Why was Matthews cut?

[Flint]

Seeing last years top 2 sack leaders walk out the door has to make rams nation nervous so why did they part with Matthews ? He wasn’t that expensive was he? I know he didn’t seem that interested in setting the edge and playing the run but he did take advantage of his opportunities when he got them better than some of the other guys. You’d think that playing with Donald and Fowler would get you opportunities for sacks and they did but they did feel the need to bring him in the first place. So what does that say about the guys we have.

 

[kurtfaulk]

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Probably because they were sick of seeing rbs run right by him.

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[OldSchool]

Answer with a question? Why at his salary should we have kept him?

 

[ramfan46]

He can't run anymore. Too slow to contain in the run game and he wasn't a plus as a pass rusher. He was more of a clean up guy.

 

[dang]

He had a nice start to the season but as it progressed he had a lot of whiffs. I believe we have decent depth at OLB/Edge with Ebukam, Obo, Polite, Holland and Floyd. He is also a target for the refs (I recall a horrible roughing the passer penalty in the first Seahawks game).

 

[So Ram]

Answer with a question? Why at his salary should we have kept him?

looking back now as well. That extra salary helped The Rams sign M. Brockers right away when his contract fell apart.

Sampson Ebukam might be the better of the two players. OO should step in for Fowler coming into his 3rd season.

The Rams have a nice young stable of LBers.Will be interesting to see who steps up ? Then there is the draft. Hate the fact OTA’s might not happen??

 

[Ram_Rally]

I believe when it happened it was because they used his savings to absorb some if the hit from cutting Gurley.

 

[iamme33]

I must be in the minority here but with no injury i'm sure he would have been a double digit sack guy. 3.7 mil is just such a small amount to give for double digit sacks. if you are worried about run support just play him on passing downs.

 

[1maGoh]

There were several occasions last year when he would decline to tackle a RB at or behind the LOS in favor of trying to punch the ball out, only to have that RB gain 4+ yards on the play. I haven't looked it up but I don't remember him forcing any fumbles and even if he did, it wasn't worth it.

 

[wolfdogg]

What stood out to me the most was the ravens game where he twice fell for the handoff only to watch jackson run around him for a big play. Hes the edge he cant be letting that happen.

And when the rams play any of these rpo qbs id tell my defense to aim for the qb. Especially jackson. If you aim for the qb and he hands it off, the rb should be contained up the middle by other defenders. If he keeps it, hes in a world of hurt as hes standing there with the ball in a vulnerable positionion and after 2 or 3 of these plays in a game hes rethinking things.

Had clay aimed for jackson both times in the ravens game he would have decleated the guy but his old school mentality made the rb the natural target.

 

[wolfdogg]

Another benefit to aiming for the rpo qb on all handoffs is that even when he hands it off and you're coming in hard on him, you not only get a big hit on the guy but its legal because of his proximity to the ball.

It seems like most defenders see the qb with the ball in or near the running backs gut and have been looking at the rb as the first target but i wonder what it would be like if edge defenders were told to ignore the rb and just hit the qb. More fumbles. More sacks. More qbs less inclined to kepp it.

 

[payote75]

I've said this in other threads but I'm almost positive that Gurley signing with the falcons gets the rams 2.5 million more open cap and if Matthews signs for 2 million or more that 2 million becomes open cap so that's an additional 4.5 million. I believe that money comes after June 1st.
Also I truly feel the rams aren't done I know a lot of people say trading cooks is a moot point but everything I've read if he is traded post June first or the trade is agreed to as such the rams save an additional 12 million. All I here in my is the jets and cooks on every station but I think there are plenty of teams like the eagles Washington Pittsburgh list goes on.
Picking a 2nd round wideout in this class is a possibility and Reynolds and a solid room who learns under this offense and we would be ok and then be able to address other holes as well as resigning our own Ramsey, Kipp, and JJ.

 

[Malibu]

looking back now as well. That extra salary helped The Rams sign M. Brockers right away when his contract fell apart.

Sampson Ebukam might be the better of the two players. OO should step in for Fowler coming into his 3rd season.

The Rams have a nice young stable of LBers.Will be interesting to see who steps up ? Then there is the draft. Hate the fact OTA’s might not happen??

Last off-season after Saffold left, people said we have a nice young group of olinemen - how did that work out.

Littleton was head and shoulders way better than the other ILBs. This area plus the oline scare me.

 

[thirteen28]

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Probably because they were sick of seeing rbs run right by him.

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And Russell Wilson too. He let RW escape numerous times in that game we lost to them.

 

[So Ram]

Last off-season after Saffold left, people said we have a nice young group of olinemen - how did that work out.

Littleton was head and shoulders way better than the other ILBs. This area plus the oline scare me.

Littleton was better than Ogletree. Brockers coming back is a good sign of what The Rams are building. He has been the leader,even more so than Aaron Donald. He has been Solid Pilar.

The young last year was a joke!!! I always said The Rams with Austin Blythe playing RG would suck. John Sullivan got cut as well,which made Brian Allen the starting center.

Add Austin Corbett as starting LG from the start of training should make a big difference. Then Evans being a backup?? Brian Allen & Noteboom backups as well ?? That is a huge difference from last season,plus your adding another year to Brewer,Edwards,& Evans who are just 22 ??
There is a reason The Rams cut Todd Gurley & it wasn’t because of the Young Offensive Line.

 

[HE WITH HORNS]

He would have had double digit sacks if he hadn't missed a bunch of games.

 

[shovelpass]

Sacks aren't the only thing that matters, especially with our new DC. He wasn't good against the run or in coverage, and had 10 missed tackles. Also, how many of those sacks were because of AD? I seem to remember both Matthews and Fowler running free to the QB or lined up agaisnt a TE or even a RB. I doubt that we'll miss him.

 

[RamsFanCK]

And Russell Wilson too. He let RW escape numerous times in that game we lost to them.

This is what I remember about Matthews. I was going crazy watching him make that mistake over and over when we have been really good at containing RW

 

[Mojo Ram]

Just a stop gap guy. Good one year signing. We've got to develop the young cats.

 

[Ramstien]

Simply put he sucked! He was no more than a shell of his former self and I will be surprised if anyone picks him up.