CJ. Anderson vs. Malcolm Brown

[tklongball]

It was great to have CJ's Playoff & Super Bowl experience, but I am more than fine with Brown as our #2 behind Gurley. It think Brown would be a starter on several teams.

 

[jrry32]

C.J. is better, but he'll be more expensive.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

The Rams want CJ back and according to the Ramswire CJ wants to play for the Rams again. So, maybe the work something out.


Malcolm Brown could start for someone imo. I bet he’d hope to go in that direction.

 

[Adi]

CJ played great this year but I would stick with the youth. Brown played well wen he was healthy and the rookie from tennessee has promise .

 

[I like Rams]

Brown has never put on a performance close to what CJ has in his entire 4 (or is it 5?) year tenure here. Not knocking Brown, i like him as a back up, but we're talking about holding onto someone who is a proven starter on a super bowl winning team and outperformed anyother back up we have by a mile. Imo its not even comparable.

 

[Mojo Ram]

CJ played great this year but I would stick with the youth. Brown played well wen he was healthy and the rookie from tennessee has promise .

Agreed.
Brown was very good in his role but I'm excited to see more John Kelly.
Brown returning as a RFA would be fine with me but Kelly is a McVay guy so i want to see him get more opportunities.

 

[Ellard80]

Depends on how much money he wants- I'd honestly be surprised if he was back as I expect he will get paid off his recent performances.

 

[FrantikRam]

Malcolm has always done good things when allowed to play.

McVay had his wake up call after Malcolm went down, but I would love to see Todd and Malcolm splitting carries next year to keep Todd fresh.

 

[Spider2YB]

Kinda to justify Gurley’s contract if C.J. is back and getting the kinda carries he was at the end of the year.

If C.J. is back, I would not be shocked at all if Gurley gets shopped.

 

[ramdonnie]

I prefer Brown. CJ almost fumbled away a playoff game and the Super Bowl. We were lucky not to lose the ball multiple times with him, and if Gurley is healthy, I would prefer to see more of him, which means CJ won't get much action; so he'll want to be traded. Brown quietly gave Gurley the stage, but CJ is not that type of player IMO.

I wouldn't want to see CJ and Gurley get 10 touches each; that's not enough Gurley. He's too good to keep on the bench. Gurley's a team player, but he probably wants more touches. He's just not going to say anything.

 

[ramdonnie]

Here are stats on CJ and Gurley.

 

[BonifayRam]

Malcolm Brown could be odd man out if Rams bring back C.J. Anderson in 2019
https://ramblinfan.com/2019/02/15/los-angeles-rams-cj-anderson-upgrade-malcolm-brown/
Malcolm Brown and C.J. Anderson are just two of numerous decisions the Los Angeles Rams will focus on this offseason during free agency.
After coming up just short of winning Super Bowl 53 against the New England Patriots, the Los Angeles Rams face plenty of major decisions this offseason to put them in the best position possible to make another deep run during the 2019 season.

From deciding on whether Dante Fowler Jr. deserves to return for his first full season to figuring out whether Ndamukong Suh would be worth another hefty deal, the Rams will face plenty of tough choices once free agency officially gets underway next March.As for the offensive side of the football, one of the biggest decisions Los Angeles will need to address is what to do in the backfield when it comes to backing up Todd Gurley.

Over the last couple of years, Malcolm Brown has proven to be quite the reliable No. 2 running back, and has received plenty of praise for his ability as a blocker, but the circumstances changed once his season came to an end in December with a shoulder injury.

Between Brown being out for the remainder of the regular season along with Gurley dealing with a minor knee injury, Los Angeles was in need of help at the running back position, which is part of the reason C.J. Anderson was signed towards the end of the year, and the rest was history.

Never in a million years did anyone think Anderson would end up rushing for 100+ yards three games in a row (including playoffs), and even lead the Rams in the ground game during the NFC Championship when Gurley had one of the worst games of his career, but it happened.

In fact, the argument can be made that without Anderson, chances are Los Angeles never would have made it to the Super Bowl, making it easy to understand why the Rams seem to be strongly considering the possibility of bringing the veteran back in 2019.Gurley has always proven to be an absolute workhorse of a running back who always seemed capable of handling as many snaps as Los Angeles needed him to, but watching him team up with Anderson showed just how dangerous the offense truly could be.

Of course, if the Rams were to bring Anderson back to continue teaming up with Gurley, this would most likely mean Brown, a restricted free agent, would be the odd man out.While Gurley and Anderson would handle the majority of the carries for obvious reasons, it seems unlikely that Los Angeles would want to give up on John Kelly and Justin Davis since their potential seems to be too high.

Brown has been a fan favorite over the years, and even Sean McVay has praised on numerous occasions just how impressed he was with him at running back, but the NFL is still a business at the end of the day, meaning if it’s time to move on, then so be it.On a positive note, at least if the Rams did in fact decide to move on from Brown, and figure out a way to bring Anderson back for another season, this would be a major upgrade in the backfield since from a production perspective, these two are on completely different levels.

 

[snackdaddy]

CJ is probably the better back. But the cost makes Brown the better option. They both run downhill. But it seems like CJ hits the hole a little quicker. Brown probably runs with more power. Whoever it is should get more carries next season. I don't wanna see Gurley limited down the stretch like he was. Gurley should not average more than 20 touches per game. Maybe even less would be ideal.

 

[MadGoat]

CJ is going to want a multi-year contract paying a few million a year. The problem is that Bell, Coleman, Ingram, Murray, Yeldon, Ajayi and about a million other RBs are also free agents and the number of teams willing to pay any back that much is limited. It is going to turn into an ugly game of musical chairs where the last players without jobs are going to find themselves out of work. Anderson may come back cheaper than we expect.

 

[dieterbrock]

CJ is going to want a multi-year contract paying a few million a year. The problem is that Bell, Coleman, Ingram, Murray, Yeldon, Ajayi and about a million other RBs are also free agents and the number of teams willing to pay any back that much is limited. It is going to turn into an ugly game of musical chairs where the last players without jobs are going to find themselves out of work. Anderson may come back cheaper than we expect.

Pittsburgh is gonna transition tag Bell so that will be a shyte show. The only guy I think who is more attractive than Anderson is Coleman. CJ will get paid, just wont be the Rams paying the freight IMO

 

[MadGoat]

Pittsburgh is gonna transition tag Bell so that will be a shyte show. The only guy I think who is more attractive than Anderson is Coleman. CJ will get paid, just wont be the Rams paying the freight IMO

Bell may get tagged, but there are teams that can structure a contract that the Steelers won't want to match. It turns into a game of chicken where the Steelers lose a likely 3rd round pick if they blink.

Some teams might find Anderson more attractive than these other guys, but not enough to actually pay him what he wants. None of these guys, Anderson included, are going to get that kind of money when there are still a dozen of them on the market and the NFL draft right around the corner.

 

[dieterbrock]

Bell may get tagged, but there are teams that can structure a contract that the Steelers won't want to match. It turns into a game of chicken where the Steelers lose a likely 3rd round pick if they blink.

Some teams might find Anderson more attractive than these other guys, but not enough to actually pay him what he wants. None of these guys, Anderson included, are going to get that kind of money when there are still a dozen of them on the market and the NFL draft right around the corner.

Bell is just going to be a nightmare to deal with. Surely a team will make that commitment, but there are plenty of teams that wont want to deal with that drama, and who need RB help. I think CJ would be the 3rd best option and by "getting paid" I don't mean that he will get Bell type money, but he'll get a heck of a lot more than the Rams could (or should) spend. I would be shocked to see him get less than 4 mill per, think he'll end up in the 5-6 range
Steelers are in the driver seat with Bell, they can always rescind the tag

 

[MadGoat]

Bell is just going to be a nightmare to deal with. Surely a team will make that commitment, but there are plenty of teams that wont want to deal with that drama, and who need RB help. I think CJ would be the 3rd best option and by "getting paid" I don't mean that he will get Bell type money, but he'll get a heck of a lot more than the Rams could (or should) spend. I would be shocked to see him get less than 4 mill per, think he'll end up in the 5-6 range
Steelers are in the driver seat with Bell, they can always rescind the tag

I don't see any chance of someone paying close to $6 million a year for Anderson. I'll be shocked if he gets more than $4.5 million guaranteed. It's not Anderson's fault, it's the position. There's no need to spend much on a back who isn't that different than the other guys that are going to sign for $2 million, or better yet find one in the draft on a rookie deal.

 

[dieterbrock]

I don't see any chance of someone paying close to $6 million a year for Anderson. I'll be shocked if he gets more than $4.5 million guaranteed. It's not Anderson's fault, it's the position. There's no need to spend much on a back who isn't that different than the other guys that are going to sign for $2 million, or better yet find one in the draft on a rookie deal.

Well, we’ll surely find out.
Dion Lewis, Carlos Hyde, Giovanni Bernard, Lamar Miller and Jerrick McKinnon all 5 million and up last year, and I’d put C.J. above all of them.
In any event, even your “shocked” value of 4.5 mill is way more than what the Rams can spend on an RB2

 

[MadGoat]

Well, we’ll surely find out.
Dion Lewis, Carlos Hyde, Giovanni Bernard, Lamar Miller and Jerrick McKinnon all 5 million and up last year, and I’d put C.J. above all of them.
In any event, even your “shocked” value of 4.5 mill is way more than what the Rams can spend on an RB2

If Anderson makes $5 million next year he'll be in good company with them. Running backs with regrettable contracts.