We saw more from Blanton than Hopkins. Especially the last Preseason game
Some fascinating (and agonizing) final cuts coming up, huh?
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I’ll
I’ll Gladly eat my words but if Reeder starts all season - ILB will remain a soft spot in the Rams defense.
He may not start all season. But as of right now, based upon the preseason, he is the starter. And in my opinion, Jones should be right next to him. That dude has a knack for the football.
ReekofRams
Hall of Fame
Hate to differ with you but Hopkins had a really good game against Denver, while Blanton was virtually non-existent
WestCoastRam
Legend
Sounds like Jourdan thinks it's Hopkins over Blanton and it sounds like she's inferring that part of the reason is Hopkins is being groomed to be the backup inline TE.
They both were used minimally in preseason, but Hopkins made plays on special teams and is more of an athlete, imo.
He gets the nod.
I do agree there. Prob with the Rams is the front office is not as ruthless as he is. They paid Goff early for example. We will never know but I am of the mind that McVay probably felt that was premature at the time based on how things played out late in 2018 but between Goff's tough win in New Orleans and the front office pressure/contract progress he probably bit his tongue.
Maybe a guy like Evans they discuss it enough to convince themselves that upside is worth keeping. And that upside is sort of synonymous with draft location. Cutting a round 3 player takes some balls. And it's not just Evans. It's also Burgess who looks out of sorts on the field as well as Lewis who is a confusing mix of fragility and playmaking ability. And so on.
This is a really tough year on the cuts. Some of those types will probably be cut and some will probably stay but where we fall in that is sort of fascinating because they have been outplayed by lesser draft value players.
Blanton seems to be a better target in the passing game. Thought he caught the ball real smooth and he's a big bodied weapon.
Hopkins showed something he didn't though IMO... Physicality. Tacklers bounce a bit when they hit him. That's an element I really like in a TE and to date we haven't seen it because he hasn't shown much prior to what was a pretty good game the other night.
Question with those two though is how do they compare to the final OL and Wideout maybe even QB cuts. Would you keep Blanton over Perkins, say. Or Hopkins over Meredith. Also how strong are either of those guys on teams. Hopkins has had some nice teams moments in preseason this year.
I'd probably stay with 3 TEs. But if that's too short for McVay's taste and you have to keep one more then I would probably keep Hopkins. And that is a huge turnaround for me btw never been a fan of him since his drafting.
ReekofRams
Hall of Fame
So many questions and me with so little brain.
bwdenverram
Legend
I hope some of you guys are right in that Hekker just started holding back due to coverage. It sure LOOKED like he was just starting to play worse, which was a concern. I will say, if they do let him go it means we will likely never be fake punting again, which Hekker was the best of any punter at.
Did you write that while muttering to yourself on a park bench
I don’t think the depth is particularly strong, Noteboom aside. Who do you see emerging as a plus starter from what you consider a great group of backups?
Did you write that while muttering to yourself on a park bench
Shelton, Jackson and Anchrum I think can be decent.
Plus starter is a funny way of looking at it. We made the Super Bowl with two "minus starters" in Sullivan and Blythe.
I think all those guys can be "minus starters", which means when grouped with Edwards, Corbett and Whitworth could be a Super Bowl OL.
But that's a moot point anyways. You made a post concerned about our depth after they did an okay job blocking the Broncos STARTING defense. Odd timing. By all rights they should have gotten destroyed on every play and that did not happen.
Florida_Ram
Hall of Fame
Bojo is not the same player he was when the Bills let him go.
I'm not saying he's better than the 2021 version of Hekker but I believe he's closed the gap and is gaining momentum.
I could be wrong and the Rams keep Hekker and this discussion will be forgotten five minutes after the season opener.
I'm rooting for Bojo... but I won't be upset if Hekker is retained.
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oldnotdead
Legend
If they keep 4 TEs which I don't think they will, they probably will release Mundt. He's dead weight IMO. That is the question in their minds. Do they carry 3 or 4? If it's 3 then it's got to be Higbee, Harris, Hopkins. If they carry 4 than they will add Blanton.
I think the fact that Mundt didnt play as much as 1 snap in PS means he's made the team. I think they'll be keeping 4 and its a choice between Blanton and Hopkins. Hopkins getting the nod because of his draft spot
Maybe. Maybe not. We're working off a limited sample size.Bojo is not the same player he was when the Bills let him go.
I'm not saying he's better than the 2021 version of Hekker but I believe he's closed the gap and is gaining momentum.
I could be wrong and the Rams keep Hekker and this discussion will be forgotten five minutes after the season opener.
I'm rooting for Bojo... but I won't be upset if Hekker is retained.
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oldnotdead
Legend
Hopkins is the better TE IMO. He has a much higher ceiling than Blanton. Hopkins strikes me as a faster version of Higbee once he fully develops. Harris' ceiling is potentially out of sight.
Schematically in McVay's offense, there isn't a reason to carry more than 3 TEs. Harris has the flexibility of playing TE or all WR positions. With Harris' size and speed, he could run that jet sweep better than Woods.
Blanton IMO is strictly a short-yardage possession type of TE. Blanton is painfully slow in terms of long speed. He's developed fairly well in contested catches, but his repertoire is limited.
Schematically in McVay's offense, there isn't a reason to carry more than 3 TEs. Harris has the flexibility of playing TE or all WR positions. With Harris' size and speed, he could run that jet sweep better than Woods.
Blanton IMO is strictly a short-yardage possession type of TE. Blanton is painfully slow in terms of long speed. He's developed fairly well in contested catches, but his repertoire is limited.
oldnotdead
Legend
There is a reason why NFL coaches scoff at PFF, i.e. they don't know what they are supposedly analyzing. Reeder's production compares with some of the better MIKE LBs in the NFL. Remember PFF said Blythe was the best of the Ram OL when anyone with a brain could see Whitworth was the best of the OL followed by Corbett.
Jones has looked good in TC and pre-season but the regular season against the ones is a whole different story. I'm expecting Jones to play well but how well remains to be seen. Jones has proved nothing in reality. IMO Jones and Reeder together would be a very good ILB duo. But we don't know how Morris is going to use his ILBs. Remember he was trying to use SS as his MO, i.e. coverage LBs. Jones looked good in straight zone coverage but he lacks the speed to cover a RB or TE in man coverage.
What I'm saying is that we must temper our expectations until we actually see how Morris is going to use his people.
Very presumptive statement and completely 100% false. As more and more franchises expand their analytics departments, there is much more attention paid to PFF, ESPN Next Gen Stats, ProFootballStatistics advanced stats, and SharpFootballStatistics.
In fact many NFL teams have hired directly from PFF, and recruited their talent to help build/design their own analytics teams in recent years, and implemented a lot of PFF ideas.
So when the casual fan disagrees with all their metrics, or even around here there are many that dismiss their ratings as garbage, its a very shallow and lazy thing to do. Do I personally agree with how PFF grades out every position? No I actually don't like the way they evaluate the secondary, but OL/DL, QB, WR, RB are all excellent resources to have IMO. The amount of data they look at on every single play regardless of the outcome allows for a more objective evaluation, versus just looking at the end result statistics.
Nowadays I would say majority of teams are utilizing some if not all of these sites, and/or have created their own analytics using similar principles. The era of the "non thinking coach" is fleeting as technology and access to information grows by the day.