So what is our vision on D?

[GabesHorn]

I think I heard on another Ram sight that I just discovered that the Rams might have tried to see if Tavon would restructure and free up some cap. I think he blew em off from those who do twitter and have him can you check Tavon's tweets from yesterday ? I truley believe Connor Barwin is someone they are talking too. Love everything about the guy except maybe his age. He's gonna get paid bigtime. Eagles want him back and have more $$$ to play with. No clue if we are after a specific center that has signed his tender we could easily beat. We need more pass rushers for this defense . Hoping Forrest is a fit at ILB. With deep DB draft we may be okay. Gettin excited to see who our targets are. Like having 3-4 Christmas' . When you get old you never get anything for Christmas so this new coaching staff and FA and house cleaning and draft has me feeling youthfull again in my Blue and Whites. GO RAMS!!!:yess::yess::yess:

 

[FrantikRam]

The following are all pretty good players left that fit the 3-4:

Poe
Sheard
Hightower
Hankins

Any would probably be pretty pricey. Wonder if we're trying to move TruJo - even for something like a 4th round pick - so that we can sign two of these guys.

Sheard and Hightower would shore up on front 7, provide the Barron contingency at safety. We would need two starting CBs though.

Maybe we could sign Mangold with our remaining space and draft a few corners.

Either way, I think getting rid of TruJo is key.

 

[Rambitious1]

As I sit back and watch this all go down I just have to wonder. What the freak are we going to do on defense? Now I know Philips does not deserve to be questioned, but wtf?

We know we have Quinn who will stand up and play OLB. Okay, then we have Tree...is he inside or out? Where does Barron fit? He isn't big enough for OLB in a 3-4. Alexander for McDonald is not an even swap. We are looking to get rid of Johnson...who plays the other corner spot?

I can see Easly playing DE in a 3-4, but who is on the other side? Are we moving Donald there and letting Brock play NT?

A lot of questions for me. I assume the answers will work themselves out over the next month, but damn.

 

[Mackeyser]

Prediction: PAIN!

 

[GabesHorn]

http://ramsrule.com/herd/file.php?19,file=1279

All I want for Christmas is this. Not asking much am I?

 

[DaveFan'51]

We need a lot of pieces on defense. If you want to try to max what we have and put some guys a little out of place you have:

Donald - Brockers - Easley
(open) - Tree - Barron - Quinn
TruJo - Alexander - Joyner (FS) - Gaines

But there are a few issues with that. One, unless Brockers puts on weight, we're pretty undersized in the middle of our defense. I think Brockers could do it, but having Barron there creates a problem in the run game IMO. Also, it's a stretch to pencil in Easley as a starter and Gaines can't be trusted much either. It also leaves an opening at nickel DB which will obviously be used a lot.

On the flip side you could have:

Donald - (open) - Brockers (Easley as depth)
(open) - Tree - (open) - Quinn
TruJo - Barron - Alexander - (open)

With Gaines and the other young guys from last year as depth and Joyner at nickel.

The obvious issue with that is we would need 4 starters on defense, which is why our priority should be defense IMO. The only real drawback to this 2nd option is having both Barron and Alexander at FS - but if Darian Stewart can play it for Phillips....

And we obviously need depth as well, for both scenarios. Some combination of both those scenarios is probably what will happen - Brockers possibly at NT and Barron at safety would be good IMO.

I have no clue what to expect from Phillips! I'm looking for some kind of "Hybrid" 3-4 D!

 

[shaunpinney]

I think there is far too much concern with Phillips' system and the Rams - he doesn't run a strict 3-4, much more of a hybrid fluid one as @DaveFan'51 just said a 'hybrid'. I think Kayvon Webster & Connor Barwin are going to be lights out this year - and Aaron Donald is going to be even more lethal - Phillips is going to utilise our players to the best of their potential

 

[InnovatedMind]

I think there is far too much concern with Phillips' system and the Rams - he doesn't run a strict 3-4, much more of a hybrid fluid one as @DaveFan'51 just said a 'hybrid'. I think Kayvon Webster & Connor Barwin are going to be lights out this year - and Aaron Donald is going to be even more lethal - Phillips is going to utilise our players to the best of their potential

I think you're 100% spot on. Looking forward to seeing the evolution of Donald under Wade... Barwin and Webster, I don't think we fully realize how big they'll be, LIGHTS OUT, hopefully!... I'm looking forward to seeing their play!

Could Kayvon be even better than Trumaine? Ohhhhhh shoooooot.... Who knows... Who knows... but I am confident Wade Phillips will give players the best opportunity to shine the most... So he could!

 

[shaunpinney]

I really think Kayvon will be our best CB (this year at least) he knows the system and Wade for starters so he should be able to hit the ground running...