Hypothetical situation at 15

[Tron]

Fisher takes a team like this last one to LA, he is one and done
train

That would be more than fine with me

 

[Tron]

Going into this season I was a big fan on Cook. But after watching him lock onto his 1st read every play vs. Bama was horrifying for me. Why is no one talking about this?

Isn't anyone worried about Goff slim figure to handle the weekly NFl pounding that awaits him?

I am in the camp of all in no matter the cost to land Wentz. I would love to land the 2.0 bortles but with a better football IQ and possibly better feet.

Goff can gain 10-15lbs in the offseason program, Im not worried about it. hes 6'4 210lbs, dont think gaining a few would be a problemd IMO.

 

[jrry32]

Going into this season I was a big fan on Cook. But after watching him lock onto his 1st read every play vs. Bama was horrifying for me. Why is no one talking about this?

Because it didn't happen.

Isn't anyone worried about Goff slim figure to handle the weekly NFl pounding that awaits him?

No.

I am in the camp of all in no matter the cost to land Wentz. I would love to land the 2.0 bortles but with a better football IQ and possibly better feet.

He's not Bortles 2.0. Doesn't compare well to Bortles.

 

[Tron]

Because it didn't happen.



No.



He's not Bortles 2.0. Doesn't compare well to Bortles.

It's odd me and you agree on 99% of Rams matters and draft. Cook seems to be our only slight difference when it comes to opinion on him. If we grab him, I will support him and hope to high hell that I am wrong.

 

[dieterbrock]

It's odd me and you agree on 99% of Rams matters and draft. Cook seems to be our only slight difference when it comes to opinion on him. If we grab him, I will support him and hope to high hell that I am wrong.

I don't agree 99% with jrry but I always appreciate his POV because he knows his stuff. But I have to say it baffles me as well because the things that bother me about Cook seem to be red flags on other players.
Inaccurate, loses concentration and has a bit of an attitude and isn't all the well like by his teammates.
On the flip side jrry opened my eyes to Carson Wentz and for that I'm grateful

 

[jrry32]

I don't agree 99% with jrry but I always appreciate his POV because he knows his stuff. But I have to say it baffles me as well because the things that bother me about Cook seem to be red flags on other players.
Inaccurate, loses concentration and has a bit of an attitude and isn't all the well like by his teammates.
On the flip side jrry opened my eyes to Carson Wentz and for that I'm grateful

I need to see more about this because he's had teammates come out and say the opposite.

 

[dieterbrock]

I need to see more about this because he's had teammates come out and say the opposite.

I hear you but a senior, 3 years as starting qb and not named captain is pretty suspect.

 

[thirteen28]

If QBS go at 2&4, I'm calling Baltimore to move up. I know I'm cheating.

What he said. Big time.

As I said on another thread, we have an extra 2nd round pick due to the Bradford trade. We should use it ... and by use it, I don't mean stand pat.

I won't be upset if we get Connor Cook, but I'd really rather move up and get one of Goff, Lynch, or Wenz.

 

[jrry32]

I hear you but a senior, 3 years as starting qb and not named captain is pretty suspect.

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/c...27/michigan-state-dantonio-captains/32476837/

“Absolutely no doubt in my mind he could have been a captain,” Harris said of Cook after Thursday’s final practice of preseason camp, and after learning teammates had voted him, fifth-year senior defensive end Shilique Calhoun and fifth-year senior center Jack Allen the 2015 captains. “If we had four captains, he could have been the fourth captain. He’s on the leadership council, he’s a leader, he’s the leader of the offense. He commands the huddle. Being the linebacker and being that close to them when they huddle up, you can tell his presence. And people feed off of him. He’s incredibly competitive out there, he gets the guys in the right places. And he has a fantastic command on this offense and this team.”

“Connor Cook is our quarterback, he drives the car,” MSU coach Mark Dantonio said. “I don’t think there is any question about that. As he goes we go, and it’s unfortunate you can’t vote more people in, but I’ve always tried to say we’re gonna keep three because I want that fourth guy to rotate. Because I want all of our guys to get that opportunity to walk out there on the field at midfield and be a part of that process. But he is definitely a leader on this team.”

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/c...connor-cook-michigan-state-football/74751204/

Dantonio said on “College Sports Nation” that the Spartans “vote 12 guys in as captains, that’s the way I look at it, (and Cook) is one of the ones.”

“To continue to bring it up to me is nitpicking. ... ‘How can I bring this guy down and talk negative about him?’” Dantonio said. “There’s nothing there.”

Players vote for the 12-man council, and they vote for the three captains from that council. Senior defensive end Shilique Calhoun was voted captain for a second straight year, with senior center Jack Allen and senior linebacker Darien Harris joining him.

Dantonio said Cook is “doing an outstanding job leading our football team” off the field, in the huddles and on the sidelines, and that the No. 6 Spartans are 8-0 “largely because of his play.”

I'll wait and see what else comes out during the process but him not being voted captain won't affect my evaluation by itself.

 

[dieterbrock]

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/c...27/michigan-state-dantonio-captains/32476837/



http://www.freep.com/story/sports/c...connor-cook-michigan-state-football/74751204/


I'll wait and see what else comes out during the process but him not being voted captain won't affect my evaluation by itself.

The players didn't vote him in and the coach stood up for him publicly.

 

[jrry32]

The players didn't vote him in and the coach stood up for him publicly.

Multiple players have stood up for him publicly too. Seems odd if he's hated.

Point being, I'm not the locker-room. I'm not going to make assumptions based on inferences.

 

[BonifayRam]

Why not just address the MLB position by drafting one early, rather than compensating for our current one?

Thanks for this question OnceARam

The selection of the top DT in this draft has much benefits than just protection of our weakest starter in our base defense. First the JL issue has two big negative concerns #1 being his overall inability to perform effectively against the run. Secondly is his way out of line cap costs for the next two seasons. These two issues are much bigger this off season than it has ever been here since Fisher's arrival. You can possibly lessen the 2nd issue by a Restructured new JL contract, but you have done nothing to remove the 1st issue but just prolong the this major weakness in your defense when the ball is snapped. So why Restructure in the first place??? Makes little sense to me if you desire to produce a winning season.

The biggest reason here & the real element that comes into play here is currently the Rams do not have but one NFL caliber DT signed to play after this 2016 season. Ram third or top reserve DT in 2015 Fairley will not be a Ram any longer. The 4th 2015 Ram DT was UDFA Ethan Westbrooks, who is a 6-4 260 something pound DE while he has played the last two seasons here in all four DL positions his size & skills will firmly place him in contention as a Ram DE to fill the void left by UFA DE's Sims & Hayes.

The Rams 5th former a 2010 7th rd pick DT Doug Worthington was ended up on the IR was a non factor. In 6 seasons Doug has suited up for 6 NFL games. He is a WWC at best has been in & out of the NFL since 2010 playing a few plays here & there mostly on the practice squads of many teams. The 6th DT is UDFA Louis Tricant-Pasat he should be able to compete this season TC as the back up to Aaron Donald but as of yet he has yet to suit up for a NFL game.

Fisher got Brockers to sign up for the 2016 season @ a cost of over 6 million. Brockers will be a UN Restricted free agent in 2017 along with 6 other starters i.e. Alec Ogletree, Kenny Britt, Akeem Ayers, Chris Long & TJ McDonald to name a few. So for those Ram fans thinking that a DT like Brockers is a easy resign :rolllaugh:.You better take advantage of the opportunity with #15 pick & get you a bargain priced low cap cost outstanding potential starting NT/DT to play next to Aaron Donald in the future.

Summary here is I want one of the three QB's with our first round pick (Goff-Lynch or Wentz) if not then I go for the top DT which is vital & then hunt for a QB with one of my two second round picks.

 

[Riverumbbq]

Thanks for this question OnceARam

The selection of the top DT in this draft has much benefits than just protection of our weakest starter in our base defense. First the JL issue has two big negative concerns #1 being his overall inability to perform effectively against the run. Secondly is his way out of line cap costs for the next two seasons. These two issues are much bigger this off season than it has ever been here since Fisher's arrival. You can possibly lessen the 2nd issue by a Restructured new JL contract, but you have done nothing to remove the 1st issue but just prolong the this major weakness in your defense when the ball is snapped. So why Restructure in the first place??? Makes little sense to me if you desire to produce a winning season.

The biggest reason here & the real element that comes into play here is currently the Rams do not have but one NFL caliber DT signed to play after this 2016 season. Ram third or top reserve DT in 2015 Fairley will not be a Ram any longer. The 4th 2015 Ram DT was UDFA Ethan Westbrooks, who is a 6-4 260 something pound DE while he has played the last two seasons here in all four DL positions his size & skills will firmly place him in contention as a Ram DE to fill the void left by UFA DE's Sims & Hayes.

The Rams 5th former a 2010 7th rd pick DT Doug Worthington was ended up on the IR was a non factor. In 6 seasons Doug has suited up for 6 NFL games. He is a WWC at best has been in & out of the NFL since 2010 playing a few plays here & there mostly on the practice squads of many teams. The 6th DT is UDFA Louis Tricant-Pasat he should be able to compete this season TC as the back up to Aaron Donald but as of yet he has yet to suit up for a NFL game.

Fisher got Brockers to sign up for the 2016 season @ a cost of over 6 million. Brockers will be a UN Restricted free agent in 2017 along with 6 other starters i.e. Alec Ogletree, Kenny Britt, Akeem Ayers, Chris Long & TJ McDonald to name a few. So for those Ram fans thinking that a DT like Brockers is a easy resign :rolllaugh:.You better take advantage of the opportunity with #15 pick & get you a bargain priced low cap cost outstanding potential starting NT/DT to play next to Aaron Donald in the future.

Summary here is I want one of the three QB's with our first round pick (Goff-Lynch or Wentz) if not then I go for the top DT which is vital & then hunt for a QB with one of my two second round picks.

I see what you are doing here, although I would be more inclined to use your method at securing DE's. Re-signing Fairley is important before entertaining Brockers next contract, and i'd like to see this entire unit return long term. Donald is 24, Brockers is 25, and Fairley is 27. I believe our future DL problem really lies at DE, where injury, CAP cost, slowing production, and perhaps the aging of Chris Long is no longer creating dividends. On top of this, our two rotational DE's are currently free agents. Chris Long will be 31 next season, same with Hayes, and Sims will also pass that 30 mark. This is a pretty good DE class in the upcoming draft, … personally, i'd take two of them to preserve our defense's status as a top 5 pass rush unit when all are healthy, well into the future. Re-sign Hayes, replace Long & Sims. Just the savings from cutting Long alone will likely pay for Fairley and another D player like Tru, Barron or ?
jmo.

 

[BonifayRam]

I see what you are doing here, although I would be more inclined to use your method at securing DE's. Re-signing Fairley is important before entertaining Brockers next contract, and i'd like to see this entire unit return long term. Donald is 24, Brockers is 25, and Fairley is 27. I believe our future DL problem really lies at DE, where injury, CAP cost, slowing production, and perhaps the aging of Chris Long is no longer creating dividends. On top of this, our two rotational DE's are currently free agents. Chris Long will be 31 next season, same with Hayes, and Sims will also pass that 30 mark. This is a pretty good DE class in the upcoming draft, … personally, i'd take two of them to preserve our defense's status as a top 5 pass rush unit when all are healthy, well into the future. Re-sign Hayes, replace Long & Sims. Just the savings from cutting Long alone will likely pay for Fairley and another D player like Tru, Barron or ?
jmo.

I agree with you fully on the full release of long time Ram DE Chris Long contract. I also agree with you on the fact we would need to sign whichever of the UFA DE's who wants to be a Ram & signs back at a fair market value. I would prefer Hayes but Rams paid Hayes a little under 5 million in 2015, so getting him back here will NOT come cheap as most members seem to think. Rams will enter the 2016 season with 3 of their 2015 DE's under contract Rob Quinn(25)- Brian Westbrooks(25) & John Longacre(24). Its worth mentioning that the 6-3 258 pound SSOLB Akeem Ayers has played 3 point pass rushing DE for periods of time. Some of Ayers best plays in the last yrs SB came when he was playing with his hand down in a 3 pt stance @ DE.

I would not agree with your thoughts here that DT Nick Fairley resigning is important. I have a long strong list why I believe that would be the wrong thing to do at this time. I am firmly in that Fairley should not get a Ram long term high $$$ contract camp before locking up the NT Brockers. Sign NT Brockers first to a long term contract while you have the cap funds to do so, then later see what happens with Fairley. I am about 100% sure Fairley will be off the market with a starting post with another team with a boat-load of $$$. Fairley will not get that here. Fairley was a part time performer this season. NT Brockers is one serious FULLTIME NT & is one big reason DT Aaron Donald is what he is!

You sure do not want to have long term cap funds tied up in Fairley & Brockers which makes it very hard to resign Aaron Donald when his contract runs out 2 yrs from now. One thing that you get with Mark Barron for a 213 pounder has shown the ability to get presser on QB's!

 

[fearsomefour]

Given that scenario is am probably taking Boyd the WR.
I haven't looked too much at the draft stuff yet.
To me the needs on O are WR, TE (to replace a released Cook) and QB. Id rather land a good WR prospect at 15 than reach for another position. Round 2 (I think we have two picks) is any combination of QB, TE, DT or DE.

 

[WestCoastRam]

@jrry32, curious about your thoughts on Cook's completion percentages... I've read it didn't break 60% for his career. That concerns me. Whatcha thoughts?

 

[jrry32]

@jrry32, curious about your thoughts on Cook's completion percentages... I've read it didn't break 60% for his career. That concerns me. Whatcha thoughts?

Not something that is a dealbreaker to me. There are successful QBs that had a sub-60% career completion percentage in college. Cook is a streaky passer. It's a problem. But the instincts and football IQ are so good that I can overlook the inconsistencies with his accuracy and decision making. IMO, it will keep him from being the next Brady or Manning but it won't stop him from being an Eli or Cutler level QB. And I'm fine with getting that in the mid-first round.

Plus, his offensive system shaved 3% to 5% off his completion percentage when compared to your typical top QB prospect.(like Winston in FSU's system) When compared to a guy from a high percentage offense, it shaved 6% to 10% off.(like Mariota in Oregon's system. This is because Cook throws an extremely high percentage of intermediate routes and an extremely low percentage of screens in his offense.

 

[Merlin]

If QBS go at 2&4, I'm calling Baltimore to move up. I know I'm cheating.

The reason I posed this question to all of you is because I see this scenario (all 3 QBs being gone at 15) as the worst possible for the Rams in round 1 IF they stand pat. I also think it is very likely, and I would put it as somewhere around a 95% chance. As @BonifayRam pointed out the likely "BPA" is going to be the DT and even worse that is a position Fisher loves taking high.

So my reasoning is that this exercise demonstrates that the Rams are going to need to move up. If they don't, it is likely the value on the board is on the defensive side of the ball and Fish will be more than willing to shoot himself in the foot by kicking off the 2016 draft with a defensive selection.

If that were to happen, things get really dicey in terms of when they will get their QB. Do they wait at their selections in round 2 for Cook and pray he slides to them? Do they then move back in to the latter first round and take Cook just in case, to ensure they get their QB?

The risk is crazy. Way I see it a trade up is unavoidable. That is the only way to ensure they get a high talent QB on this roster this offseason. I still think Fish and Snead move up, and on a related note that is why they will almost surely chase the top WRs in FA, because they're going to know there's a good chance they have to give up one of those second round picks in that move up.

 

[OC Ram]

#15 pick? If we cannot get a top 3 QB then we need to get the top WR available

 

[BonifayRam]

The reason I posed this question to all of you is because I see this scenario (all 3 QBs being gone at 15) as the worst possible for the Rams in round 1 IF they stand pat. I also think it is very likely, and I would put it as somewhere around a 95% chance. As @BonifayRam pointed out the likely "BPA" is going to be the DT and even worse that is a position Fisher loves taking high.

So my reasoning is that this exercise demonstrates that the Rams are going to need to move up. If they don't, it is likely the value on the board is on the defensive side of the ball and Fish will be more than willing to shoot himself in the foot by kicking off the 2016 draft with a defensive selection.

If that were to happen, things get really dicey in terms of when they will get their QB. Do they wait at their selections in round 2 for Cook and pray he slides to them? Do they then move back in to the latter first round and take Cook just in case, to ensure they get their QB?

The risk is crazy. Way I see it a trade up is unavoidable. That is the only way to ensure they get a high talent QB on this roster this off-season. I still think Fish and Snead move up, and on a related note that is why they will almost surely chase the top WRs in FA, because they're going to know there's a good chance they have to give up one of those second round picks in that move up.

Smart NFL Org's avoid the highly expensive future team killing Draft Trade Up at all costs! Snead did one trade up that did not kill this team in 2013 but we need to recall we has already secured a good number of high picks from Washington so Snead could do something like that & not kill the future. Those collected picks are long gone.

Rams loose both our starting CB's in free agency & we be very happy to select one of the CB prospects like Mackensie Alexander & Vernon Hargreaves III. Or if the the same type of thing happens where Rams are stuck with Chris Long & loose both Hayes & Sims plus Quinn has set backs from his back surgery all of which is possible one of those DE prospects like Skaq Lawson or a Hayes clone like Jonathan Bullard or even a MLB Reggie Ragland to replace the released JL as a instant starter.

To avoid the QB issue is go get a UFA veteran starter like Ryan Fitzpatrick, Drew Stanton or even a Chase Daniel to manage this offense till Mannion is ready. No costly trade up in the first round! & reboot for a QB in the 2017 draft.