Laurinaitis underwent ankle surgery after season ended.

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RamsJunkie

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Rams MLB James Laurinaitis underwent ankle surgery just after the 2013 season.
It was a "cleanup" procedure, and Laurinaitis is "full speed now." The 27-year-old Mike 'backer is coming off a disappointing season, particularly in run defense. The Rams are scheduled to pay him a whopping $10 million salary in 2014.
Source: Jim Thomas on Twitter
 
The entire team struggled in run defense until they turned it around in week 10.
 
Doesn't tell the whole story but our week by week run D:
3.3
2.3
5.7
5.5
3.8
5.1
2.7
2.9
5.7
1.2
3.1
2.8
3.3
3.1
2.6
3.1

Key:
Better than league best yards/carry
Better than league average
Worse than league average
Worse than league worst

Surprisingly the 3 weeks we allowed worse than the league worst we lost (31-7 Dallas, 35-11 San Fran, 28-21 Tennessee).
 
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Rams and Gators said:
Doesn't tell the whole story but our week by week run D:
3.3
2.3
5.7
5.5
3.8
5.1
2.7
2.9
5.7
1.2
3.1
2.8
3.3
3.1
2.6
3.1

Key:
Better than league best yards/carry
Better than league average
Worse than league average
Worse than league worst

Surprisingly the 3 weeks we allowed worse than the league worst we lost (31-7 Dallas, 35-11 San Fran, 28-21 Tennessee).
Click to expand...

So 10 out of 16 games we were the best at stopping the run in the entire NFL and people are saying Leonidas(yeah, I went there, wanna fight aboutit?) had a bad year? I realize most of it has to do with our defensive line but I thought he had a great year. He's always around the ball and is super smart. He's gunna be our MLB till he retires.
 
I hope this slowed him down a little last year and this year well see him play with his hair on fire!!!!!
 
People are always down on J Lau's run defence. Basically its not his strength. He's a rangy, smart coverage linebacker with great instincts and always is around the ball. Someone on here (I think! - sorry not to give credit where its due) put it best and said "he makes stops - not plays which I think is fair.

The knock on him since the day he came out of college is his lack of stoutness at the point of attack. That's fair enough. Its just who he is. He does other things that are great for us and for our D as a whole.

The bigger question for the Rams D has been who can we sit next to Brockers to stuff the run? We need a big bodied DT as an upgrade on Kendall Langford (who after all was a DE before he came to St Louis!)
 
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Legatron4 said:
So 10 out of 16 games we were the best at stopping the run in the entire NFL and people are saying Leonidas(yeah, I went there, wanna fight aboutit?) had a bad year? I realize most of it has to do with our defensive line but I thought he had a great year. He's always around the ball and is super smart. He's gunna be our MLB till he retires.
Click to expand...

How many ROD bucks you wanna bet on that?
 
RaminExile said:
People are always down on J Lau's run defence. Basically its not his strength. He's a rangy, smart coverage linebacker with great instincts and always is around the ball. Someone on here (I think! - sorry not to give credit where its due) put it best and said "he makes stops - not plays which I think is fair.

The knock on him since the day he came out of college is his lack of stoutness at the point of attack. That's fair enough. Its just who he is. He does other things that are great for us and for our D as a whole.

The bigger question for the Rams D has been who can we sit next to Brockers to stuff the run? We need a big bodied DT as an upgrade on Kendall Langford (who after all was a DE before he came to St Louis!)
Click to expand...

Langford was our best DT last year.
 
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I am fine @ this point with JL. As this young defense matures JL should improve. What I have notice is that JL expects & places himself in hard spots many times. I think that it shows a sign of leadership IMO. He always takes the long hard road giving the younger maybe weaker players the lesser better roads & better positions. Has anyone else seen this?
 
From what I have seen from Laurinaitis, I wouldn't take anyone else. This guy is 110% dedicated to the Rams and is the brains of our defense. He might not be an all-star in his play but he is basically an on-field defensive coordinator and hypes up the team in key moments. He has the experience at the position that is crucial for a MLB I see him giving all he has. He builds relationships with his teammates which is important for a young team looking to develop chemistry. He was even active in free agency trying to get Saffold to stay. The guy has value which cannot be replaced, IMO.
 
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Alan said:
I hope we draft an OLB in the 4th round or so. It is one of our needs IMO. Without his usual dose of PEDs, DUMBars play has regressed considerably.
Click to expand...
It could have been the new scheme we had last year, also. Dunbar knows Williams' scheme. He had something very similar two years ago. He didn't with Walton. Hopefully he bounces back this year.
 
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V3 said:
It could have been the new scheme we had last year, also. Dunbar knows Williams' scheme. He had something very similar two years ago. He didn't with Walton. Hopefully he bounces back this year.
Click to expand...

Good point.
 
V3 with a solution:
It could have been the new scheme we had last year, also. Dunbar knows Williams' scheme. He had something very similar two years ago. He didn't with Walton. Hopefully he bounces back this year.
Click to expand...
Hopefully we don't need him to bounce back because we have a new stud. But either way is good. (y)
 
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Ramrasta said:
From what I have seen from Laurinaitis, I wouldn't take anyone else. This guy is 110% dedicated to the Rams and is the brains of our defense. He might not be an all-star in his play but he is basically an on-field defensive coordinator and hypes up the team in key moments. He has the experience at the position that is crucial for a MLB I see him giving all he has. He builds relationships with his teammates which is important for a young team looking to develop chemistry. He was even active in free agency trying to get Saffold to stay. The guy has value which cannot be replaced, IMO.
Click to expand...

Yeah, he's not the best player, but his football knowledge, leadership and intelligence in general are tough to replace, along with his consistency. Unless you can find a better physical player that also has his intangibles, we don't need a replacement and it doesn't make sense to get one as of now. Maybe a depth guy to develop into that role, but nothing more.

He's going to be important for Williams' defense, because it's very complicated and JL being the on-field general that he is, will be able to make it run seamlessly. He is the heart of our D.
 
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