Answering top offseason question: Rams

[Yamahopper]

Rams are going to get a great player or value in a trade with the second pick, that's a given. But what they do at 13 will define the 1st rd. All the QB's coming off the board there will be a chance at a elite player there.

 

[Penguin.]

Calvin Pryor, CJ Mosley [if he slides], Gilbert, Taylor Lewan, or a bunch of different others depending on their first pick and trade.

 

[mr.stlouis]

Jake Long and Saffold are much bigge questions than Sam. Shoot, Sam is one of the easier question.

 

[Ramequin]

For Bradford, he's made it pretty clear he's willing to bet on himself and attempt to put up a big season before he would want to do a contract extension. First and foremost, he needs to stay healthy for another full season and in doing so, needs to rise to the level of performance many have expected of him since his Offensive Rookie of the Year award in 2010.

That's troubling to me. I've read this before and it's a little off-putting. I know nobody from the Rams physically approached him about an extension, but just the idea that he'd rather try to put up career numbers first smacks of selfishness. Regardless of the circumstances, he's earned a ton of money so far and the Rams are up against the cap again. They could use the relief, and he's in a position to help. Even if they extend him to pay him more later, it still helps now. We see other players do it so why wouldn't he even consider it?

If he ends up getting hurt again, this could possibly be the worst gamble he'll ever take in his life. From what I'm reading, most "inside sources" say the Rams will take a QB early, but probably not in the first round. Hopefully Snead has a keen eye for QB talent, because it's not likely the Rams will be in a position to take a highly rated QB again unless they trade up to do it. If the Rams truly are committed to him and don't take one of the top guys at #2 (regardless of what they say we can't believe anything this time of year), then they're also gambling. As a Rams fan who suffered through a great deal of bad football, that's a lot of gambling from both sides and at my expense. I don't know if I can watch another year of Clemens or Clemens-like QB play from the backup. They need someone who can possibly make an immediate impact.

 

[iced]

Jake Long and Saffold are much bigge questions than Sam. Shoot, Sam is one of the easier question.

BS.

Jake Long's "injury history" is not as bad as people make it out to be. It's been a different injury at different spots; not another danario alexander...and guess what? - despite those injuries, he played at a top 5 Level this season... LT's and Acl's are not the same thing as a receiver, a pass rusher, corner, etc. Different position, different ball park. Not to mention the guy is YOUNG, and thankfully in an age with advanced medical science.... Adrian Peterson came back from a devastating knee injury and had the best year of his career... Tom brady came back from a nasty acl tear..the list could go on.. but I've never heard of a Tackle struggling for good coming off an acl tear...

The biggest question surrounding sam is literally, what's surrounding him - Again, we have 4 games every year against the best 2 players at their position (sherman, peterson). That's NOT including the talent around them - please enlighten me what receiver we have or even projects to be an handful to these guys?

It's no secret why Arizona beat them - great defense with legit receivers, despite a shoddy o-line. Fitzgerald is in a class of himself, and Michael Floyd is good enough to win one on one against good corners

 

[kurtfaulk]

That's troubling to me. I've read this before and it's a little off-putting. I know nobody from the Rams physically approached him about an extension, but just the idea that he'd rather try to put up career numbers first smacks of selfishness. Regardless of the circumstances, he's earned a ton of money so far and the Rams are up against the cap again. They could use the relief, and he's in a position to help. Even if they extend him to pay him more later, it still helps now. We see other players do it so why wouldn't he even consider it?

If he ends up getting hurt again, this could possibly be the worst gamble he'll ever take in his life. From what I'm reading, most "inside sources" say the Rams will take a QB early, but probably not in the first round. Hopefully Snead has a keen eye for QB talent, because it's not likely the Rams will be in a position to take a highly rated QB again unless they trade up to do it. If the Rams truly are committed to him and don't take one of the top guys at #2 (regardless of what they say we can't believe anything this time of year), then they're also gambling. As a Rams fan who suffered through a great deal of bad football, that's a lot of gambling from both sides and at my expense. I don't know if I can watch another year of Clemens or Clemens-like QB play from the backup. They need someone who can possibly make an immediate impact.

what world do you live in? Any player in Sams position would do the same thing. If the rams aren't worried about his cap numbers why are you so worried about it?

.

 

[fearsomefour]

I think Cleveland is going to trade for Kirk Cousins. But I like the idea.

That seems like such a Cleveland thing to do.

This is the same Jaworski that had Kaperdoodle ready for the HOF a year ago, right?

 

[mr.stlouis]

BS.

Jake Long's "injury history" is not as bad as people make it out to be. It's been a different injury at different spots; not another danario alexander...and guess what? - despite those injuries, he played at a top 5 Level this season... LT's and Acl's are not the same thing as a receiver, a pass rusher, corner, etc. Different position, different ball park. Not to mention the guy is YOUNG, and thankfully in an age with advanced medical science.... Adrian Peterson came back from a devastating knee injury and had the best year of his career... Tom brady came back from a nasty acl tear..the list could go on.. but I've never heard of a Tackle struggling for good coming off an acl tear...

The biggest question surrounding sam is literally, what's surrounding him - Again, we have 4 games every year against the best 2 players at their position (sherman, peterson). That's NOT including the talent around them - please enlighten me what receiver we have or even projects to be an handful to these guys?

It's no secret why Arizona beat them - great defense with legit receivers, despite a shoddy o-line. Fitzgerald is in a class of himself, and Michael Floyd is good enough to win one on one against good corners

It's not BS those two guys are injury prone! They do play through injuries, but it wasn't uncommon for one of them to be laying on the ground but luckily return later. I'll be surprised if long plays as much as he did last year.

Watkins would do better than anyone on our team against those two CB's, maybe in his first year. But if our OL isn't giving our Stacy a little breathing room then we aren't going to be very successful, period. It'll check down, check down, check down, because the deeper routes are taken away. But if they have to focus a lot on Stacy then we'll have a good shot with even Pettis on the outside. Not saying that Pettis would light it up, but he'd have single coverage or a soft zone which would give him his best chance. Our guys need all we can give them.

 

[Ramequin]

what world do you live in? Any player in Sams position would do the same thing. If the rams aren't worried about his cap numbers why are you so worried about it?

.

I'm not really worried about it, and respectfully, I live in the same world as Larry Fitzgerald and Drew Brees. Just recently Brees came out publicly and said this. “Whatever I can do to help this team, if they want to come to me and extend me even further, that’d be great. Listen, there are so many possibilities as to what can happen here. Let’s just let this offseason start. It’s what, today’s the second day of it unfortunately. We all wish it wasn’t, but whatever helps this team win and puts the best team on the field.” As you can see, any player in Sams position wouldn't do the same thing. There are some who would take more years on their contract to lessen the blow now and help to add more pieces to the team instead of trying to parlay an already big contract into an even bigger one.

But like I said, if that's what he wants to do then it's a gamble. If he gets hurt again this year, any hope of an extension goes out the window.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

It's a no-brainer that Bradford will be given the 2014 season to prove himself (again).

The biggest question of the off-season is: who will the Rams pick if they can't trade down from #2 in May?

In Jim Thomas latest chat he was asked 'If the Rams cannot trade the pick, who do you think they are targetting with the #2 pick.' - His reply was Clowney.

I don't know how good his info is. Did he have any accurate predictions for the draft with this regime?

 

[Flipper_336]

I have no idea how ITK Jim Thomas may be; however, Clowney should be the choice in the highly unlikely event that we are stuck at two. He is miles ahead of any other prospect in pure BPA terms and Chris Long will soon be 29 and is due massive sums of money.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

I'm not really worried about it, and respectfully, I live in the same world as Larry Fitzgerald and Drew Brees. Just recently Brees came out publicly and said this. “Whatever I can do to help this team, if they want to come to me and extend me even further, that’d be great. Listen, there are so many possibilities as to what can happen here. Let’s just let this offseason start. It’s what, today’s the second day of it unfortunately. We all wish it wasn’t, but whatever helps this team win and puts the best team on the field.” As you can see, any player in Sams position wouldn't do the same thing. There are some who would take more years on their contract to lessen the blow now and help to add more pieces to the team instead of trying to parlay an already big contract into an even bigger one.

But like I said, if that's what he wants to do then it's a gamble. If he gets hurt again this year, any hope of an extension goes out the window.

I agree with you Ramequin. I would hope that Sam would have a little more of a team approach. He already broke the bank. How much more money does he need? I might get blasted on here for saying it but I never thought Bradford was all that smart on or off the field. He seems impressionable and probably listens to whatever his agent is telling him.

 

[-X-]

I agree with you Ramequin. I would hope that Sam would have a little more of a team approach. He already broke the bank. How much more money does he need? I might get blasted on here for saying it but I never thought Bradford was all that smart on or off the field. He seems impressionable and probably listens to whatever his agent is telling him.

I wouldn't go that far. Bradford is plenty smart. 3.95 GPA in college, a 36 on the Wonderlic. I'm not sure what you mean by not being smart on the field. If anything, people criticize him for being TOO smart on the field (e.g., not throwing into double coverage or lofting up contestable balls). Progressions and things like that are not something the idle fan has a tremendous grasp of; so if that's why you're saying he's not smart, I have to wonder from where you draw your expertise.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

I refer to how long it took him to stop looking at his primary target. He did it for most of the first three years. He telegraphed his target.

Maybe he is smart in some ways but he doesn't come across as being that great in interviews either. Not saying he is dumb but he definitely comes across much differently than Brees, Rodgers, Brady, Manning, and even Wilson when you listen to them speak.

Maybe saying not intelligent is going to far. I have also referred to what I am talking about as seeming a bit Green, inexperienced or immature. There is a difference between book smarts and common sense too.

 

[-X-]

I refer to how long it took him to stop looking at his primary target. He did it for most of the first three years.

You sure? This is from 2010.

 

[iced]

You sure? This is from 2010.

actually he's done this a lot the past 2 seasons... looks to one side of the field, then after a second looks back and throws it deep against the single coverage. Usually to Pettis or Quick

 

[V3]

I'll be positively shocked if the Rams don't trade down, so Clowney is little more than a trivia scenario.

I'm not sure how far down they are willing to trade, but I expect one of the picks to be a DB or LB and the other to be an OT. I don't think they are picking Watkins.

You have to have a trade partner to do it. I'm still skeptical that anyone is going to wow them for #2.

 

[fearsomefour]

You have to have a trade partner to do it. I'm still skeptical that anyone is going to wow them for #2.

I agree with this, however, if the Rams are determined to move down they may not need to be wowed. Another RG3 deal is not going to happen Im sure. But picking up an extra pick or two this year and or next may be enough if the Rams are determined to get several quality players and dont like a guy a position of need enough to take him number 2 overall.

 

[max]

I agree with this, however, if the Rams are determined to move down they may not need to be wowed. Another RG3 deal is not going to happen Im sure. But picking up an extra pick or two this year and or next may be enough if the Rams are determined to get several quality players and dont like a guy a position of need enough to take him number 2 overall.

Agree. Wowing is not the key here. This is a very deep draft, I can see the Rams moving down to #8 with the Vikes for 2015 first rounder and a couple of additional picks this year.

 

[V3]

I agree with this, however, if the Rams are determined to move down they may not need to be wowed. Another RG3 deal is not going to happen Im sure. But picking up an extra pick or two this year and or next may be enough if the Rams are determined to get several quality players and dont like a guy a position of need enough to take him number 2 overall.

I expect the trades to be like an extra 2nd rounder or two. I don't see an extra first unless it's a pretty big trade down and I don't see the Rams going down that far unless they're blown away. We'll see. I just have my doubts. If it happens and we get a good return, I'll be pleasantly surprised.