Thanks for any help.

I. Want. Kris Abrams-Draine. A pick against Kentucky (and one wiped out on a penalty, so it could've easily been two). Four interceptions and nine pass breakups on the season. Perfect coverage. Brady Cook has his favorite targets in Luther Burden III (who is still only a true sophomore) and Theo Wease (former five-star Oklahoma transfer). Brett Norfleet (6'6" 245 lbs. true freshman tight end) and Marquis Johnson (speed demon true freshman wide receiver/returner) are part of a very bright future on offense, and that's not even mentioning that Brady Cook is still only a junior, and we have Sam Horn ready to take his place when Cook eventually leaves.

And then you have the defense. Ennis Rakestraw Jr. wasn't starting, but then Dreyden Norwood came up with a huge forced fumble. Ty-Ron Hopper all over the place at middle linebacker. And while we lack a truly elite starting lineman, we have a lot of very good ones, and have the number one defensive end recruit in the country next year in Williams Nwaneri (the highest ranked recruit we've gotten since Luther Burden III) coming in, along with a very good and very young defensive backfield.

We are going to be players in the SEC East for some time, and if we play this way in all of our SEC games, I can see us upsetting everyone except Georgia (yes, even Tennessee).

Sunday October 15, 2023

Arizona Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Rams: 4:25 p.m. ET, Fox​

Game Day Thread

The GDT is a live thread tradition here at ROD.

While we all get fired up watching the game, please remember our core principles;we always show respect for our team and each other.

Despite the emotional highs and lows watching a game, we will moderate this thread with that in mind, however please refrain from name calling. This applies to players, the Rams organization, and others.

This is the core rule of the GDT. Moderators are tasked to issue thread bans, at a minimum, to maintain this standard.

This is our team. Win or lose. Good days and bad. We are here for FUN, not to be dragged down.

A more loosely moderated atmosphere can be found in the chat room.

Go Rams!

———

ROD Chat Room;

Game Day Room

.

Sunday Night Football - October 15, 2023

New York Giants vs. Buffalo Bills: 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC

ROD Sportsbook:

Week 6 - Sunday, October 15, 2023

THE LATE GAMES
New England Patriots vs. Las Vegas Patriots: 4:05 p.m. ET, CBS
Detroit Lions vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 4:25 p.m. ET, Fox
Arizona Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Rams: 4:25 p.m. ET, Fox
Philadelphia Eagles vs. New York Jets: 4:25 p.m. ET, Fox

MEGA EARLY
Baltimore Ravens vs. Tennessee Titans: 9:30 a.m. ET, NFL Network

THE EARLY GAMES
Washington Commodes vs. Atlanta Falcons: 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS
Seattle Seahawks vs. Cincinnati Bengals: 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS
Indianapolis Colts vs. Jacksonville Jaguars: 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS
Carolina Panthers vs. Miami Dolphins: 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS
Minnesota Vikings vs. Chicago Bears: 1:00 p.m. ET, Fox
San Francisco 49ers vs. Cleveland Browns: 1:00 p.m. ET, Fox
New Orleans Saints vs. Houston Texans: 1:00 p.m. ET, Fox

SNF
New York Giants vs. Buffalo Bills: 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC

Monday, October 16, 2023

Dallas Cowboys vs. Los Angeles Chargers: 8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN

———

ALREADY PLAYED

Thursday, October 12, 2023

Denver Broncos vs. Kansas City Chiefs: 8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video

Week 6 - Sunday, October 15, 2023

MEGA EARLY
Baltimore Ravens vs. Tennessee Titans: 9:30 a.m. ET, NFL Network

THE EARLY GAMES
Washington Commodes vs. Atlanta Falcons: 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS
Seattle Seahawks vs. Cincinnati Bengals: 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS
Indianapolis Colts vs. Jacksonville Jaguars: 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS
Carolina Panthers vs. Miami Dolphins: 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS
Minnesota Vikings vs. Chicago Bears: 1:00 p.m. ET, Fox
San Francisco 49ers vs. Cleveland Browns: 1:00 p.m. ET, Fox
New Orleans Saints vs. Houston Texans: 1:00 p.m. ET, Fox

THE LATE GAMES
New England Patriots vs. Las Vegas Patriots: 4:05 p.m. ET, CBS
Detroit Lions vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 4:25 p.m. ET, Fox
Arizona Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Rams: 4:25 p.m. ET, Fox
Philadelphia Eagles vs. New York Jets: 4:25 p.m. ET, Fox

SNF
New York Giants vs. Buffalo Bills: 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC

Monday, October 16, 2023

Dallas Cowboys vs. Los Angeles Chargers: 8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN

———

ALREADY PLAYED

Thursday, October 12, 2023

Denver Broncos vs. Kansas City Chiefs: 8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video

Last year I started raving about Michael Penix. People scoffed at me. If you watched today's game vs Oregon you saw why I was raving about Michael. Reports were there were scouts from 20 NFL teams in the stands today. Penix cemented himself as being in the top five more likely the top 3 QBs in the draft. This guy is a perfect fit for McVay's offense. He is a full field reader, with amazing arm talent. He stands tall in the pocket and simply delivers. He reminds me of Stafford with Kupp, Nacua and Atwell. Though he can run he chooses not to and save himself the beating. But I've seen him scramble and his 4.6 speed is legit. If McVay wants him he will cost more than 3 ones. Penix is the QB everyone thought Caleb was.

That said there are a whole lot of QBs coming out in this draft. With the right team a lot of them can be very successful. As long as Penix stays healthy he can be one of them. I only hope he's a Ram and not a Seahawk or Niner.

Bad game for the finger nail painter:


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Caleb Williams makes awful decisions when he’s under pressure and doesn’t have 10 seconds to scramble around. Thank god that won’t happen when he’s drafted to a bottom 5 team with no talent on either side of the-wait a minute.

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I don't remember a Heisman winner with a game as bad as he had today.

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USC got cooked worse than a Lincoln Riley brisket.

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RIP Repeat Heisman

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The term “fraudulent” gets thrown around a lot in sports, but I think that’s the only word you can use to describe USC. They should not be ranked in the Top 25 and that’s on Riley

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Lincoln Riley is a fraud, and USC is about to be a feeder team in the Big 10

Buckle up, Trojan fans.

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Central Michigan lost by 24 to Notre Dame

USC lost by 28 to Notre Dame

Central Michigan > USC?

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Here it is. It’s early to peak at playoffs… but here are the teams in front of us that are likely fighting for Wild Cards.

Week 6:
Washington at Atlanta
New Orleans at Houston
Green Bay BYE
Seahawks at Bengals
Cowboys at Chargers
Cardinals at Rams

Week 7:
Atlanta at Tampa
Green Bay at Denver
Arizona at Seahawks
Dallas BYE
Pittsburgh at LA Rams

Week 8:
Atlanta at Tennessee
Saints at Indy
Vikings at Packers
Browns at Seattle
Rams at Cowboys

RamsOnDemand will be offline briefly on Saturday morning Oct-14 around 6am CST to apply updates. Downtime is estimated to be 5 minutes (most likely) to 25 minutes.

These are just system updates and will impact no features.

Thank you,
CGI

Ok my West coasters, tell me about this animal! Is he a fit for our Rams next year?

I'm trying to convince my wife to make Cubano's with her homemande bread. . .

But I think it's out the door as I now have a ticket for the T. Swift tour movie - no idea that was a thing.

However I am embracing it, I won't be missing Rams, so if anyone has suggestions on costumes/outfits to wear I am taking them.
(I recently shaved so I can't do the Travis stache)

Now this is a guy I would trade for if Denver is actually thinking of trading him

It’s ridiculously early, I know, and we don’t know where the Rams’ picks will be slotted, or which prospects will fall. Disclaimers aside, though, here’s an early mock of the Rams first five picks of 2024:

Round 1: Laiatu Latu, EDGE, UCLA
Right now, EDGE presents as the greatest need. Latu would fill that void nicely. In addition to his pass rush skills (15.5 sacks within past 17 games), he has the size (6’5, 265 lbs) and range to set the edge and handle occasional coverage duties. Put him opposite Byron Young, and we could have the bookends we need (with, hopefully, Aaron Donald in front of them for another year or two).

Round 2: Trey Benson, RB, Florida State
The Rams go back to the well with a FSU running back. I think Benson has the qualities that Sean McVay deems essential (ability to pass block, credible threat as a receiver), good size (6’1, 215 lbs.) and the big play speed that Kyren Williams lacks.

Round 3: Christian Mahogany, OG, Boston College
Steve Avila has added a lot to the offensive line as a rookie. What if we had another player like him at the RG spot? Mahogany is experienced, well rounded as a run and pass blocker, and has great size (6’3, 335 lbs.). Could go higher, but this is a spot where I’d definitely be looking at OL.

Round 5: Keith Randolph, Jr., DT, Illinois
Adding to the DT rotation seems like a good idea, both from the standpoint of maintaining a strong run defense, and to prepare for life after Donald. Randolph is another well-rounded player who could come in and contribute

Round 5: Jaylan Ford, ILB, Texas
To round out our first five picks, we get some ILB help next to Ernest Jones. Ford is rangy and productive, and could be an instant upgrade over Christian Rozeboom. Probably a guy you rotate our on passing downs, but would add punch to the run defense.

I have definitely changed my mind about this guy. I thought he was a bit of an asshole as the Dallas Maverick's owner but he appeared to be a decent guy on Shark Tank. Of course, that could just be for television.

However, he has started up a pharmaceutical (heh - spelled it right on the first try) company that sells drugs for a lot less than what you pay for in Walmart Walgreens & CVS. In fact, one of the drugs my wife takes is Gilenya that costs around $13000 per month that he is selling Generically for less than $300 per month. I looked at other drugs and they are a lot less than the retail price. He stated he is selling all drugs for just a bit more than his costs so that he can keep the company running but this is truly a good deal. I highly recommend that anyone paying a lot for drugs look into his website.

He is doing it because he got pissed at what drugs were costing people and this is a good thing.

Thoughts? He is getting released ... not sure if we would be interested or even have a shot.

But we certainly need more pass rush.

First, some suppositions…

I think Rams will finish with 10 wins, give or take, so they would be drafting around 16th to 20th position.

I also expect Snead to invest in FA’s of substantial value with his $50M of available cap dollars next year. This would mean that he could bring in 3-4 real studs to bolster current weak spots in Rams roster. I think that this has been the Rams 2023 strategy all along.

Therefore, I could see the following take place.

Looking at Rams needs I see the following as essential:

QB for eventual replacement for Stafford upon retirement.
LOT
Edge
DL
CB

I think Snead fills these positions beyond QB via FA as best he can.

A quality LOT could be a threefer. Meaning it fills and upgrades the most important position on OL indefinitely, eliminates worries of health of Jackson/Boom there, and frees up Jackson as a top drawer swing at either tackle or guard positions, all 4 of them. Moreover, it would open the possibility of Avila upgrading the C position in an OL move which would be one less draft need for Rams in 2024. Jackson has already demonstrated the ability to play G at a high level. Just signing a great LOT could provide 2 OL upgrades in a ripple effect without using a single draft pick.

The screaming need for an Edge is beyond obvious. Snead should get best possible FA for this position regardless of price. It’s a game changing move. Literally a SB enabling move. I can’t overstate the importance of this one. An elite type FA would be my preference. Get the proven stud and never look back.

DL might be a high priority, too. The current DL is a little unproven and certainly could use some upgrade, imo. Here again, I advocate for a proven vet FA. Needn’t be elite, but merely ‘very good’ would suffice.

CB is up in the air right now. Personally, I would sit Kendrick (the human catastrophic penalty machine), move Durant back outside, and start Shelley at slot. Don’t forget about Tomlinson, either. I would keep rotating current CB’s this season until I found the best possible combo. But CB would be high on my list of priorities for next year. FA would be my preference but he must be an upper level difference maker type. Yeah, he would be costly but we’re talking about one of the 4 most important positions on the field here. Pay the price, dammit! If a FA at CB of sufficient quality is not possible then a premium pick must be invested in that position. It would be nice if a proven vet CB could be signed in FA because that would free Snead up to drafting BPA in a loaded draft on all 3 days.

Which brings us to QB position. I love Stafford but I expect him to only play through 2024. Others think he will play until he’s 40 but I’m unwilling to gamble on that. Too many health issues are circling Stafford to make me feel comfortable. I don’t see a FA as our QB ‘solution’, either, because they are scarce as hens teeth. But the good news is that this is reportedly a loaded QB draft and I think we pick 16-20 give or take. IOW, a promising QB just might fall into our lap. OR Snead might package our 1st with picks or players to trade up to get a particular QB Rams like. This draft is a rare QB opportunity draft for Rams and they should seize it. If they get it right we’re set at the most important position in football for the next 12-15 years. Priceless.

The rest of the draft should simply be BPA at every pick. Hopefully, another Snead bonanza similar to Snead’s 2023 draft crop.

What do y’all think?

Thursday Night Football - October 12, 2023 - Week 6
Broncos vs. Chiefs
Start time: 8:15 p.m. ET
Location: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO
Live Stream: Prime Video

ROD Sportsbook:

Cardinals at the Rams
Sunday October 15, 2023
4:25pm ET
FOX

Pregame thread not started yet?

Rams place Bobby Brown III (knee) on injured reserve

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

Cameron DaSilva


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rain that will keep him out 5-7 weeks. He suffered the injury in Sunday’s loss to the Eagles and had to be carted off the field.

McVay thought it might be a season-ending injury initially so the diagnosis was actually better than expected. That being said, Brown is still out a while and the Rams are now thinner on the defensive line.

To open up a roster spot, they placed Brown on injured reserve, which will force him to miss at least the next four games. It was an obvious move for the Rams to make, knowing he’ll likely be out even longer than that.

McVay said on the “Coach McVay Show” this week that he isn’t sure if the team will look for outside help on the defensive line or if they’ll stay internal, but that’s something they’re working through.

Stafford and Donald are in the latter stages of their careers. We are going to take our lumps salary cap wise this year. We actually have a #1 pick next season, if it's not traded. Do the Rams go for it again while we still have two potential HOFer's on the roster for the next couple of years??

McSnead got us to 2 Super Bowls when they went all in. Is there one on the horizon? It would be great because the whiners window will get tight soon, for sure when they have to pay Purdy real money.

Here are some Rams team offensive stats (and league rankings) that are encouraging:

Yards/Drive: 35.7 (7th)
Time/Drive: 3:06 (4th)
Points/Drive: 2.22 (9th)\
Scoring Drive %: 45.1 (6th)

So why are the Rams not scoring more? They rank 15th with 22.4 points/game.

My answer: they’re doing it the hard way. The average starting point of a Rams drive this year is the 25.5 yard line. That ranks 30th in the NFL.

Why? Well, there are some clear reasons:

First, the Rams are tied for having the second fewest forced turnovers in the NFL with only 3. They are also 31st in the NFL in punt return average (5.1 yards/return) and kickoff return average (14.7 yards/return). And, as a result, the Rams have not started a single drive on the opponent’s side of the 50 yard line all year.

Add to that the fact that, while the Rams have had a good number of “chunk plays” in the passing game, they’ve only had two runs of 20 yards or more (22 by Tutu Atwell and 20 by Kyren Williams), and have not had a scoring play of over 22 yards.

The Rams are doing things the hard way.

There’s some hope here, though…

If the Rams can force some turnovers and get some short scoring drives (it seems like it is only a matter of time before that happens), that could allow the Rams to score more easily, and more total points. I also expect to see the Rams break some longer scoring plays, particularly with Cooper Kupp back in the fold.

Let’s see some easy scoring drives!

The bulk of the ‘rebuild’ is gonna have to wait until the offseason when Snead has both cap dollars and premium picks, but there are a few things that I think could be done right now that could make this team a genuine playoff contender.

In no particular order:

McVay should authorize LaFleur to yell in his ear during games whenever McVay goes off the rails with excessive pass calling at the expense of the run. When Rams run the ball, they win. When Rams get pass happy, they lose. It’s not complicated and McVay shouldn’t overthink this. McVay’s willingness to change here is critical to team success. Can’t be overstated.

McVay needs to deliberately focus on enhancing his 12 set playcalling effective immediately. It will only enhance his run game and consequently his TOP, plus give opposing D’s something more to worry about defending. That’s 3 good reasons for it right there. It’s critical that McVay both runs and passes out of 12 sets to be unpredictable to D’s, of course. And I recommend giving this Allen kid some snaps while he’s at it. I suspect that Allen could be a gem if given opportunities. What does McVay have to lose?

Hoecht isn’t working out as an OLB. Square peg meet round hole. Morris is asking him to do things that he’s not capable of doing and that’s classic coaching failure. The solution? Not sure. Maybe Snead can bring in a journeyman? Or Morris can keep rotating players in until someone can halfway play the damned position? But currently Hoecht is an example of Einstein’s definition of insanity, namely keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. Opponents are gonna continue to abuse him as long as he’s playing that position.

Morris should also take a good hard look at his CB deployments. Is Cobie Durant really working out at ‘star’ or slot, or whatever the hell position he’s now playing? And can he even make tackles when needed? And what about Derion Kendrick and his crippling penalties? Witherspoon is shining but perhaps Durant could be better at outside CB? Or Tomlinson? Or Shelley? Shake up that starting CB lineup other than Witherspoon, dammit! What do you have to lose?

Safety is not a major concern but I do think it could benefit from some tinkering to upgrade from Fuller. Experiment with JJ or Lake a little bit. Again, what’s to lose?

Other than possibly bringing in a journeyman edge, all the above moves are internal and could be implemented immediately in the Cards game.

Thoughts?