So let's stop beating around the bush...

[FrantikRam]

Last year Snead and McVay chose to re-sign Fowler over Saffold. I'm not going to pretend that I would have done anything differently - in fact, I pretty much advocated for just that.

But, I'm just a fan.

So let's get down to it. Was it a mistake? What would the Rams record have been if we signed Saffold and let Fowler walk? Obviously this would be a prediction, but curious about what people think.

I personally chalk this up as the first big (and by big I mean GARGANTUAN) failure on the part of Snead and McVay. I believe with Saffold we would have won 11 games and made the playoffs.

 

[OldSchool]

No. They had a plan in place to move on from Saffold. They'd planned to do it that way for a few years. That plan obviously didn't work out as well as we'd hoped for the OLine but if you take Fowler off the defense the last two years and it's not as good either. It's coming down in the next few years that we'll have to make these kind of decisions going forward. There will be vets let go and young guys will have to step up and take over for them as we pay Goff and AD as well as Cooks and Gurley. Snead is going to have to draft well and McVay and staff will have to coach them up there's just no way around it.

 

[Dodgersrf]

You cant keep everybody. Its just the way it is.

 

[Memento]

I doubt we keep Fowler; hell, I think we tag-and-trade him, but that doesn't mean that it was a mistake to keep him over Saffold. Saffold still has his entire long-term contract to go with the Titans, and it could very well backfire on Tennessee, who still has to re-sign Derrick Henry and potentially Tannehill to extensions - and, if not Tannehill, a new quarterback who will cost serious cash.

 

[oldnotdead]

Kromer showed how poor of a coach he is when he played Noteboom out of position. Joseph had never played OG and only occasionally practiced it. He took a guy who rated out very well in his one start at LT and played him at a position he had never played?

This is the same Rodger Saffold that gave up 6 sacks last year? Corbett played about 60% of the number of snaps as Saffold but only gave up 1. Saffold is 31 years old. His play is already falling off. Just look at his numbers. He's as much dependent upon the guys around him as anyone on the Rams o-line.

It was time to move on from the high priced lineman.

 

[Merlin]

If I had to make that decision again I would keep Saffold. So for me it's a yes.

Win some lose some. Nobody bats a thousand.

 

[kurtfaulk]

are you mixing up players here?

.

 

[MarkyMark]

Still sad Saffold's gone. I think that was a big mistake. He was a good player and a stand up dude.

 

[Zaphod]

I think they would have made the playoffs were it not for moving on from Saffold.

Then again, I totally expected the defense to pick up the slack, so WTF do I know.

 

[Mojo Ram]

No. What we lost with Saffold was physicality and experience up front. The OLine wasn't good because the entire scheme had grown stale(recognizable...whatever you want to call it). One OLineman doesn't cause an entire offense to drop in productivity from the QB on down.

I'm not sure what our pass rush would have looked like without Fowler to draw attention from AD. Maybe a couple young guys would have stepped up, don't know. I feel like we got good production from Fowler and the pass rush aspect of the D needed his presence.

 

[Mojo Ram]

Short version: The offense would have had the same struggles with Saffold in there.

 

[“Turbo set!”]

I do not know necessarily whether it would have made a difference but signing Saffold would have been the move I would have made.

O-line is more important than pass rusher.

The Colts lost their franchise QB because they did not have enough quality o-lineman.

 

[bubbaramfan]

Had to let Saffold walk. I don't fault Kromer for starting Noteboom at LG. I DO fault Kromer for leaving him in there as long as he did and fault him big time for keep running Demby out there til after the bye.

 

[So Ram]

Kromer showed how poor of a coach he is when he played Noteboom out of position. Joseph had never played OG and only occasionally practiced it. He took a guy who rated out very well in his one start at LT and played him at a position he had never played?

This is the same Rodger Saffold that gave up 6 sacks last year? Corbett played about 60% of the number of snaps as Saffold but only gave up 1. Saffold is 31 years old. His play is already falling off. Just look at his numbers. He's as much dependent upon the guys around him as anyone on the Rams o-line.

It was time to move on from the high priced lineman.

When did Noteboom start at LT ??

Noteboom & Allen both played against Chicago there rookie season. Luckily not at the same time. I thought he was going to be the starting RG his rookie season. Blythe stepped up though & held RG down well ??
Kromer did help The Rams make it to the Super Bowl as the O”Line coach.
Kromer did have extra duties last season & The Rams needed an veteran O”Lineman, but trusted Demby as a backup.

 

[OldSchool]

are you mixing up players here?

.

Signing Matthews negated our loss of Joyner. Even though the salaries are different by a lot qualified signings and losses are balanced out. Because Suh signed late he doesn’t benefit our formula. So we signed Matthews and lost Saffold, Joyner and Suh who didnt count. Matthews cancels Joyners so we just get a pick for Saffold.

 

[Ram65]

This question has been asked before. It is not as simple as one or the other.

You can put a number of names in place of Fowler. Rams went with giving Havenstein a new deal and drafted Noteboom with the hope he can play LG until LT was open. The time to resign Saffold was when they signed Havenstein to his extension. Havenstein was younger and was okaying well an OT. I thought at that time they could save money redoing Saffold deal at a reasonable deal less than the $11 plus million he got from the Titans. They also went ahead and gave Higbee an extension last year. High priced deals for Cooks, Gurley, AD and Goff limited the Rams resources. The Rams defense would not have been as effective without Fowler.

 

[Dieter the Brock]

Kromer showed how poor of a coach he is when he played Noteboom out of position. Joseph had never played OG and only occasionally practiced it. He took a guy who rated out very well in his one start at LT and played him at a position he had never played?

This is the same Rodger Saffold that gave up 6 sacks last year? Corbett played about 60% of the number of snaps as Saffold but only gave up 1. Saffold is 31 years old. His play is already falling off. Just look at his numbers. He's as much dependent upon the guys around him as anyone on the Rams o-line.

It was time to move on from the high priced lineman.

Reading this post

 

[kurtfaulk]

.

I love beating around the Bush.

Especially with my mouth and tongue.

.