Rams offseason to-do list, starting with settling on a QB/FoxSports

[RamBill]

Rams offseason to-do list, starting with settling on a QB

By Ross Jones
Feb 2, 2016 at 10:00a ET

http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/...iew-nick-foles-case-keenum-todd-gurley-020216

Each day between now and post-Super Bowl Monday, we’ll roll out a get-to-the-point offseason plan for one NFL team. Today, the Rams; tomorrow, the Colts. After that, we’ll see. Here’s our three-point plan for Los Angeles:

1. Identify a franchise QB

General manager Les Snead told reporters last month that the Rams are planning to have all three of their current quarterbacks on their roster and that any potential offseason acquisitions will compete for the starting spot under center. Nick Foles, whom the Rams acquired in a trade with the Eagles last offseason, struggled during his first year in St. Louis. Foles was benched in mid-November and started just two games after that, when Case Keenum dealt with a head injury. Foles, Keenum and Sean Mannion will have a full training camp and preseason to separate themselves from the pack. The Rams also own the No. 15 overall pick in this year’s draft and could be in a position to move up and consider selecting Memphis’ Paxton Lynch, Cal’s Jared Goff or North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz. The Rams have one of the best defenses in the league, and a productive passing game could make them a force in the NFC West.

2. Find a No. 1 receiver

The Rams haven’t had a wide receiver eclipse the 1,000-yard mark since 2007, when Torry Holt caught 93 passes for 1,189 yards and seven touchdowns. Since then, the team has spent six top-100 picks (Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey, Brian Quick, Austin Pettis, Mardy Gilyard and Donnie Avery) on the position. Though Austin is the most notable player of the group and has the ability to break a big play, the Rams need to covet a legit go-to receiver. With a deep incoming rookie class, Snead could be poised to find Los Angeles’ next big star.

3. Develop the offensive line

Four offensive linemen were lost to season-ending injuries in 2015. The Rams have made quite an investment up front over the past two seasons. Now comes the hard part: maximizing each player’s talent and bringing them together as a unit. Fortunately, LA benefits from having one of the brightest young stars in the game in the backfield. Todd Gurley ran for 1,106 yards in just 13 games less than a year after tearing his ACL in college. Offensive line coach Paul Boudreau is entering his 30th season as an assistant at the professional level and certainly has his hands full as he hopes to develop a unit that not only paves lanes for Gurley but keeps whoever is starting at quarterback upright.

 

[RamBill]

NFL insider Jason La Canfora joins our ‘TOPS’ analysts to discuss possible destinations of this year’s free agent quarterback class. QB’s discussed: Fitzpatrick, Cousins, Daniels, Bradford, and RG3. La Canfora suggests San Francisco as a possible landing spot for RG3.

Watch FA QB Discussion

 

[BonifayRam]

Rams offseason to-do list, starting with settling on a QB..........

The Rams have one of the best defenses in the league, and a productive passing game could make them a force in the NFC West..........

That word is wrong its should have said "HAD". When you no longer have five (Jenkins/Johnson/McLeod/Barron/Hayes) starting defensive players under contract for the upcoming season & 2 of your main reserve DL'ers (Sims & Fairley) are gone also......That is going to change your defense in a major way & it not going to be positive. Writer Ross Jones is thinking in the past. Need to remind myself that all seven of these UFA's can sign with 31 other teams. Rams just make 32. The 2015 Rams defense team is history now.

No one not even Jeff Fisher has any ideal what his 2016 Rams defense will look like.

 

[JUMAVA68]

That word is wrong its should have said "HAD". When you no longer have five (Jenkins/Johnson/McLeod/Barron/Hayes) starting defensive players under contract for the upcoming season & 2 of your main reserve DL'ers (Sims & Fairley) are gone also......That is going to change your defense in a major way & it not going to be positive. Writer Ross Jones is thinking in the past. Need to remind myself that all seven of these UFA's can sign with 31 other teams. Rams just make 32. The 2015 Rams defense team is history now.

No one not even Jeff Fisher has any ideal what his 2016 Rams defense will look like.

You bring up a good point but resigning the core players from that group is very doable. And even if we lose a starter like JJ or Tru we have Gaines waiting in the wings.And cutting CL and JL will make our D stronger with a couple of young studs.They can always be brought back on the cheap as backups and or leadership roles.

 

[Dieter the Brock]

You bring up a good point but resigning the core players from that group is very doable. And even if we lose a starter like JJ or Tru we have Gaines waiting in the wings.And cutting CL and JL will make our D stronger with a couple of young studs.They can always be brought back on the cheap as backups and or leadership roles.

Right and this year's draft is deep with our needs at DE and CB

 

[diggity]

First and FOREMOST...
the RAMS need to settle on an EFFECTIVE OFFENSIVE SCHEME!!!
Then, get the players to execute it!
QB, TE, WR(s)...and that's just the starting point. And, that doesn't even get going until the RAMS DUMP Cook & Company!!
GO RAMS!!!!!

 

[Shoman01]

That word is wrong its should have said "HAD". When you no longer have five (Jenkins/Johnson/McLeod/Barron/Hayes) starting defensive players under contract for the upcoming season & 2 of your main reserve DL'ers (Sims & Fairley) are gone also......That is going to change your defense in a major way & it not going to be positive. Writer Ross Jones is thinking in the past. Need to remind myself that all seven of these UFA's can sign with 31 other teams. Rams just make 32. The 2015 Rams defense team is history now.

No one not even Jeff Fisher has any ideal what his 2016 Rams defense will look like.

I agree, they wasted 3 years of a good defense. Even with those players they ranked 19th? in the league. I can see a major downgrade in the D next year without those guys. If you where a free agent why would you want to play for the Rams? They have had only 4 winning seasons in the last 25 years. They are a wreck, they will fire fisher after this season, then you start all over with a new coaching staff. The Rams are still 3-5 years away from being relevant. I don't have any faith in the front office fixing the offense. The folks in LA are excited now, but wait until they actually see them play, the shine will be off the star pretty quick.

 

[Merlin]

Yeah this is really simple stuff IMO...

1. Case is not that guy you want to build around for the next ten years. Foles isn't either. Mannion could be, but they cannot afford to gamble on him. FA will not provide our answer. Trade is possible but very difficult and expensive, your options are mostly unproven types or old guys on their last contract. The answer is clear: DRAFT your guy.

2. Rams need a FA wideout who can step in right away. They need to draft one or two also.

3. The line needs a center in the draft regardless of whether they bring Barnes back. Center is easy to get without using high draft capital.

Other needs assuming they re-sign one of their CBs and Barron: kicker and rotation run stuffing DT.

Do those things and the Rams are in business for many years IMO.

 

[BonifayRam]

Here's the bona fide current Ram defense excluding the 2016 free agents:
http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/los-angeles-rams/

LDE- Long/ Longacre
NT- Brockers/Worthington
DT- Donald/ Tricant-Pasat
RDE- Quinn/Westbrooks
WLB- Ogletree /Wells
MLB- JL/ Hager
SLB- Ayers/ lynch
SS-McDonald/Alexander
FS- Vacancy/ Vacancy
CB-Gaines/Joyner
CB-Roberson/Patterson

 

[Merlin]

Here's the bona fide current Ram defense excluding the 2016 free agents:
http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/los-angeles-rams/

LDE- Long/ Longacre
NT- Brockers/Worthington
DT- Donald/ Tricant-Pasat
RDE- Quinn/Westbrooks
WLB- Ogletree /Wells
MLB- JL/ Hager
SLB- Ayers/ lynch
SS-McDonald/Alexander
FS- Vacancy/ Vacancy
CB-Gaines/Joyner
CB-Roberson/Patterson

McDonald would move over to FS if McLeod walks. IMO it is either/or with McLeod and Barron just like the CBs. I don't think it's feasible for them to re-sign Jenks, Tru, McLeod, and Barron. And tbh I don't think it would be wise to do so. Sign one of each CB and S with the guy you want to move forward with.

Long won't be difficult as a restructure for a smaller cap figure. Hayes should not be difficult either since he loves this defense and playing for Fish but I do think one of him or Sims leaves.

 

[BonifayRam]

McDonald would move over to FS if McLeod walks. IMO it is either/or with McLeod and Barron just like the CBs. I don't think it's feasible for them to re-sign Jenks, Tru, McLeod, and Barron. And tbh I don't think it would be wise to do so. Sign one of each CB and S with the guy you want to move forward with.

Long won't be difficult as a restructure for a smaller cap figure. Hayes should not be difficult either since he loves this defense and playing for Fish but I do think one of him or Sims leaves.

I think Hayes will be much more difficult than most all believe. Hayes played for a near 5 mil last season & now after being a starter here the last two seasons will certainly demand much more interest. Hayes is in his prime & has shown to be able to stay healthy under heavy duty use when Long was not active which was very often. Hayes last two season performance will command a Pay Raise.

If you sign the declining worn down Chris Long instead as you claim you will not be able to fit Hayes back in here salary wise. No way you dump HIGH cap $$ into two over 30 DE's. Better to release Long period. Then hope that Hayes does not get a out of line contract offer which I believe will happen. Hayes is a rare DE who does most everything consistently good but not great. On the DE free market Hayes will get many offers. another thing about Hayes he can play the DE position in a 34 or 43. Long is just a unhealthy worn down back up LDE why would you spend precious cap millions $$$ on him? Just how low would Long go to play another season?

Neither McDonald or Alexander is a deep safety. Playing either of them deep is a total waste of their abilities. Deep safety Rodney McLeod will be the first defensive UFA the Rams resign mark it down.

 

[Merlin]

I think Hayes will be much more difficult than most all believe. Hayes played for a near 5 mil last season & now after being a starter here the last two seasons will certainly demand much more interest. Hayes is in his prime & has shown to be able to stay healthy under heavy duty use when Long was not active which was very often. Hayes last two season performance will command a Pay Raise.

If you sign the declining worn down Chris Long instead as you claim you will not be able to fit Hayes back in here salary wise. No way you dump HIGH cap $$ into two over 30 DE's. Better to release Long period. Then hope that Hayes does not get a out of line contract offer which I believe will happen. Hayes is a rare DE who does most everything consistently good but not great. On the DE free market Hayes will get many offers. another thing about Hayes he can play the DE position in a 34 or 43. Long is just a unhealthy worn down back up LDE.

Neither McDonald or Alexander is a deep safety. Playing either of them deep is a total waste of their abilities. Deep safety Rodney McLeod will be the first defensive UFA the Rams resign mark it down.

Re: Long I think it comes down to what they restructure him for. I would try to keep him in horns is all, and if he won't budge past a certain point then I'll let him go sign with a contender. Hayes stepped up last year, but LDEs are not the priority for me to pay right now for this defense. If he's pricey I keep Sims and a restructured Long and hope Long has a big bounceback season. But either way this defense will be stout enough up front with a healthy Quinn and Donald penetrating the interior.

Either Jenks or Tru will absolutely get paid by the Rams. At Safety you might be right about McLeod, but I think you underestimate McDonald. I don't see him as a box safety alone. He played that role for the Rams because it was needed at that time when he came in and through last year and it's why they traded for a box safety in Barron. If you are right and Fish sees him as that, then yeah they'll sign McLeod quickly. The money will reveal what they think, that's for sure. But IMO the SS position will be Alexander and Barron next year because Barron gives them impact in the box and the dropoff of him leaving is greater than the dropoff from McLeod to what they project McDonald to provide. At least that's my theory so we'll see how it plays out here real soon.

 

[diggity]

The problem with that, especially with Fisher's offensive mentality is that he would get stud players, and MAKE THEM fit into HIS offense. And, he has shown that he is very doubtful at coming up with an effective and CONSISTENT offense.
I would, and it's J.M.H.O., that he go out and get a solid and innovative OC and figure out players that will execute that style of O. And, not the other way around.
GO RAMS!!!!!

 

[Riverumbbq]

Rams offseason to-do list, starting with settling on a QB



3. Develop the offensive line

Four offensive linemen were lost to season-ending injuries in 2015. The Rams have made quite an investment up front over the past two seasons. Now comes the hard part: maximizing each player’s talent and bringing them together as a unit. Fortunately, LA benefits from having one of the brightest young stars in the game in the backfield. Todd Gurley ran for 1,106 yards in just 13 games less than a year after tearing his ACL in college. Offensive line coach Paul Boudreau is entering his 30th season as an assistant at the professional level and certainly has his hands full as he hopes to develop a unit that not only paves lanes for Gurley but keeps whoever is starting at quarterback upright.

I believe we are very close to checking off this particular item. The only area of the OL I want to see seriously addressed in 2016 is for a new starting Center to join with the young talent we already have in development. Returning healthy, with experience and a now learned offensive scheme, these guys should be ready to go right out of the gate.

 

[ramfan46]

I think Hayes will be much more difficult than most all believe. Hayes played for a near 5 mil last season & now after being a starter here the last two seasons will certainly demand much more interest. Hayes is in his prime & has shown to be able to stay healthy under heavy duty use when Long was not active which was very often. Hayes last two season performance will command a Pay Raise.

If you sign the declining worn down Chris Long instead as you claim you will not be able to fit Hayes back in here salary wise. No way you dump HIGH cap $$ into two over 30 DE's. Better to release Long period. Then hope that Hayes does not get a out of line contract offer which I believe will happen. Hayes is a rare DE who does most everything consistently good but not great. On the DE free market Hayes will get many offers. another thing about Hayes he can play the DE position in a 34 or 43. Long is just a unhealthy worn down back up LDE why would you spend precious cap millions $$$ on him? Just how low would Long go to play another season?

Neither McDonald or Alexander is a deep safety. Playing either of them deep is a total waste of their abilities. Deep safety Rodney McLeod will be the first defensive UFA the Rams resign mark it down.

I'm with you, I don't see how Long has any value to the team anymore. 3-5 sacks a year with little impact on the games doesn't add much to help the team move forward. Hayes is stout against the run and has flexibility on passing downs when he can slide to DT and rush as well. Long, Saffold, Cook and JL55 served their time, now it's time to pay the new talent base of the Rams. I will be extremely dissapointed if Barron or Hayes are not resigned and Long and JL55 are still here.

 

[BonifayRam]

I know your brilliant at the math stuff & I believe you. I never had a good working brain in area of math as good as you. I had to marry a banker & I don't mess with her :argue:on the figures eitheralm:.

So I have to use these sites that claim to have the information like:
http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/los-angeles-rams/william-hayes/
http://overthecap.com/player/william-hayes/1358

Both these sites state the same thing that Hayes Cap hit in 2015 was as I stated in my post just under 5 million @ $4,480,000 mil.

Got Paid vs. Cap hit?

 

[BonifayRam]

........At Safety you might be right about McLeod, but I think you underestimate McDonald. I don't see him as a box safety alone. He played that role for the Rams because it was needed at that time when he came in and through last year and it's why they traded for a box safety in Barron. If you are right and Fish sees him as that, then yeah they'll sign McLeod quickly. The money will reveal what they think, that's for sure. But IMO the SS position will be Alexander and Barron next year because Barron gives them impact in the box and the dropoff of him leaving is greater than the dropoff from McLeod to what they project McDonald to provide. At least that's my theory so we'll see how it plays out here real soon.

I might have not made it clear enough, sorry bout that but I would never Underestimate TJ McDonald at all. I truly believe that TJ is one of the NFL's top Strong Safety's. TJ is that good IMO. Yes I think that TJ could play deep safety if need be & do well enough but at the cost of what? Removing him from where he is best for the sake of utilizing Mo Alexander @ SS is something I would not do. TJ is the much better SS over Mark Barron & Mo Alexander.

Rams know the value of Rodney McLeod. Rod can play many different positions in Gregg's secondary...Deep/Free Safety or Strong Safety or the Nickle corner or the Dime corner positions at anytime. That's some big time value when facing these up tempo offenses. If the Gregg does not have those UFA CB's return as Rams (I think that's a real probability) then Rod's value is magnified & Rod's role in the 2016 secondary would change to where he will be seen playing the Nickle & the Dime more often. Getting Rod back in here helps heal the deep wounds of losing both starting CB's. Rod would permit the full use of Gaines/Roberson/Joyner as the big three outside corners.

You would then see Gregg insert either Cody Davis or Christian Bryant as the deep safety in his special pass prevent defenses. Cody does have some ability to cover ground fast & make INT's his issues is being caught out of positions from zero amount of playing time in regular season defenses due to Rod's outstanding health for four NFL seasons!

I would think that Barron will get some nice offers to play SS elsewhere but he has no proven consistent positive track record in the NFL as a safety. IMO the 6-2 213 pound Barron best $$$ is to be made is here as the starting WSLB'er. If not then the much bigger thicker 6-1 222 pound Mo Alexander who just happens to have full access of the 2015 film of Barron's play & might be a perfect fit there.