Rams post-draft position outlook: LB/Wagoner

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RamBill

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Rams post-draft position outlook: LB
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/8851/rams-post-draft-position-outlook-lb

With the NFL draft and free agency complete, the St. Louis Rams' 53-man roster will likely come mostly from the players already on the team.

With organized team activities less than a week away, we take a look at where each position stands heading into next week. The next in the series continues today by examining the linebackers.

Dunbar
Who returns: James Laurinaitis, Alec Ogletree, Jo-Lonn Dunbar, Ray Ray Armstrong, Daren Bates, Phillip Steward, Caleb McSurdy

Who is new: Etienne Sabino, Johnny Millard, Tavarius Wilson, Aaron Hill

Who is gone: Will Witherspoon

Projected starters: Laurinaitis, Ogletree, Dunbar

Pending competition: Laurinaitis and Ogletree are locked into their spots with Dunbar the odds-on favorite to handle the third linebacker duties. Dunbar is looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2013 and now that he's reunited with coordinator Gregg Williams, he should have the chance to do that. But a sort of hidden battle in the making might involve Armstrong's emergence. The Rams like his upside for the defense and he could find a way to push for more playing time aside from his role as a core special-teams player. Bates also figures to return as a leader for the special-teams group and backup. From there, it's anybody's guess who wins a possible sixth linebacker spot with special teams serving as the primary evaluation tool. Steward is a promising youngster who had his rookie season derailed by an injury. Of the undrafted rookie crop, Wilson is a player who draws some intrigue.

Outlook: Ogletree and Laurinaitis are expected to be cornerstone pieces of the defense for the foreseeable future. Ogletree improved as his rookie season went on and still has work to do, but he has the tools to be a productive player for a long time if he continues to develop. Laurinaitis is the mainstay and leader of the defense and will become something of a bargain in the next couple of years as his salary-cap number drops dramatically. Dunbar signed a two-year deal and could stick longer if he can return closer to his 2012 form but Armstrong figures to begin pushing him sooner than later. The Rams should be fine if the starters stay healthy, but if they don't they could have a real problem on their hands. The Rams have almost zero experience amongst the backup linebackers and only Armstrong currently projects as someone who could help out on defense in the event of an injury. It wouldn't be a surprise to see the Rams search for a veteran backup like they did with Witherspoon last year. Even Witherspoon himself might be the solution for another go. Otherwise, the Rams will be entering the season in a bit of a precarious position in terms of depth at the position.
 

ramsince62

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We could sure use a "redundancy czar" around here. Some of these articles have been posted 4 times in the past 2 or 3 days. This is only one of them.
 

RamBill

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  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
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We could sure use a "redundancy czar" around here. Some of these articles have been posted 4 times in the past 2 or 3 days. This is only one of them.

What are you talking about? Each article is about a different position.
 

SierraRam

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"Dunbar is looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2013 and now that he's reunited with coordinator Gregg Williams, he should have the chance to do that. "

The suspension was disappointing, but I didn't think Dunbar's play was... In fact, the D picked it up aound the time he returned. The guy seems to fire everyone up around him, and I'm betting GW will help the entire unit.

I do agree with Wagoner (and everyone else) that we could use some veteran depth here.

As always, thanks for the post RamBill!
 

den-the-coach

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IMO other teams cuts either in June or on final cutdown day could lead to some veteran, however, it would not shock me to see Tavarius Wilson impress and makes the final 53.
 

jjab360

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We certainly didn't add much to this unit. I think Armstrong and Bates have a lot of potential, though, so I'm not too worried.
 

DaveFan'51

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MLB back up to JL looks to be our biggest concern, no?
Wilson is certainly a possibility for a back-up to JL, he's a play maker, has played inside and out and has a High SPARQ Score. could be a good #6.
 

RamFan503

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We could sure use a "redundancy czar" around here. Some of these articles have been posted 4 times in the past 2 or 3 days. This is only one of them.
I think Wagner did regurgitate some of this from an earlier article. I remember reading the part about Spoon before but I don't think the whole article is a repeat. Still - reposts happen all the time. I don't think anyone is going to read every single post and pull the repeats. I'd rather have the article than RamBill not post it because he thinks it may be a duplicate.
 

RamsAndEwe

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We could sure use a "redundancy czar" around here. Some of these articles have been posted 4 times in the past 2 or 3 days. This is only one of them.

I don't even know what redundancy means, but this offseason is so slow, dreary,tedious, and bromidic that article after article after article seems verbose, pleonastic, superfluous, and inessential. :eek:
 

Boffo97

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I don't even know what redundancy means, but this offseason is so slow, dreary,tedious, and bromidic that article after article after article seems verbose, pleonastic, superfluous, and inessential. :eek:
Eliminate unnecessary words! Eliminate unnecessary words! Eliminate unnecessary words!
 

RamFan503

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I don't even know what redundancy means, but this offseason is so slow, dreary,tedious, and bromidic that article after article after article seems verbose, pleonastic, superfluous, and inessential. :eek:
Hey - quit picking on the guy in the back of the class. Boffo can't help it. :D
 

ramsince62

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I think Wagner did regurgitate some of this from an earlier article. I remember reading the part about Spoon before but I don't think the whole article is a repeat. Still - reposts happen all the time. I don't think anyone is going to read every single post and pull the repeats. I'd rather have the article than RamBill not post it because he thinks it may be a duplicate.

Yup, better not to miss something, I agree.