The 2024 Rams still have a ton of question marks

[Legatron4]

Hey everyone, been a while. Twitter is dumb as shit these days and I miss having real convos about the Rams. So I wanted to stop in and share my thoughts and questions as we start our 2024 quest to win our 3rd ring. So here we go.

I still have so many questions about this Rams team as we close out the pre season. Specifically our defense. I think the Dline is still a year away from being really good. Was Kobie Turner a product of AD? I can’t imagine Verse and Fiske will come in and be all pros year 1. Can Bobby Brown stay healthy? Byron Young could be in for a big leap. After those guys it gets really muddy. Maybe Nick Hampton can step up as a rotational guy.

I have no idea what the plan is for our LBs. I don’t believe you can be confident going into week 1 with Rozeboom and I guess Omar Speights? Especially if EJ does get traded. I don’t know if I can bare another season watching Troy Reeder flail around again. The depth at that position is especially bad. Can any of these guys cover George Kittle? Or stop McCaffery in his tracks? McVay has to be aware of this.

The secondary is certainly stronger than last year but it still makes me nervous as hell. Darious Williams is a decent cover guy and can tackle. But can he 1v1 any of the top guys in the league? Will that be Tre Whites job? Is there any chance he actually stays heathy for an entire season? Hopefully Durant can improve and again after those guys it’s a free for all. Gotta have 4 good CBs in today’s NFL. Kam Curl should be a monster but JJ is getting older and kinda slow. Our STAR position Quinten Lake needs to really show out. I’m thinking long term into the season, can any of these safeties take on Travis Kelce, George Kittle or Mark Andrews come playoff time?

As for the offense, health is my only concern. I am very confident we can score 30ppg if that’s the case. Stafford needs to be on whatever he was late last year and in 2021. The LT spot is probably my biggest concern. Hopefully Noteboom can just run away with the position like we always wanted.

All in all, I’m just still pretty confused at the off-season strategy. I know it’s been said that 2025 is the main goal. But that’s such a crazy risk with Stafford. One thing I admired about Jeff Fisher(please don’t shoot me) is that he always tried his best to construct the roster to beat the Seahawks because they were the main threat in the division. I have no idea what the gameplan is to stop the Whiners this year. I can’t believe McSnead thought that secondary would be good enough. But yeah, those are my thoughts and questions going into the season. Have at it.

 

[Rams43]

FWIW, I’m more optimistic in all of those areas that concern you.

i see a 12-13 win season and possible division crown. A deep playoff run seems likely to me, in fact, anything less would disappoint me.

 

[snackdaddy]

The defense is certainly a question mark. We're relying on year one and year two guys on the line and edges. They can be really good. Everything I heard about Fiske he was a handful in both practice and scrimmages. Young looks like he might have a break out year. Verse has all the right tools to be a good one. We know what Turner can do.

But all that good stuff was practice and scrimmage. When the real games start can they make tackles on mobile quarterbacks? In practice and scrimmages they aren't allowed to tackle the quarterbacks. We'll find out soon enough.

The offense doesn't have as many question marks. In fact, they are expected to be one of the better offenses in the league. A healthy Kupp. Puka coming into his second year. A strong duo of running backs in Kyren and Corum. An athletic tight end in Parkinson. Robinson is a good WR3. Whittington could be this year's 6th round steal. And the line is beefed up. The only question is health. If they stay relatively healthy all the defense has to be is middle of the pack to win 10 or more games.

 

[Londoner]

I can’t imagine Verse and Fiske will come in and be all pros year 1.

They don’t need to be. They just need to be good, solid players as rookies.

I’m not going to quote everything in your post with which I disagree but, whilst I understand your apprehension, this team showed in the second half of last season just how good it could be.

I’ll be stunned if we don’t make the playoffs.

 

[Legatron4]

FWIW, I’m more optimistic in all of those areas that concern you.

i see a 12-13 win season and possible division crown. A deep playoff run seems likely to me, in fact, anything less would disappoint me.

I would love to have some of that optimism. I think there’s a path to 11-12 wins max. I’m just mostly scared to death of injuries to Darious and Tre. We are really weak underneath them.

 

[Legatron4]

The defense is certainly a question mark. We're relying on year one and year two guys on the line and edges. They can be really good. Everything I heard about Fiske he was a handful in both practice and scrimmages. Young looks like he might have a break out year. Verse has all the right tools to be a good one. We know what Turner can do.

But all that good stuff was practice and scrimmage. When the real games start can they make tackles on mobile quarterbacks? In practice and scrimmages they aren't allowed to tackle the quarterbacks. We'll find out soon enough.

The offense doesn't have as many question marks. In fact, they are expected to be one of the better offenses in the league. A healthy Kupp. Puka coming into his second year. A strong duo of running backs in Kyren and Corum. An athletic tight end in Parkinson. Robinson is a good WR3. Whittington could be this year's 6th round steal. And the line is beefed up. The only question is health. If they stay relatively healthy all the defense has to be is middle of the pack to win 10 or more games.

Offense will be great. But yes to everything else. The defense just scares the hell out of me and I’m going to be nervous everytime a team drops back to pass.

They don’t need to be. They just need to be good, solid players as rookies.

I’m not going to quote everything in your post with which I disagree but, whilst I understand your apprehension, this team showed in the second half of last season just how good it could be.

I’ll be stunned if we don’t make the playoffs.

I think we will make the playoffs. Just not sure we have the star power to take it all the way and it’s a little disappointing that we didn’t get more urgent to bring in high tier guys to fill in the defense to compete with the big dogs.

 

[Londoner]

We are really weak underneath them.

We reached the playoffs last year without them.

 

[Memento]

OMG, IT'S BEEN SO LONG, LEG!!!!

How've you been?

 

[Londoner]

it’s a little disappointing that we didn’t get more urgent to bring in high tier guys to fill in the defense to compete with the big dogs.

I think the entire organisation trusts the coaches. It’s not about getting big-name players in FA but about getting solid players who can be coached up to be very good.

Plus, of course, those top-tier free agents don’t come cheap. With some big contracts on the horizon over the next year or two (we’ll have vacancies at QB, LT, CB and will also need to pay our own promising youngsters), we need to be careful with our spending.

 

[Legatron4]

OMG, IT'S BEEN SO LONG, LEG!!!!

How've you been?

I’ve stopped in every once in a while but life has been busy with a family. Married with two kids. Time flies! How about yourself? I am going to try and stick around for the season haha

 

[Legatron4]

I think the entire organisation trusts the coaches. It’s not about getting big-name players in FA but about getting solid players who can be coached up to be very good.

Plus, of course, those top-tier free agents don’t come cheap. With some big contracts on the horizon over the next year or two (we’ll have vacancies at QB, LT, CB and will also need to pay our own promising youngsters), we need to be careful with our spending.

I don’t disagree about the coaching part. But as we’ve seen even McVay needs talent to really compete. The only two seasons we’ve made a deep run was when we had guys at almost every spot.

I just think it was a leap of faith to go into the season with two 30 year old injury prone CBs. Especially when we don’t know if they are capable of holding it down on the top 5 guys.

 

[Londoner]

I just think it was a leap of faith to go into the season with two 30 year old injury prone CBs.

We didn’t have either of them last year, and we reached the playoffs.

 

[BigRamFan]

Hey everyone, been a while. Twitter is dumb as shit these days and I miss having real convos about the Rams. So I wanted to stop in and share my thoughts and questions as we start our 2024 quest to win our 3rd ring. So here we go.

I still have so many questions about this Rams team as we close out the pre season. Specifically our defense. I think the Dline is still a year away from being really good. Was Kobie Turner a product of AD? I can’t imagine Verse and Fiske will come in and be all pros year 1. Can Bobby Brown stay healthy? Byron Young could be in for a big leap. After those guys it gets really muddy. Maybe Nick Hampton can step up as a rotational guy.

I have no idea what the plan is for our LBs. I don’t believe you can be confident going into week 1 with Rozeboom and I guess Omar Speights? Especially if EJ does get traded. I don’t know if I can bare another season watching Troy Reeder flail around again. The depth at that position is especially bad. Can any of these guys cover George Kittle? Or stop McCaffery in his tracks? McVay has to be aware of this.

The secondary is certainly stronger than last year but it still makes me nervous as hell. Darious Williams is a decent cover guy and can tackle. But can he 1v1 any of the top guys in the league? Will that be Tre Whites job? Is there any chance he actually stays heathy for an entire season? Hopefully Durant can improve and again after those guys it’s a free for all. Gotta have 4 good CBs in today’s NFL. Kam Curl should be a monster but JJ is getting older and kinda slow. Our STAR position Quinten Lake needs to really show out. I’m thinking long term into the season, can any of these safeties take on Travis Kelce, George Kittle or Mark Andrews come playoff time?

As for the offense, health is my only concern. I am very confident we can score 30ppg if that’s the case. Stafford needs to be on whatever he was late last year and in 2021. The LT spot is probably my biggest concern. Hopefully Noteboom can just run away with the position like we always wanted.

All in all, I’m just still pretty confused at the off-season strategy. I know it’s been said that 2025 is the main goal. But that’s such a crazy risk with Stafford. One thing I admired about Jeff Fisher(please don’t shoot me) is that he always tried his best to construct the roster to beat the Seahawks because they were the main threat in the division. I have no idea what the gameplan is to stop the Whiners this year. I can’t believe McSnead thought that secondary would be good enough. But yeah, those are my thoughts and questions going into the season. Have at it.

Hello there @Legatron4 welcome back! Good to see you around these parts again.

Although I understand some of your concerns, quality of depth primarily, this is the time of year that "hope springs eternal" Hell, down here in south FL even dolphin fans think they have a chance.

I feel that this team is set up nicely to compete this year. Time will tell, of course, but I really like our chances to make some noise DEEP into/through the playoffs!

Go Rams!

 

[snackdaddy]

I like our chances to make the playoffs. And I think we will mount a challenge to the division. Not sure if we can take it from the 49ers. I feel like Detroit is their biggest obstacle to winning the NFC again. And we are the next biggest obstacle.

Although I don't see us making the Superbowl this season. But I do believe we have a legitimate shot at it in the next year or two. We have a talented group on the defensive front 7. They should get better as they play more and learn.

Stafford is an older quarterback but there were no signs of decline. Brady and Rogers showed that older quarterbacks can perform with a high football IQ. They don't need high end athleticism. Stafford has a high football IQ and is just athletic enough to move around in the pocket. Not to mention an elite arm.

 

[Merlin]

I think the defensive front is going to be excellent. They won't be able to handle injuries but the starting lineup is going to be better overall I expect. I figure they'll be very tough to move in the run game, and only solid with the rush due to the youth and inexperience on the edges. But the rush should improve as we go.

Corner is going to determine how good this defense is. If they can snuff out the underneath shit without giving up explosives we'll be in serious business. Because I think we're gonna see a lot of third downs, with fewer being third and short than recent years. So can the secondary hold up.

Offense we have everything but LT. I don't trust AJ. Rams are going to need to prioritize LT next offseason. But for 2024 we're gonna need AJ to show he can do the job again, then let his ass walk in FA or tag and trade him or whatever they feel is prudent. But I hope we don't sign him long term.

 

[FrantikRam]

Hey everyone, been a while. Twitter is dumb as shit these days and I miss having real convos about the Rams. So I wanted to stop in and share my thoughts and questions as we start our 2024 quest to win our 3rd ring. So here we go.

I still have so many questions about this Rams team as we close out the pre season. Specifically our defense. I think the Dline is still a year away from being really good. Was Kobie Turner a product of AD? I can’t imagine Verse and Fiske will come in and be all pros year 1. Can Bobby Brown stay healthy? Byron Young could be in for a big leap. After those guys it gets really muddy. Maybe Nick Hampton can step up as a rotational guy.

I have no idea what the plan is for our LBs. I don’t believe you can be confident going into week 1 with Rozeboom and I guess Omar Speights? Especially if EJ does get traded. I don’t know if I can bare another season watching Troy Reeder flail around again. The depth at that position is especially bad. Can any of these guys cover George Kittle? Or stop McCaffery in his tracks? McVay has to be aware of this.

The secondary is certainly stronger than last year but it still makes me nervous as hell. Darious Williams is a decent cover guy and can tackle. But can he 1v1 any of the top guys in the league? Will that be Tre Whites job? Is there any chance he actually stays heathy for an entire season? Hopefully Durant can improve and again after those guys it’s a free for all. Gotta have 4 good CBs in today’s NFL. Kam Curl should be a monster but JJ is getting older and kinda slow. Our STAR position Quinten Lake needs to really show out. I’m thinking long term into the season, can any of these safeties take on Travis Kelce, George Kittle or Mark Andrews come playoff time?

As for the offense, health is my only concern. I am very confident we can score 30ppg if that’s the case. Stafford needs to be on whatever he was late last year and in 2021. The LT spot is probably my biggest concern. Hopefully Noteboom can just run away with the position like we always wanted.

All in all, I’m just still pretty confused at the off-season strategy. I know it’s been said that 2025 is the main goal. But that’s such a crazy risk with Stafford. One thing I admired about Jeff Fisher(please don’t shoot me) is that he always tried his best to construct the roster to beat the Seahawks because they were the main threat in the division. I have no idea what the gameplan is to stop the Whiners this year. I can’t believe McSnead thought that secondary would be good enough. But yeah, those are my thoughts and questions going into the season. Have at it.

Man reading this....you had to think we were going to go 0-17 last year I'd think.

Health is an issue for all teams, and last year even though the "games lost" stat had as at good health, that clearly doesn't adjust for how good a player is. We missed Kupp for 4 games (and then he played injured all year), Kyren for 4, Stafford for 1. Even with injuries to those key guys, we won 10 games.


As for this year....I disagree quite a bit:

Kobie Turner was double teamed A LOT last year. AD was also not his "normal" self (still very, very good though).

Verse and Fiske don't need to be all pros - they need to above average starters, which given their draft position, also means what we need to happen is what should happen, i.e. we aren't asking for a huge thing here.

Where you REALLY lose me is in asking what we did to beat the Niners. We upgraded our OL and DL - that is where we've gotten bullied by them.

The plan for LBs is the same plan that we've had for years, which includes going to two and winning one Super Bowl without much talent at that position (and that's only if Jones actually gets traded).

Its almost immeasurable how much better the secondary is this year. And that is even if White doesn't end up making an impact. If he somehow stays healthy, its possible this is the best secondary in the league.

Lake was really good last year - don't forget that we ended up with the 20th-ish best defense last year. Go look at our relative lack of pass rush (consistently) and who we had in the secondary...



I mean look....there is a world where the Bears are much better, the Packers are as advertised and the Cardinals are much better and we go 0-5.

There is also a world where we beat Detroit, beat the Niners and the Cardinals and Bears are young and upcoming teams who we beat, and finally getting Green Bay at home, McVay beats LaFleur for the first time. The truth probably lies somewhere in between, and the schedule gets easier as we go. I think this is an 11-13 win team

 

[Kupped]

Hey everyone, been a while. Twitter is dumb as shit these days and I miss having real convos about the Rams. So I wanted to stop in and share my thoughts and questions as we start our 2024 quest to win our 3rd ring. So here we go.

I still have so many questions about this Rams team as we close out the pre season. Specifically our defense. I think the Dline is still a year away from being really good. Was Kobie Turner a product of AD? I can’t imagine Verse and Fiske will come in and be all pros year 1. Can Bobby Brown stay healthy? Byron Young could be in for a big leap. After those guys it gets really muddy. Maybe Nick Hampton can step up as a rotational guy.

Isolated analysis and film study (by real football guys, not me) strongly suggests Turner is going to be better than just fine. He's good. Brown was pretty good last year... and your question on his health is valid. We'll see. The depth seems okay.. but nothing to be too thrilled about. Who knows? Maybe there's a move there to come. I don't think Fiske and Verse need to be all-pros as rookies.. but I do think they'll be very good. I've stated already that I think they'll have problems with the run early on.. but I think they'll figure it out. Hoecht is very good depth at the edge and I think Jackson will be good as well.

I have no idea what the plan is for our LBs. I don’t believe you can be confident going into week 1 with Rozeboom and I guess Omar Speights? Especially if EJ does get traded. I don’t know if I can bare another season watching Troy Reeder flail around again. The depth at that position is especially bad. Can any of these guys cover George Kittle? Or stop McCaffery in his tracks? McVay has to be aware of this.

Definitely the biggest concern area if Jones is traded. If he's here? I'm not worried at all. I think Speights is the real deal.

The secondary is certainly stronger than last year but it still makes me nervous as hell. Darious Williams is a decent cover guy and can tackle. But can he 1v1 any of the top guys in the league? Will that be Tre Whites job? Is there any chance he actually stays heathy for an entire season? Hopefully Durant can improve and again after those guys it’s a free for all. Gotta have 4 good CBs in today’s NFL. Kam Curl should be a monster but JJ is getting older and kinda slow. Our STAR position Quinten Lake needs to really show out. I’m thinking long term into the season, can any of these safeties take on Travis Kelce, George Kittle or Mark Andrews come playoff time?

Darious Williams is PFF's #11 CB in the NFL going into the season. Sticky as hell. White is nowhere as sticky.. but is more physical. The depth is the HUGE concern here, for me. Safety is going to be a huge strength. I'm pretty sure JJ is the #3 corner now.. but I expect Kinchen to pass him sooner than later. Lake is a starter who moves into the star when they move out of base.

As for the offense, health is my only concern. I am very confident we can score 30ppg if that’s the case. Stafford needs to be on whatever he was late last year and in 2021. The LT spot is probably my biggest concern. Hopefully Noteboom can just run away with the position like we always wanted.

I'm just worried about the health of the tackles. Game one and two will be tough.

All in all, I’m just still pretty confused at the off-season strategy. I know it’s been said that 2025 is the main goal. But that’s such a crazy risk with Stafford. One thing I admired about Jeff Fisher(please don’t shoot me) is that he always tried his best to construct the roster to beat the Seahawks because they were the main threat in the division. I have no idea what the gameplan is to stop the Whiners this year. I can’t believe McSnead thought that secondary would be good enough. But yeah, those are my thoughts and questions going into the season. Have at it.

I don't know what's confusing about the offseason strategy. What am I missing?
The plan to beat the Niners is pretty clear to me.. beat the fuck outta them with the run game.. keep it close and win in the 4th. The Rams O will get them into Dime and run the ball up their ass all day long.

 

[Ram65]

Man reading this....you had to think we were going to go 0-17 last year I'd think.

Yeah, I had serious doubts last year.

What a difference a year makes.

Health is always a concern for 32 NFL teams. This year looks like another great draft adding starters and depth.

The Rams will be a contender!

 

[Tumak61]

Listening to McVay it sounds like Havenstein will not be ready for the opener. Looks like McClendon will be the starting Right Tackle on Sunday Night.

 

[Memento]

I’ve stopped in every once in a while but life has been busy with a family. Married with two kids. Time flies! How about yourself? I am going to try and stick around for the season haha

Eh, 2024 has sucked hardcore (with the sports drafts I follow being the few exceptions), but I'm doing better? Hopefully?

Married and two kids, huh? Congrats!