Doubling up on QBs

[WestCoastRam]

In a way, we did it last year. We traded for Foles and drafted Mannion.

Washington drafted RGIII and then Cousins.

Seattle signed and traded for Charlie Whitehurst and then the next year they signed Matt Flynn and then drafted Russell Wilson.

I'm not so sure spending an inordinate amount of resources at QB is a bad thing until we hit on one. (Whether or not a coach like Fisher with one year left on his contract would is a different story)

If Mannion isn't the answer (and I highly doubt he is), then I'd be perfectly fine with the Rams doubling up resources on QB this season.

1)Signing one and drafting one
2)Trading for one and drafting one
3) Drafting two (I'm not in love with any QBs in the first round but I'd be fine with taking one and I'd be even more fine with taking a flyer on Cardale Jones two rounds later)

I can't follow college football like I used to but I just don't see a QB worth trading the farm for in this draft so maybe there's something to be said for playing the odds and doubling up resources on QBs.

 

[OldSchool]

Don't see it happening, I could see Foles being released and Keenum brought back along with a draft pick and Mannion.

 

[Tron]

Wont happen. They like Keenum a lot. Foles will probably be gone, and they wont give up on a 3rd round pic(Mannion) after one year. Hopefully they draft a QB, bring in a vet in FA, and maybe an UDFA as well. the more competition the better.

 

[CGI_Ram]

Don't see it happening, I could see Foles being released and Keenum brought back along with a draft pick and Mannion.

This is my guess as well.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Wont happen. They like Keenum a lot. Foles will probably be gone, and they wont give up on a 3rd round pic(Mannion) after one year. Hopefully they draft a QB, bring in a vet in FA, and maybe an UDFA as well. the more competition the better.

With as bad as Foles was, doesn't it seem likely that if Mannion was really showing them something in practice that they 1. either gave him a start, 2. stated at the end of the year that they have their future QB on the roster instead of saying they need to find a QB this offseason.....again?

 

[12intheBox]

Sign Manziel for whatever his current league minimum is. Rams would only be bidding against themselves.

Take a flyer in the draft - even at 15 if you like a guy enough there - but don't force it. If your guy isn't there, help the team elsewhere.

Being in Case, Mannion, Manziel, and draft pick to camp.

Come into camp with a true open competition. Equal reps until the players begin to seperate themselves.

By the last cut - get rid of Case, Mannion, or Manziel. If you missed a QB in the draft, keep all 3.

 

[RamDino]

I'm starting to like what I'm seeing in these mock drafts. Carson Wentz has moved up and it looks like there are now THREE excellent QB prospects in this draft (at least). I'll bet either he or Lynch falls to us at 15, and we can keep those 2 second-rounders to draft some solid receivers! Keenum plus Mannion plus draft excellent prospect. Rams are all set at QB for years.

 

[WestCoastRam]

What do they say about Occam's Razor?

I'm gonna make a couple, simple dispassionate comments about options and see how they look.

1) There are 3-4 1st round QBs in this draft but none would be considered top 10 picks except out of necessity and none are worthy of a 1 overall pick.
2) Reclamation QBs are just that, reclamations. Both Manziel and RGIII have problems that discount them from being starting QBs. They will fail unless major changes happen to them. RGIII's mechanics were so bad that Foles looked his equal last time he played (it boggles my mind how everyone's focused on his "off-field" stuff and not how bad of a QB he's become; Manziel isn't even a guarantee to show up to the team facility). Both might be able to have limited success as spot starters. Statistically, they will never be starters again.
3) Mannion was not good enough to start at the end of the year. There's an outside chance that he could put work in during offseason and improve but it's unlikely that that much improvement can happen. Even if he improves, we would be looking at a guy who probably goes from non-starter to below-average starter and not average starter to superstar.
4) Case Keenum is a below-average starter who needs a running game and stout defense to win games. He cannot probably win a game with only one of these things working.

Jeez, I'm depressed.

 

[thirteen28]

With as bad as Foles was, doesn't it seem likely that if Mannion was really showing them something in practice that they 1. either gave him a start, 2. stated at the end of the year that they have their future QB on the roster instead of saying they need to find a QB this offseason.....again?

Well, you have to ask yourself what chance did he get in practice? Did he actually get a chance to show them anything, beyond the one week when Keenum was out and he was active as the backup? He looked ok in the garbage time he had at Cincinnati, even though, yes, it was garbage time. But other than that, you have to wonder if he ever got meaningful reps during the season, or was he just someone who was drafted and effectively redshirted for his rookie season, i.e. stashed for future development with no chance of getting meaningful playing time this year.

It's not beyond Fisher's MO to be stubborn about such things.

I wouldn't read too much into Mannion's potential ceiling from what happened (or more precisely, what did not happen) in the 2015. By the same token, I wouldn't let his presence or any possibility of a high ceiling for him prevent us from drafting a QB. Mason had a promising rookie season, didn't prevent us from drafting Gurley though. And QB, being the most important position, we need to start flinging enough stuff at the wall until something sticks.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Well, you have to ask yourself what chance did he get in practice? Did he actually get a chance to show them anything, beyond the one week when Keenum was out and he was active as the backup? He looked ok in the garbage time he had at Cincinnati, even though, yes, it was garbage time. But other than that, you have to wonder if he ever got meaningful reps during the season, or was he just someone who was drafted and effectively redshirted for his rookie season, i.e. stashed for future development with no chance of getting meaningful playing time this year.

It's not beyond Fisher's MO to be stubborn about such things.

I wouldn't read too much into Mannion's potential ceiling from what happened (or more precisely, what did not happen) in the 2015. By the same token, I wouldn't let his presence or any possibility of a high ceiling for him prevent us from drafting a QB. Mason had a promising rookie season, didn't prevent us from drafting Gurley though. And QB, being the most important position, we need to start flinging enough stuff at the wall until something sticks.

I realize that Fisher doesn't have to do what I think he should. However, with such an unsettled situation at the most important position on the team becoming obvious as quickly as five weeks into the season. It had to don on someone that they need to figure out what they have in Mannion before the season ends, if they already didn't form an opinion of him from camp. Otherwise they could be trading and wasting picks for no reason, or passing up on a better QB prospect when they shouldn't be.

In other words, I know Fisher is offensively challenged, but even he and his staff know enough not to go into an off-season uniformed about a player on their roster.

 

[Akrasian]

Keep in mind that even when it became apparent that Foles was the answer, their goal was to win games - which meant getting the new #1 Keenum reps in practice, because with the limited practice time even the #2 does not get much time getting real practice, so he needed to be the focus of practices.

It's just really hard to get a raw #3 up to speed during the season in today's NFL, with much less practice time allowed than was okay just a few seasons ago.

I do hope that Fisher will actually maximize offseason workouts, and not let the players have an extra day off like he has in years past. They need every possible snap.