Sams vs Westbrooks?

[Greg Stone]

CGI, this from ProFootballFocus backs up your position:

"Though, unfortunately for Sam, his bid to make the team is going to be a contested one, at least based on this game. Fellow lineman Ethan Westbrooks, an undrafted free agent, was extremely impressive in his 34 snaps, the majority of them coming on the opposite side of Sam at DRE. Like Sam, Westbrooks had success in run defense, while logging two disruptions rushing the passer with a third nullified by penalty, though unlike his teammate, all three of Westbrook’s pressures came blocked and in more impressive fashion. Perhaps his best play was the one at 3:20 of the second quarter, when he destroyed guard Senio Kelemete with a quick inside move at the snap, though the pass was out before he could impact the quarterback."

 

[Ky Ram]

Sam plays awfully stiff but has a motor for sure.

You know who this used to be the biggest knock on for one of our current starters?
Chris Long....just sayin. A high motor can kick raw talents ass if applied appropriately and consistently

 

[Dr C. Hill]

I don't think they can cut Sam, and Westbrooks won't make it to the PS. I only hope that they find a way keep 10, because Westbrooks has a chance to be a very good rotational lineman for a long time IMO.

 

[TheDYVKX]

CGI, this from ProFootballFocus backs up your position:

"Though, unfortunately for Sam, his bid to make the team is going to be a contested one, at least based on this game. Fellow lineman Ethan Westbrooks, an undrafted free agent, was extremely impressive in his 34 snaps, the majority of them coming on the opposite side of Sam at DRE. Like Sam, Westbrooks had success in run defense, while logging two disruptions rushing the passer with a third nullified by penalty, though unlike his teammate, all three of Westbrook’s pressures came blocked and in more impressive fashion. Perhaps his best play was the one at 3:20 of the second quarter, when he destroyed guard Senio Kelemete with a quick inside move at the snap, though the pass was out before he could impact the quarterback."

Yeah, I rewatched the game and I was wrong. Westbrooks played extremely well, and better than Sam in my opinion. As well as Sam played, he needs to play even better to beat out Westbrooks. We have crazy depth on this line.

 

[snackdaddy]

Sam's a rookie so there will be the usual learning curve. But he seems to have better than average intelligence to compensate for that. Plus, he seems to have maturity that a few others don't (yeah I'm looking at you JJ)

I would not be surprised if he made the final roster.

 

[LazyWinker]

I am more aggravated by the excessive attention he gets in general.

True

 

[Memphis Ram]

Gee. Am I the only one who see it as Sam vs. Westbrooks vs. Sims? IMO, if the team sees upside in both Sam and Westbrooks, Sims should have to significantly outplay them not to be dealt.

And hopefully, dealt for a LB.

 

[CGI_Ram]

Gee. Am I the only one who see it as Sam vs. Westbrooks vs. Sims? IMO, if the team sees upside in both Sam and Westbrooks, Sims should have to significantly outplay them not to be dealt.

And hopefully, dealt for a LB.

Not out of the realm of possibility. Good call.

 

[BonifayRam]

It may not be just a Westbrooks vs Sam as most seem to want to center in on DL Conrath & Carrington are in this battle too.

I did not see anything very positive coming out from neither DT/DE Carrington nor DT Conrath Friday night myself. I was expecting a much better showing than Carrington gave us. Some of those big Saint left side offensive runs came right through his area of responsibility! After the rotten egg laid down by both DE Carrington & DT Conrath it could be that both DE Sam & DT/DE Westbrooks could move up into even Carrington's & Conrath's staked out claimed roster spots

Snead & Fisher were hoping that the 6-7 285 pound Brodine could be that 9th DL'er & 4th TE combo unit and Brodine may still yet do it but not this year.With the DT/DE/TE Brodine being injured early & now IR'd this competition is less one player.

Rams opened the game with Carrington & Donald @ DT with Sims & long @ DE. very early on that big hole run with Ingram the Saints ran right through Carrington, Sims, Ogletree & McDonald with ease! Tree & McDonald were solidly blocked away. Conrath came in early too. Two great plays, first by DE Sims to blow thru a double team block to sack the RB behind the LOS & then the INT next play by Long.

On 2nd series DT Carrington was useless weak & slow on the next 5 & 6 plays as the Saints marched & was removed from the field. Rams thru Joyner great effort got off the field. On the Saint's next 3rd & 4th series, Carrington continued to play into the 2nd quarter will no positives anywhere.....very surprising . DE Brown has some real bad plays also. On that big 20 plus late 2nd quarter TD run by Ingram ran right & thru LDE Sammy Brown & LDT's Matt Conrath & RDT Aaron Donald with only RDE Westbrooks (who was way outside & away from the play on the right end) could get a hand on him but failed to stop him from a seriously very easy TD run.

Point is in that first half, the highly sought after & highly praised UFA Alex Carrington was the main DT on the field..... I did not see anything positive from him. Same could be said about DE #57 Brown & #71 Conrath but Conrath did get more double team blocks thrown at him but still bad effort.

Here's the positive rookie DE's Westbrooks & Sam seemed to play better IMO. But this was just the first half of my re-watch in slow mode & stop recorded action. If the rookie UDFA Westbrook can play both inside & outside (from what I saw he can) then Carrington, (who's mojo was that) needs to show up!

P.S. Sims did have some early issues but Memphis has merit in his point ...Both Rookie DE Sam & Westbrooks had a better game.

 

[DCH]

Gonna be a tough call. Sam looked really good and plays on the ST coverage units. Westbrooks also looked very disruptive. Great problem to have. In the end I think they go with the guy who is a ST contributor (hopefully Westbrooks gets some reps on coverage, makes it an even tougher call).

One's gonna be traded, I'd imagine. Too much value in them both to let someone snag off of waivers.

 

[12intheBox]

Gee. Am I the only one who see it as Sam vs. Westbrooks vs. Sims? IMO, if the team sees upside in both Sam and Westbrooks, Sims should have to significantly outplay them not to be dealt.

And hopefully, dealt for a LB.

While I could certainly see a trade - I don't see Sims fighting for a roster spot at all - I have him on the 53 in ink.

 

[Debacled]

Westbooks looked QUICK when he was out there, and that is saying a lot considering the time in camp his has missed. Quite a deadly looking inside move. Don't remember if it was the 3rd or 4th Q but he put an inside move on and drilled the QB just after the pass was out, left me thinking that was Donald in there but it was Westbrooks.

ST or not I don't think that is what will make Sam make the team. There are plenty of other guys that will be on the roster who can do that. Just how often do you see a DE playing a major roll in the STs anyways? More often than not you see DBs or LBs, and they have plenty of those to chose from as well.

Contributions to the d-line rotation will define who makes the roster I think. I do think Westbrooks fits the mould of William Hayes better than Sam and will fair better when asked to slide inside (if he is). He strikes me as more of a DE/DT hybrid.

Either player is likely years away from significant playing time either way,

 

[BonifayRam]

Westbooks looked QUICK when he was out there, and that is saying a lot considering the time in camp his has missed. Quite a deadly looking inside move. Don't remember if it was the 3rd or 4th Q but he put an inside move on and drilled the QB just after the pass was out, left me thinking that was Donald in there but it was Westbrooks.

ST or not I don't think that is what will make Sam make the team. There are plenty of other guys that will be on the roster who can do that. Just how often do you see a DE playing a major roll in the STs anyways? More often than not you see DBs or LBs, and they have plenty of those to chose from as well.

Contributions to the d-line rotation will define who makes the roster I think. I do think Westbrooks fits the mould of William Hayes better than Sam and will fair better when asked to slide inside (if he is). He strikes me as more of a DE/DT hybrid.

Either player is likely years away from significant playing time either way,

The last two seasons now Fisher has brought in and kept the back up DE's who can play inside & out....& let the just outside DE's depart. Its just one pre season game but I will tell you I really like what I saw from #62 Ethan Westbrooks from West Texas A&M! It warms up my super critical ice cold heart some. If last Friday nights game hold any true indication on what we will get from DL'ers Carrington & Conrath then certainly Aaron Donald will be needed heavly inside, but I see something special on the field in Westbrooks.

You mentioned William Hayes the back up DE to Long and inside DT pass rusher behind Brockers...Hayes has had a lot of work done on his body this off season the reason we got Hayes here in St Louis originally from the Titans was his early injury history there ...I will be watching him closely when he finds his way back to play sooner or later but until then looks like Westbrook will get a chance here to get much more playing time. Hayes on the sideline looked very heavy, much more DT like than DE like. Rams will pay Hayes close to 4 million to be a back up that's a lot when compared to what Westbrooks ($515 K) or Sam (566K) will cost them....anyway close to 5 mil Guaranteed & 5 million in dead money too so Hayes will not be released no mater what. Wonder if we will see him much more @ DT with the Brockers injury and the very poor play of Carrington & Conrath in the first pre season game???

 

[CoachO]

Westbooks looked QUICK when he was out there, and that is saying a lot considering the time in camp his has missed. Quite a deadly looking inside move. Don't remember if it was the 3rd or 4th Q but he put an inside move on and drilled the QB just after the pass was out, left me thinking that was Donald in there but it was Westbrooks.

ST or not I don't think that is what will make Sam make the team. There are plenty of other guys that will be on the roster who can do that. Just how often do you see a DE playing a major roll in the STs anyways? More often than not you see DBs or LBs, and they have plenty of those to chose from as well.

Contributions to the d-line rotation will define who makes the roster I think. I do think Westbrooks fits the mould of William Hayes better than Sam and will fair better when asked to slide inside (if he is). He strikes me as more of a DE/DT hybrid.

Either player is likely years away from significant playing time either way,

With all due respect, who do you think lines up as the "wedge" blockers on the KO Return teams? Do you think its all DBs or LBs on the punt return team at the LOS?
Same with the coverage units. Eugene Sims has made a career being a core ST performer on this team. At what point do you look to replace him with a younger version?

There is already plenty of opportunity being afforded Sam on ST, and that's not likely to change.

As far as Westbroks fitting the mold of Hayes, Sam is similar to Robert Quinn coming out of UNC. I am in no way comparing Sam's ability to Quinn's, its no different than trying to compare Westbrooks to Hayes. You are comparing apples to oranges, Sam is NOT going to be asked to slide inside, so to try to say that somehow makes Westbrooks better in that role, is irrelevant.

They BOTH have 4 weeks to prove their worth. All things being equal, Sam has the advantage.... he was a HIGH PROFILE draft pick, and regardless how one feels about that, its fact. As good as this organization has looked for making this selection, they stand to garner some backlash if they release him. Not saying it won't happen, but IMO, they will give him EVERY opportunity to make this team. Unless he implodes, or shows he just cannot play at this level (neither of which I see happening), they will find a place for him.

 

[CoachO]

The last two seasons now Fisher has brought in and kept the back up DE's who can play inside & out....& let the just outside DE's depart. Its just one pre season game but I will tell you I really like what I saw from #62 Ethan Westbrooks from West Texas A&M! It warms up my super critical ice cold heart some. From the play of Carrington & Conrath Donald will be needed heavy inside, but I see something special on the field in Westbrooks.

You mentioned William Hayes the back up DE to Long and inside DT pass rusher behind Brockers...Hayes has had a lot of work done on his body this off season the reason we got Hayes here in St Louis originally from the Titans was his early injury history there ...I will be watching him closely when he finds his way back to play sooner or later but until then looks like Westbrook will get a chance here to get much more playing time. Hayes on the sideline looked very heavy, much more DT like than DE like. Rams will pay Hayes close to 4 million to be a back up that's a lot when compared to what Westbrooks ($515 K) or Sam (566K) will cost them....anyway close to 5 mil Guaranteed & 5 million in dead money too so Hayes will not be released no mater what. Wonder if we will see him much more @ DT with the Brockers injury and the very poor play of Carrington & Conrath in the first pre season game???

The one thing that I did notice in Friday nights game, was them sliding Eugene Sims inside in the first half, on the few plays they brought Quinn in on the edge. This is a departure from what they have shown thus far in training camp, and a return to a trend from the past two years. So as it pertains to your notion that Hayes may work back inside, at least until he gets back to 100%, you may see Sims in that role.

Fisher has said they intend on using a 7 man rotation on Sundays, so this would play right into that. Four DEs and 3 DTs on a regular basis. Suggesting that Conrath, and or Carrington might be on the outside looking in when it comes to that rotation.

 

[BonifayRam]

The one thing that I did notice in Friday nights game, was them sliding Eugene Sims inside in the first half, on the few plays they brought Quinn in on the edge. This is a departure from what they have shown thus far in training camp, and a return to a trend from the past two years. So as it pertains to your notion that Hayes may work back inside, at least until he gets back to 100%, you may see Sims in that role.

Fisher has said they intend on using a 7 man rotation on Sundays, so this would play right into that. Four DEs and 3 DTs on a regular basis. Suggesting that Conrath, and or Carrington might be on the outside looking in when it comes to that rotation.

I am sure you have seen that the use of Carrington & Conrath inside did much of nothing in any way to push & collapse the pocket. Both (especially Carrington) had a total failure to launch into the backfield against the Saints interior OL. The tall lanky extra long armed Eugene Sims @ 6-6 270 pounds is hard for a shorter QB to throw over in that middle having Sims & Quinn rushing from that right side is a lot of stuff to contain! Its has worked in the past yrs very well.

 

[CoachO]

I am sure you have seen that the use of Carrington & Conrath inside did much of nothing in any way to push & collapse the pocket. Both (especially Carrington) had a total failure to launch into the backfield against the Saints interior OL. The tall lanky extra long armed Eugene Sims @ 6-6 270 pounds is hard for a shorter QB to throw over in that middle having Sims & Quinn rushing from that right side is a lot of stuff to contain! Its has worked in the past yrs very well.

I agree, and i don't see many instances where both Carrington and Conrath will be on the field at the same time once the season starts. In fact, I doubt that BOTH will be among the 46 actives on game day. Conrath may have the slight advantage in that he is on the 1st Unit KO Return Unit, and the FG Block unit (DUH!!!!)
Barring any unforeseen developments, I would imagine the 7 man DL rotation being: Quinn, Long Hayes, Sims, Brockers, Langford, Donald,, with Conrath being the 8th game day activation.

It would not shock me at all, to see Carrington being one of the surprise cuts. He is on a 1-yr deal, ($1.5M with a $1M guarantee) Conrath is in the last year of his original 3 year deal, ($1.44M) but only $6K guaranteed. Again, it should be interesting to see how this battle plays out.

 

[12intheBox]

Carrington ought to be on the FG block team - dude has at least 4 NFL blocks on his resume already - not bad for a guy with less than 50 games under his belt.

 

[BuffaloRam]

Carrington ought to be on the FG block team - dude has at least 4 NFL blocks on his resume already - not bad for a guy with less than 50 games under his belt.

Carrington, I think will make the team based on that kind of play alone. I just think Conrath is a better option...

 

[TheDYVKX]

Carrington is easily one of the best FG blockers in the NFL. Probably THE best. So if that's one of the main criteria, Carrington probably beats out Conrath.