F them Picks-Again?

[InfiniteRam]

Wentz is not starting for anyone. He was a street free agent when we picked him up at a time when half the league was losing their starting QBs and even backups and no one would touch him.

Maybe he wanted to join a contender in need? Or a coach that he thought could help revive him?

 

[Kupped]

Wentz is not starting for anyone. He was a street free agent when we picked him up at a time when half the league was losing their starting QBs and even backups and no one would touch him.

I know he wasn’t on a team, but I don’t know whether any team reached out.
I doubt he gets a starter’s job next year, but stranger things have happened.

 

[WestCoastRam]

Maybe he wanted to join a contender in need? Or a coach that he thought could help revive him?

Please, please for the love of god, go watch his tape.

*Now, of course there's the Flacco of it all.

 

[HE WITH HORNS]

If we are only one player away next year, after a good draft, and after the first couple games of the season, it might be worth it to trade a couple firsts for a stud DE or LT or even a lockdown corner if one was available.
It could be Stafford and Donald's last season next year, so I expect we would do whatever it takes to try to win it all one more time.

 

[RAMSinLA]

I think the coaching staff will stay. Building a young team from the ground up is what coaches dream of.
Stafford said he loves playing and wants to stay and they have draft picks again. If they do as well with the next draft as the last we are talking a possible dynasty in LA....

 

[Merlin]

Please, please for the love of god, go watch his tape.

*Now, of course there's the Flacco of it all.

Not like the league was hot over Mayfield when we added him but after playing for us he was looked at a bit differently.

Also going off memory here think I watched a few of his games last season and his protections weren't very good. Granted he didn't play well and something happened with him and the owner I suspect, but bottom line here is the guy is not a scrub from a talent perspective. So if he's got his head right and plays within the scheme I don't think it's impossible for him to have a decent game for us.

 

[Soul Surfer]

This falls under the " just something to talk about" category.
Nothing has happened yet, we will just have to wait and see. Then talk about it.

"Just something to talk about"!?!

On a football forum!?!

Outrageous!

 

[dang]

If we are only one player away next year, after a good draft, and after the first couple games of the season, it might be worth it to trade a couple firsts for a stud DE or LT or even a lockdown corner if one was available.
It could be Stafford and Donald's last season next year, so I expect we would do whatever it takes to try to win it all one more time.

Imagine the Rams going into the playoffs this year with a shutdown corner, a dangerous edge rusher and a legitimate Kicker. That’s how close they are to going toe to toe with SF, Dallas and PHI. Take care of those positions and continue to feed the OL/DL via the Draft and the Rams will be NFC contenders next year.

 

[pvtdragon39]

I think a lot depends on how we do in the postseason this year. I don't mean winning or losing. I mean how they play. If some of the kids who haven't already proved themselves (Avila, Puka, Young, Turner, Lake) show well in the playoffs, we'll have a better handle on the need situation. Certainly, there will be additions (and subtractions) and more than likely a few free agent signings. Do we get an Edge in free agency? Another lineman? Do we resign Dotson? Witherspoon? Wentz? I don't think they know what their plan is going to be for the draft. But all that has to transpire before they know.....I would think.

Dotson should be priority to get signed a few year extention. If Copper Dejean is still there we should nab him, if not Latu for sure. IF neither and we trade down a bit to late 20s, Mims is a good look but he may fall to round 2 due to injuries. 2nd round will be full of OT I think.

As for Wentz he should be a back-up a few years under Mcvay and then take over when Stafford is gone. Our window might stay open a bit longer if the kids stay strong when big 3 leave. Only teams that will nab him is a Panthers type team or someone whos 2-15 or something to be back-up to a new kid and help teach stuff to. Also Wentz has been on very suspect teams since the Eagles.

Witherspoon is a toss up, depends on what happens in the draft/FA

 

[pvtdragon39]

If we are only one player away next year, after a good draft, and after the first couple games of the season, it might be worth it to trade a couple firsts for a stud DE or LT or even a lockdown corner if one was available.
It could be Stafford and Donald's last season next year, so I expect we would do whatever it takes to try to win it all one more time.

Stafford 35 and prob the oldest? Kupp 30 or so but depends on his body? Wentz is same age if not a bit younger. Stafford is only one that may be retiring in a few years but I can see him go another 3-4. AD is 32? I think hes have fun out there with Turner/Hoecht. You could see it everytime they broke through the Giants line and had a HUGE smile. He feels a bit better about things. Last year was just a bad year and everyone pondered retiring by mid season.

 

[WestCoastRam]

Not like the league was hot over Mayfield when we added him but after playing for us he was looked at a bit differently.

Also going off memory here think I watched a few of his games last season and his protections weren't very good. Granted he didn't play well and something happened with him and the owner I suspect, but bottom line here is the guy is not a scrub from a talent perspective. So if he's got his head right and plays within the scheme I don't think it's impossible for him to have a decent game for us.

No one's saying he can't have a good game for us. He's just not a good QB.

Mayfield had one injury marred year for Cleveland and a bad half year with the Panthers. Showed okay with us with little prep work and has done really well with the Bucs (although there are some issues there). You honestly want to compare that to the amount of crap seasons Wentz has had. Jesus. I would love to sell you some land.

 

[InfiniteRam]

No one's saying he can't have a good game for us. He's just not a good QB.

Mayfield had one injury marred year for Cleveland and a bad half year with the Panthers. Showed okay with us with little prep work and has done really well with the Bucs (although there are some issues there). You honestly want to compare that to the amount of crap seasons Wentz has had. Jesus. I would love to sell you some land.

I see two bad seasons on Wentz resume. One with a terrible Washington team. And the other I believe he played hurt all year.

 

[Mojo Ram]

I think the Mayfield/Wentz comp is fair. Both were #1’s, both did some good things early, both have struggled with injury, both have bounced around and landed as backups. Both have talent. Both are starting this week.

 

[snackdaddy]

From what I've heard is Wentz is not very coachable. Wants to do things his way on the field. Not to mention he tends to take risks with his body out there resulting in the injuries. Maybe he's been humbled and is willing to change? Maybe the Rams culture is the right situation for him to do that? I wouldn't want him as our starting quarterback but he's got a helluva lot more going for him than any backup we've had.

 

[Ram_Rally]

I think "f them picks" kind of exhausted them mentally. The top of the roster had to do so much heavy lifting and the coordinators had to do so much to scheme up and mask the deficiencies. I think they're going for a Ravens/49ers team build low. Just be good at every position. You need draft picks to do that.

 

[Allen2McVay]

Couple thoughts about Wentz.

At 31 (32 late in 2024), his options may be limited. A back-up role on a team coached by a strong offensive mind and skill position talent, behind a quarterback that may have durability issues, might be an ideal spot.

If he has been difficult to coach, or simply plays off-script, then he is not for the Rams.

He has had some excellent seasons on good offenses, under offensive minded-coaches.
In four seasons (2017-2019 and 2021) Wentz had 108 TDs against just 28 Interceptions. That's 28 TDs / 7 Ints. In those years, his completion percentage was around 64% and his yards-per-pass-attempt a respectable 7.3.

Those are high-quality numbers but there are negatives ... too many fumbles and disappointing play in crucial moments of big games. Still, we are talking about aback-up role with the Rams.

Personally, I would love to see the Rams invest more than the veteran minimum in the back-up-QB. Should Stafford go down for 2-4 weeks, it's important to have a capable back-up that can help get a couple wins.

Finally, I don't know how much we will see tomorrow, to fully evaluate Wentz, because my guess is that McVay will scale-back the play calling; and it will be conservative, with a lot of runs and short passes. I will be looking for how quickly Havenstein, Shelton and Nacua are taken-out of the game.

 

[PARAM]

I think "f them picks" kind of exhausted them mentally. The top of the roster had to do so much heavy lifting and the coordinators had to do so much to scheme up and mask the deficiencies. I think they're going for a Ravens/49ers team build low. Just be good at every position. You need draft picks to do that.

I don't know about that. They drafted or brought in a lot of good complimentary players. Corbett, Ebukam, D Will, SJD, Edwards, Allen, Noteboom, Morgan Fox, A'Shawn, Hill, Reynolds, VJ, Akers, Hendo, Gaines, Shelton, Scott, J Williams, etc. Not "top of the roster" but good players. Reynolds was solid. VJ was until he suffered injuries. D Will was very good....still is. A'Shawn was solid as was Gaines. Hendo had a pretty good Superbowl which goes mostly unnoticed. Everybody remembers Von Miller and OBJ....for good reason. Hell Hopkins made some huge grabs for first downs in the SB. It is the coordinator's job to mask deficiencies and utilize the strengths on every team. And every team has both.

I think "F them picks" was a catchy label put on a very smart approach that cost them 1 season. And it could be argued without the historic dearth of OL injuries in 2022, that price would have been 0. They had to do it that way because of what they were handed from Fisher. I know many fans claim there was talent there but they 'remodeled' in 2017, tweaked it in 2018, bit the bullet in 2019 letting some guys go (Saffold) and OL injuries hurt them there too, Goff broke a finger in 2020 (and was on the shit list by then anyway), all in in 2021, then 2022 was a clusterfook of injuries and now a remodel again and THE PLAYOFFS. Next year they are set up to tweak it again.

I wonder what label folks will give them next year? "Make them picks"?

 

[Ram_Rally]

I don't know about that. They drafted or brought in a lot of good complimentary players. Corbett, Ebukam, D Will, SJD, Edwards, Allen, Noteboom, Morgan Fox, A'Shawn, Hill, Reynolds, VJ, Akers, Hendo, Gaines, Shelton, Scott, J Williams, etc. Not "top of the roster" but good players. Reynolds was solid. VJ was until he suffered injuries. D Will was very good....still is. A'Shawn was solid as was Gaines. Hendo had a pretty good Superbowl which goes mostly unnoticed. Everybody remembers Von Miller and OBJ....for good reason. Hell Hopkins made some huge grabs for first downs in the SB. It is the coordinator's job to mask deficiencies and utilize the strengths on every team. And every team has both.

I think "F them picks" was a catchy label put on a very smart approach that cost them 1 season. And it could be argued without the historic dearth of OL injuries in 2022, that price would have been 0. They had to do it that way because of what they were handed from Fisher. I know many fans claim there was talent there but they 'remodeled' in 2017, tweaked it in 2018, bit the bullet in 2019 letting some guys go (Saffold) and OL injuries hurt them there too, Goff broke a finger in 2020 (and was on the shit list by then anyway), all in in 2021, then 2022 was a clusterfook of injuries and now a remodel again and THE PLAYOFFS. Next year they are set up to tweak it again.

I wonder what label folks will give them next year? "Make them picks"?

Oh there were definitely good players, but I think the top did a ton. Kupp had a historic season and was the Superbowl MVP. Beckham had spurts, but we never had a great trio that year. Woods was up and down and got hurt. Then obj has to get acclimated. Donald, well, we know how that works. He says up double teams so Floyd and Miller could go off. Not saying either are bad but that's still a ton of heavy lifting but Donald. Same goes for Williams. Played really well, but Ramsey is almost an entire scheme by himself. So they definitely had good players but I think they're going for more of a "our entire position groups are good" approach. Or maybe they won't. What do I know lol.

 

[badnews]

I say we use the 1st rounder to give Aaron Donald the absolute best edge rusher they can get for him.
If that guy is available towards the end of round 1 and they draft him? Fantastic! If they trade it away for a still young but proven talent? Love it!
If that guy can be acquired in FA, great! Add him too. If Byron Young stays on his trajectory, he might explode next year. Pairing him with someone else with some elite edge rushing traits would make this defense go off.
Let AD and KT EAT!!!

A great young CB would be nice, but I think their impact on the field can be avoided more easily than a pass rush.

I do want the Rams to stop thinking in terms of Stafford/Kupp/AD window. I like to consider this past offseason as the first season of building an entirely new Rams team under McVay that isn't concerned with winning now, they want to be winning always.

I am absolutely against trading away any more picks for players who will be gone the next year. No trades for anyone over 30.

McVay hasn't had any 1st round picks - and he hasn't had depth. I think there's some correlation. 1st rounders who dont live up to expectations usually still possess elite traits and a somewhat higher profile as a former 1st rounder...
McVays been winning without depth but he has been tip-toeing on a thin ice every year and last year he fell through. I think he wants to build something stable.

 

[Rams43]

My crystal ball has a fresh battery and here is what it’s telling me.

Edge. Our biggest need and the draft is reportedly thin at this position with top talent. So I fully expect the Rams to go the pricey FA route to fix this position.

CB. Another big Ram need. And quite possibly the Rams intend to fix this position also with a pricey, free agent.

These two moves somewhat clear the deck for Snead to do his thing in this next draft. I expect some kind of combination of the following positions to be rather high on his wish list via draft, trade, and/or FA:

Backup QB
WR
TE
OL (tackle, center, and/or OG)
Safety
RB (an every-year thing)
ILB

Honestly, if our assistant coach roster isn’t too heavily poached, and Snead plays FA and the draft very well once again, I can see this 2024 Ram team rather loaded and capable of a deep SB run.