Sean McVay names positions Rams are watching closest before final cuts

[jrry32]

Some of y'all overreact to the preseason. Give me a guy who has played good/great football against legit NFL starters (NRC) over a guy who shows out against scrubs any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

 

[FrantikRam]

I like Kevin Peterson.

But he's not as good as Troy Hill - not yet at least. People are too focused on what transpired in a few games last year, which is really just giving them ammunition to say what they really think. Goff was terrible for a stretch of games last year - it happens.

Hill is the 4th CB - Long is only above him as far as being a "lock" because he was a 3rd round pick - but the depth chart probably actually will look like this:

Talib
Peters
NRC
Hill
Peterson
Long


That Hill hasn't played in preseason tells us all we need to know about it.

 

[RamsCardsJazz]

I wish backup quarterback was a position that was up for grabs. Bortles is garbage. We are absolutely screwed if Goff goes down.

 

[oldnotdead]

True Hill hasn't played but that doesn't equate to he's better than the other guys. It means he was a starter last year. A starter who got toasted often BTW. He was extended in May but the team left themselves an out after this season. So that means he's on a prove-it year...not a lot of confidence in a guy that has started 14 games for them. He needs to play better that is the bottom line. He's at best a very marginal starter which isn't good enough for a team that considers themselves elite.

The drafting of David Long shows what the Rams really think of Hill. Next year Hills base salary more than doubles to over $2.3M but his dead cap drops to $500K. Teams only front load contracts like this for players they have doubts about. If Hill has a breakout year they have him cheap next year as a potential starter. If not they can release him with minimal dead cap.

 

[Jacobarch]

@oldnotdead

I agree for the most part. If they are thinking Hill can replace someone one the roster then yes he needs to step up. But his contract is indicative of someone who's just going to be a backup. Right now he's slated as our #4 CB. That's not to say that someone wont move ahead of him in the coming weeks. Thats also why we drafted Long Jr in the 3rd. We're hoping Long can replace one of those two CBs preferably Talib because of his age and injury history. Lets hope either Williams or Peterson is a diamond in the rough.

 

[oldnotdead]

I guess that means Allen and Wolford are worse than garbage. Sorry I have to disagree. Bortles is far better than the other two. All he needs to do is clean up his mechanics, improve his footwork and shorten his motion. That needs to be done in the offseason and Bortles will probably be gone next year.

Let's see Bortles threw 35 TD's behind a crappy o-line that gave up 51 sacks. That's garbage? The Jags have never had a good o-line. Goff was sacked more times last year than he's ever been and that was only 33 times. In his 5 year career, Bortles has been sacked only once lower than Goff and that was 31 sacks. He was sacked over 50 times twice in 5 years. Kinda hard to throw when you're constantly running for your life. But Bortles still managed to throw for 103 TD's in that time frame. That's not garbage.

His obvious technique issues have shown me he has never had proper coaching in Jacksonville. Clean up those technique issues and give him a decent o-line and he's probably a better than average QB. In fact, right now Bortles is comparable in many respects to QB's like Flacco and Dalton. That isn't bad to have as a backup QB. That's good enough to win games over a few starts should he be needed. Those wins could mean the difference between a SB or going home.

 

[OldSchool]

True Hill hasn't played but that doesn't equate to he's better than the other guys. It means he was a starter last year. A starter who got toasted often BTW. He was extended in May but the team left themselves an out after this season. So that means he's on a prove-it year...not a lot of confidence in a guy that has started 14 games for them. He needs to play better that is the bottom line. He's at best a very marginal starter which isn't good enough for a team that considers themselves elite.

The drafting of David Long shows what the Rams really think of Hill. Next year Hills base salary more than doubles to over $2.3M but his dead cap drops to $500K. Teams only front load contracts like this for players they have doubts about. If Hill has a breakout year they have him cheap next year as a potential starter. If not they can release him with minimal dead cap.

No that’s not the only reason teams front load contracts. That’s not even close to true. You front load a contract because you have the cap space in year one in the case and it leaves room in year two. For instance if you think in year two you may resign your franchise QB for example.

If they don’t trust a player they don’t sign him let alone pay him a lot of money, which Hills contract really isn’t.

 

[Rams43]

About Hill and Christian...

Since they haven’t played in preseason, it’s a little unfair for me to claim that Darious Williams and Steven Parker, respectively, should be rated ahead of them. Coaches see them in practice and meeting and I don’t.

But I will say that what I’ve been seeing of the two youngsters on the field with my own eyes is very compelling. Both youngsters have been playing lights out. Gotta trust the coaches to make the best decisions for both the short and the long term, I guess.

About JoJo...

JoJo has been on the field, however. He’s not a top 6 WR on this club. And his PR skills have underwhelmed. So I feel comfortable with moving on from him. Very comfortable.

 

[fearsomefour]

Is Troy Hill a lock?

I would think so.

 

[bubbaramfan]

Sure will be interesting to see how many of the Ram cuts get snapped up by other teams come cutdown time. Wasn't long ago if you got cut by the Rams, u were out of football. I'm guessing even PS guys will get pilfered by other teams.

 

[1maGoh]

How can you say hes the same quality? Not one of these guys besides Hatfield has played a real NFL game. And we've seen what's happened to Hatfield when he plays a real game. The garbage time game against the niners 3 years ago doesn't count either.

Why doesn't that game count? Because the niners were really trying and the entire defense was backups, making everyone's job harder?

Hill is a great CB... within 8 to 10 yesterday of the line of scrimmage. Beyond that he can't even cover his mouth when he coughs. And that's decent depth, your right. I just don't understand why a real NFL regular season game against an opponent that's trying hard while working with an unreliable set of teammates wouldn't be more indicative of someone's actual ability to perform.

 

[RamFan503]

Meh. I think there is a little much on the consternation front regarding Hill. Let's be real. Peters sucked out loud at times and Joyner was hardly helping things back there. Hill has played very well at times and not others. To some that means HE is inconsistent. But we still have Hatfield being considered? Holy shit. I like his story but if we are even CONSIDERING Hatfield over Hill, we better hope NEITHER hits the field. The fact is that Hill is not a bad back up option. There probably are not a hell of a lot of #5 CBs in the league that you could honestly say are better.

 

[dang]

I recall Peterson standing out last year before his injury. Well he’s standing out again. It just seems his upside exceeds Hills. Game time experience is on Hills side but with mixed results at best.

 

[Memento]

I really hope that - if we do keep Hill - we keep seven corners: Peters, Talib, NRC, Long, Hill, Peterson, and Williams. The latter two have really stood out this preseason.

 

[FrantikRam]

I wish backup quarterback was a position that was up for grabs. Bortles is garbage. We are absolutely screwed if Goff goes down.

Please name one backup QB better than Bortles.

 

[RamsCardsJazz]

Please name one backup QB better than Bortles.

Although I am sure there were more available at the time of the Bortles signing. Matt Moore is someone that I would consider better than Bortles, who only just recently signed with the Chiefs. His (Bortles) record as a starting quarterback is 24-49 (yes, I get it the quarterback is not the only person on offense), having only one winning season. I would be willing to say that his stats are probably somewhat inflated due to a lot of garbage time. Have you guys seriously never watched this guy play? I do not understand why anyone would even think this guy is a capable backup. If Goff gets hurt, the Rams are screwed. With a backup, you should expect to have a chance. We have no chance with Bortles. This is my opinion, sort of like you thinking he is a capable backup is your opinion. The hope is that neither of us have to figure out who was right.

 

[FarNorth]

I wish backup quarterback was a position that was up for grabs. Bortles is garbage. We are absolutely screwed if Goff goes down.

2018 AFC championship game:

	Passing	Rushing	Receiving	Fumbles
Player	Tm	Cmp	Att	Yds	TD	Int	Sk	Yds	Lng	Rate	Att	Yds	TD	Lng	Tgt	Rec	Yds	TD	Lng	Fmb	FL
Blake Bortles	JAX	23	36	293	1	0	3	20	29	98.5	2	-2	0	-1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0

from nfl.com:

GREATNESS ON THE ROAD

Blake Bortles, Jacksonville Jaguars

After three quarters on Sunday the improbable seemed possible. The Blake Bortles-led Jaguars held a 20-10 lead and were 11 game minutes away from reaching their first Super Bowl in franchise history. Bortles played a big part in helping the Jaguars appear capable of stealing the show.

Until Brady's Super Bowl LI flashback performance, Bortles outperformed his signal-caller counterpart. While offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett deserves credit for his strong game management of Bortles, the quarterback put in, arguably, his best game of the season -- perhaps his career considering the game's high stakes.

He completed 13 of 15 passes for 155 yards, a touchdown and an impressive 131.9 passer rating in the first half. He slowed down a bit in the second half, finishing with 23-of-36 passing for 293 yards. Still, it was a performance worthy of his No. 3-overall pedigree. It showed that Bortles might have the heart of a potential champion -- a trait that could endear him to Tom Coughlin and the rest of the Jaguars braintrust this offseason.

 

[FrantikRam]

Although I am sure there were more available at the time of the Bortles signing. Matt Moore is someone that I would consider better than Bortles, who only just recently signed with the Chiefs. His (Bortles) record as a starting quarterback is 24-49 (yes, I get it the quarterback is not the only person on offense), having only one winning season. I would be willing to say that his stats are probably somewhat inflated due to a lot of garbage time. Have you guys seriously never watched this guy play? I do not understand why anyone would even think this guy is a capable backup. If Goff gets hurt, the Rams are screwed. With a backup, you should expect to have a chance. We have no chance with Bortles. This is my opinion, sort of like you thinking he is a capable backup is your opinion. The hope is that neither of us have to figure out who was right.

Blake Bortles Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Checkout the latest stats for Blake Bortles. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, college, draft, and more on Pro-football-reference.com.

www.pro-football-reference.com

There are Bortles career stats - now, keep in mind that on the Rams he would have:

The three best WRs he's played with since Allen Robinson's career year - Bortles threw for 35 TDs

The best running game he's ever played with

The best offensive line he's ever played with

The best offensive mind he's ever played with

Now think back to how well Bortles played in the playoffs - he is literally a tailor-made backup for this team.



Now here are Matt Moore's career stats:

Matt Moore Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Checkout the latest stats for Matt Moore. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, college, draft, and more on Pro-football-reference.com.

www.pro-football-reference.com

No reason to think Moore would be better, and once you factor in the age and how Bortles played in the playoffs - which is the most important factor here - it's a no-brainer.

I get that it's your opinion, but it bugs me because several people have said it and it makes no sense.

 

[Gandalf]

It would be nice if we could load up on 6 round draft picks or trade our extra players at positions we are loaded at for players at positions we need.

 

[tempests]

I guess that means Allen and Wolford are worse than garbage. Sorry I have to disagree. Bortles is far better than the other two. All he needs to do is clean up his mechanics, improve his footwork and shorten his motion. That needs to be done in the offseason and Bortles will probably be gone next year.

Let's see Bortles threw 35 TD's behind a crappy o-line that gave up 51 sacks. That's garbage? The Jags have never had a good o-line. Goff was sacked more times last year than he's ever been and that was only 33 times. In his 5 year career, Bortles has been sacked only once lower than Goff and that was 31 sacks. He was sacked over 50 times twice in 5 years. Kinda hard to throw when you're constantly running for your life. But Bortles still managed to throw for 103 TD's in that time frame. That's not garbage.

His obvious technique issues have shown me he has never had proper coaching in Jacksonville. Clean up those technique issues and give him a decent o-line and he's probably a better than average QB. In fact, right now Bortles is comparable in many respects to QB's like Flacco and Dalton. That isn't bad to have as a backup QB. That's good enough to win games over a few starts should he be needed. Those wins could mean the difference between a SB or going home.

Bortles has thrown the most INTs of any QB and has the second most fumbles since he came into the league. At minimum he's a frustrating player to watch. Don't know what his coaches taught him to do but he makes poor decisions and reverts to old habits, especially in the face of a pass rush.

I'm fine with him being here and the Rams backup QB situation is better than it was a year ago, but the mistakes he makes during a game are costly. He has to prove he can handle it when called upon.