In his 1st 3 years under Lovie, in 41 games played, he had 9.5 sacks, 2 FF's, 2 ints, and 251 tackles. Not bad, and he had a knack of making a timely hit or big play. I always thought he was a big reason why the D improved in 2001.
Rams dodged a Bullet
- Thread starter NoCoNite
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You can't judge NFL talent by traditional stats, especially when it comes to defensive backs. Champ Bailey didn't rack up a lot of counting stats for much of his career. It's certainly not because he was a pedestrian corner.
How about average rush yards when running Archuleta's direction? That has more to do with his role as an in-the-box safety than those stats above.
I think (pure speculation) that the choice was between GR and Watkins. I think they made the choice of GR over Matthews already because GR was a better run blocker and more physically gifted and the fact we needed him to play OG while they groom him when Long leaves. I think if we were a pass first team- Matthews may have been the guy. JMO I think Matthews will be a good LT in time- great pedigree and talent- just off to a slow start because of injury. I wanted Watkins BADLY- but with Quick emerging and with GR looking like he has lately- Im happy with our pick (and was after the draft) wasn't what I wanted, but understood the pick for sure.
Donald was a steal- he is the next Sapp- he just is. Living in Tampa I saw Sapp when he first arrived and the similarities are striking.
Donald was a steal- he is the next Sapp- he just is. Living in Tampa I saw Sapp when he first arrived and the similarities are striking.
He was a one-dimensional player, but injuries had a lot to do with the abrupt end to his career.
In 2003 we were at or near the top of the league in getting turnovers, we ended up getting a sh!tload that year. That was something special.
I will just add this, he was a better player at this point of his career than McDonald currently is. His speed and quickness made an impact on the Rams perimeter run defense and it also showed up in his blitzing. He simply made his presence felt.
Big Willie
Starter
Had the Rams selected Matthews I would have been happy. It appears to me that Matthews is going through some injury issues and rookie growing pains. I believe he will work out just fine. GRob, on the other hand, has a chance to be special. The Rams need special players, they have so few. Sometimes to get potentially special players, you have to roll the dice and overdraft or understand that it may take a few years for those players to develop. I don't think the Rams "dodged a bullet". They employed a strategy of identifying prospects with high ceilings and are looking at players as a short and long term solution rather than an acceptable short term fix.