RAMS - OFFSEASON THOUGHTS?

[SeminoleRam]

I know it is still early and the Rams still have the Draft coming up as well as more Free Agent Moves/Decisions coming but I am curious to hear opinions from other Rams Fans on how you think the Rams offseason is going! Are the Rams better as of now with their recent transactions or are you concerned that they have lost a lot of depth that might be difficult to replace/
overcome for this upcoming season.

I will admit that as much as I liked and appreciated Goff I do think Stafford is a definite upgrade at QB and the addition of DeSean Jackson will hopefully give Stafford and the Rams Offense that Deep Threat I think they really need!
But, They have lost quite a few good players (Johnson, Fox, Brockers, Hill, Everett, Reynolds, etc) that will be hard to replace.

Should be a very interesting and exciting year for the Rams!!!

 

[FrantikRam]

Definitely better.

QB - better

RB - Akers will be better

WR - better - VJ will be better than Reynolds

TE - same - unknown right now but Everett had to have led the league in drop percentage - addition by subtraction in this case gets us to the same

OL - same - IMO will be better after draft

DL - slightly worse - Brockers and Fox - someone will need to step up for Fox

EDGE - better - Floyd for a second year, Lewis and Hollins more experience

ILB - same

S - much worse

CB - same - I like Hill but he was the definition of an average player - replacing shouldn't be a problem



I think this will lead us to seeing something like this on draft day:

Day 2 - OL/DB/ILB

Day 3 - WR/OL/EDGE or DL

Which makes EDGE - or pass rush in general - the glaring need to be fixed with one last free agent.


The off season is going really well - if we're able to draft those positions above, the first four picks hopefully can make an impact (the WR as a returner/depth)

 

[OC_Ram]

Excited!

 

[dang]

Offense. So far better with addition of Stafford and perhaps DJax. .
Defense. So far worse with loss of Johnson, Brock and Fox. I think Hill can easily be replaced.
ST. So far same. But could improve with better coach and return man.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Best organization in the league right now. They made two huge moves on a good roster. Good teams will lose players in the cap era. The only one difficult to replace will be JJ, and they will come close to doing that.

 

[den-the-coach]

Offense. So far better with addition of Stafford and perhaps DJax. .
Defense. So far worse with loss of Johnson, Brock and Fox. I think Hill can easily be replaced.
ST. So far same. But could improve with better coach and return man.

I have a feeling the Rams are counting on some UDRFA's from last year like Eric Banks, Michael Hoecht & Jonah Williams on the defensive line and maybe CB's Dont'e Deayon & Tyrique McGhee.

Special teams the Rams have two long snappers that will most likely battle it out in Colin Holba & Steven Wirtel, but according to @Elmgrovegnome no worries here.

 

[sloramfan]

when i think about the rams last year, and the games we lost and then i imagine what could be with the new QB...

we're better...

go rams

slo

 

[Giles]

Zero upgrades to the oline so I'm not excited. I expect the rams to do the same thing this upcoming season as the last. Make the playoffs and then lose because they continue to neglect the oline.

 

[Psycho_X]

As long as we get some of that injury avoidance magic and we don't suffer too many major ones I am super excited to watch this team. We need additions to both O and D lines still to make a complete team though. Would like a good thumper at ILB but we can survive with what we have if necessary. Other than that our team is looking pretty good. We need last years rookie class to continue to improve of course but the only question I have there is Hopkins so far. But yeah, super excited.

 

[PARAM]

Up against the cap they got the QB McVay covets, a deep threat WR, they tendered DWill (and will probably keep him), signed Floyd for 4 years, and reaigned Mundt, while losing only Brockers to the cap. Reynolds, Hill, JJ, Fox, Ebukam are all replaceable probably in house and the draft. Not much to complain about here.

 

[den-the-coach]

Up against the cap they got the QB McVay covets, a deep threat WR, they tendered DWill (and will probably keep him), signed Floyd for 4 years, and reaigned Mundt, while losing only Brockers to the cap. Reynolds, Hill, JJ, Fox, Ebukam are all replaceable probably in house and the draft. Not much to complain about here.

I approve this message!


View: https://media.giphy.com/media/YKdm91XONLTaw/giphy.gif

 

[MachS]

Up against the cap they got the QB McVay covets, a deep threat WR, they tendered DWill (and will probably keep him), signed Floyd for 4 years, and reaigned Mundt, while losing only Brockers to the cap. Reynolds, Hill, JJ, Fox, Ebukam are all replaceable probably in house and the draft. Not much to complain about here.

Yea we knew JJ, Reynolds, and Everett were gone in FA. Fuller, Burgess, Rapp, Jefferson, Hopkins ensured that. We prepared and drafted well the last two years. SJD, Robinson, and Gaines should make losing Brockers not a huge deal. I do think we will miss Fox, and Troy Hill is underrated a lot on this forum. He wasn't perfect but the guy made plays and is a lot better than David Long. Hopefully we draft a rookie CB that can make an impact or Long steps his game up. And I think we'll still make one more FA signing on the DL which which will offset the Fox loss. Plus we'll draft at least 1 more DL prospect. All in all it's been a solid off-season for us and I don't think we're done.

 

[blackbart]

I never thought they would move on from Goff and my first reaction to Stafford was WTF but I am fully onboard now and think they upgraded there short term and hopefully for the next 5 years.

Not surprising to see Brockers go after not restructuring. A little disappointed to see Fox go, not sure they have his replacement with Brockers out. JJ definitely hated seeing him go but happy for him.

Really thought they would bring in an upper tier vet at C, you can’t depend on the draft filling that need.

Losing Staley sucks big time, some of the other coaches I guess we’ll see how well they fill those holes.

Scouting department we may not know for a few years how bad that hurts.

Over all I think they are off to a good start and already had a great base to start from.

 

[Kentuckyrams]

Like blackbart's post mentions, the loss of Staley and some of our best scouts might be bigger blows than any players lost. We have done well in drafting players in the mid and even later rounds (plus finding UDFA players), which has really been a strength for us.

I think Stafford will be a major upgrade, assuming the OL holds up. Offense will also be better if Stafford allows McVay to open things up and be more creative and dynamic. Not sure Desean Jackson has much left in the tank - hope I am wrong. Also not really high on the TE group outside of Higs. Getting better interior line play is a huge need, and our cap numbers and lack of draft capital make that really difficult.

The other area I wish we would address - but hard with so little resources - is linebacker, especially ILB. Our defense was really good last year statistically, but I think our LB play kept it from being a dominant defense (like Ravens, TB, or Bears Super Bowl defenses). You could see that in several regular season games (vs. Whiners) and big time in the GB playoff loss.

I have mixed feelings on Snead and the FO, frankly. Compared to the abysmal FO we had for years and all the losing seasons, then, yes, they have been outstanding, but the bar there was incredibly low. Continuing to mortgage the future with trades might not be the best plan for long term success. How many first round picks have we spent on the qb position? Also, how many bad contracts have we had to eat that have led to all this dead money? And yes, I know that some first round picks are busts, and that you have to pay your stars, but not too many teams have ridden both long droughts of no first rounders plus no FA money to great success. It will be great if it leads to a Lombardi, not so great if it leaves you in rebuild mode or being a perennial one-and-done.

Looking forward to this season - lots of questions, but also lots of hope (despite my pessimistic tendencies).

 

[El Chapo Jr]

My only concern is that we need to improve the center position badly and stop handing out shitty contracts so we don't end up with all the dead money like we have out now. As of now, we should be ok on the contract side but the center position is most definitely TBD.

 

[Merlin]

Hoping there are one or two more of the understated type signings ahead. There are quite a few holes I imagine they want filled going into the draft.

 

[dang]

So does anyone have insight as to the last big move that Jourdan Rodrigue reported?

 

[Rams43]

I think that the Rams have had a great offseason, considering their cap predicament.

Stafford was a coup and should pay huge dividends for the next 5 years or more. That move alone made this a great offseason.

Center still needs to be addressed unless they think our C is already on the roster in Corbett, Anchrum, or Coleman. At worst they will sign a vet FA Blythe or someone similar to be placeholder until a draftee is ready to take over.

I really don’t see any other glaring holes on this O, so I’d describe it as SB worthy.

I also think our D is in great shape. The Floyd extension was an unexpected boon and the Brockers trade was a great strategic cap move.

Hill can be upgraded by Burgess and our Safety position is still strong despite JJ’s departure. So I think our D should be SB worthy once again, especially if Snead can snag a quality WOLB, somehow.

Our new ST coordinator sure seems like an upgrade, too.

In short, Snead/McVay have positioned Rams this offseason so well that they only need to fill a single big hole at C and at WOLB. All else can be bargain hunting in FA moves or drafting BPA for depth/development positions for next years FA departures.

Hell, that’s about as good as it gets this early in an offseason, don’t you think?

 

[Ram Ts]

Hoping there are one or two more of the understated type signings ahead. There are quite a few holes I imagine they want filled going into the draft.

I think we’ll sign 2-3 more low cost vet FAs. Maybe one of them a little higher (5-8M range). Likely a DL and then 1-2 from LB, OL & DB. Rest of holes filled by draft.

 

[PARAM]

Like blackbart's post mentions, the loss of Staley and some of our best scouts might be bigger blows than any players lost. We have done well in drafting players in the mid and even later rounds (plus finding UDFA players), which has really been a strength for us.

I think Stafford will be a major upgrade, assuming the OL holds up. Offense will also be better if Stafford allows McVay to open things up and be more creative and dynamic. Not sure Desean Jackson has much left in the tank - hope I am wrong. Also not really high on the TE group outside of Higs. Getting better interior line play is a huge need, and our cap numbers and lack of draft capital make that really difficult.

The other area I wish we would address - but hard with so little resources - is linebacker, especially ILB. Our defense was really good last year statistically, but I think our LB play kept it from being a dominant defense (like Ravens, TB, or Bears Super Bowl defenses). You could see that in several regular season games (vs. Whiners) and big time in the GB playoff loss.

I have mixed feelings on Snead and the FO, frankly. Compared to the abysmal FO we had for years and all the losing seasons, then, yes, they have been outstanding, but the bar there was incredibly low. Continuing to mortgage the future with trades might not be the best plan for long term success. How many first round picks have we spent on the qb position? Also, how many bad contracts have we had to eat that have led to all this dead money? And yes, I know that some first round picks are busts, and that you have to pay your stars, but not too many teams have ridden both long droughts of no first rounders plus no FA money to great success. It will be great if it leads to a Lombardi, not so great if it leaves you in rebuild mode or being a perennial one-and-done.

Looking forward to this season - lots of questions, but also lots of hope (despite my pessimistic tendencies).

All good points.

Bottom line is this........in a year up against the cap, with huge relief coming in 2022 and 2023, perhaps the best we could hope for in 2021 is a winning season, some playoff games and finally a SB in 2022. So if they surpass that, say go to or win the SB, then imagine where they'll be to start the next off season, with the cap jumping way up. Sure every other team's cap will jump too but that doesn't matter. A SB team that has enough cap space to hold onto the majority of their roster AND sign a free agent or two is in a good position. So is a team who simply contends for a SB. The Rams should be one of those two.