensure that fresh players are on the field at all times. There's no excuse for the front four underperforming against the run.

The Rams also solidified the run defense by adding Akeem Ayers—a move that completes St. Louis' trio of linebackers.

Ayers is an upgrade over veteran Jo-Lonn Dunbar. He'll team up with Alec Ogletree and James Laurinaitis to make a fierce team.

Laurinaitis is not exactly excellent against the run. He gets overwhelmed at times. But when a player of Laurinaitis' caliber is the weakest link in run defense, the team is in pretty great shape.
 

LACHAMP46

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One thing the cornerbacks need to work on is securing more takeaways. Jenkins and Gaines were the primary starters and had just two interceptions apiece. Johnson, who played in just nine games, managed to outdo both of them with three.
Continue to wonder, why does everyone consider Gaines a superior player to Tru? Tru was hurt, and came back not quite the same...Probably watched Gaines too and figured he'd better get his butt back out there...But he still came away with more takeaways...Tru did get misused by Odell Beckham...
 

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Continue to wonder, why does everyone consider Gaines a superior player to Tru? Tru was hurt, and came back not quite the same...Probably watched Gaines too and figured he'd better get his butt back out there...But he still came away with more takeaways...Tru did get misused by Odell Beckham...
I'd almost bet it doesn't happen a second time, with Williams as DC!!
 

LACHAMP46

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Second-year Pro Bowler Aaron Donald will be lined up inside, and he racked up nine sacks as a rookie in 2014.

The Rams have more defensive line talent than any NFL team, so there's no reason why the group shouldn't lead the NFL in sacks.
LINK



Pass Rusher Profile: Aaron Donald
pffben | June 24, 2015
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It’s easy to get excited by a rookie season and get a little carried away with what is only one season and not necessarily proof of a player’s consistent level of performance. However, when that rookie produces a season superior to the likes of Sheldon Richardson and J.J. Watt when they were rookies, that excitement is not unwarranted.

The player receiving those kinds of comparisons is Aaron Donald, who many felt slid in last year’s draft based on his height and he proved the doubters wrong this season with a rookie campaign that was one of the best we’ve seen in the last eight years here at PFF.

Aaron Donald
As remarkable as Donald’s rookie season was, there is still room for improvement as much as a question over whether he can repeat his feats from this season. A slow start as a pass rusher (only two positively-graded games in the first five and only five pressures after five games) was paired with a slow finish in run defense (-2.1 in the final four games) leave open the possibility of even more to come down the line if he can really take his consistency to the top level.

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Turning our attention to his pass rushing and again you are struck both by the figures that highlight Donald’s quality, but also in how he can improve in the coming seasons — there is no reason to think that his rookie season has to be a high-water mark in his career.

His balance between beating blockers inside and out is impressive. He’s not merely shooting upfield from the 3-tech and beating guards outside, he can also cross their face and work inside as well as driving straight through blockers converting the disadvantage of his height to an advantage in leverage, very similar in that way to Geno Atkins.

What strikes, however, is how low Donald’s conversion rate is in turning his pressures into hits and sacks when he beats blockers inside and out. His bullrush conversion is very impressive, but only a hit and sack a piece when beating blockers inside and out shows his room for improvement in finishing his pressures next season.

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Another area for improvement for Donald is taking advantage of centers turning away from him in pass protection. This turn of the center has a bigger effect on interior rushers than edge defenders but Donald showed an ability to cope this season and still be extremely productive when the center turns towards him. On occasion, this would involve the extreme call for the center to block him with a guard pulling to the opposite side of the formation which Donald made an impossible task most times.

As impressive as his ability to remain productive with a center turning to his side is makes it all the more puzzling that he was unproductive with the center turning away from him. This scenario should leave the guard one-on-one with Donald and a clear advantage for him but Donald didn’t take advantage often here. This is almost an untapped resource for pressure for Donald that could see him increase his productivity further in 2015.

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Further improvement could be forthcoming for Donald when we look at how he attacked different depths of drops by opposing quarterbacks this season. While he chewed up his blockers on deeper drops he was little better than average attacking five step drops. The likes of Sheldon Richardson and Ndamukong Suh were far more productive than Donald against these shorter drops whose production was more in line with the likes of Sen’Derrick Marks, Kawann Short and Fletcher Cox.

If Donald can increase his productivity on these shorter drops while continuing to be borderline unblockable on seven step drops then we could see a big step up in 2015, even after as impressive a rookie season as he just produced. In recent seasons we have seen Richardson and Watt star as rookies but develop further and take big strides in their second seasons, developing particularly as pass rushers. As impressive and productive as Donald was this season, when you breakdown his pass rushing production you can see the scope for him to make similar strides and join the league’s elite defensive linemen at a very early stage in his career.

Key Newcomers: Nick Fairley

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/03/17/rams-add-to-a-strength-with-fairley/



Rams: Add to a strength with Fairley
Michael Mountford | March 17, 2015Considering the production the Rams enjoyed from defensive tackle Aaron Donald in his rookie season, as well as the pass rushing threat posed by defensive end Robert Quinn, defensive line might not have seemed an immediate concern in St. Louis. However DT Michael Brockers, a former first round selection, hasn’t developed beyond average after three seasons in the league, and depth in the middle was a worry after the departure of Kendall Langford. The addition of Nick Fairley addresses any such concerns and could help give the Rams one of the most imposing defensive lines in the league.

Fairley has been frustratingly inconsistent for much of his young career, however, when at his best he can take over a game. After three seasons in the league Fairley had a cumulative +3.2 grade in run defense and +29.1 grade as a pass rusher, good marks that could have been so much better had Fairley not also had 10 games of -1.0 or worse in that same period.

Through the first eight weeks of the 2014 season (prior to suffering a season-ending injury), Fairley had begun to complement his impressive pass rushing skills with an improved stoutness against the run. At the time of his injury Fairley had a +5.7 run defense grade; he also had 22 total pressures, tied for fourth-most among tackles, and was third-best with a 10.0 Pass Rushing Productivity (PRP) score. Fairley’s career-low PRP score (6.4) came back in 2010, his rookie season. That compares favorably to Michael Brockers career-high PRP of 4.7.Michael Brockers should feature in the rotation on early downs, before giving way so that Donald and Fairley can be unleashed from the inside to wreak havoc on passing downs.

According to PFF, these 2 should go together like peas & carrots, biscuits & gravy, ham and eggs....
 

LACHAMP46

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Key Newcomers: ....., rookie offensive linemen........while the rookie linemen struggle through growing pains.....The Rams also drafted four mauling offensive linemen—Rob Havenstein.......St. Louis is clearly expecting the offense to center around the run game. Eventually, the ground-and-pound strategy will blossom, but the youngsters have to get acclimated before that happens.....The other thing we need to see is continuity and comfort on the offensive line. With three new starters, it's obvious that the group will have some early kinks to work out....

LINK


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Oct 25, 2014; Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Badgers offensive lineman Rob Havenstein (78) during the game against the Maryland Terrapins at Camp Randall Stadium. Wisconsin won 52-7. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Editorials

St. Louis Rams Rookie Preview: Rob Havenstein, Offensive Tackle
by Michael Condon 1h ago

It was no secret entering the 2015 draft that the St. Louis Rams needed help on the offensive line, and they needed it right away. With the 10th overall selection in the first round, many mocks had them selecting one of three top tier lineman. Ereck Flowers out of Miami, Andrus Peat out of Stanford or La’el Collins out of LSU. Flowers and Peat would go on to become first round picks. Flowers at ninth overall:cry: and Peat shortly after at 13th overall. Collins would go un-drafted :cry::mad::(, but eventually sign with the Dallas Cowboys:eek:. The Rams would go on to select running back Todd Gurley with the 10th overall selection.

St. Louis would begin to address their offensive line needs in the second round starting with Rob Havenstein out of Wisconsin with the 57th overall selection. Havenstein was a leader of the Wisconsin offense. He would start 42 of the 55 games he played in and was named All- Big Ten honors in 2014. Havenstein excels in run blocking schemes which is right up head coach Jeff Fisher’s alley. He has a large frame, trimmed down to just over 320 lbs., long arms and quick feet to help open running lanes.

Havenstein may not look like much, but his tape is impressive. Scouts have said his stiffness can be an issue at times, and he occasionally struggles to get underneath defenders which may lead to problems down the road. Many reviews limit him to the right tackle position. Havenstein was projected as a 3rd or 4th round selection in the right situation. The Rams jumped up and took him in the middle of the second round. We won’t consider this too much of a reach because of his above-average run blocking ability. Something the St. Louis Rams needed desperately.

Look for Havenstein to plug right into the right side of the line. His zone blocking will need improvement, but he can move better than most and create holes for Tre Mason and Todd Gurley. Havenstein should help hold down the right side of the line for the next 3-5 years.

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Rams fans will suddenly remember how Havenstein and Brown were considered big reaches on draft day, and the front office will be held accountable.
we wouldn't hold it against the Snisher, now would we?:whistle::mad::bueller::double::shooting: