OldSchool mock off season #1

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OldSchool

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This is kind of a combination of what I think will happen and what I would do. I've made it clear in other threads I'm not a fan of Sherff for the money he'll command with his recent injury history. Some of the other G free agents are appealing but there are a lot of OLine needy teams with a whole lot more money than we have.

Waive/options not picked up:

Clay Matthews
Eric Weddle


Resign:

Andrew Whitwroth 2 years guaranteed in the first year. Insurance at LT for Noteboom to come back from injury. Pretty standard here.

Corey Littleton I think he's going to get about what Kwon Alexander got. Personally that's more than I want to pay an ILB but I think if he's not resigned people around here will riot.

Greg Zeurlein I think his inconsistency this year will cost him and he signs for very near what his last contract was, 3 years $6.75 million possible a slight raise is in there so he doesn't have to test free agency and we keep our guy.
The usual suspects are brought back as well Morgan Fox (who could see more PT in rotation at DE with Brockers walking), Donte Deayon and Marqui Christian. Carraway, Mundt, Shelton and Webster are ERFA brought back as well.

I also think during the season we extend Ramsey, Kupp and Johnson III.

Free agents:

Reggie Ragland Reggie has been mostly a backup this year in KC in a 4-3 though he did get some good snaps vs the run heavy offense in the Titans this past weekend. I think he's a classic buy low type signing. He'll come in and compete with Kiser and Kenny Young for the spot next to CL. This was kind of a last minute idea. I'd originally planned on drafting a guy in the 4th or 5th round for the other ILB spot.

Derek Wolfe Derek is a free agent and isn't likely going back to Denver after they drafted Dre'Mont Jones last year to be his successor. He's 29 and has had a pretty solid career. Very good against the run and still able to provide some pass rush. With AD on the other side and commanding most of the double team action I think Wolfe will provide what we always wanted Brockers to give opposite AD. I think he can be had for less than his last contracts $9 million aav.

Vic Beasley Vic is a free agent and the Falcons tried to move him at the deadline and had no bites at all. He comes in on a 1 year prove it deal to see if he can generate some numbers lining up with AD in front of him. He was a very hot prospect as a draft pick and has faded over the past few years.

Trades:

I'm not going to do a lot of trades I know people like them but it's just too hard to predict. We could see a few moved like NRC and as much as some people don't want to admit it Robert Woods (sell high not low like people want with Cooks and Gurley who also aren't likely with financial implications).

I do think we stay put in the 2nd and trade back in the 3rd Pick 84 (3rd round pick 20) is moved to Green Bay for pick 94 and 126(3rd #30 and 4th #30). I think we also move one of our now 3 4th rounders back to lets say Pitt for a 5th and a 6th. After these we'll have 2-20, 3-30, 4-20 4th comp, 5-8, 6-19, 6-20 and 7-20 so we picked up two extra picks. Not signing Fowler and Brockers put us in line for a couple comp picks in 2021 also.

Draft:

Pick 2-20:

Cesar Ruiz C Michigan

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6'4 320 lbs he's a big man in the middle. Lots of strength and plenty of mobility. Not a technician but will learn and will get on the job training against some very good DLines in our division. Comes in starts day 1 IMO and upgrades our run game.

Pick 3-30:

Ben Bredeson G Michigan

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Double dipping from Michigan and taking the guy who lined up next to Ruiz. Another road grader who can get to the 2nd level. Him dropping to this spot may be wishful thinking. But put him and Ruiz in the middle next to Whitworth at LT with Corbett, Evans and Edwards battling for RG and Havenstein manning the RT (or Evans if Hav fails to hold the spot) improves our OLine immensely.

Pick 4-20:

Donovan Peoples-Jones WR Michigan

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What sort of madness is this? Three straight Michigan players? Meh it's the first mock of the year and we'll see what happens. DPJ if I remember correct was the #1 WR recruit in the nation when he committed to the Wolverines. He however did not put up the numbers though has some nice game footage. He's a big WR at 6-2 210 lbs. His testing during the draft process will be key but this is an extremely deep WR draft and he'll come in as the 5th WR with a year to learn behind Kupp, Woods, Cooks and Reynolds. He'll battle Webster for the return job and hope to grow and take on a larger role in year two when I think it's possible we move on from Cooks after this coming season. Might not be a popular pick but I think this is an eye to the future and he'll line up with Kupp at WR.

Pick 4th round comp:

Michael Warren RB Cincinnati

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This might be a new name for some. I caught a couple of his games just by chance last year. He's a shorter powerful guy at 5'-10" and 222lbs. Not a burner but a tackle breaker with some good vision. With his injury history I think Malcolm Brown could find himself on the outs after this pick is made. Along with Gurley and Henderson this is a nice 3 headed monster in the backfield.

Pick 5-8 (from Pitt in an earlier trade down)

Levonta Taylor CB Florida State (stealing this from Jrry)

Levonta-Taylor-CB-Florida-State.jpg


NRC and Hill will be entering the last year of their contracts. We think Long will succeed Hill opposite Ramsey but this gives us somebody to groom to take over in the slot from NRC. Smaller guy but I've seen a few people talk him up.

Pick 6-19:
Logan Wilson ILB Wyoming

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Absolutely love this guy. Ok I said in the free agent spot I wasn't going to do it but here he is. A 6'2" 250 lbs tackle machine. All the guy does is make tackles. He's adequate for now in coverage but with resigning CL he might not be asked to do that much. Yes again it's lesser comp but that's fine in my book. Only guy I'll link a highlight reel on.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6bjubnL1y8


I think he could make the Ragland signing irrelevant. And if we wait until after the draft he might not be signed at all.

Pick 6-20:

Brendon Hayes DE UCF

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Depth and development behind Fox and Wolfe.

Pick 7-20:

Scott Franz LT Kansas

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Could transition inside to Guard if he's able to stick around but he's a 3 year starter at LT for Kansas. A 7th round pick to develop via the practice squad. This is a lottery pick who needs to gain some strength. I thought about going a QB here but just don't know enough about any of the possible late targets so we'll likely go in to camp with Wolford backing up Jared unless we sign a vet on the cheap.

Depth Chart:

QB: Goff, Wolford (vet?)
RB: Gurley, Brown, Henderson, Warren, Kelly
WR: Woods, Kupp, Cooks, Reynolds, Webster, Peoples-Jones
TE: Higbee, Everett, Mundt, Blanton
LT: Whitworth, Noteboom, Franz, Brewer, Edwards
LG: Bredeson, Corbett, Brewer
C: Ruiz, Allen, Shelton
RG: Edwards, Corbett, Brewer
RT: Havenstein, Evans

DE: Donald, Hayes
NT: Joseph-Day, Gaines, Smart
DE: Wolfe, Fox
EDGE: Beasley, Polite, Obo
ILB: Littleton, Howard, Reeder
ILB: Ragland, Wilson, Kiser, Young
OLB: Ebukam, Patrick
CB: Ramsey, Hill, Long, Deayon, Williams, NRC Taylor
S: Johnson, Kupp, Christian, Scott, Gervase

Not sure in the end how I feel about this. We've addressed the OLine with some power. Added some vets to the defensive front 7. I love Ruiz, Bredeson, Warren and Wilson. I like Peoples-Jones as a lottery pick. We're rolling the dice letting Fowler walk but IMO it's going to come down to him or Littleton and I didn't want to face the wrath of this board letting him walk. I think it's an overpay but hell we're used to our FO doing that. Lets not forget we picked up off waivers another lottery pick in Polite. Our new DC has done some good work with the Bronco's LB corp lets see what he can do with him. In fact I'm going to copy a comment from a Bronco's poster on another forum about our DC and end this mock with it:

FWIW, the work he did in coaching up our OLB & ILB corps, Staley should get kudos for. Jewell is a fit in a conventional 3-4 D, but a terrible fit in a Fangio D, as it calls for more sideline-to-sideline, dynamic play. Jewell was drafted to be the Davis replacement and be a better pass cover guy than Davis was. Alexander Johnson did a great job as the best ILB, and his pass cover weaknesses improved (although he's still not the alpha Fangio needs for the D to thrive).

Attachou, Malik Reed & Justin Hollins all fit in better as OLB's than anyone could have imagined. Even if Von's sack #'s went down, the unit's play in the 2H was impressive. Staley didn't do the run stopping part of ILB work, but the ILB's improvements in pass rush and coverage, have to believe Staley had a hand in that.

I have no idea on his play call / adjustment abilities, but on talent development, Staley deserves a huge A+ for his 2019 work, and his prior body of work. We'll miss that next year in DEN for sure.

One other comment - apparently McVay wanted a guy who would be more flexible in adapting the D in-game, and change the way the D played, instead of trying to simply beat guys straight up (what Wade believed in). The changes DEN made in-season suggest that Donatell & Staley really followed the latter philosophy. Maybe it was all Donatell, but that probably factored in.

Thoughts comments or concerns? Let me hear it.
 

Riverumbbq

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Not sure where the money is coming from to extend Littleton, Whitworth, and then to sign Wolfe, Beasley, Ragland, (a possible vet QB) and the draft class. I suspect Wolfe will be commanding somewhere up to $10.mil per on what is likely his last big contract.

Ragland is an interesting ILB prospect worth exploring.
Wolfe has a connection to Staley.

I doubt McVay will feel compelled to start in 2020 your two interior OL rookies in anything other than an emergency situation.

I may be coming from a minority view here, but as much as I like Ruiz, that feels early to me with our 1'st pick. With Corbett, Allen, Shelton, Kolone & Trewyn all fairly recent arrivals as Center competition, taking Ruiz this high is announcing our failure to train up or develop any of them.

With the already very young Evans, Edwards, Brewer, Demby, Corbett & Trewyn competing, another drafted OG doesn't strike me as being particularly high on the wish list.

I'd rather see a greater emphasis at OT than a 7'th rounder, especially with the aging Whitworth, the floundering Havenstein and an injured Noteboom to worry over.
jmo.
 

dieterbrock

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Hard for me to like this only because I despise Michigan.
One thing I would say, is that the Rams seem pretty committed to a ZBS type blocking scheme where Mich runs more of a power blocking scheme, more traditional pro-set. The current model seems to lean towards the adaptable player.
Like the FA though and thanks for no crazy trades. Lol
 

OldSchool

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Not sure where the money is coming from to extend Littleton, Whitworth, and then to sign Wolfe, Beasley, Ragland, (a possible vet QB) and the draft class. I suspect Wolfe will be commanding somewhere up to $10.mil per on what is likely his last big contract.
All depends on how much guys like Beasley and Ragland command really. I think you're over valuing Wolfe.

Ragland is an interesting ILB prospect worth exploring.
Wolfe has a connection to Staley.

Ragland was a late addition to the thought process but I've been eyeing Wolfe for a while now and then our DC hire just added to it.
I doubt McVay will feel compelled to start in 2020 your two interior OL rookies in anything other than an emergency situation.

They're both upgrades and they're not typical rookies. Plus they're needed.
I may be coming from a minority view here, but as much as I like Ruiz, that feels early to me with our 1'st pick. With Corbett, Allen, Shelton, Kolone & Trewyn all fairly recent arrivals as Center competition, taking Ruiz this high is announcing our failure to train up or develop any of them.

I'm more worried about him dropping to us at 20 than that being too early. Ruiz is very good and the other guy I looked at was Henessey from LSU who's the opposite of Ruiz. He needs to add strength he's already very technically sound.
With the already very young Evans, Edwards, Brewer, Demby, Corbett & Trewyn competing, another drafted OG doesn't strike me as being particularly high on the wish list.
Demby is gone Trewyn IMO is jag. I like Corbett but Evans and Edwards had their ups and downs. All will battle for the starting RG spot and Edwards and Evans are backup tackles.
I'd rather see a greater emphasis at OT than a 7'th rounder, especially with the aging Whitworth, the floundering Havenstein and an injured Noteboom to worry over.
jmo.

Noteboom is the LT of the future and Edwards is the backup LT until Boom is healthy.
 

OldSchool

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Hard for me to like this only because I despise Michigan.
One thing I would say, is that the Rams seem pretty committed to a ZBS type blocking scheme where Mich runs more of a power blocking scheme, more traditional pro-set. The current model seems to lean towards the adaptable player.
Like the FA though and thanks for no crazy trades. Lol
I get that but while these guys are both powerful they're both capable of pulling and getting to the 2nd level. Two others I thought about at Center were Henessey and Darryl Williams. It's really going to be interesting to see how McVay and O'Connell adapt to with what they see from the playoff teams this year.
 

Riverumbbq

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All depends on how much guys like Beasley and Ragland command really. I think you're over valuing Wolfe.

Maybe, but he received over $9mil in 2019 and had one of his best seasons statistically.
If Fowler can pull down $16mil, pretty sure Wolfe can get somewhere in that $9-$10mil range.
 

OldSchool

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Maybe, but he received over $9mil in 2019 and had one of his best seasons statistically.
If Fowler can pull down $16mil, pretty sure Wolfe can get somewhere in that $9-$10mil range.
Fowler is also 5 years younger and and edge/olb where Wolfe is a 3-4 end. I could be wrong but I just don't see a big payday in his future.
 

OldSchool

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Thank you for not trading Woods.
I can see it happening because after his contract is up it'll be pay up time. He's on a bargain right now and he's the whole sell high instead of sell low scenario. I just don't want to do player trades atm.
 

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I can see it happening because after his contract is up it'll be pay up time. He's on a bargain right now and he's the whole sell high instead of sell low scenario. I just don't want to do player trades atm.
I just dont see why we would trade him at all.
He is arguably our best WR.
He fits this system perfectly.
We have him signed below is value.
Trading him for draft stock makes this team worse.
Just because he's be an easy player to trade, doesn't mean we should.
Imo, of course
 

OldSchool

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I just dont see why we would trade him at all.
He is arguably our best WR.
He fits this system perfectly.
We have him signed below is value.
Trading him for draft stock makes this team worse.
Just because he's be an easy player to trade, doesn't mean we should.
Imo, of course
It's the whole question of getting something for him before we lose him. We all realize that tough decisions are coming on the payroll and he could well be a casualty of that. It might come down to him or Kupp. With Kupp being younger and possibly cheaper though that remains to be seen most will lean towards keeping him. In 2 years Kupp may be the only WR currently on the roster still here. I'd love to be wrong but it's the business side of the game. If you can get a 2nd or a couple picks for him instead of a 3rd or possibly 4th round comp the smart money is to trade him. Hopefully we're able to draft somebody to slide into his role by the time we trade him, which is why I drafted a WR when I did.
 

dieterbrock

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I’d rather try and win a Super Bowl with him then trading him for a 3rd round pick out of fear of losing him for nothing (even though he might bring back a 3rd rounder as a comp pick)
 

Riverumbbq

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It's the whole question of getting something for him before we lose him. We all realize that tough decisions are coming on the payroll and he could well be a casualty of that. It might come down to him or Kupp. With Kupp being younger and possibly cheaper though that remains to be seen most will lean towards keeping him. In 2 years Kupp may be the only WR currently on the roster still here. I'd love to be wrong but it's the business side of the game. If you can get a 2nd or a couple picks for him instead of a 3rd or possibly 4th round comp the smart money is to trade him. Hopefully we're able to draft somebody to slide into his role by the time we trade him, which is why I drafted a WR when I did.
Can't see why we'd want to trade away not only one of our best performers, but one who is also such a bargain financially for our team. He's 27 now and he's signed thru to the end of 2021 when he approaches age 30 for 2022. Kupp is going to cost a bundle to extend, so having a quality partner like Woods for the next two years is essential for this elite group of receivers to remain among the best in the NFL. Preparing for the possible loss of Cooks and Reynolds in 2021 by drafting one or more WR's this off-season seems more logical to me.
CAP money may be limited in 2020, but our 2021 CAP without including any potential 2020 Rollover is projected at near $80.mil., this is why we shouldn't fret over extending Ramsey, Kupp & JJ3. This also doesn't include any restructure tinkering or the trading/CAP cutting of Cooks & Gurley in 2021 as some are calling for. It's premature to estimate what the new TV contracts might provide in growing the CAP, but that's also soon on the horizon.
If you want to trade a receiver, trade Everett, ... his is another contract that will come due alongside Ramsey, Kupp and JJ3 following this next season, and we may not compete to extend him if he has another season like 2019, missing 4 games.
jmo.
 

OldSchool

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I get it @Riverumbbq and we've gone over it in many many threads it's really not something worth going over yet one more time :)
 

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Wolfe is a good fit. If they can get him cheap I'm all for it, but skeptical that would happen. I do think the guys like him might suffer on the market a bit due to the quality of this DL class, where teams will know they can get help in the draft, but we'll see.

I would never complain about Ruiz even there in round 2. And I do like Bredeson although I think two interior OL is overkill that early in the draft. I would expect more of an OT type as the other guy since that tends to be Kromer's preference (getting edge guys and moving them inside).

For me personally Littleton and Ragland... Just not sure that's what we need. ILB is a problem for us IMO, and an area we really need to get better. That's why I think Littleton needs to go. As good as he is in coverage he's a marginal run filler in traffic. If we want to improve vs the run ILB and the DL need to be upgraded.
 

OldSchool

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Rams have been lushing the salary cap for a long time. Beasley and the contract he gets is going to be very interesting to see. I’d be shocked if he gets anywhere near what he was paid in 2019. Ragland as I said is an option I kind of took away with the draft pick. I fully get I was pushing the cap to the limit with this though. The one that keeps sticking to me is Littleton, I don’t want to pay him that but for this mock I did.
 

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Love the Ruiz, Peoples-Jones, and Wilson picks.

Ragland is an interesting case; if he's cut, I'd probably take him in a heartbeat.

Not a fan of Beasley at all. Not a fan of the Wolfe signing, not because he's a bad player, but because he's a good player who will command elite money.

Also, to re-sign all those players, in addition to free agents and the draft class, you're going to have to cut more players than you have cut. Brown and NRC come to mind, although I'm not sure if they'll even be enough. Maybe restructuring Cooks would work, but that's still a stretch.

Overall, I like the draft, and while I'm not a huge fan of the offseason, I understand the moves you're making.
 

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@OldSchool I applaud the no trades besides draft choice, some of them a tough to follow...Love Ruiz, he's my guy, as to Donovan Peoples-Jones, he drops a ton of balls, he really struggles catching the football. Michigan lost the game to Penn State because he dropped the ball in the end zone....I like the idea of a bigger receiver and he has speed, but his hands are inconsistent at this point in his career.

Other than that I love the draft, Offensive Line and Defense very nice and as to RB Michael Warren, he runs heavy. Makes people miss quite a bit and it takes a village to corral him. Is very underrated as a pass catcher and more importantly holds up really well in pass protection.
 
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nice work oldschool. like the way you take care of the ol which I think is priority # 1. like the big rb I think we need a power back to replace oft injured brown. I think I might have addressed defensive front 7 before of wide out. great job keep em coming