- Joined
- May 25, 2013
- Messages
- 1,295
Having followed the Ram for the better part of 50 years, each pre season has me hoping for the best and drinking the Kool-Aid. This year I'm taking a more sober approach like I did last year. I felt last year the OLine would hold us back and Gregg's gambling ways would cost us some games. I wasn't wrong.
This year, the OLine depth is sooooo much better but still half a season from gelling into a top flight unit. Case is serviceable and Jared needs seasoning. Defenses will continue to load the box on Gurley and Cunningham. The TE's and receivers will have to earn respect and they are not going to get it from DCoordinators until they regularly get burned mid and deep...which won't happen until Goff takes over and proves able to handle NFL blitzes while this OLine proves it can sustain 4 or more seconds. While the offense will improve, middle of the pack production is as much as we can reasonably expect.
The defense will continue to get gashed by screens and a short passing game until Williams decides it's better to win as men rather than by funky schemes. Sometimes you gamble and win, but you frequently lose as well which wastes the talent. Due to the DLine dominance and improved offense, this unit will rank in the top ten but there will still be three or four non division games that will leave us scratching our collective heads over how we gave up 500 yards against...
Special teams will again be solid as Hekker and Austin will shine and The Leg will bounce back to better than average.
This looks like a winning team, but a year away from being elite. We simply need Goff, Higbee, Cooper, Spruce, J Brown, Ogletree, and Alexander to get a year of seasoning in their respective roles. Maybe they stay healthy and make a late season run.
I remain hopeful but predict a 9 win season
This year, the OLine depth is sooooo much better but still half a season from gelling into a top flight unit. Case is serviceable and Jared needs seasoning. Defenses will continue to load the box on Gurley and Cunningham. The TE's and receivers will have to earn respect and they are not going to get it from DCoordinators until they regularly get burned mid and deep...which won't happen until Goff takes over and proves able to handle NFL blitzes while this OLine proves it can sustain 4 or more seconds. While the offense will improve, middle of the pack production is as much as we can reasonably expect.
The defense will continue to get gashed by screens and a short passing game until Williams decides it's better to win as men rather than by funky schemes. Sometimes you gamble and win, but you frequently lose as well which wastes the talent. Due to the DLine dominance and improved offense, this unit will rank in the top ten but there will still be three or four non division games that will leave us scratching our collective heads over how we gave up 500 yards against...
Special teams will again be solid as Hekker and Austin will shine and The Leg will bounce back to better than average.
This looks like a winning team, but a year away from being elite. We simply need Goff, Higbee, Cooper, Spruce, J Brown, Ogletree, and Alexander to get a year of seasoning in their respective roles. Maybe they stay healthy and make a late season run.
I remain hopeful but predict a 9 win season
