@CoachO ,
@DaveFan'51 , others...
The OP author misused the PFF stats horribly, same mistakes made by most fans.
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First the full ratings as it relates to the author's comments -
Westbrooks was +4.2 in 34 snaps including +2.4 in pass rush D +1.7 in run D. Credited with 2 QB hits, 3 tackles and 2 stuffs.
Sam by comparison was +0.2 in 33 snaps including -0.7 in pass rush but +0.8 in run D. Credit with 1 hit and 1 hurry to go with 1 tackle.
PFF didn't just give Westbrooks the score because of the three tackles vs the 1 tackle. It's because Westbrooks consistently beat his guy where Sam was mostly neutralized.
If you haven't read PFF's "how we grade", it is informative and explains what they do better than I can.
http://www.profootballfocus.com/about/grading/
If you're not familiar with PFF ratings, 4.2 in 33 snaps is an eye opening score. Not only was it the 2nd best DE, but it was one of the best scores of any preseason player at any position (yes, I looked). It was the best Ram grade by far. 2nd best D was Gaines at +2.1, best offensive grade was Barksdale at +1.2.
On a per snap basis, it is better than JJ Watt in 2013 (+99.8 on 998 snaps) or Robert Quinn (+74.6 on 849 snaps), where their scores were curve busters in and of themselves. Greg Hardy, the 2nd ranked DE in 2013 got +25.6 on 891 snaps and Calais Campbell, the 2nd 3-4 DE had +34.1 on 990 snaps).
What this should tell you is that if you didn't see Westbrooks flash, you weren't paying attention. He played RDE, LDE, both DT (A and B gaps). He had outside speed from RDE, inside spin move. He was double teamed (really? in preseason?). He hustled downfield. His 2 QB hits came from DT, shooting his gaps in a very Donald-like way - one was on the Brandon Cooks TD, the other was at 10:10 in the 4th on that 3rd down play where the RB stepped out of bounds too early, where in both cases the QB just got rid of the ball a touch before Westbrooks got there.
Make no mistake about it, Westbrooks had a very nice performance and no doubt caught people's attention.
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The FLAWS in this argument are painfully obvious, starting with this: it is a preseason game. The classic problem with PFF is that it does not consider strength of schedule. Where Sam was in during the 1st Q presumably against Saints 1sts, Westbrooks was there all the way through the 4th playing against other UDFAs.
2nd. It's the FIRST preseason game. This is the first real live action any of these players have seen. There's a difference between OTA and training camp rust vs real game action rust.
3rd, it is one game and really only half a game for each player. You can't extrapolate a season any more with PFF scores based on a small sample set any more than you could a skill player. Alex Bayer is not going to lead the Rams in receiving this year with 1136 yards. The assumption with PFF (and a pretty good assumption) is that these things even out over the course of a season, same reason why they don't hand out the Lombardi trophy in September. Over the course of a full season, the PFF numbers gain statistical relevance to the point where their quantified measures are usually spot on with what people intuitively "know", and they do it for positions where we frankly have little first hand basis for comparing players (e.g. OG).
But ok, so we have a pre-season data points to look at with Westbrooks and Sam. I'm not cutting Sam yet.
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I do, however, have my eye on Carrington, however, who I thought was especially unimpressive when watching the game and I watched for him specifically trying to figure out why our DL was not holding up against the run. PFF backs up what I saw... -1.8 rating including -1.3 in run D in only 21 snaps, completely shut out other than a missed tackle. It didn't take long for me to conclude that we really need Brockers and Langford in there, as has pretty much every Rams fan on this forum. As a comparison point, Donald had a +0.4 rating including +0.1 in run D. If Donald was paired with Brockers (e.g. a DT who did his job), I believe Donald's numbers would have been much more impressive, as would the Rams D in general.
The reason I'm singling out Carrington is that I have an idea in my head that Carrington doesn't have any lock whatsoever on that #8 spot. Watching this Saints game only reinforced that idea in me.
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Other noteworthy Rams getting bad grades:
Ray Ray -4.5 on 40 snaps
Cody Davis -3.0 on 39 snaps
Eugene Sims -2.8 on 31 snaps (this one surprised me, I didn't think his play was that bad)
Dunbar -1.9
Carrington -1.8
TJ McD -1.3 on 13 snaps
The one player who stood out in a positive way was EJ Gaines who played on the starting unit and was still +2.1 despite the Rams D overall getting gashed.
Also impressive score was given to Marcus Roberson (who caught Holt's eye) with a +1.3 on 43 snaps, 3rd best Rams defender, but like Westbrooks, this was mostly later action.
