Sando & Williamson - comments about the Rams' D-line

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EXCERPT:

Sando: Looking at the division overall, I might have put the Rams ahead of the Seahawks. For Seattle, Chris Clemons is hurt, Alan Branch departed, Tony McDaniel was arguably a so-so replacement and Red Bryant is coming off a tough year. Michael Brockers looks like a star in the making for the Rams. Chris Long and Robert Quinn can easily combine for 20-plus sacks. William Hayes is in there too.

Williamson: They have a wide skill set, which I like, too. Irvin and Bryant are totally different players at defensive end. Irvin, Clemons, Avril and Bryant give you versatility. For the Rams, Hayes is an important part of that equation. He had seven sacks last year. Quinn and Long are questionable against the run. Hayes can be a base run defensive end. Plus, he moves inside and can be a quality rusher there.

Sando: I hadn't really thought of Long as a liability against the run.

Williamson: You can run at Long. Part of that is scheme. Sort of like in the Dwight Freeney-Robert Mathis days, they play the run on the way to the quarterback. With the Rams, a lot of it is ahead of them. I'd draft Quinn very high if I were building a team, but he is not as good as Cliff Avril right now. Brockers is going to be a total stud. I didn't love him coming out of LSU, but he far exceeded my expectations. I think he'll be a multiple Pro Bowl player.

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[Rabid Ram]

Re: Sando & Williamson - comments about the Rams' D-line

EXCERPT:

Sando: Looking at the division overall, I might have put the Rams ahead of the Seahawks. For Seattle, Chris Clemons is hurt, Alan Branch departed, Tony McDaniel was arguably a so-so replacement and Red Bryant is coming off a tough year. Michael Brockers looks like a star in the making for the Rams. Chris Long and Robert Quinn can easily combine for 20-plus sacks. William Hayes is in there too.

Williamson: They have a wide skill set, which I like, too. Irvin and Bryant are totally different players at defensive end. Irvin, Clemons, Avril and Bryant give you versatility. For the Rams, Hayes is an important part of that equation. He had seven sacks last year. Quinn and Long are questionable against the run. Hayes can be a base run defensive end. Plus, he moves inside and can be a quality rusher there.

Sando: I hadn't really thought of Long as a liability against the run.

Williamson: You can run at Long. Part of that is scheme. Sort of like in the Dwight Freeney-Robert Mathis days, they play the run on the way to the quarterback. With the Rams, a lot of it is ahead of them. I'd draft Quinn very high if I were building a team, but he is not as good as Cliff Avril right now. Brockers is going to be a total stud. I didn't love him coming out of LSU, but he far exceeded my expectations. I think he'll be a multiple Pro Bowl player.

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Good read thanx for the share dude.

Fisher when backed by the owner and good GM has had stellar defensive units used to challenge the ravens for #1 d unit every year

 

[jap]

Brockers impressed last year while playing on a bum ankle. Imagine what he will be like playing healthy with even more refined techniques. :cheese:

 

[iBruce]

I've never understood the 'Long is a liability vs the run' mentality.

 

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I've never understood the 'Long is a liability vs the run' mentality.

I don't think it's necessarily a knock on his *ability* to stop the run. From what I'm reading, it's more a scheme issue. Teams take advantage of his tendency to go hard after the QB and (possibly) are able to get in front of that rush. Same thing happens to Quinn too. They're both tenacious rushers who can get washed out of running plays. However, if you run right at them, and they're playing the run, then I haven't seen many issues with their ability to execute.

 

[iBruce]

I've never understood the 'Long is a liability vs the run' mentality.

I don't think it's necessarily a knock on his *ability* to stop the run. From what I'm reading, it's more a scheme issue. Teams take advantage of his tendency to go hard after the QB and (possibly) are able to get in front of that rush. Same thing happens to Quinn too. They're both tenacious rushers who can get washed out of running plays. However, if you run right at them, and they're playing the run, then I haven't seen many issues with their ability to execute.

That makes sense I guess. Thanks for clearing that up. I'm all for our defensive scheme. Long and Quinn need to keep making big plays.

 

[jrry32]

EXCERPT:

Sando: Looking at the division overall, I might have put the Rams ahead of the Seahawks. For Seattle, Chris Clemons is hurt, Alan Branch departed, Tony McDaniel was arguably a so-so replacement and Red Bryant is coming off a tough year. Michael Brockers looks like a star in the making for the Rams. Chris Long and Robert Quinn can easily combine for 20-plus sacks. William Hayes is in there too.

Williamson: They have a wide skill set, which I like, too. Irvin and Bryant are totally different players at defensive end. Irvin, Clemons, Avril and Bryant give you versatility. For the Rams, Hayes is an important part of that equation. He had seven sacks last year. Quinn and Long are questionable against the run. Hayes can be a base run defensive end. Plus, he moves inside and can be a quality rusher there.

Sando: I hadn't really thought of Long as a liability against the run.

Williamson: You can run at Long. Part of that is scheme. Sort of like in the Dwight Freeney-Robert Mathis days, they play the run on the way to the quarterback. With the Rams, a lot of it is ahead of them. I'd draft Quinn very high if I were building a team, but he is not as good as Cliff Avril right now. Brockers is going to be a total stud. I didn't love him coming out of LSU, but he far exceeded my expectations. I think he'll be a multiple Pro Bowl player.

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Let me get this straight, Williamson picks Seattle's DL over ours despite ours being a superior pass rushing unit because he doesn't think Quinn or Long are particularly good run stoppers...when Seattle has Avril, Clemons and Bruce Irvin at DE? Come on.

Bryant and Bennett are excellent run stoppers at LDE but they aren't comparable to Chris Long in terms of pass rushing ability.

As for Cliff Avril, he produced less than Quinn did last year and Quinn is expected to only improve in the future. Plus Avril is a terrible run defender.

Sorry Williams but your logic stinks here.

 

[Yamahopper]

I think I'll take the Rams by a shade over the Seahawks. More athleticism and physicality with the Rams.

They run at Quinn and Long in part because they don't want them pursuing. Both Long and Quinn are good at stopping the play from the backside.
Now with Brockers and Langford up the middle it gets rough in there, so where else are they going to go. Unlike it was in 11 where they could knock over the Rams pylon DT's and run it up the gut.

But, neither Long and Quinn are much bigger than some 3-4 OLB so they can get engulfed by much bigger tackles and get pushed out of their gaps. Just physics.
But still worth the pass rush you get from them.

 

[F. Mulder]

People get too worked up about team or unit or player rankings. It's just media spin. Make it happen on the field and you'll see a different ranking.

 

[fastcat]

Re: Sando & Williamson - comments about the Rams' D-line

I dont see how he views Long as a liability against the run. He isnt stellar on run support but he is a little more than serviceable. But Quinn on the other hand is a big liability, either he over runs the play or gets pushed out of the play. Thats why most of the longer runs came from his side.