Rams LT Andrew Whitworth expected to return

[PhillyRam]

It's a shame they don't have room to go take one of the Niners top guys in Armstead. Would be a perfect fit for what they need. I know he was an underachiever in the past, but the light appears to have come on.

 

[Merlin]

BTW, I am not trying to be a dick here...

And I agree the DL class is loaded, but so is the OG/C class with some great value in rounds 3 & 4.

And i think they need a vet DT... A 26 yr old 2nd contract type who is emerging and there is a good DT FA class out there.

You stated it takes time to develop an OL. Well they took their lumps this year doing that so I think it should expected that they will take that big step next year.

Look at it this way. The line that played those last 6-7 games never played together before that in that configuration. Imagine how much better they will be when they spend a camp together with the experience that they have gained.

Now sure if you can add a vet to the group, great... Particularly a vet C would be outstanding, but I do not go spend for a frontline top paid guy at OG when they have so many options at OG and the D is so short-handed right now.

Watching this Niner game should make it clear that DL/LB is the top need for 2020.

We've been talkin ball here long enough that I know you're not being a dick no worries there.

I'm not ruling out a 5T in FA. Just think it's unlikely because DL is the strongest position in this draft and our round 2 pick will likely have a guy with a first round grade on the board. And so on with DL looking quite strong into the midrounds. There's gonna be guys winning jobs and playing at a high level who will be on the board well outside round 1. So IMO playing the offseason to the strengths of the draft and FA class is a smart approach.

But all that aside FA is really unpredictable so who knows. I'm just one of those crazy fans who enjoys the discussion so cheers my man.

 

[PhillyRam]

I was actually thinking C in round 2 for the long-term answer there.

Ruiz from Michigan or Cushenberry from LSU are both big boys that would be nice to have and rated in the 40-50 area.

Thats why it would be nice to tag & trade Fowler for another 2.

The value for the big DTs seems to be later though in rds 3 & 4, but not sure you can count on a rookie to step right in and star. They need someone to help Donald which is why I lean towards FA for DL.

Here is a good site that is generally in the ballpark for where guys are slotted.

2020 Big Board - Great Blue North Draft Report

* e indicates estimated time; c indicates combine; p indicates pro day time ** X indicates player has an injury or illness issue; XX indicates serious injury or illness that could impact draft status; XXX indicates injury or illness that could be career threatening; O indicates off-field issue

gbnreport.com

 

[Merlin]

Ruiz is one of my favorite players in this draft so yeah you'd get zero complaints from me if he's on the board in round 2 for us. But I also suspect he'll stick at guard in the NFL.

Honestly it's still too early to get into these guys too deep for me but I have been looking at the centers. Ruiz I suspect is going to rise while some other well known types like Biadasz fall a bit from where guys have them now. This is based on games I've been watching a little more closely, haven't really gone through them yet but Ruiz is underrated IMO and a fit for any scheme so a lot of teams are going to love him.

 

[kurtfaulk]

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Was noteboom's acl tear a clean one, as in he only tore his acl? If so he should be fine to go for training camp.

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[Riverumbbq]

I keep reading we need to sign a vet OG but have only ever heard one name. It's Scherff or fail for the offseason? We're cornered into having to spend 12-13 million a year for an injury prone lineman?

Not really. Up until approximately a couple weeks prior to the trade deadline most everyone around here was clamoring for Trent Williams. I brought up Scherff as a better trade option because of his age and the fact that we were struggling at RG under Blythe, ... also mentioning the connection he has with McVay as he was the Washington OC who drafted Scherff. The Rams aren't cornered, they just have to make the appropriate decision regarding our OL's future, and they will be measured on the merits of whatever direction they happen to follow.

The reason Scherff is mentioned so often is because few are putting forward other names who might have greater and more immediate impact on our OL. I'm listening and waiting, but still not hearing about other qualifying options. Seems 90% of the fan base are insisting on an outside Center, but again, who are these magical players and what are their names ? If the Rams are going to use free agency as a method to improve our OL, what's the point if we're just going to recruit tier 2 players who are likely no better than our young players already being developed. If you want a truly impactful veteran football player right now, you have to pay for it, otherwise the risk is wasting an offense waiting on younger players to develop. This was the philosophy used by McVay when he acquired Whitworth and Sullivan, but Scherff is far younger and could become a mainstay for several years, he's also one of the few options available to us as an immediate improvement for our rush blocking, so I imagine our RB's would be quite pleased if he were aboard.
jmo.

 

[Riverumbbq]

Ruiz is one of my favorite players in this draft so yeah you'd get zero complaints from me if he's on the board in round 2 for us. But I also suspect he'll stick at guard in the NFL.

Honestly it's still too early to get into these guys too deep for me but I have been looking at the centers. Ruiz I suspect is going to rise while some other well known types like Biadasz fall a bit from where guys have them now. This is based on games I've been watching a little more closely, haven't really gone through them yet but Ruiz is underrated IMO and a fit for any scheme so a lot of teams are going to love him.

I'm yet to see Ruiz mentioned higher than as a 4'th round pick on the mocks I follow. I'm not saying he won't rise following the Combine, but so far he's been pretty steady in that round 4 & 5 area. I've had him in my mocks for a couple months now and am watching him pretty closely.
Where have you seen him as high as in your projections ?

 

[Merlin]

I'm yet to see Ruiz mentioned higher than as a 4'th round pick on the mocks I follow. I'm not saying he won't rise following the Combine, but so far he's been pretty steady in that round 4 & 5 area. I've had him in my mocks for a couple months now and am watching him pretty closely.
Where have you seen him as high as in your projections ?

I'm saying I think he will go round 2 once the dust settles. He is underrated right now IMO.

 

[PhillyRam]

I'm yet to see Ruiz mentioned higher than as a 4'th round pick on the mocks I follow. I'm not saying he won't rise following the Combine, but so far he's been pretty steady in that round 4 & 5 area. I've had him in my mocks for a couple months now and am watching him pretty closely.
Where have you seen him as high as in your projections ?

2020 Big Board - Great Blue North Draft Report

* e indicates estimated time; c indicates combine; p indicates pro day time ** X indicates player has an injury or illness issue; XX indicates serious injury or illness that could impact draft status; XXX indicates injury or illness that could be career threatening; O indicates off-field issue

gbnreport.com

 

[den-the-coach]

Gentlemen....Watch the damn games, I realize you can't now, but Cesar Ruiz is the best Center in the draft IMHO and I watched both him and Tyler Bladsz and keep in mind, there is more love out there for Wisconsin Lineman more than Michigan IMHO.

Ruiz needs to work on his first step and getting off the ball quick, but that is the easiest thing to coach for a Center, the jump if you will because you know the snap count, the defense doesn't. Fits the zone scheme well because Ruiz shows natural reach blocks of shaded nose tackles. Strong on down blocks and allows minimal penetration that allows guards to pull behind him...Ruiz also plays well in space and easily gains the edge, which important in the Ram scheme.

@Merlin is right on point and taking Ruiz in round two would give the Los Angeles Rams their best Center since Rich Saul.

 

[BonifayRam]

Watching the 9ers destroy the Packers should be a nice reality check for those who think we have the right pieces on the OL. The division goes through SF now. If we can't handle that defensive front Goff and Gurley are going to look like crap in 2020 and we'll be watching the playoffs yet again.

One of the 9ers great starting OL'ers ....Mike Person who has been starting RG for the last two seasons was once a Ram for several seasons. St. Louis Rams (2013–2014). It took him awhile before making it as a starter in NFL OL 7 yrs & a lot of traveling on 7 NFL teams.

 

[BonifayRam]

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Was noteboom's acl tear a clean one, as in he only tore his acl? If so he should be fine to go for training camp.

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I have found out very little information on this subject. What I do know is Noteboom to tore both his ACL & MCL in that knee. The surgery did not take place till late October 2019 that might tell us a bit more.

 

[Riverumbbq]

2020 Big Board - Great Blue North Draft Report

* e indicates estimated time; c indicates combine; p indicates pro day time ** X indicates player has an injury or illness issue; XX indicates serious injury or illness that could impact draft status; XXX indicates injury or illness that could be career threatening; O indicates off-field issue

gbnreport.com

Thanks for posting this, i'd never seen Ruiz this high on another mock. In fact, this mock has several players ranked in areas unseen prior, both much higher and lower. I don't recall seeing this much discrepancy among mocks in years, so it will be interesting to see how things shake out following the Combine.

 

[BonifayRam]

That depends. I think Whit got better later in the year. Who plays LT while Noteboom heals?

Looks like nobody wanted to answer your hard question.

Most from what I have seen takes the easy response & state sign Andrew Whitworth & move on its handled. But that response IMO is way too simplistic.

#1- Salary cap ramifications for the hiring of this 38-39 yr old 2020 LT would be highly negative & restricting the Ram Org. from make the needed improvements on the many other positions & units on this team. Anyone who reads @flv posts as of late would know just how damaging it would be to the 2020 Ram salary cap.

#2- Noway to know if Andrew Whitworth will retire or desire to continue to play on. Whitworth who is now on the open UFA market is sure to get a few outstanding high offers from several teams who have 3 times the salary cap $$$ that the Rams have now @ $23 million.
Indianapolis Colts has $96.5 million
Miami Dolphins has $93 mil.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers has $92 mil
Buffalo Bills has $92 mil.
New York Giants $70 million.
Seattle Seahawks has $69 million

Just to name a few of the top well-endowed $$$$ to spend. If you think AW likes CA then what about Oakland Raiders who have $60 million, Los Angeles Chargers has $57 million & the nearby AZ Cards have $55 million. Myself I would consider the resigning of AW as a last resort patched up attempt.

I believe the answer to you unanswered question will come from the following......Snead/ McVay do have a very young cadre of long term starting college OT's currently signed & under contract.

They are listed below:
2018 2nd rd pick Austin Corbett
2018 3rd rd pick Joe Noteboom (currently rehabbing from knee surgery)
2018 6th rd pick Jamil Demby
2019 3rd rd pick Bobby Evans
2019 5th rd pick David Edwards

I would also include 2019 UDFA 6-6 320 lbs 23 yr old Chandler Brewer who end the 2019 season as the main reserve for the LT post. This above list most likely contains the two OL'ers who will end up taking snaps as the Ram starting 2020 LT post. Time to build with the current Rams team recent investments in the OL. Plus I would advocate to plan to continue constructing & fabricating future starting & top reserve OL'ers from within. It's up to Snead to bring in the fresh material & Kromer/ Dickerson to do the hard work.

 

[Riverumbbq]

Gentlemen....Watch the damn games, I realize you can't now, but Cesar Ruiz is the best Center in the draft IMHO and I watched both him and Tyler Bladsz and keep in mind, there is more love out there for Wisconsin Lineman more than Michigan IMHO.

I'm curious how one would accomplish watching a 1000 hours of college football every week and still have time to post here ? It's especially tough if you don't get certain regional games all that often. Professional Scouts may only cover a few teams at a time in order to make proper evaluations, ... us mere mortals trying to keep up with a couple hundred players who are being touted by sometimes biased resources seems a high burden.
I'm afraid most of us have to rely on YouTube, scouting reports, statistics, and written articles specific to players who are performing exceptionally throughout the nation. Unless you pay to subscribe to volumes of film which also offers better angles and more specific coverage of an individual player, 'watching the damn games' isn't always a realistic option.
jmo.

 

[Merlin]

Biadasz has good technique and is probably (we never really know without access to the coaching staffs like the NFL scouts have) among the better guys in college ball at making the line calls. Down the road this guy will be a fine center I think, after he gets a year or two of pro training under his belt. IMO he will be drafted by a zone scheme org, whereas Ruiz will be good in either and that affects where they go in the draft. Most sites have Biadasz ahead of him, or did at least, but that's changing a bit as people play with their boards and nuke film. BTW I don't really nuke the film either until after the season either so it's sort of to be expected and we also have combine coming which will adjust things a little.

Here is Ruiz vs a very stout Iowa front... Note the strong anchor, he doesn't get pushed around very often. Not a great mover/puller/space blocker, but adequate. Not the greatest technique either, which is why I expect him to start at OG his rookie season:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnDzTmRWM9k


Here is Biadasz vs a very stout Ohio St front... Note the way he can get blown up at times, which demonstrates that he needs to get stronger particularly in pass sets. This is similar to Allen btw, who also was better in the run and relied on technique, Biadasz is a better player though I think. Also his ability to move/pull and target guys in space is special. He is definitely a guy zone scheme coaches are going to want, but they're not going to want him too early in this draft:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3n7c3AiBaw

 

[iamme33]

my major fear is that our young ol that most think will get better with more play time will also have film out there that teams will use to find weakness in thier play. not saying that will happen but it is a fear that i have after all look what happened with noteboom and allen.

 

[Merlin]

Some other centers while I'm on this topic...

Here's cutups of Cushenberry vs a fine Alabama front. You can see how well he anchors and his strength at the point, another center who rarely gets manhandled. But he's not the best mover in space, kind of lumbering to my eye at least. IMO he'll be targeted by power schemes but I'm sure the Rams staff will like him too:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBykSvGojR0

 

[den-the-coach]

I'm afraid most of us have to rely on YouTube, scouting reports, statistics, and written articles specific to players who are performing exceptionally throughout the nation. Unless you pay to subscribe to volumes of film which also offers better angles and more specific coverage of an individual player, 'watching the damn games' isn't always a realistic option.
jmo.

I realize that and that's too bad because that's why I don't get involved in the mocks you all do (and I enjoy them) because I will only comment on guys that I watch week in and week out and for most part, that's the big ten, however, quite a bit of the PAC 12 too, but I am fortunate to have the ability to subscribe to receive these channels and I always feel it is a benefit when it comes to evaluating a player by actually watching them in a game instead of taking other people's word on it because most of that is based on someone else's word and so forth.

When I have been able to watch players, I have been on point for the most part, watching teams whiff on the likes of Christian Hackenberg, Billy Price, Dion Jordan & and our own Jason Smith to post a few...Have I been wrong when actually watching somebody play, absolutely Vernon Gholston I thought was going to be dominate in the NFL and he wasn't, but I just feel before you comment on a guy, go to YouTube and watch more than a few plays because the worst scenario is to have an opinion on somebody, based on another person's evaluation.

 

[den-the-coach]

Some other centers while I'm on this topic...

Here's cutups of Cushenberry vs a fine Alabama front. Y

Cushenberry really struggled in the National Championship Game picking up the Blitz from linebacker James Skalski ...Cushenberry kept blocking down opening the middle for Skalski to come crazing through the middle and disrupting the play...It was a delay blitz, but if Cushenberry just stands his ground he stops Skalski every single time.