Draft vs Free Agency success and judging Snisher

[WestCoastRam]

There's been a good amount of talk about the poor drafting of Snisher during their time with the team. I gotta say, I think they've definitely been above average in drafting with some definite misses but I really can't complain much with as many hits as they had and replenishing a talentless locker-room.

It's their free agency moves where I think you can make some real critical comments thought.

We were a bad team when they took over and we had to pay a lot of money to get players to come here and the players we got have all, for the most part, flamed out.

Finnegan - one good year. Injuries/something else derailed him
Long - one good year and then injuries and injuries, downside of his career when we got him and had already lost some skill in pass protection
Wells - downside of career, injuries
Cook - overpaid for an average player who's wildly inconsistent and for an offensive system we don't use

That money that we've given for these guys has hamstrung us somewhat in being more flexible signing guys like in this year.

Sure, we've had some successful lower end signings/trades ala Britt, Dunbar, Hays or even Barron but all the big signings have pretty much been busts. In fact, when you take in some of the waiver wire pickups they've gotten along with the these low-end signings, it's maddening. One wonders if they had just been a little more astute in the above signings if we couldn't have fielded a more talented team with more lower-level signings across the board. In fact, one could argue that one of the reasons we're such a young team (which is an often overlooked reason why we're so inconsistent week to week) is that we've failed in the above signings and these guys are either no longer around to provide veteran leadership or that they never were cable of it (Cook).

That is where I think Snisher has actually performed below average and should rightly be judged.

 

[snackdaddy]

Defensively, I have no complaints. They have a lot of talent there and they've proven to be pretty good.

Offensively, well, I got nothing. Somebody help me out.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

In the beginning the Rams had too many holes to fill. They couldn't just sit on their draft and be patient. Wells and Long filled critical positions for a short time. They were a necessary evil. Finnegan was one too. They were all short time fixes that have since moved on.

I think some misconstrue Fishers moves early on as being indicative of how he prefers to do things in Free agency. I don't think you can take anything he did early on as indicative of how he does things. If you want a more accurate picture look at the last year. Drafting BPA early and being selective with free agents and not going after the big money guys. I think the Rams are close to being formed into the model that the Packers have going now with few free agents and mostly drafted players on the roster.

I never liked the Cook signing but I give him a pass on that move because the Rams were/are desperate for pass catchers. Cook would have been a great piece to the offense if was consistent and tough. Maybe Fisher thought he had toughened up, or that he needed a change of scenery.

 

[CGI_Ram]

I look at it this way; did all those FA pan out? No.

Did we have any players on our roster worthy of an extension, or big contract? No.

So, it's not like we spent on FA and lost our own players. This roster was void of talent. We had to supplement via FA.

Let's hope the tide is turning and our FA dollars go toward retention.

 

[ramfan46]

It's hard to judge FA acquisitions because I don't think STL is ever a top destination for the big FA's. The franchise has to overpay average talent to attract them. Best FA signing of the last few years to me is William Hayes. I know the Tenn connection has lack luster, but I'm really happy to have Hayes on this team. Besides that, there isn't much to jump up and down about. Cook, Finnegan, Wells, Jake Long did not deliver what they were paid to.

 

[FRO]

The season is still young and they can turn the season around. Fisher and Snead had a blueprint on how to build their defense and they executed their plan perfectly. They have drafted extremely well defensively. As far as offense, their plan was to draft playmakers and figure it out. Problem is none of their playmaker picks have been hits. The other problem is the offensive line has been a mess during the duration of their tenure. From day one they should have had an offensive identity and went with it. Had they said, we are going to be a team that plays great defense and can run it down your throats on offense, then you wouldn't sign Jared Cook and traded up for Tavon Austin. You would have used draft resources to build a big powerful line over multiple drafts instead of go young all in one year. In hindsight a ground and pound offense drafts a guy like Cordy Glenn at 33 in 2012, and if they didn't trade up for Austin then we could have nabbed Larry Warford in the second round in 2013. That would give you 2 huge powerful mauling OGs to run behind. No coach and GM will nail every draft. Fisher and Snead are above average drafters, I think their problems are their inability to have a blueprint on how to build an offense.

Now free agency is a loser 90% of the time on big money guys. Your best bet is to go after the Kenny Britt types. Low risk, high reward.