We should not underestimate how improved this ‘18 Ram team is over the ‘17 version...

[Rams43]

Consider what’s changed...

McVay has a valuable year of playcalling experience and lessons learned under his belt.

Goff also has that invaluable year to use as a springboard to his further development. OTA reports indicate that he’s vastly improved over last year.

I don’t think Cooks’ improvement over Watkins for this O can be overstated. Cooks will be a beast in this O.

I’m predicting that Everett will experience the usual 2nd year TE bump. Early OTA reports are encouraging.

Suh added to the DL. Gotta be a big improvement, don’t you think? Duh...

Peters and Talib replace TruJo and Webster. No disrespect intended for the former starters, but these two guys are substantial upgrades.

Which brings us to the LB’s. Dare I say it? Ogletree, Quinn, and Barwin were not great fits in this Wade D. We don’t know exactly who will be the new starters, but we do know that all candidates were approved by Wade and that he considers them good fits for his particular D. Man, that’s good enough for me.

There will be 6 new starters on D this year and at LEAST 3 of them will be significant upgrades. And, frankly, I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that Ebu, Longacre, and Littleton might actually be better performers in this scheme than their predecessors. Some might say that that’s heresy, but that’s the way I feel, anyway.

Finally, all the players that I haven’t mentioned above should reasonably be expected to have at least a slight improvement by virtue of their being in the 2nd year of using McVay’s O or Wade’s D, respectively.

Add all of the above up and what should one conclude? For me it adds up to a significantly improved O and a dramatically improved D.

And if I’m correct? Then I think 12 wins is our floor. We will deserve to be in the SB conversation this season.

Hot Damn!

 

[bubbaramfan]

I like your assessment 43. As has been pointed out here many times, Wade inherited players that didn't fit what he envisions, and he rarely uses all 4 LB's at one time. I get the feeling Wade has some defenses that he has been dreaming of and is going to get the chance this season to show the NFL something different now that he has the players that fit what he wants.

Wade still has to asses the new guys and mix and match to see where they fit best. Going to be a fun TC.

 

[Badfinger]

Now all we gotta do is trade Goff for Bortles, Whitworh for G-Rob, and Kupp for Quick...then we'll be ROLLIN...

 

[Farr Be It]

There will be 6 new starters on D this year and at LEAST 3 of them will be significant upgrades. And, frankly, I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that Ebu, Longacre, and Littleton might actually be better performers in this scheme than their predecessors. Some might say that that’s heresy, but that’s the way I feel, anyway

I think I will go a step further and say linebacker will be a strength. I think many of us forget what a playmaker Littleton can be. He and Samson, Barron and....I say ultimately Micah Kiser, along with Obo and Longacre are going to make this a ball-hawking unit. We are kinda deep at linebacker, if everything goes as I have planned....:mrburnsevil:


View: https://youtu.be/ZCjsbA-SRTg

 

[OC_Ram]

Agreed

 

[PressureD41]

AGREED

 

[Adi]

I think we have the best offensive and defensive minds in the league, now they have been given multiple playmakers and weapons. This should be fun !

 

[fastcat]

Barron isn't a fit (at LB) for this D either. But he sure is a hell of a player. I hope he stays healthy.

 

[LuvMeThemRams]

Man I love Barwin, wish he could work out.

 

[dang]

On offense I expect a little better result in moving the ball but I am still a little concerned with the red zone. TE and/or WR needs to step up as red zone target.

On defense if we take the We not Me attitude the sky is the limit. There will be some shuffling around at the LB positions until rookies are comfortable and Wade knows what he has tHen watch out. The D could to the golden ticket to the SB.