Rams News Recap: Jan. 25-26

[RamBill]

Rams to City: We’ll Stay for Another Year –PD
The Rams will play at the Edward Jones Dome next season.

Rams Convert Lease on Stadium to Year-to-Year –Wagoner
In a move that should come as no surprise to anyone paying attention, the St. Louis Rams officially notified the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission that they are converting their lease on the Edward Jones Dome to a year-to-year proposition on Monday.

Report: Rams Interested in Foles –Latsch
Rams coach Jeff Fisher made it clear at his end-of-season press conference that he wants to bring in a quarterback this offseason to compete with Sam Bradford for the starting spot.

Top 5 Rams Needs Heading into Free Agency, Draft –Gray
The St. Louis Rams look to be in the best shape that they have been in for several years regarding potential free agent departures this offseason.

Is the NFL quietly applauding Kroenke’s LA plan? –Breer Audio

Plays That Shaped Rams’ Season: No. 5 –Wagoner
In desperate need of a win after a blowout loss to the Kansas City Chiefs the previous week, the St. Louis Rams traveled to San Francisco for a Week 9 matchup.

Rams Notify St. Louis They’ll Go Year-to-Year on Dome Lease –AP
The St. Louis Rams have notified the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission they intended to shift to a year-to-year lease agreement for their use of the Edward Jones Dome.

Aaron Donald Enjoyed First Pro Bowl Trip –Wagoner
Upon arrival in Arizona for his first Pro Bowl after his first NFL season, St. Louis Rams rookie defensive tackle Aaron Donald had to take a minute to soak it all in.

Rams Owner’s Stadium Plan Pushes NFL Closer to L.A. Return –NFL.com
After two decades away, the NFL is closer than it has ever been to returning to Los Angeles.

Bernie: Jones Speaks up for Kroenke Again
Round Two: Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is at it again, popping off about Stan Kroenke’s right to move the Rams from St. Louis to Los Angeles.

Rams’ Senior Bowl Takeaways –Wagoner
The vast majority of the scouting work done at the Senior Bowl wraps up before the game is actually played.

Morning Ram-blings: San Diego Stadium Rumors –Wagoner
With the NFL already making it clear that no team will be applying for relocation in 2015, the next year figures to come with plenty of rumors, speculation and innuendo.

Did Spygate cost St. Louis the Rams? –Bernie Audio

Pro Bowl 1-on-1: Robert Quinn with Aaron Donald –Video

Wired: Robert Quinn Mic’d Up at the Pro Bowl –Video

 

[RamBill]

Morning Ram-blings: A long way to go?
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/15741/morning-ram-blings-a-long-way-to-go

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- On Monday morning, we revealed our Super Bowl project done in conjunction with the folks at Pro Football Focus in which the goal was to determine how far away each team is from being a Super Bowl contender.

According to Pro Football Focus, the St. Louis Rams are 10 above average players away from reaching the level of this year's Super Bowl participants, the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots.

The PFF study focused exclusively on the performance of players in 2014 and, according to their metrics, the Rams had one "elite" player (defensive tackle Aaron Donald) and two "good" players (ends Robert Quinn and Aaron Donald). After that, they had the Rams down for 24 "average" players and five "bad" players. Here's the explanation of their methodology for coming to their conclusions.

In that piece, you can see some of my thoughts on who I think is overrated or underrated and the chance for some of those players to ascend. I don't really agree that the Rams are that far from being contenders. If they can solve the quarterback spot and bolster the offensive line, they'd be closer instantly. Of course, quarterback is one major need, a really difficult one to fill. If the Rams somehow devised a way to land a top-notch quarterback, they'd be cooking with gas sooner than later.

It's also important to remember that this isn't necessarily about "missing pieces" so much as how far a team is from evolving into a contender. In other words, nobody is saying the Rams need to go out and get 10 above average players to become a Super Bowl contender. Some of those players could be a function of players on the current roster simply improving, which isn't out of the question given the team's youth. Some could come in the next draft or via free agency. Likely, the Rams will need to do all three to take that step.

The Rams have plenty of work to do, there's no denying that, but if they can push the right buttons in the offseason and get more from the players already on the roster, that number could shrink sooner than later.

I.C.Y.M.I.

A roundup of Monday's Rams stories appearing on ESPN.com. ... The Ram-blings opened Super Bowl week with a look at rumors of a stadium plan in Los Angeles for the Chargers. ... We then offered some Rams-related takeaways from the Senior Bowl. ... Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald enjoyed his Pro Bowl experience. ... We then took a look at the No. 5 play that shaped the Rams season. ... We closed the day with the news that the Rams officially are going year-to-year on their lease at the Edward Jones Dome.

Elsewhere:

ESPN's Seth Wickersham comes with another great read on the importance of creativity in the red zone.

Here's this week's ESPN NFL Spreecast.

At 101sports.com, Kevin Wheeler asserts that for football fans in St. Louis, there's no good outcome that can come from this Super Bowl.

At stltoday.com, Jim Gallagher wonders whether the St. Louis stadium plan on the north riverfront is a worthwhile venture for the city.

Bernie Miklasz has word yet again from Jerry Jones on Stan Kroenke's power to move his team regardless of what everyone else thinks.