- Joined
- May 9, 2018
- Messages
- 5,372
1. This is a SPECIAL EDITION of 20RT!
2. Been a busy few months for me… visits from my kids, work stuff, volunteering at an IDF base in Israel, getting/training a new puppy, home renovations. All good stuff, but less time for football talk!
3. So, here we are, 9 games in and, well… not what we hoped for.
4. Injuries are far and away the biggest culprit, particularly at WR and on the OL.
5. The OL injuries hurt us again yesterday, both from the standpoint of Rob “Don’t Know What You’ve Got, ‘Till its Gone” Havenstein’s absence, and the lack of synergy resulting from plugging in 2 players just off the IR.
6. If you’re thinking, “it seems like the Rams never get easy wins these days,” you’re not wrong. Going back to last season, the last 8 Rams victories have been by an average margin of 5.4 points, and the only win that wasn’t a one-score margin was the Vikings game (which, if a face mask had been called, would have been).
7. I love Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua and Kyren Williams. I think you can win a lot of games with them as your primary skill players. But…
8. … we need more speed on offense. I think a priority for next year’s draft will be adding a WR (or, perhaps, a TE) who not only fits the Rams scheme (good route runner, willing and effective blocker), but also has the speed to scare defenses.
9. Red Zone issues are also a priority. McVay needs to go back to the drawing board on play design, particularly inside the 10. Settling for FGs is costing us too many games.
10. While I have not given up on this season (don’t forget, we were 3-6 last year at this point), I am taking a long-term view of this team, and I there is a lot to be optimistic about.
11. The defense is really starting to come together under Chris Shula. I think he’s only going to improve with experience.
12. It doesn’t hurt to have a young core of Byron Young, Kobe Turner, Braden Fiske and Jared Verse. Such an amazing job by the scouting department and front office in selecting these guys.
13. That said… the secondary needs to become more of a priority, particularly the CB spot. Tre’Davious White was a reasonable bargain-basement gamble, but it didn’t pay off. Next year, we need to use premium capital (FA$ or draft pick) on the position.
14. We also need more from the ILB corps. I get that nickel and dime packages relegate that positions to limited snaps, but that doesn’t mean that undrafted FAs are the best we can do there.
15. I have not seen or heard anything that would cause me to doubt that Matthew Stafford won’t play in 2025, but I do think that the more progress and promise we show in the next 8 games, the more secure his return will be.
16. And, make no mistake… absent a Top 5 pick in the draft (and probably not even with one of those selections), the best starting QB option for the Rams in 2025 is Matthew Stafford. It's not even a close question.
17. I’d like to see a bit more of Blake Corum in the second half of the season.
18. Jared Verse is going to be selected to many Pro Bowls in his career. He is a beast.
19. Right now, the best team in the NFC West is Arizona. Who’da thunk it?
20. Beat the Patriots, get back to .500, and go from there!
2. Been a busy few months for me… visits from my kids, work stuff, volunteering at an IDF base in Israel, getting/training a new puppy, home renovations. All good stuff, but less time for football talk!
3. So, here we are, 9 games in and, well… not what we hoped for.
4. Injuries are far and away the biggest culprit, particularly at WR and on the OL.
5. The OL injuries hurt us again yesterday, both from the standpoint of Rob “Don’t Know What You’ve Got, ‘Till its Gone” Havenstein’s absence, and the lack of synergy resulting from plugging in 2 players just off the IR.
6. If you’re thinking, “it seems like the Rams never get easy wins these days,” you’re not wrong. Going back to last season, the last 8 Rams victories have been by an average margin of 5.4 points, and the only win that wasn’t a one-score margin was the Vikings game (which, if a face mask had been called, would have been).
7. I love Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua and Kyren Williams. I think you can win a lot of games with them as your primary skill players. But…
8. … we need more speed on offense. I think a priority for next year’s draft will be adding a WR (or, perhaps, a TE) who not only fits the Rams scheme (good route runner, willing and effective blocker), but also has the speed to scare defenses.
9. Red Zone issues are also a priority. McVay needs to go back to the drawing board on play design, particularly inside the 10. Settling for FGs is costing us too many games.
10. While I have not given up on this season (don’t forget, we were 3-6 last year at this point), I am taking a long-term view of this team, and I there is a lot to be optimistic about.
11. The defense is really starting to come together under Chris Shula. I think he’s only going to improve with experience.
12. It doesn’t hurt to have a young core of Byron Young, Kobe Turner, Braden Fiske and Jared Verse. Such an amazing job by the scouting department and front office in selecting these guys.
13. That said… the secondary needs to become more of a priority, particularly the CB spot. Tre’Davious White was a reasonable bargain-basement gamble, but it didn’t pay off. Next year, we need to use premium capital (FA$ or draft pick) on the position.
14. We also need more from the ILB corps. I get that nickel and dime packages relegate that positions to limited snaps, but that doesn’t mean that undrafted FAs are the best we can do there.
15. I have not seen or heard anything that would cause me to doubt that Matthew Stafford won’t play in 2025, but I do think that the more progress and promise we show in the next 8 games, the more secure his return will be.
16. And, make no mistake… absent a Top 5 pick in the draft (and probably not even with one of those selections), the best starting QB option for the Rams in 2025 is Matthew Stafford. It's not even a close question.
17. I’d like to see a bit more of Blake Corum in the second half of the season.
18. Jared Verse is going to be selected to many Pro Bowls in his career. He is a beast.
19. Right now, the best team in the NFC West is Arizona. Who’da thunk it?
20. Beat the Patriots, get back to .500, and go from there!
