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- The Dude
SAN FRANCISCO or DENVER or BOTH -- Not going anywhere for a while? How about an impromptu Twitter mailbag discussing all things St. Louis Rams?
I won’t bore you with details of my travel problems in attempting to get back to St. Louis today but I will bore (dazzle?) you with my answers to your questions.
Anyway, enough of the tomfoolery, let’s get down to business. Thanks to all who wrote in with questions. Many of them were similar so if you don’t see your specific question here, know that it was probably similar to another one.
Also, I took some questions from non-hashtag users but I played favorites to people who followed the instructions and used the hashtag #RamsMailbag, too.
Wagoner: Saffold has been outstanding since moving to guard. He’s a solid tackle too, but some of the whispers about elite guard potential are evident when you watch him play inside. I’m not ready to say he’s the team’s best lineman when healthy yet but he could be trending that direction. I was a little surprised Quinn didn’t get home with Staley out but I think it was more a function of Kaepernick’s ability to escape the pocket. There’s a reason the two defensive tackles combined for three sacks.
Wagoner: Stedman Bailey played 22 snaps on offense against the Niners and had three catches on four targets. Yes, I expect him to continue to get involved. He’s proved to be pretty sure handed and runs good routes. No reason not to continue using him in final four weeks.
Wagoner: I have been saying and will continue to say if the Rams get a top pick from the Redskins, they will look to land another big package of picks in return for it. Now, I don’t know yet if any team will be willing to make a big move for any players but I suspect the market for Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney would yield a nice return. It’s possible another quarterback or two could become that desirable also. So the short answer is if the pick is in the top two or three, I think a deal is more feasible but knowing Les Snead and Jeff Fisher, they’re always looking to make a move.
Wagoner: This is the other part of the equation. I’m not sure what the Rams would want in return but it’s not likely a team will give up a huge package of picks like Washington did for any of the players in this draft. That’s not a guarantee, someone could fall in love with Bridgewater or Clowney but expecting a similar return would be folly. So the question then becomes what the price will be this time. If that scenario played out, my guess is it wouldn’t be as costly to make a deal with Snead this time as it was when Washington and Cleveland were bidding in 2012.
Wagoner: The secondary has to be the first priority (pun unmercifully intended). They need a ball hawk at safety to go with T.J. McDonald, who they believe can handle the box safety role for the foreseeable future. It can be the draft or free agency but the Rams need a playmaker on the last level of the defense. They’re going to have to do something with Cortland Finnegan one way or another. The best bet would be to bring him back on a new deal at a much cheaper price. He’s a valuable guy to have for the other young defensive backs. From there, I’d think a pick in the first two or three rounds on another corner might well be prudent.
Wagoner: I’d say Givens has probably been one of the bigger disappointments this year. I know he’s frustrated and he was after the game yesterday when he had a couple of costly drops. He looked poised for a big second year but he hasn’t made the necessary strides as a route runner and hasn’t taken advantage of the big plays that have been there for him to make. No reason to give up on him yet as he still has plenty of growing to do and can become a better route runner. But it may be time to start viewing him for what you know he can be: a deep threat who can be a nice piece to an offense but not necessarily the main pass catching threat.
Pettis’ time has been chopped by the efforts to get Bailey more involved. Bailey has showed capable of catching it consistently also.
Wagoner: Probably right there in that slim to none range. Slim being if they had to draft one with the intention to trade him like the Chargers once did with Eli Manning.
Wagoner: I haven’t seen the replay yet so I haven’t looked at some of the ones up for debate but I thought watching it live that many of the calls were legit. The call for late hit on Dunbar looked bogus and I didn’t get a good look at the one on Chris Long later (the roughing, not the offsides) but aside from that most looked like reasonable calls. I’ll have a better idea after I look at them on the All-22, though.
Wagoner: I don’t see the Rams making a move involving Langford unless they absolutely needed the cap space. He’s due to count $6 million against the cap next year, which is a hefty number but not completely out of line for his production. The Rams will have some moves to make to free up cap space but I’d think Langford would be further down the list than guys like Finnegan and others.
I won’t bore you with details of my travel problems in attempting to get back to St. Louis today but I will bore (dazzle?) you with my answers to your questions.
Anyway, enough of the tomfoolery, let’s get down to business. Thanks to all who wrote in with questions. Many of them were similar so if you don’t see your specific question here, know that it was probably similar to another one.
Also, I took some questions from non-hashtag users but I played favorites to people who followed the instructions and used the hashtag #RamsMailbag, too.
Wagoner: Saffold has been outstanding since moving to guard. He’s a solid tackle too, but some of the whispers about elite guard potential are evident when you watch him play inside. I’m not ready to say he’s the team’s best lineman when healthy yet but he could be trending that direction. I was a little surprised Quinn didn’t get home with Staley out but I think it was more a function of Kaepernick’s ability to escape the pocket. There’s a reason the two defensive tackles combined for three sacks.
Wagoner: Stedman Bailey played 22 snaps on offense against the Niners and had three catches on four targets. Yes, I expect him to continue to get involved. He’s proved to be pretty sure handed and runs good routes. No reason not to continue using him in final four weeks.
Wagoner: I have been saying and will continue to say if the Rams get a top pick from the Redskins, they will look to land another big package of picks in return for it. Now, I don’t know yet if any team will be willing to make a big move for any players but I suspect the market for Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney would yield a nice return. It’s possible another quarterback or two could become that desirable also. So the short answer is if the pick is in the top two or three, I think a deal is more feasible but knowing Les Snead and Jeff Fisher, they’re always looking to make a move.
Wagoner: This is the other part of the equation. I’m not sure what the Rams would want in return but it’s not likely a team will give up a huge package of picks like Washington did for any of the players in this draft. That’s not a guarantee, someone could fall in love with Bridgewater or Clowney but expecting a similar return would be folly. So the question then becomes what the price will be this time. If that scenario played out, my guess is it wouldn’t be as costly to make a deal with Snead this time as it was when Washington and Cleveland were bidding in 2012.
Wagoner: The secondary has to be the first priority (pun unmercifully intended). They need a ball hawk at safety to go with T.J. McDonald, who they believe can handle the box safety role for the foreseeable future. It can be the draft or free agency but the Rams need a playmaker on the last level of the defense. They’re going to have to do something with Cortland Finnegan one way or another. The best bet would be to bring him back on a new deal at a much cheaper price. He’s a valuable guy to have for the other young defensive backs. From there, I’d think a pick in the first two or three rounds on another corner might well be prudent.
Wagoner: I’d say Givens has probably been one of the bigger disappointments this year. I know he’s frustrated and he was after the game yesterday when he had a couple of costly drops. He looked poised for a big second year but he hasn’t made the necessary strides as a route runner and hasn’t taken advantage of the big plays that have been there for him to make. No reason to give up on him yet as he still has plenty of growing to do and can become a better route runner. But it may be time to start viewing him for what you know he can be: a deep threat who can be a nice piece to an offense but not necessarily the main pass catching threat.
Pettis’ time has been chopped by the efforts to get Bailey more involved. Bailey has showed capable of catching it consistently also.
Wagoner: Probably right there in that slim to none range. Slim being if they had to draft one with the intention to trade him like the Chargers once did with Eli Manning.
Wagoner: I haven’t seen the replay yet so I haven’t looked at some of the ones up for debate but I thought watching it live that many of the calls were legit. The call for late hit on Dunbar looked bogus and I didn’t get a good look at the one on Chris Long later (the roughing, not the offsides) but aside from that most looked like reasonable calls. I’ll have a better idea after I look at them on the All-22, though.
Wagoner: I don’t see the Rams making a move involving Langford unless they absolutely needed the cap space. He’s due to count $6 million against the cap next year, which is a hefty number but not completely out of line for his production. The Rams will have some moves to make to free up cap space but I’d think Langford would be further down the list than guys like Finnegan and others.
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