Saffold injury??

[FRO]

I'm sorry to be a downer, but none of Saffold's replacements make me feel comfortable. We absolutely need Saffold. He is a huge piece of the team.

 

[OC_Ram]

I can deal with the rookies learning curve to our O line but this? this? THIS stuff gives me the runs.

 

[GabesHorn]

Yes this lingering long term Cody Wichmann calf injury is concerning. Trying to take a positive look at it this way.....lets say that or suppose that Tim Barnes nails the starting center job (which is possible) that puts the other 3 prospects looking to show off some of their versatility. Wang has hung to the left side @ times OG, Rhaney has some of that Barrett Jones skills where he has played OT & OG too. So those three will turn all what they have to make it in other posts as a reserve.

All 3 of these mentioned young OL'ers have been here & practicing since the spring OTA's & all of TC now into pre season.....whereas Cody Wichmann missed most all the OTA's all of TC & now going into the 2nd game of pre season still on the sidelines. LACHAMP46 this is bad.

Now go to what Boudreau has @ OG. Reynolds will start if Saffold is out, that's a given, Washington laid a big egg this 1st of 4 games, & has not looked overly good in TC to put him in @ a solid #4 OG. Bond is just a ORG not a OLG. Thats all there is as OG's.

Of the reserve OT's prospects Donnal, Battle, Baker & Williams....only Donnal has any starts in college @ OG. The only one of those four we could see getting some OLG action would be Donnal. Keep an eye open for it.

I would guesstimate that Rhaney-Jones & Donnal could be the real contenders hunting for that solid #4 OG on this roster.

Back to your guy Cody Wichmann would appear to have a sizable uphill long run here to catch up. Maybe it would be best to keep him on ready position for one of those PUP, or be placed on short-term IR like Chris Long did or end up on the the standard IR like Rhaney did last yr. Whats your thoughts now? I would sure hate to loose Cody on a plain release.

Great info my FL Bonifay Ram or Graceville RAM brother. I'm all about seeing Reynolds like right now even tomorrow at the OLG spot. It may just be why we got him and his versatility and he has done okay there before. I don't see anyone taking Barnes' spot at center . I was given a private heads up before OTA's it was Barnes' job to just lose. Without the 5 injuries we had to our centers this last season Barnes is our guy yill Saffold proves solid again if ever. Oakland saw something in those shoulders our Doctors sure missed for that much money too. Yes I love our Rodger.

What worries me MOST is that G. Rob has used Saffold as a baby blanket this offseason and their communication was really gelling as Rodger was really helping the whole OL especially from all articles Rob Havenstein and J.Brown have given. Saffold gets major props. It scared me that Coach Bou even thought Washington after all of us daily practice watchers was the BEST "Next man up" ??? Maybe in another universe. We need two major hogs on each side of Barnes so that he is covered.

Saw every pre-season game and there is so many OG's that will need to be cut that are better than the Washington level of play. I hope our guys are really doing their homework. Mainly studied OL's around the league and some teams just breed these muthers. There are some GREAT OL coaches in this league as some teams just bring up another stud that is rolling. Keep eyes on Eagles for any lineman they cut. Kelly and staff have made me a believer to my disbelief. Yes so many other teams have PLAYERS we can use without having to try and sign a Mathis.

I highly doubt our FO wants to spend any money right now as they need to identify what CB they need to resign or extend before next season comes. Joyner needs to study film and see where he is getting burned. Its not FSU anymore. Wonder as hard as he brings it if his small size will hold up anyway. I only see him as a deep FS myself and not a CB especially not covering the slot. Williams "D" may not be the best for the talents we have. I know that is Blasphemy but remember I'm on your side. just an observation. Would'nt be surprised if saffold broke his collarbone as I have done in practice. You grab your arm to stabilize it. Hoping it was scar tissue or did Bonifay Rams report speak of this just recent event as a dislocation? I really did'nt grasp when his article was referring too. Lets get Reynolds allocated now and we have to keep Barrett Jones as backup Center ready to go there. Lets be ready (don't hate me) to yes bring in better OL talent than what we have seen so far in our practices as we have players at higher levels than ours that WILL be cut from other teams.

Shame Wichman can't be IR'ed for next year as do we really think he is gonna recover and be ready to dominate this season for us at OG ??? Lets work real hard Rams staff and realize what is being shown. I'll list about 5 OL we should grab if you guys care.

 

[jrry32]

If anything serious is wrong with Saffold, give Evan Mathis a call. Thus far, I haven't been for signing him but we need a steady player at LG.

 

[TheDYVKX]

If Saffold is hurt bad, I would be curious to see the options. Reynolds is probably the main option. Maybe Mathis might be an option to pursue.

I know he's kind of tall and mainly a tackle, but maybe Battle would get a look at LG as well. He's pretty athletic and has considerable upside, maybe could translate to guard while he's still working on technique and mechanics at tackle. It would certainly be getting the 5 most talented on the field, although the inexperience wouldn't be great. That would basically be 4 OL who don't even have a game started and a 5th who doesn't even have a season.

 

[Shuie3225]

Year after year our o line problems continue... Can we get lucky and have one healthy year PLEASE. We need a miracle for Saffold to stay on the field this year IMO.

 

[Alan]

GabesHorn with one possibility:
It scared me that Coach Bou even thought Washington after all of us daily practice watchers was the BEST "Next man up" ??? Maybe in another universe. We need two major hogs on each side of Barnes so that he is covered.

The "good" news, if you can call it that, is that we don't know that to be true. It's just as possible that Bou knows that Reynolds is the "BEST "Next man up"" and merely wanted to get Washington some further evaluation playing time. That is after all, what TC and the preseason is all about.

 

[12intheBox]

I think he is going to start and finish every game this year.

But just to be sure - I might give Jamon Brown some left guard reps and plan to use Reynolds at RG if worse came to worse.

 

[BonifayRam]

But just to be sure - I might give Jamon Brown some left guard reps and plan to use Reynolds at RG if worse came to worse.

Boudreau appears to be on top of this ....this has already occurred.

It's just as possible that Bou knows that Reynolds is the "BEST "Next man up"" and merely wanted to get Washington some further evaluation playing time. That is after all, what TC and the preseason is all about.

I would bet your 100% right on this Alan. Yurmember Garrett started 1st team OLG the entire OTA's. At this time I would consider Garrett our 6th OL & the first reserve up @ three positions....OLG/ORG & ORT if there were a need during the game. Leaving the back up needs @ OC & OLT up for debate. The only OL'er we have who could cover both those posts in an emergency would be Barrett Jones.

If Saffold is hurt bad, I would be curious to see the options. Reynolds is probably the main option. Maybe Mathis might be an option to pursue.I know he's kind of tall and mainly a tackle, but maybe Battle would get a look at LG as well. He's pretty athletic and has considerable upside, maybe could translate to guard while he's still working on technique and mechanics at tackle. It would certainly be getting the 5 most talented on the field, although the inexperience wouldn't be great. That would basically be 4 OL who don't even have a game started and a 5th who doesn't even have a season.

I Agree with your thoughts on Reynolds. I think the % of Mathis being a Ram is about zero %. But if Saffold is damaged then veteran WWC Chris Williams is the way I would go. Your thoughts on Battle is very interesting good stuff! We should remind ourselves that Boudreau loves taking OT's into his refurbishing shop & making OG's from them.

Think I am wrong need examples.....OLT/ORT veteran Chris Williams first saw action @ both OG posts in 2012 & 2013. Harvey Dahl had always been a OT until Boudreau got to him in Atlanta. Rodger Saffold had always been a OLT/ORT until Boudreau got it right in 2013 after reading all my rants posts. Robert Turner was mostly a back up ORT until he got here & was move inside. Mike Person had always been a OT until he met Boudreau. Brandon Washington was a 2 yr starter @ OLT in college before he met Boudreau. Garrett Reynolds was drafted as a near 6-8 ORT until his encounter with Boudreau in Atlanta. Then he takes a #2 overall OLT Robinson & his first starts in the NFL are @ OLG. Soon after the 2015 Rams draft Jamon Brown was an all star OLT... now starting ORG for the Rams. Who will be next?? Isaiah Battle??

 

[fearsomefour]

Not for nothing, I am a psychotherapist who works with a lot of chronic pain patients and a significant hallmark of the patients I work with is the fact that they have an issue, get that issue surgically repaired and then have the issue appear on the alternate side of the body. It's fascinating. Without further study, hard to know what's correlation or causation.

Really interesting stuff.
I am experimenting with something similar, but, in terms of development. I work with some baseball pitchers. Mostly on developing fastball velocity. I have messed with implementing "off hand" training. So, doing throwing work with the non dominant hand/arm. My theory here is that propriocepton can be learned and improved this way. By developing the weak side the performance of the dominant side will improve as well.

 

[LACHAMP46]

Whats your thoughts now?

2nd watch...Reynolds....Need to see some of these backups start the next preseason game..Sit Foles after first drive...Starters go 3 quarters in 3rd preseason game...

It scared me that Coach Bou even thought Washington after all of us daily practice watchers was the BEST "Next man up" ??? Maybe in another universe. We need two major hogs on each side of Barnes so that he is covered.........I'll list about 5 OL we should grab if you guys care.

List on....you're talking about guys that'll be cut or on the PS right?

the Washington thing...too funny I thought that too...but like alan was saying, probably needs to LOOK at these guys against some starters...and we saw what Washington is probably gonna do...:jerkoff:

 

[TheDYVKX]

Boudreau appears to be on top of this ....this has already occurred.

I would bet your 100% right on this Alan. Yurmember Garrett started 1st team OLG the entire OTA's. At this time I would consider Garrett our 6th OL & the first reserve up @ three positions....OLG/ORG & ORT if there were a need during the game. Leaving the back up needs @ OC & OLT up for debate. The only OL'er we have who could cover both those posts in an emergency would be Barrett Jones.

I Agree with your thoughts on Reynolds. I think the % of Mathis being a Ram is about zero %. But if Saffold is damaged then veteran WWC Chris Williams is the way I would go. Your thoughts on Battle is very interesting good stuff! We should remind ourselves that Boudreau loves taking OT's into his refurbishing shop & making OG's from them.

Think I am wrong need examples.....OLT/ORT veteran Chris Williams first saw action @ both OG posts in 2012 & 2013. Harvey Dahl had always been a OT until Boudreau got to him in Atlanta. Rodger Saffold had always been a OLT/ORT until Boudreau got it right in 2013 after reading all my rants posts. Robert Turner was mostly a back up ORT until he got here & was move inside. Mike Person had always been a OT until he met Boudreau. Brandon Washington was a 2 yr starter @ OLT in college before he met Boudreau. Garrett Reynolds was drafted as a near 6-8 ORT until his encounter with Boudreau in Atlanta. Soon after the 2015 Rams draft Jamon Brown was an all star OLT... now starting ORG for the Rams. Who will be next?? Isaiah Battle??

Yeah, I doubt Mathis will ever be a Ram, but I think they'd at least toss the idea around.

Until you just pointed it out, I didn't realize exactly how much Boudreau tends to put tackles at guard. I think Battle could be a legitimate option there. They obviously liked what they saw, and even though he's raw I think he translates fairly well to guard. Imagine that front. Would be pretty scary athletic and massive, with youth off the charts.

If I'm reading Spotrac correctly as well, we can cut Saffold as soon as next season without taking a big dead money hit, not that I'm necessarily advocating this, just throwing out options. So if Saffold's injury problems continue and the Rams just get fed up with it, they could move on from him, and then Battle could certainly be a real option. I don't see how we'd get him on the field otherwise, although his versatility playing both tackles will make him an ideal swing tackle as well.

 

[BonifayRam]

Yeah, I doubt Mathis will ever be a Ram, but I think they'd at least toss the idea around.

Until you just pointed it out, I didn't realize exactly how much Boudreau tends to put tackles at guard. I think Battle could be a legitimate option there. They obviously liked what they saw, and even though he's raw I think he translates fairly well to guard. Imagine that front. Would be pretty scary athletic and massive, with youth off the charts.

If I'm reading Spotrac correctly as well, we can cut Saffold as soon as next season without taking a big dead money hit, not that I'm necessarily advocating this, just throwing out options. So if Saffold's injury problems continue and the Rams just get fed up with it, they could move on from him, and then Battle could certainly be a real option. I don't see how we'd get him on the field otherwise, although his versatility playing both tackles will make him an ideal swing tackle as well.

Saffold is the 5th highest paid Ram. His cap hit this season is $8,250,00 million. His value to this offense is big really big. Saffold like last year is still the Rams best starting OL'er. Saffold is the Rams best OLG, ORG, OLT & ORT currently on this team. On top of that he is the only current legit back OLT that we have.

Saffold has very large chunks of rust that needs to be knocked off. His surgery, then long long rehabb & lack of full heavy upper body work out along with zero practice time until TC. Now another injury to the other shoulder....not what you want that's for-sure.

There was a reason why Snead went extras heavy duty in drafting Havenstein, Brown, Donnal, Wichmann & Battle with the full intentions of utilizing every one of them with no discards!

When your best OL'er is the most injured OL'er in the NFL you might say Snead& Fisher are a little late getting this done. Now I can say this better late than sorry.

Back to Isaiah Battle, make no mistake here...major talent is in Battle somewhere! There gold in there just needs to be put through some fire/heat & polish it up & it will sparkle. Fact is Battle's normal poundage earlier was around 326 lbs until he took it off this spring. So you know he can put on the needed pounds like Saffold did to be a powerful run blocker needed to play OG. You have to love that extra long arm length..... 35-inchers. But what makes him different from most lumbering OLT's ...is Battle can fat out run. After Battle gets up to NFL speed (no telling how long that will be) Boudreau sooner or later will get around to looking @ Battle as a duo left post OL'er (OLG/OLT).

Bottom line here Boudreau needs a back up to OLT more than he needs a OLG currently.

 

[den-the-coach]

If anything serious is wrong with Saffold, give Evan Mathis a call. Thus far, I haven't been for signing him but we need a steady player at LG.

I totally concur even if Saffold is okay, he's the one offensive lineman the Rams can't afford to lose so having Mathis would be an asset albeit most likely an expensive one...Can Mathis play Center?

 

[DR RAM]

Saffold is the 5th highest paid Ram. His cap hit this season is $8,250,00 million. His value to this offense is big really big. Saffold like last year is still the Rams best starting OL'er. Saffold is the Rams best OLG, ORG, OLT & ORT currently on this team. On top of that he is the only current legit back OLT that we have.

Saffold has very large chunks of rust that needs to be knocked off. His surgery, then long long rehabb & lack of full heavy upper body work out along with zero practice time until TC. Now another injury to the other shoulder....not what you want that's for-sure.

There was a reason why Snead went extras heavy duty in drafting Havenstein, Brown, Donnal, Wichmann & Battle with the full intentions of utilizing every one of them with no discards!

When your best OL'er is the most injured OL'er in the NFL you might say Snead& Fisher are a little late getting this done. Now I can say this better late than sorry.

Back to Isaiah Battle, make no mistake here...major talent is in Battle somewhere! There gold in there just needs to be put through some fire/heat & polish it up & it will sparkle. Fact is Battle's normal poundage earlier was around 326 lbs until he took it off this spring. So you know he can put on the needed pounds like Saffold did to be a powerful run blocker needed to play OG. You have to love that extra long arm length..... 35-inchers. But what makes him different from most lumbering OLT's ...is Battle can fat out run. After Battle gets up to NFL speed (no telling how long that will be) Boudreau sooner or later will get around to looking @ Battle as a duo left post OL'er (OLG/OLT).

Bottom line here Boudreau needs a back up to OLT more than he needs a OLG currently.

My initial impressions on Battle, is that it would do him wonders to sit a year, put on lean muscle mass, and work on technique, technique, technique. He has natural athleticism, which you can't teach, and he has size, which you can't teach. Funny someone else thought of it too, because as soon as Saffold went down, I was thinking, I wonder if we switch Battle to Guard. He may not struggle with technique as much. My thoughts is that Reynolds would slide in as starter, as long as Saffold is out, but he may end up playing on the right, and Jamon, on the left. Not a huge move, as far as mentally, and technique for Jamon, he played all over the place in college.

Guy flying under the radar who has impressed me a bit is Williams. Is he one of the top 8???? Not sure yet, need to see more, but he has some quickness, good punch, and balance. He could also be a candidate to move inside. Keep your eye on him.

Bigger problem is that I can't find anyone, currently to convert to Center.

 

[drasconis]

Any update on Saffold - the longer this gets drawn out the more I worry it is something significant.....

 

[PFaulk]

Any update on Saffold - the longer this gets drawn out the more I worry it is something significant.....

Agreed. Unfortunately this is reminding me of the situation we just experienced with Gaines where the timetable remained murky until he heard he was done for the year.

 

[drasconis]

Agreed. Unfortunately this is reminding me of the situation we just experienced with Gaines where the timetable remained murky until he heard he was done for the year.

Yeah, I feel like if it was minor we would know by now...you don't get this deceptive in preseason unless you are BB. I worry the hold up is the question of recovery timetable from surgery....or some such.