Sam Released

[CoachO]

Didn't help himself at the combine.

6'2" 261 lbs and only ran a 4.91/40 with only a 25.5" vertical and can only play LE? Most focus on his sexual orientation, but some of these teams look for physical upside early in the draft and he wasn't impressive at all.

do you think maybe, just maybe he had a few distractions at the combine that may had an affect on his 40 time? This is just one example why I have ALWAYS said that its so dangerous to put a lot of stock on combine measurables. The guy can play football, and he will be in the NFL somewhere come Tuesday.

 

[Rambition]

If I thought Justice Cunningham gave this team a better shot at winning, I'd be for it, but ol' Manos de Piedra didn't do anything Harkey couldn't have done.

And looking forward, I just don't see the upside on giving away a young player with talent (at ANY position, btw, just because we kept Westbrooks and he flashed substantial skill doesn't mean the guy he "beat" didn't also). At this point, for very selfish reasons I hope the rest of the league dithers enough for Sam to make it onto our PS so that we can keep our DL cupboard STOCKED.

Justice Cunningham... smh.

Nope. I just don't get it...

i agree.

 

[Memphis Ram]

do you think maybe, just maybe he had a few distractions at the combine that may had an affect on his 40 time? This is just one example why I have ALWAYS said that its so dangerous to put a lot of stock on combine measurables. The guy can play football, and he will be in the NFL somewhere come Tuesday.

He's going to have distractions wherever he goes. And especially, on a different team and in a different media market. That said, managing those distractions are a part of the combine player evaluation process.

I hope he makes it. I just don't have the confidence that teams will be banging down his door for his services like some seem to think.

 

[CoachO]

He's going to have distractions wherever he goes. And especially, on a different team and in a different media market. That said, managing those distractions are a part of the combine player evaluation process.

I hope he makes it. I just don't have the confidence that teams will be banging down his door for his services like some seem to think.

I hope they don't Because I would love to see him back here on the PS. And from what I am being lead to believe, he prefers to stay here. Obviously, if someone is going to claim him AND PLACE HIM ON THEIR 53 MAN ROSTER, he would be foolish to stay. But as Fisher mentioned in his press conference it needs to be the "right situation". And that goes beyond just the football situation.

For example, landing in NY isn't the "right situation" nor would Jerry's World. He needs to be allowed to "fly under the radar" and continue to make it about football.

 

[Memphis Ram]

PETE PRISCO
Senior NFL Columnist

NFL Cuts Musings: Tape shows Michael Sam wasn't good enough
August 30, 2014 6:59 pm ET

Michael Sam needed to get more explosive to stick with an NFL team. (USATSI)

Did rookie defensive end Michael Sam deserve to make the St. Louis Rams' 53-man roster?

The answer is no.

Let's put aside the social issue of him being the first openly gay player in the NFL and just focus on the football. Sam did some good things in the preseason, but he did it against backup tackles, some of the already-cut variety.

I went back and studied Sam's preseason games and came away with this conclusion: He plays hard and has some pass-rush ability, but he needs a ton of seasoning.

One more thing: Undrafted rookie Ethan Westbrooks, who made the team, outplayed him.

Sam, who was a facing long odds as a seventh-round pick, was credited with two sacks against the Browns in Week Three, but the second one wasn't his to be given. He did nothing on that play, and fell on the pile to get the sack. On the first one, he did beat Browns tackle Martin Wallace, who is an undrafted free agent who actually made the Browns' 53-man roster.

On that sack, Sam looked like an NFL pass rusher, which is why I think he needs more seasoning. There is flash there, but that's against backup linemen. I don't think he's explosive enough to win against good ones, although he did beat Packers tackle Derek Sherrod -- a first-rounder in 2011 -- for a sack, but Sherrod has been plagued by injuries in his time with Green Bay.

There's also a play in that Browns game with 7:41 left in the third quarter that concerned me. The Browns have a first-and-goal at the 1. When I ran that play over and over again, Sam was so slow out of his stance that he was still down when the rest of the Rams line was already engaging the Browns linemen.

Those are the things that make me wonder about his explosiveness. Westbrooks, who is shorter and stouter, can turn the corner faster. He's also quicker off the ball, which is why it made sense to keep him.

But all is not lost for Sam. I give him a lot of credit for losing weight to get faster before camp. Now he just needs to learn the tricks of the trade and work on getting off the ball quicker.

That's why the practice squad makes sense. I would be shocked if a team claims him on waivers, which means the Rams will sign him to the practice squad where he gets to learn from good ones in Robert Quinn and Chris Long.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer...-shows-michael-sam-wasnt-good-enough-for-rams

 

[Mackeyser]

Well, both Brockers and Glenn Dorsey were dinged by the LSU deal. It's incumbent for professional evaluators to KNOW THIS. It's part of why some teams suck. You can't just look at the damn underwear olympics and look for a bunch of Mike Mamula's and expect to be handed the Lombardi before OTAs and some Front Offices clearly DO operate that way.

I really don't care about "fair" in that way. But NFL teams do get it wrong. And sometimes, you don't have to be a 20+ year talent evaluator to get WHY they got it so stunningly wrong (like with both Glenn Dorsey and Michael Brockers...both guy's write ups by some evaluators were laughable. So much so and the problem is so pervasive that Glenn Dorsey ends up going to a KC team as a 3-4 DE!!! You could cast me as Little Orphan Annie on Broadway and the miscasting wouldn't be as bad as that. The guy's a 4-3 3-tech to his bones. Then the 9ers, in their infinite wisdom get him as their NT. Smh.... NT in a 3-4...

I'm a guy who's trained as a multimedia engineer working with various codecs and designing workflows to recognize patterns.

Sometimes, I can see the patterns people exhibit, especially physically displayed patterns.

I don't pretend to be a pro talent evaluator. At the same time, these patterns aren't hard to see. They are basic, are espoused as bedrock to the understanding of evaluating players for all pro evaluators and are quite apparent. They don't really take a trained eye to see, beyond a "look see that?"

Michael Sam played well at RDE in Miami. It was even better considering he was playing on a 3 man line for much of that time. He played the run pretty well and led the team in tackles with six. I can't ding Sam for not "beating anybody of note" if he wasn't given any reps against "anyone of note". You can only beat the guy in front of you and Sam did that when given the chance.

The fact that Ethan Westbrook did it a bit better and also from the DT spot doesn't diminish Michael Sam's talent. It just means that Westbrook is a better fit for the Rams at this time.

But I've been saying since BEFORE the draft that the NFL was going to get it wrong on him based on my own video work and they did.

I just hope the league doesn't use this as an excuse to "well, you got your shot" and he never even sees a camp again... Which, frankly, is entirely possible given the league.

 

[Blue and Gold]

" Westbrooks, who is shorter and stouter, can turn the corner faster. He's also quicker off the ball, which is why it made sense to keep him."

What? Shorter? Are we talking shower again? Westbrooks is nearly 6-4, Sam is just under 6-2

 

[Memphis Ram]

Given that Dorsey went 5th overall and Brockers went about 14th overall, I'd say that the write ups by NFL draftnik media meant very little to the actual NFL teams.

 

[Mackeyser]

Well, thank goodness we have Pete Prisco to bring is this wisdom, this in our hour of need.

 

[theramsruleUK]

Bottom line is that I really wanted Sam to make the roster. But westbrooks completely dominated the pre season.
Sam wanted to be judged on football alone, and he did, it's just unfortunate that he got cut. I'm proud that he was a ram though, keep on grinding mate.

 

[blue4]

I'm not a pro scout or anything, just a fan, but I didn't see much different from the Prisco article above. I was pretty sure they were going to go Westbrook by the start of the 3rd game, as I'm sure many others were. And let's face it, he could end up a dud against starting talent in games that starters actually care about as well. No guarantees Westbrook pans out, nor that Sam won't work his butt off to get better. All in all, I can't see how this could shock anyone.

 

[HometownBoy]

Shame, Sam was showing he could ball there for a liuttle bit, but we've got an over abundance of players and I guess he just couldn't crtack through. Little surprising that he gets cut but some of these 4 stringers at best are still loitering about, like Cunningham.

 

[AnarchyRam]

I think Sam's inability to be a special teams guy cost him here. He's just not built for it, too stiff.

 

[smram]

Honestly, he should have been drafted a lot sooner than the 7th round. His play proved that.

Dude, he's not half the player will Hayes is

 

[smram]

So because he doesn't make the Rams, a team that is very deep at DE, that means he doesn't have a position in the NFL? I don't agree at all. He proved he's good enough to play in the NFL.

He also is not will Hayes

 

[Mackeyser]

Given that Dorsey went 5th overall and Brockers went about 14th overall, I'd say that the write ups by NFL draftnik media meant very little to the actual NFL teams.

I'm not talking about NFL draftniks. Where did I say that? I said pro evaluators. I'm talking about people who work in the NFL for actual teams. I don't care what the talking heads say or some guy from a draft mag says. Dorsey went 5th overall to an idiotic KC team that used him as a 3-4 DE. Who cares what a draft mag says, the team who drafted him grossly misused him and anyone who knows anything about defensive tackles could EASILY see that. It wasn't even close. Brockers fell to 14th (and may have fallen even farther) had the Rams not grabbed him there. I wanted him ASAP because I was all over his talent, but the Rams traded down to 6, then 14 and he was still there. I don't recall how they felt about further trade downs, but they'd already gotten so much that at that point, I think Snead said they didn't want to tempt fate.

Point being that it's not just that pros sometimes miss. Sometimes they get it wrong for obvious reasons that even casual fans can see using simple observation. I'm not exactly a "casual" fan, but I'm not Joel Buchsbaum with the analysis, either. There are plenty of times where I just have to "trust the professionals" because I'll just have to admit that I don't see what's so special, but they do, clearly, so I'll wait and see.

I think Michael Sam can easily be a reserve DE right now in the NFL if given a chance. Based on what I saw. Not on the best DL in football, but that's a rather high bar to get over for any player. Frankly, MOST of the guys starting on DLs around the league couldn't make our 9. Should they be out of the league because they can't make our 9? Hardly. With time, I think he could start and be a solid DE. Not spectacular, but a hustle, high-motor DE who just keeps grinding.

 

[V3]

Dude, he's not half the player will Hayes is

Where in that post did I say anything about Hayes? Also, my point about Hayes from another discussion entirely was not about who was better right now. I know Hayes is better. In two years, however, I'm betting Sam is better.

 

[smram]

do you think maybe, just maybe he had a few distractions at the combine that may had an affect on his 40 time? This is just one example why I have ALWAYS said that its so dangerous to put a lot of stock on combine measurables. The guy can play football, and he will be in the NFL somewhere come Tuesday.

No. You can run or you can't

 

[smram]

Where in that post did I say anything about Hayes? Also, my point about Hayes from another discussion entirely was not about who was better right now. I know Hayes is better. In two years, however, I'm betting Sam is better.

Sam can't wipe Hayes' ass at this point and anything else is wishful thinking

 

[CoachO]

No. You can run or you can't

and yet, he seems to run well enough to chase down QBs and make the plays he needs to make, Not sure how often DEs have to run a 40 yd sprint in a live game situation.