Does Wade’s D get “finished” this offseason?

[BonifayRam]

DaRon Payne might be the best DL that Saban has produced.

IF this were to occur & its sure a possibility ....the Ram front DL with Brockers/Payne/Donald should permit Wade the opportunity to go with the present talented younger greener or cap friendly Edge Rushers like Samson Ebukam, Carlos Thompson, Ejuan Price & Matt Longacre & whatever Edge Rushers Snead drafts this upcoming season to help secure Aaron Donald for a half decade contract. That DL front might also allow Wade to move Ogletree around the edges too.

The Rams could then concentrate to secure Rams UFA's in our secondary i.e. Lamarcus Joyner, NR-C & Cody Davis. If the Rams were to have those 3 return along with corners Troy Hill, Kevin Peterson & Dom Hatfield along with the damaged Kayvon Webster. You add in signed safeties Blake Countess & Marqui Christian both entering their 3rd season. The only concerns in our 2018 secondary would be @ outside corner. Not all that bad.

Yes I like this Bama NT :bow:

 

[jrry32]

IF this were to occur & its sure a possibility ....the Ram front DL with Brockers/Payne/Donald should permit Wade the opportunity to go with the present talented younger greener or cap friendly Edge Rushers like Samson Ebukam, Carlos Thompson, Ejuan Price & Matt Longacre & whatever Edge Rushers Snead drafts this upcoming season to help secure Aaron Donald for a half decade contract. That DL front might also allow Wade to move Ogletree around the edges too.

The Rams could then concentrate to secure Rams UFA's in our secondary i.e. Lamarcus Joyner, NR-C & Cody Davis. If the Rams were to have those 3 return along with corners Troy Hill, Kevin Peterson & Dom Hatfield along with the damaged Kayvon Webster. You add in signed safeties Blake Countess & Marqui Christian both entering their 3rd season. The only concerns in our 2018 secondary would be @ outside corner. Not all that bad.

Yes I like this Bama NT :bow:

I'd try to keep Quinn and Tru. Plus, FA happens before the Draft, so we can't count on having Payne, unfortunately.

 

[BonifayRam]

I'd try to keep Quinn and Tru. Plus, FA happens before the Draft, so we can't count on having Payne, unfortunately.

Yep, But I not with you on either Quinn or Trumaine this time. I differ from most others here where both of these players are not worthy of their cap costs.

 

[pmil66]

Are Longacre, Ebukam, and Littleton ready to step up in the LB core into starter or semi starter spots is a question, Moving on from Quinn & Barron salaries would open up more cap space for the rams, and remove 2 starters with some injury concern. Put Tree in the best spot for him to excel, and build around him with draft picks, along with the 3 mentioned above.

NT sure needs help, an outside free agent does make a lot of sense.

Dont see Tru back, have been negotiating with him for 2 years now with no contract, think he gets overpaid when free agency begins. Rams can replace him with another vet, and draft pick, Peterson most likely not ready to start full time, but can contribute at that spot. Hill & Webster on the other side are back.

Joyner could be franchised if needed, sure seems he will be back along with Johnson at the safety spots.

RBC is a slot corner, rams have a good shot of keeping him, can pay him well, and he fit very well in Wades D.

Will be interesting to see how this shakes out.

 

[nighttrain]

Will be interesting to see how this shakes out.

 

[BonifayRam]

Are Longacre, Ebukam, and Littleton ready to step up in the LB core into starter or semi starter spots is a question, Moving on from Quinn & Barron salaries would open up more cap space for the rams, and remove 2 starters with some injury concern. Put Tree in the best spot for him to excel, and build around him with draft picks, along with the 3 mentioned above.............

Matt Longacre . Matt was far better than Rob @ maintaining outside containment & setting the edge. That back injury took him out early to the IR. Matt will enter his 4th NFL season in 2018 & will be a econo priced RFA. It would be unwise not to consider him as main player in the Edge Rusher posts in 2018/2019 seasons. Matt's run support is better than Quinn.

Samson Ebukam started 2 gms & finished 3 others in place of Conner Barwin. He will be a starter in 2018 just too good to not let him play. He has the talent & skills to be a very good replacement for Barwin. I would expect great improvement from Ebukam in his 2nd season out of small Eastern Washington.

Cory Littleton is a better OLB'er than ISLB'er. If he was moved from his 2017 interior position back outside like in 2016 it will fit his skill set much better. Cory is over 6-3 on a 220/225 pound lanky frame needs to be reset back on the edge where his true athletic nature, extra long arms & big hands can be maximized. We all have seen what using him as a stand-up pass rusher can do & its good. In college CL was primarily used as a stand-up pass rusher! Cory will be entering his 3rd season in 2018 & has proven to be a valuable rotational player who could start if need be on the outside. CL has excellent football speed to be used better on the edges.

Other Ram young OLB/ Edge Rushers are Carlos Thompson, Garrett Sickles & Ejuan Price so the Rams also have depth too. NCAA football sends a massive glut of good 34 Defense tweeners each season. This draft has a boatload of good OLB'er waiting to show off their talents if given a chance.Snead will add from the draft a outstanding edge rusher for 2018 for Wade to deploy & enjoy!

Its my position that the Rams can loose both Barwin & Quinn & the 16 million $$ price tag for them & fine better use for those cap funds. Rams will not miss either of them in 2018. Does any of our members have major issues with the Rams going with Ebukam, Longacre, Littleton & a talented rookie OLB'er in the 2018 draft as our main four @ OLB/ER's?

 

[LesBaker]

I'd try to keep Quinn

Not me, he's a one trick pony, and even one of the announcers said that during a game. He got a few lucky sacks this year that inflated his total and when you watch him it's clear the speed isn't the same.

And he is a BIG liability in pass coverage, he's never done it before and boy it shows.

 

[WestCoastRam]

I'm definitely all for restructuring Quinn if we can and letting him go if we can't.

Interestingly, I think whether or not we resign Tru will be what FA on defense will revolve around.

(IMO, Joyner only playing one year at safety and having mostly played nickel may actually benefit us in resigning him as it may muddy the water as to what he can expect on the open market.)

 

[yrba1]

I'd try to keep Quinn and Tru. Plus, FA happens before the Draft, so we can't count on having Payne, unfortunately.

Payne's gonna sneak his way to the Top 15 range, can't imagine getting him unless we trade up; going to be absolutely shocked if he ends up in #23.

 

[Riverumbbq]

Not me, he's a one trick pony, and even one of the announcers said that during a game. He got a few lucky sacks this year that inflated his total and when you watch him it's clear the speed isn't the same.

And he is a BIG liability in pass coverage, he's never done it before and boy it shows.

If Quinn won't restructure i'd be apt to come around on this, but I can't see us dismissing both Barwin & Quinn in one off-season, it just makes it tougher to fill all those empty roster spots with improved talent. We are in pretty good shape CAP wise, but that money isn't unlimited and we have other problems to deal with. Having no 2'nd round draft pick also limits our ability to fill these holes with quality players. Quinn made strides the second half of the season, maybe/hopefully that carries over to the beginning of 2018. With Longacre back from IR and better management of the rotation with both Quinn/Longacre, they should have good seasons. I'd first try to extend him short term with a Rams friendly deal where he gets some upfront bonus money in an incentive laced deal while the Rams save 2018 CAP room & gain an ability to withdraw without costly repercussions. jmo.

 

[LesBaker]

If Quinn won't restructure i'd be apt to come around on this, but I can't see us dismissing both Barwin & Quinn in one off-season, it just makes it tougher to fill all those empty roster spots with improved talent. We are in pretty good shape CAP wise, but that money isn't unlimited and we have other problems to deal with. Having no 2'nd round draft pick also limits our ability to fill these holes. Quinn made strides the second half of the season, maybe/hopefully that carries over to the beginning of 2018. With Longacre back from IR and better management of the rotation with both Quinn/Longacre, they should have good seasons. I'd first try to extend him short term with a Rams friendly deal where he gets some upfront bonus money in an incentive laced deal while the Rams save 2018 CAP room & an ability to withdraw without costly repercussions. jmo.

If he redoes his deal I'd reconsider for sure.

Not having Longacre did not help the defense. He's a play maker.

 

[Ram65]

I'm definitely all for restructuring Quinn if we can and letting him go if we can't.

Interestingly, I think whether or not we resign Tru will be what FA on defense will revolve around.

(IMO, Joyner only playing one year at safety and having mostly played nickel may actually benefit us in resigning him as it may muddy the water as to what he can expect on the open market.)

If Quinn won't restructure i'd be apt to come around on this, but I can't see us dismissing both Barwin & Quinn in one off-season, it just makes it tougher to fill all those empty roster spots with improved talent. We are in pretty good shape CAP wise, but that money isn't unlimited and we have other problems to deal with. Having no 2'nd round draft pick also limits our ability to fill these holes with quality players. Quinn made strides the second half of the season, maybe/hopefully that carries over to the beginning of 2018. With Longacre back from IR and better management of the rotation with both Quinn/Longacre, they should have good seasons. I'd first try to extend him short term with a Rams friendly deal where he gets some upfront bonus money in an incentive laced deal while the Rams save 2018 CAP room & gain an ability to withdraw without costly repercussions. jmo.

Not me, he's a one trick pony, and even one of the announcers said that during a game. He got a few lucky sacks this year that inflated his total and when you watch him it's clear the speed isn't the same.

And he is a BIG liability in pass coverage, he's never done it before and boy it shows.

Yup, Quinn just isn't turning the corner like he use to or like a DE/Pass Rusher like he has to. Barwin doesn't add to the pass rush either. You are right River on who the Rams can get to replace them being hard. Quinn has to restructure at the least and the Rams have to find OLBer that can get pressure and cover. I thought going 3-4 would be easier to find edge rushers but, I guess not.

 

[Mackeyser]

Welcome to the Payne train.

Now all we gotta do is get @Mackeyser to see the wisdom in adding that MFer to the middle of our DL.

I'm on it. I really, really like Payne.

I'm just cooling on him a little because as I look at the position, guys like Vea, Settle and some others are pretty stout. They may get walled off by a double team, but not washed out.

Payne got washed out and on some plays, it looked easy.

I take issue with how the SEC coaches their DTs (as opposed to schools like Nebraska who I like their DT coaching style much better) and thus, it's hard to understand that Brockers from LSU can be a penetrator because they don't coach their DTs to do that.

It LOOKS like Payne is getting washed out, but they may be doing an "SEC" thing by asking him to just stand up the guards and let the LBs flow through the gaps.

I HATE, HATE, HATE that style because it obviates several players from being able to make plays. But it is what it is.

So I'm open to Payne being as good as some of the hype because... crap scheme. That was the case with Glenn Dorsey (who was grossly misused his entire career and it's a damn shame), Michael Brockers and Payne and a few Alabama DTs.

But yes, I'm on the Payne train.

Unless Josh Jackson is still on the board. If he's still on the board, I'm gonna have to hit up the conductor for a transfer ticket...

 

[Merlin]

I'm on it. I really, really like Payne.

But yes, I'm on the Payne train.

I know man. Was just bustin your balls.

 

[Merlin]

If Quinn won't restructure i'd be apt to come around on this, but I can't see us dismissing both Barwin & Quinn in one off-season, it just makes it tougher to fill all those empty roster spots with improved talent.

I don't see why Quinn wouldn't restructure. He'd get a new signing bonus and help the team with a lower cap hit, not to mention get to hang around in what will be a very good defense for years under Wade. Plus, even though he struggled to adjust to OLB, he's got what you want in that role. He's not as fast as he was but the dude is still athletic and I expect the Rams to use him more and more on rush downs next year and beyond if he does stick around.

This draft has some disgustingly good edge rushers. Not sure how and where they'll all slot right now but there's a really good chance they draft one of them and we see the rook worked in with Quinn through the season.

 

[Riverumbbq]

I don't see why Quinn wouldn't restructure. He'd get a new signing bonus and help the team with a lower cap hit, not to mention get to hang around in what will be a very good defense for years under Wade. Plus, even though he struggled to adjust to OLB, he's got what you want in that role. He's not as fast as he was but the dude is still athletic and I expect the Rams to use him more and more on rush downs next year and beyond if he does stick around.

This draft has some disgustingly good edge rushers. Not sure how and where they'll all slot right now but there's a really good chance they draft one of them and we see the rook worked in with Quinn through the season.

Pretty much agree with all you said here, doubtful Quinn is a three down LB'er any longer, but in a solid rotation he should have plenty of success left in him. If Barwin is indeed out of the 2018 equation, then we may be looking more towards finding competition for Ebukam than bolstering Quinn's side, especially with Longacre returning. Young Carlos Thompson and the new guy, Garrett Sickels will also want to weigh in on the battle for reserves. Our next camp will be fun to watch with so many of our young players now having a bit of experience. Drafting a quality pass rush OLB will be a priority, although probably not in the first round this next year. jmo.